The Lakers Should Trade Kobe to Brooklyn
By now, you’ve probably not only read Henry Abbott’s ESPN article detailing Kobe’s role in the decline of the Lakers, but also formed a strong opinion on it. When the subject is Kobe, it’s almost impossible not to pick sides. Most (all?) of the sources quoted in Abbott’s story seem to have chosen the one opposite Kobe. These front office staffers and NBA insiders think the Lakers will be impossible to rebuild while their aging superstar is on the roster, being a complete asshole, and they can only wait and hope he retires.
If sources inside the Lakers feel comfortable salivating in print over their prospects once Kobe’s gone, it stands to reason that many of them would be in favor for speeding the process along by trading their superstar. But even if ownership was convinced to sign off, who would take him at this stage of his career, at this salary?
The Lakers must get something substantial in return for Kobe, but it won’t be any first round picks. With the exit of Herb Kohl in Milwaukee, the league lost its last small-market owner willing to trade valuable youth for a star worth anything less than a championship piece. That eliminates all these teams hoarding cap space, since their main assets are picks and youth. So the Lakers need to find another team in their situation: big market, big salaries, not enough wins. The Knicks prefer Carmelo, so that route is gone. Only the Nets remain.
The willingness of the Nets to overpay for established talent has been well chronicled, fueled by Billy King’s hunger for name brand stars and disdain for draft picks. But the Nets have precious little to show for their splurges. Paul Pierce is gone, Kevin Garnett will most likely retire after this year, and Deron Williams still can’t get his groove back. If instead the Nets can double down with Kobe, they may not need to spend as many seasons simply paying back their trade debts. And Kobe would be a perfect match for up-and-coming Brooklyn, which could now claim a piece of one of the most famous players ever. Mikhail Prokhorov, their brash billionaire Russian owner, could be the most eager advocate of such a match.
Get NBA Hipster’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Kobe can block any trade, but he would have to consider the probable benefits. After the backlash to this current extension, it’s unlikely the Lakers would be generous with Kobe in the less unlikely scenario he decides he wants to keep playing past 2016. The Nets, on the other hand, will have cap space, but no first round pick in 2016 or 2018. Old Kobe could be the draw they need as they plod through a slow-motion rebuild (and a possible sale). That next extension might be a reason for Kobe to waive his no-trade clause: the Nets could make him the highest paid player in basketball for two more years.
Here are three theoretical trades that work:
- Kobe straight up for Deron Williams. The Lakers are able to get a productive, albeit declining, star; the Nets can start Joe Johnson at SF, Kobe at SG, and Jarrett Jack at PG for a productive, albeit inefficient, scoring attack.
- Kobe straight up for Joe Johnson. This would be the most explicit acknowledgement by both teams that the trade is purely for aesthetics. The Lakers are tired of Kobe’s bullshit, and the Nets value stardom over production. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t sell this trade to their fanbases.
- Kobe in exchange for KG, Teletovic, Bogdanovic, and several other pieces. KG could waive his no-trade clause to spend the last year of his career in LA, a city he loves. The Lakers two up-and-coming European players to develop. And while it is painful for the Nets to lose those two, they are able to field a core of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Kobe Bryant, which sounds too insane on paper to dismiss.
The Lakers would have a long way to go selling any Kobe trade to their fanbase. The front office would need to find the religion they lost, and put faith in the fact that a quicker return to their winning ways would silence the discontent. It remains to be seen whether they could offer up the ultimate sacrifice on the altar of winning: Kobe, the player who has been their star for five championships and almost two decades.
