Hoops World: Kobe Bryant To Opt Out

[??? ??????]

Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers: It would take a massive injury or total collapse for Kobe's stock to fall and the Lakers have been preparing themselves for the inevitable. Kobe is going to opt out this summer and the Lakers will have to back up the other Brink's truck to his house and there is little that is going to effect that. Sources close to Bryant say that while Kobe is eligible for a deal in the $24 million per year range he may help the Lakers out if it means keeping Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom in town, so expect Kobe's next deal to be slightly less than most are projecting, a deal that averages $18 to $20 million seems like where things are headed, and Kobe opting out means almost nothing in the grand scheme.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=12430

I would feel uneasy if I was the Lakers and Kobe is opting out, especially if they get knocked out before the finals.

We'd have to do a sign and trade for him. I could see the Lakers wanting to do a double sign and trade with Gordon going to the Lakers if it came down to this. But if we could do something where we keep Gordon and get Kobe, and play Kobe at SF, Rose, Gordon, Kobe will be the greatest perimeter trio in NBA history.

If Kobe opts out, you have to at least give it a try.

 

[J-Mart]

IF we got Kobe, that puts us in win now mode. As our team is constructed right now, I don't think we could with our front court. I don't even think Kobe could win with Tyrus and Noah right now. If we got Bosh/Amare it would be a different story.

 

[dougthonus]

Lakers have to agree to a S&T. They won't.

There's only a couple teams that could make legit big offers to Kobe, and they won't be threats to be nearly as good as the Lakers.

You can try, but you won't be successful.

 

[Shakes]

I agree with Doug, there's no reason for the Lakers to facilitate Kobe going anywhere, so he stays.

Even if we could get him, it'd be a pretty iffy move to make. He'll be 31 by the start of next season, playing since high school. Surely he can't have too many years left in the tank, you'd have to expect that sooner rather than later he declines, or even worse, suffers from the Kevin Garnett style body breakdown. I don't think he's a got fit next to Rose for that reason, by the time Rose is ready to form part of a championship duo with him, he may just be the corpse of the player he is now.

 

[??? ??????]

Shakes wrote:

I agree with Doug, there's no reason for the Lakers to facilitate Kobe going anywhere, so he stays.

Even if we could get him, it'd be a pretty iffy move to make. He'll be 31 by the start of next season, playing since high school. Surely he can't have too many years left in the tank, you'd have to expect that sooner rather than later he declines, or even worse, suffers from the Kevin Garnett style body breakdown. I don't think he's a got fit next to Rose for that reason, by the time Rose is ready to form part of a championship duo with him, he may just be the corpse of the player he is now.

What it would take is for Kobe Bryant to agree to a contract with the Bulls, have that news break on ESPN, and then Kobe Bryant explicitly say to the media that he is done in LA, and wants to become a Bull.

It's unlikely, but Bulls have to give it a shot. Especially if they're able to re-sign Gordon first, and then begin the trade discussions, when Gordon is in the "cannot be traded" period.

 

[TheStig]

Oh great, Kobe trade rumors. I don't think I heard this before.

 

[Shakes]

??? ?????? wrote:

What it would take is for Kobe Bryant to agree to a contract with the Bulls, have that news break on ESPN, and then Kobe Bryant explicitly say to the media that he is done in LA, and wants to become a Bull.

It's unlikely, but Bulls have to give it a shot. Especially if they're able to re-sign Gordon first, and then begin the trade discussions, when Gordon is in the "cannot be traded" period.

Kobe said he was done as a Laker and wanted to go to the Bulls two seasons ago. The Lakers still didn't trade him, and I don't think they regret their decision at all.

 

[Manic Devourer]

Why do we put ourselves through this all the time?

Kobe has always wanted to be a Laker. He is a Laker for the remainder of his career, regardless of what he says.

 

[Riker]

Makes perfect sense. Lakers trade Kobe for Deng and Hinrich and become the utter dynasty of the NBA, winning 6-7 championships in a row.

 

[dougthonus]

What it would take is for Kobe Bryant to agree to a contract with the Bulls, have that news break on ESPN, and then Kobe Bryant explicitly say to the media that he is done in LA, and wants to become a Bull.

He already did that, and it didn't work. At the time LA was terrible outside of Bryant as well. That's not the case anymore. LA has way better pieces to put around Bryant than Chicago does. There's simply no way that Bryant prefers Chicago to LA right now.