GAME 1: LA Lakers @ Phoenix Suns

[Christine-In-AZ]

[
I've little idea on the scale from "no F'n chance" to "Hmm? Maybe" where a Kobe-Amare (other parts?) swap this season falls.

1. Do you think it is possible? If yes, how possible?
2. What's your reaction simply to the suggestion?

Not gonna happen ChrisInAZ. What people are missing is the "other" financial aspect Kobe gives the Lakers. These articles coming for these ESPN hacks are asinine. I know the so called objective is to some how position themselves better for a lottery selection, but as we saw even finishing as low as they did you're not guaranteed getting what you want.

Bottom line the whole subject is lame, it puzzles me how little even media hacks really understand NBA business.

It's like OK...what if Mitch and Jim did do this ( first Kobe would have to agree ), and make the move and take Stat and whatever trash comes with it. All they'll do is piss off the fans who won't show up to games, and Staples ain't cheap man ! Then all the'll do is piss off it's sponsors. It's not happening, just some wet dream from ESPN again.

Got it. Thanks for the insight.

Highly respect your opinions..perspectives. I do recall you were one of the few, perhaps one of the only voices saying the Kobe-Howard-Nash thing was very suspect...you had serious doubts. You called it.

I hope you're right about Kobe staying a Laker to the bitter end. In your "downing" of a Kobe trade to the Knicks you didn't go into much on court/Laker rebuilding ramifications, but (without any specific to the Lakers hatred)...I'd rather Kobe stay put. Freeing up another 20 million dollars for the Lakers scares the beejesus outta me.

[DEEP3CL]

Got it. Thanks for the insight.

Highly respect your opinions..perspectives. I do recall you were one of the few, perhaps one of the only voices saying the Kobe-Howard-Nash thing was very suspect...you had serious doubts. You called it.

I hope you're right about Kobe staying a Laker to the bitter end. In your "downing" of a Kobe trade to the Knicks you didn't go into any on court/Laker rebuilding ramifications, but (without any specific to the Lakers hatered)...I'd rather Kobe stay put.

Appreciate that, yeah that whole trade back in 2012 was doomed to be unsuccessful. My main reason was because of Steve's lingering back issues, and he was breaking down before he left you guys.

As far as how a rebuild would go if that trade would happen, well the media hacks think it would be instant success. I tend to believe it would take even longer. Yeah they would have money, but with no set pieces other than Julius Randle in place why would a free agent jump to an unproven roster ?

Most fans think this summer is gonna be a good class, but it's gonna be mostly restricted guys who are merely role players. But I'm not picky, there will be one or two players the Lakers can get from that pack.

Say if the Lakers can snag Rondo and Greg Monroe, that's picking up a solid PG and C. It's gonna be about putting a collection of talent together rather than landing the big fish. 2016 and 17 are gonna be the summers the NBA landscape changes.

[Christine-In-AZ]

Got it. Thanks for the insight.

Highly respect your opinions..perspectives. I do recall you were one of the few, perhaps one of the only voices saying the Kobe-Howard-Nash thing was very suspect...you had serious doubts. You called it.

I hope you're right about Kobe staying a Laker to the bitter end. In your "downing" of a Kobe trade to the Knicks you didn't go into any on court/Laker rebuilding ramifications, but (without any specific to the Lakers hatered)...I'd rather Kobe stay put.

Appreciate that, yeah that whole trade back in 2012 was doomed to be unsuccessful. My main reason was because of Steve's lingering back issues, and he was breaking down before he left you guys.

As far as how a rebuild would go if that trade would happen, well the media hacks think it would be instant success. I tend to believe it would take even longer. Yeah they would have money, but with no set pieces other than Julius Randle in place why would a free agent jump to an unproven roster ?

Most fans think this summer is gonna be a good class, but it's gonna be mostly restricted guys who are merely role players. But I'm not picky, there will be one or two players the Lakers can get from that pack.

Say if the Lakers can snag Rondo and Greg Monroe, that's picking up a solid PG and C. It's gonna be about putting a collection of talent together rather than landing the big fish. 2016 and 17 are gonna be the summers the NBA landscape changes.

Don't know where you grade Goran Dragic, but glad you didn't drop his name as a FA target. The Lakers could really throw a wrench into this Suns plan if they were to make Goran a Godfather offer next summer. For the record- He's my guy. For me he's a Manu 2.0, and like Manu will be doing damage for many, many years to come...I wanna keep him. Love EBled, but I see Bledsoe as (eventually) the Suns ticket to a needed all-star frontline player. Then the Suns could dream of a title run.

[jcsunsfan]

Got it. Thanks for the insight.

Highly respect your opinions..perspectives. I do recall you were one of the few, perhaps one of the only voices saying the Kobe-Howard-Nash thing was very suspect...you had serious doubts. You called it.

I hope you're right about Kobe staying a Laker to the bitter end. In your "downing" of a Kobe trade to the Knicks you didn't go into any on court/Laker rebuilding ramifications, but (without any specific to the Lakers hatered)...I'd rather Kobe stay put.

Appreciate that, yeah that whole trade back in 2012 was doomed to be unsuccessful. My main reason was because of Steve's lingering back issues, and he was breaking down before he left you guys.

As far as how a rebuild would go if that trade would happen, well the media hacks think it would be instant success. I tend to believe it would take even longer. Yeah they would have money, but with no set pieces other than Julius Randle in place why would a free agent jump to an unproven roster ?

Most fans think this summer is gonna be a good class, but it's gonna be mostly restricted guys who are merely role players. But I'm not picky, there will be one or two players the Lakers can get from that pack.

Say if the Lakers can snag Rondo and Greg Monroe, that's picking up a solid PG and C. It's gonna be about putting a collection of talent together rather than landing the big fish. 2016 and 17 are gonna be the summers the NBA landscape changes.

But there is not anyone they could get that would make them scary-certainly not rondo and Monroe.

If it was Love and Durant well yikes. But it doesn't look like either of those will be possible.

[Zelaznyrules]

Don't know where you grade Goran Dragic, but glad you didn't drop his name as a FA target. The Lakers could really throw a wrench into this Suns plan if they were to make Goran a Godfather offer next summer. For the record- He's my guy. For me he's a Manu 2.0, and like Manu will be doing damage for many, many years to come...I wanna keep him. Love EBled, but I see Bledsoe as (eventually) the Suns ticket to a needed all-star frontline player. Then the Suns could dream of a title run.

I think we are one player away from being a contender right now and last night we saw the possibility that our missing player is already on the roster. IMO though, if we were to trade Bledsoe for a good frontline player we'd still be one player away from being a true contender. Our trio of combo guards makes us special, take one of them away and we join the Raptors, Wizards, Trailblazers group and that's AFTER we've acquired an all star frontline player. I want to develop what we have but if we need more help, I'd put Dragic, Bledsoe, Thomas, Len and the twins off limits for all but a blockbuster trade. I'd also like to hang on to Warren if possible but obviously he'd be available for the right deal.

[Christine-In-AZ]

Don't know where you grade Goran Dragic, but glad you didn't drop his name as a FA target. The Lakers could really throw a wrench into this Suns plan if they were to make Goran a Godfather offer next summer. For the record- He's my guy. For me he's a Manu 2.0, and like Manu will be doing damage for many, many years to come...I wanna keep him. Love EBled, but I see Bledsoe as (eventually) the Suns ticket to a needed all-star frontline player. Then the Suns could dream of a title run.

I think we are one player away from being a contender right now and last night we saw the possibility that our missing player is already on the roster. IMO though, if we were to trade Bledsoe for a good frontline player we'd still be one player away from being a true contender. Our trio of combo guards makes us special, take one of them away and we join the Raptors, Wizards, Trailblazers group and that's AFTER we've acquired an all star frontline player. I want to develop what we have but if we need more help, I'd put Dragic, Bledsoe, Thomas, Len and the twins off limits for all but a blockbuster trade. I'd also like to hang on to Warren if possible but obviously he'd be available for the right deal.

Yes. Bledsoe as part of a trade for an all-star front court player would be a blockbuster

[NTB]

If we lose Bledsoe, we won't be a contender even with an all-star big.

[Zelaznyrules]

Don't know where you grade Goran Dragic, but glad you didn't drop his name as a FA target. The Lakers could really throw a wrench into this Suns plan if they were to make Goran a Godfather offer next summer. For the record- He's my guy. For me he's a Manu 2.0, and like Manu will be doing damage for many, many years to come...I wanna keep him. Love EBled, but I see Bledsoe as (eventually) the Suns ticket to a needed all-star frontline player. Then the Suns could dream of a title run.

I think we are one player away from being a contender right now and last night we saw the possibility that our missing player is already on the roster. IMO though, if we were to trade Bledsoe for a good frontline player we'd still be one player away from being a true contender. Our trio of combo guards makes us special, take one of them away and we join the Raptors, Wizards, Trailblazers group and that's AFTER we've acquired an all star frontline player. I want to develop what we have but if we need more help, I'd put Dragic, Bledsoe, Thomas, Len and the twins off limits for all but a blockbuster trade. I'd also like to hang on to Warren if possible but obviously he'd be available for the right deal.

Yes. Bledsoe as part of a trade for an all-star front court player would be a blockbuster

But every year there are all star front court players like Roy Hibbert, Brook Lopez, Luol Deng and so on and not a one of them would help us as much as Bledsoe does, IMO. Sure, I'd trade him for Davis, Griffin or Aldridge but those guys rarely get traded and when they do it's almost always to Hollywood or the Big Apple. Until then I'd prefer to hang on to potentially the best two way player we've had in decades. I wish he were 6'11 and an impact on both ends of the court but until one of those comes along, I don't see us improving by breaking up the one aspect of our team that puts us on the edge of contending. But obviously, your mileage varies.

[Christine-In-AZ]

I think we are one player away from being a contender right now and last night we saw the possibility that our missing player is already on the roster. IMO though, if we were to trade Bledsoe for a good frontline player we'd still be one player away from being a true contender. Our trio of combo guards makes us special, take one of them away and we join the Raptors, Wizards, Trailblazers group and that's AFTER we've acquired an all star frontline player. I want to develop what we have but if we need more help, I'd put Dragic, Bledsoe, Thomas, Len and the twins off limits for all but a blockbuster trade. I'd also like to hang on to Warren if possible but obviously he'd be available for the right deal.

Yes. Bledsoe as part of a trade for an all-star front court player would be a blockbuster

But every year there are all star front court players like Roy Hibbert, Brook Lopez, Luol Deng and so on and not a one of them would help us as much as Bledsoe does, IMO. Sure, I'd trade him for Davis, Griffin or Aldridge but those guys rarely get traded and when they do it's almost always to Hollywood or the Big Apple. Until then I'd prefer to hang on to potentially the best two way player we've had in decades. I wish he were 6'11 and an impact on both ends of the court but until one of those comes along, I don't see us improving by breaking up the one aspect of our team that puts us on the edge of contending. But obviously, your mileage varies.

Praying his knee(s) stay good for the long haul, which is another factor for me considering a future EB trade a reasonable strategy. During the summer it seemed like most everyone had some concern about his knee's history...the prognosis into the future. It doesn't seem to be a factor any longer.

[Zelaznyrules]

Praying his knee(s) stay good for the long haul, which is another factor for me considering a future EB trade a reasonable strategy. During the summer it seemed like most everyone had some concern about his knee's history...the prognosis into the future. It doesn't seem to be a factor any longer.

I have no concerns about his knee. Management has access to something we lack - specifically, the facts. If those facts suggest he is at significantly greater risk than the average player than yes, I'd try to minimize our risks by trading him. But from everything I've read there's little to no reason to anticipate further knee problems especially during the life of this contract. One of the reasons for all the fear about his knee was an early article that unintentionally made it sound like he'd had his entire meniscus removed when in fact it was only a small portion. And that was actually due to a failure of the first procedure a couple of years earlier rather than a new problem.

When it comes to Bledsoe and injuries I'm more concerned about his style of play than his injury history. Both he and Goran tend to hit the floor often when they drive to the hoop but for some reason, Eric's tumbles look a little scarier. I'm hoping as his game matures he'll find a way to stay upright more often on those plays.