Camelo Anthony to the Lakers?

Carmelo Anthony for Andrew Bynum? This is just pure baloney.

Why on earth would the Los Angeles Lakers go for a scorer when they already have the game's most lethal scorer in Kobe Bryant? If this trade were to happen, the Lakers are giving up their biggest advantage over the rest of the league: their size.

Fine, Andrew Bynum is turning out to be an injury magnet, but he has been a decent defensive anchor in the middle. His offensive game is not dominating, but he takes up space in the middle to give space to the perimeter forays of the Lakers' guards and even forwards (Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom can shoot it from beyond 15 feet).

Carmelo Anthony is a proven shot-maker and go-to-guy in the clutch, but he needs to dominate the ball almost the same way Kobe Bryant does and this type of redundancy is not the material championship teams are made of. In getting Anthony, the Lakers would become the NBA's most unstoppable offensive force, but it is not on offense the Lakers need help with-- it's their defense.

If you ask me, the players who are worth getting for Andrew Bynum would be Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, and Kevin Love.


Technorati: Los Angeles Lakers

3 Trades I'd Like to See

 
The trading deadline is a few weeks away and as always, speculation on the trades that may happen before the deadline is a hobby most NBA enthusiasts share around this time. Apart from the perceived value of players matching, salaries must more or less be equal for trades to happen, thus it makes the ESPN Trade Machine a nice toy to play around with since it has a comprehensive list of player salaries and an algorithm that verifies potential trades.

I was playing around with the ESPN Trade Machine and looking for nice trades the Los Angeles Lakers would explore to continue their domination of the NBA. The Lakers' most tradeable assets are Jordan Farmar and Adam Morrison. Those two have expiring contracts that are attractive to teams who are excited to take a splash in the free agency bonanza this year.

The Lakers' biggest need right now, if you ask me, is ta reliable back-up point guard who can takeover Derek Fisher's minutes and a reliable big man. Here are three trades I'd like to see involving Jordan Farmar and Adam Morrison:

1. Lakers trade for the Toronto Raptors' Jose Calderon
   
2. Lakers trade for the Philadelphia 76ers' Louis Williams and Royal Ivey
3. Lakers trade for the Golden State Warriors' CJ Watson, Anthony Morrow, and Ronnie Turiaf
   

What do you guys think?


Technorati: Los Angeles Lakers

Lakers Trade Vladimir Radmanovic, Get Bobcats' Adam Morrison

The Los Angeles Lakers have shipped resident shooter Vladimir Radmanovic to the the Charlotte Bobcats for forward Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown.

I think it's a lateral move for the Lakers as they swapped shooting forwards with the Bobcats. The Lakers do get a younger prospect in Morrison and an athletic guard in Brown, but lose Vlad's streaky shooting.

Is this a good move for the Lakers? For the financial books, it makes sense. On the court, I'm not so sure.


Technorati: Los Angeles Lakers

2008 NBA Trading Season: One of the Best

Whoa!

Did Shaquille O'Neal, Shawn Marion, Ben Wallace, Pau Gasol, and Jason Kidd just changed teams?

Yep, and they're not even half of the players who got traded. That was how crazy it got for this year's trades before the 2008 deadline.

Here's a summary of the key NBA trades and transactions (Source: NBA.com):

• L.A. Lakers acquire Pau Gasol and a 2010 second-round draft pick from Memphis in exchange for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the draft rights to Marc Gasol and first round picks in 2008 and 2010
• Phoenix acquires Shaquille O'Neal from Miami in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.
• Atlanta acquires Mike Bibby from Sacramento in exchange for Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright, Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue and a 2008 second round draft pick.
• Dallas signs Keith Van Horn and trades Van Horn, Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, DeSagana Diop, first-round draft choices in 2008 and 2010, and cash considerations to New Jersey for Jason Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright; waives Nick Fazekas.
• San Antonio acquires Kurt Thomas from Seattle in exchange for Francisco Elson, Brent Barry and a 2009 first round draft pick.
• Houston acquires Gerald Green from Minnesota in exchange for Kirk Snyder, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash considerations.
• In a three-team trade, New Orleans acquires Bonzi Wells and Mike James from Houston, Houston acquires Bobby Jackson, Adam Haluska and a 2008 second-round pick from New Orleans as well as the rights to Sergei Lishouk from Memphis and Memphis acquires Marcus Vinicius from New Orleans and the draft rights to Malick Badiane from Houston.

The Ben Wallace trade to the Cavs, along were still not listed.

The winners of the trades are the Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, New Orleans Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers. Solid trades and the teams got better without losing much. The Seattle Supersonics and Memphis Grizzlies also did a good job of clearing cap space, so they get points for sticking to the rebuilding plan

The Losers? The Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks for their knee-jerk reaction to the Gasol trade. Throw in the Nets for not getting a better deal for Kidd, thanks to ex-Laker Devean George.

Sheesh, the trades put me in a doozy so I'll probably take a break and write about it more soon.


Tags: Lakers

Will the Lakers Trade for Shawn Marion?

Here is perhaps the biggest, most intriguing twist in the whole trade season: Shawn Marion goes to the Lakers.

This trade scenario has been "out there" since the rumblings of Shawn Marion, then with the Phoenix Suns, has been known. The biggest roadblock to that happening was that each of the principals, the Lakers and the Suns, were not so keen on helping each other out. Now, with Marion wearing the Miami Heat jersey (on the interim?), this deal now becomes more viable.

I tried the trade over at ESPN's Trade machine and the trade makes financial and basketball sense. Imagine Lamar Odom going back to Miami to hopefully resurrect his career at the team where he flourished and Shawn Marion finally playing in the offense that best suits his skills. Imagine that. The biggest twist indeed.


Tags: Lakers

WTF: Shaq traded to the Phoenix Suns

In what could be the biggest "I Can Top You" trade in the NBA, four-time champ and former MVP Shaquille O'neal goes to the Phoenix Suns for "The Matrix" Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.

The trade has been known for two days and the finalization just concluded with Shaq's physical tests. Journalists, pundits and experts have been easy to lambaste the transaction and question Suns GM Steve Kerr on the deal. The trade has been seen as a knee-jerk reaction to the Lakers-Grizzlies trade that brought Pau Gasol to the Lakers. Perhaps Kerr knew Marion would bolt out once his contract expires.

It can now be said that the Suns have given up ot the Steve Nash-Amare Stoudemire-Shawn Marion trio that has its way into the playoffs the last few seasons. What we could see now is a slower team that will bank on Shaq and STAT's inside presence, and will put Steve Nash's half court skills to the test.

But does it make sense? Hell no. Shaq is old, slower and injured-- three things you don't want in an NBA player. It reminds me so much the Chris Webber signing in Golden State. It really makes me wonder the GM's are REALLY thinking as they were pulling the trigger on the trades and transactions.


Tags: NBA

Big NBA Trade: Lakers Get Pau Gasol

Holy Smokes! A Lakers trade!

The Lakers acquired center Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, rights to Marc Gasol (Pau's brother) and two first round draft picks (2008 & 2010). It looks like a lot but it's trade that gets everybody what they want: the Lakers get immediate post help and a top-tier big man, the Grizzlies get Kwame Brown's expiring contract.

I'd say it's an above average trade for the Lakers. They do get short term support fro Kobe, but what no happens to Lamar Odom? Will he slide to the small forward position? Sounds unlikely. I think the Lakers are still not done dealing this year.

Another set of questions: Won't Gasol hamper Andrew Bynum's development when he comes back from an injury? If Bynum is the center and Gasol is the designated power forward, won't that create a cramped post game for the Lakers?

While it's easy to praise the trade, there may be long-term implications here:

1. A Kobe trade is now virtually not happening in this lifetime;
2. Lamar Odom is now expendable;
3. It's a "Win Now" strategy for the Lakers' front office
4. Still no long term solution for the point guard, unless Jordan Farmar develops quickly

In other words, I'm 60% convinced this is a good trade for the Lakers.


Tags: Lakers