Kobe Bryant should have seen this coming.
He wanted the Los Angeles Lakers to himself three years and he got his wish. The Los Angeles Lakers remain a fringe playoff team and saw next season’s playoff chances take a hit with Greg Oden and Kevin Durant most likely joining the Western Conference.
Bryant, frustrated by the Lakers’ struggles, is asking for big moves, including former general manager Jerry West’s return.
Bryant likely forgot when he pushed O’Neal out of Los Angeles that, in today’s NBA, it takes more than one superstar to have lengthy postseason runs that end in NBA Championships. Lamar Odom, as much as I like the lanky small forward, is not a superstar.
Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves have struggled without a worthy sidekick since Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell left Minneapolis. Seattle Supersonics guard Ray Allen is finding life difficult without sufficient talent around him. Pau Gasol is the lone go-to scorer for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Bryant should have realized that and done what he could to fix his poor relationship with O’Neal. Dominant centers, even aging ones, are a rarity in this league. It’s why I can hardly imagine the Portland Trail Blazers picking anyone but Oden. Durant might be great, but quality swingmen can be found in every NBA Draft.
You need a big man to survive – and some luck. Tracy McGrady has Yao Ming and even he can’t survive the first round.
Blame for the Lakers’ misfortunes should fall heavily on general manager Mitch Kupchak, who, outside of selecting Luke Walton in the second round, has done little to make the team a championship contender. Aging stars Gary Payton and Karl Malone joined the Lakers for a season out of a desire to win a title, not Kupchak’s influence.
Kupchak let Derek Fisher leave and sign a big deal with the Golden State Warriors. Smush Parker has unsuccessfully tried to run the offense for the last two years, while Fisher contributes to the Utah Jazz, a team playing in the Western Conference Finals.
It didn’t stop Kupchak from signing Vladimir Radmanovic to a five-year, $30.2 million contract. The same Radmanovic who averaged 6.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game last season, then lied about a shoulder injury he suffered while reportedly snowboarding during all-star weekend. Fisher’s contract with the Warriors – six years, $37 million – sounds like a bargain now.
Only now have the Lakers talked of trading forward/center Andrew Bynum, who, while promising, is taking too long to progress while Bryant’s in his prime. They’ve held onto Bynum when the likes of Baron Davis, Jason Kidd and Ron Artest have come and gone. Put those first two names with Bryant, add a veteran post player, and you have a dark horse contender in the Western Conference.
Hopefully, reports of former general manager Jerry West returning are true. While West can’t create miracles, he will get other teams’ attention and get deals done.
Bryant needs to stay in Los Angeles. Any type of trade would require a team to gut their roster to give the Lakers equal talent in return. He could go to the Eastern Conference and headline a team. He’d have a better chance to make longer playoff runs, but it could be equally frustrating; just ask McGrady and Allen Iverson of their time with Orlando and Philadelphia, respectively.
The Lakers need to package Kwame Brown, Odom and Bynum and ship them to the Indiana Pacers for Jermaine O’Neal. Even with Odom and Brown undergoing major surgeries, they offer a versatile player in Odom, salary cap savings in Brown and potential in Bynum. The move gets the Lakers going in the right direction. They’ll still need to sign a veteran point guard – Aaron McKie and Shammond Williams don’t count – and add another scorer, maybe draft USC’s Nick Young, but acquiring O’Neal is a move in the right direction.
Bryant has calmly waited the last three years. It’s time the Lakers did something to reward his patience.
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