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Great Article from Adande on ESPN

Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 5:49 pm
by CDB
Back to the future: Lakers might again be NBA's brightest light

There is too much focus on the short-term implications of the Los Angeles Lakers' trade for Pau Gasol, even by the man who made the deal.


Did it make the Lakers the immediate favorites in the Western Conference? Not necessarily, but that's not the point. Right now, the Lakers' mid- to long-term prospects look better than anyone else's in the NBA. And that's the real benefit, especially if they just increased the chances that Kobe Bryant will be part of their future.


Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak simply was trying to keep a promising season from going down the drain after Andrew Bynum injured his knee Jan. 13. With him, the Lakers looked like one of the best teams in the West. Without him, it became evident almost immediately that they would struggle to beat anyone.




So even their worst-case scenario doesn't look so bad now. And the upside, all of a sudden, looks brighter than at any point since the last presidential campaign. They could close out the decade the same way they started it, as NBA champions.



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Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 6:53 pm
by Tommy Trojan
nice article

Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 7:08 pm
by TommyTheCat
the thing that seems pretty crazy to me is that if the lakers would have pulled either the trade for kidd or jo, the lakers would have a possible 2-4 year window with a lesser team. now the lakers are looking at a 6-8 year window with a team packed to the hilt. i think the FO did an amazing job of not hastily pulling the trigger on earlier deals and hedging their bets on the young talent (especially bynum) they already had in place.

Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 7:23 pm
by dockingsched
the age of all the key players points to sustain long term success, thats the lakers way.

Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 7:55 pm
by CDB
dcash4 wrote:the age of all the key players points to sustain long term success, thats the lakers way.

That is what I love so much about the deal, Pau is great and is only 27 years old. If Kobe continues to stay we have a very nice team for the future and we will be up there with Portland, New Orleans all those young teams in 5 years. We have a team that is built for now and built for the future and not a lot of teams can say that.

Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 8:05 pm
by 15cmngsoon
See you on
Figueroa in June!

Posted: Sun Feb 3, 2008 8:15 pm
by feoekells2
And he still likes Odom. Hope he has a big game today.[/list]

Posted: Mon Feb 4, 2008 1:22 am
by Mamba Venom
Lakers win 4 championships in the next 8 years!