[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Pillow Pants

The Lakers won't contend again until that dumb ********** Mitch Cupcake is fired. Trade Shaq for Odom...possibly the worst trade in the history of sports.

I don't agree. The Lakers were about to be put in a no-win position. Shaq had been given a medical diagnosis that would have allowed him to have surgery and sit out the next season, or a large portion of it, while still collecting over $20 million from the Lakers and still having the option to opt out of his contract, which he said he was going to do. They were faced with the prospect of losing him for nothing. That would have been horrible. Once they had said publicly that Bryant wouldn't be traded but that they would listen to offers for anyone else, Shaq was done here. People want to blame Kupchak for that but believe me, that came from the owner. So what were they going to do? They couldn't trade him to a team in their own conference. The best offers out there were the one from the Heat and there was one from the Cavs (Ilgauskas, Gooden and some other stuff). I think they took the right one. Unfortunately, they messed that up by getting rid of Butler for Brown. That was the move that hurt them the most.

The drafting of Andrew Bynum was a good move. Phil was very much against it. He wanted Sean May. Bynum was a project from the start but one that I think will pay off big time in a couple of years. If u could somehow put Bynum into this year's draft, I have no question in my mind that he would go no worse than third behind Oden and Durant and he might even go higher.

The thing is with the Lakers is that they don't have much room to operate. They ended up making the playoffs last year so they couldn't draft as high as they would have liked. They don't have any cap room so they can't aggresively go after the free-agents that they want to. Unlike in the past, players aren't lining up to come play for the Lakers. Back in the day, they were lining up to play with Magic Johnson. He was as unselfish as they come. Do u think they are lining up to play with a guy that won't pass them the ball in Kobe Bryant? I don't think so. And what's not talked about is the fact that while guys have to respect his basketball ability, not many guys like Kobe Bryant. On the surface they do. But it's a thin surface. They don't forget about how he threw Shaq under the bus with the whole Colorado thing and Shaq is one of the most loved guys in the league, if not the most loved. So it's not easy getting guys to come here.

As I said, the Brown trade was stupid. Kupchak totally blew it on that one because he extended their cap problems by another year or two. But I think that the drafting of Bynum and Farmer are moves that will help them down the line. And to be honest, I consider myself a pretty good judge of talent and I thought both of those moves were mistakes so I can't criticize Kupchak for making them.

A huge mistake, in my opinion, was bringing back Phil Jackson. Why did they need him? Phil is a guy known for taking teams that have gotten right to the brink and taken them over the hump. It's always been my contention that the Bulls in the early 90's and the Lakers when Phil got them the first time, were both ready to win and didn't need him to get it done. I've always considered him a good coach but also the luckiest in history. This team, however, was nowhere near the type of team that was in need of whatever it is he brings. I couldn't understand bringing in a coach for $12 million a season just to maybe make the playoffs and at best, win a single round. That's all this team is capable of. It wouldn't matter if Jackson, Riley, Aurbach (sp), and John Wooden were all on the bench together. They just don't have the talent. And this year, it's been obvious that the players don't have the same respect for Jackson as the older vets did in the past. I've watched Smush Parker go at it with Phil on the sidelines. Same with Brian Cook, who went so far as to toss his warmups on Phil during one game. It reached the point of ridiculousness when Bynum got into it with him the other day. Andrew freaking Bynum going at with Phil Jackson on the sidelines during a game.

This team is in disarray. Kobe can mask it by scoring 60 a game for the rest of the season. But when they get knocked out again in the first round of the playoffs, what will have been the point?