IF we get Kobe

[slinslin]

What are we going to do with the rest of the capspace? Probably 2M$ if Colangelo is right. Resign Dice for 2M$ I would guess.

Dice/Voshkul/Vroman?
Amare/Lampe
Marion/Zarko
Kobe/Jacobsen
JJ/Barbosa/Eisley

Would we be done already?

 

[Goldfield]

Thats why I was kinda pushing a sign & trade for Nash + fillers...

With Zarko, JJ & Kobe all able to play the 3, Marion isnt as needed as a good PG would be.


Or if not for Nash, then for a solid center...

 

[slinslin]

Sign and trade Joe Johnson, Howard Eisley for Nash and Josh Howard would be decent as well.
I am just scared that Joe won't be as effective as this season with Kobe. With Marion you know what you are getting regardless.

 

[Forrestham]

I would not bet on Kobe coming here. If he is convicted, would his contract be voided?

 

[slinslin]

Yes it would.

 

[Forrestham]

That would put me a little more at ease on signing him. Would not want to see a Grant Hill situation with a contract. I do not think he will be convicted

 

[playstation]

its not the suns ease with signing him, its his ease with signing with us thats the problem.

here's why i think kobes not coming. imagine you're kobe bryant, you're worth millions of dollars and you got a girl waiting for you in eagle, CO, and up walks jerry buss and says the following:

"alright kobe, you don't want phil, i'll fire phil. you don't want shaq, i'll trade shaq. we'll hire whatever coach you want. you will aid in our personnel decisions so you can play with who you feel makes you play at your best. i will offer you the opportunity to buy a part of the franchise so that when you retire, you'll always be a laker. I'm offering you every opportunity in the book, along with the ability to play with a franchise many people refer to as the yankees of basketball, and i'm willing to pay you more than any other team is able to for the retention of your services. after all of that, if you still want to leave, i understand, but good luck convincing your wife."

now before you say jerry buss would never say such a thing, you all know the marching orders in LA are to keep kobe at all costs. if it comes to it, i'm sure he'll be offered all i listed, and maybe more. if jerry does not offer everything listed (low probability imo), then maybe we have a chance in hell.

now if i'm kobe, there's no way i leave that for phoenix of all places. remember, if i'm kobe, i have a large enough ego to think that if i'm involved in personnel decisions, i will drive the team to titles. and in addition to that i get the most money of all other options AND get to play for the lakers? thats a no brainer...

 

[Chaplin]

its not the suns ease with signing him, its his ease with signing with us thats the problem.

here's why i think kobes not coming. imagine you're kobe bryant, you're worth millions of dollars and you got a girl waiting for you in eagle, CO, and up walks jerry buss and says the following:

"alright kobe, you don't want phil, i'll fire phil. you don't want shaq, i'll trade shaq. we'll hire whatever coach you want. you will aid in our personnel decisions so you can play with who you feel makes you play at your best. i will offer you the opportunity to buy a part of the franchise so that when you retire, you'll always be a laker. I'm offering you every opportunity in the book, along with the ability to play with a franchise many people refer to as the yankees of basketball, and i'm willing to pay you more than any other team is able to for the retention of your services. after all of that, if you still want to leave, i understand, but good luck convincing your wife."

now before you say jerry buss would never say such a thing, you all know the marching orders in LA are to keep kobe at all costs. if it comes to it, i'm sure he'll be offered all i listed, and maybe more. if jerry does not offer everything listed (low probability imo), then maybe we have a chance in hell.

now if i'm kobe, there's no way i leave that for phoenix of all places. remember, if i'm kobe, i have a large enough ego to think that if i'm involved in personnel decisions, i will drive the team to titles. and in addition to that i get the most money of all other options AND get to play for the lakers? thats a no brainer...

You're missing one very important point.

Whether he goes to Phoenix or stays in LA, it will be HIS team. There's no arguing that (unless your Scotsman who thinks for some reason that it is Amare's team ONLY).

But here's the thing: In LA, IF he stays, that team will be horrible. There is a much brighter future in Phoenix.

If anything, it will come down to how badly he wants the money--and if the pros of Phoenix outweigh those millions. IMO, they do, but I'm just a homer, so my opinion can't be trusted.

 

[JCSunsfan]

in hell.

now if i'm kobe, there's no way i leave that for phoenix of all places. remember, if i'm kobe, i have a large enough ego to think that if i'm involved in personnel decisions, i will drive the team to titles. and in addition to that i get the most money of all other options AND get to play for the lakers? thats a no brainer...

Which means we can't lose.

If Kobe's humble enough and has enough common sense to realize that he needs a reasonable supporting cast and that he's a great player and NOT a general manager--he'll come to Phoenix.

If he's an incurable egomaniac who believes he can be his team's top scorer, ball handler rebounder, coach, gm, assistant owner, pr man and water boy--he'll stay in LA.

 

[George O'Brien]

Which means we can't lose.

If Kobe's humble enough and has enough common sense to realize that he needs a reasonable supporting cast and that he's a great player and NOT a general manager--he'll come to Phoenix.

If he's an incurable egomaniac who believes he can be his team's top scorer, ball handler rebounder, coach, gm, assistant owner, pr man and water boy--he'll stay in LA.

I just can't see Kobe being willing to be his own water boy.

 

[playstation]

kobe will not believe any team with him on it will be horrible. the lakers will be fine, and in case you haven't noticed, historically speaking the lakers haven't had too much trouble attracting top talent to their team, so worst case he have to wait one year. big deal

 

[Chaplin]

kobe will not believe any team with him on it will be horrible. the lakers will be fine, and in case you haven't noticed, historically speaking the lakers haven't had too much trouble attracting top talent to their team, so worst case he have to wait one year. big deal

They don't have the money to attract top talent.

 

[coloradosun]

Shaq has put his house on the market in LA. Quote "When I said I want out I wasn't messing around". Go To realgm.com

Kobe is staying put. If the Lakers can pay Shaq 26M a year, they will find a way to pay Kobe the same if not more.

 

[slinslin]

Kobe is staying put. If the Lakers can pay Shaq 26M a year, they will find a way to pay Kobe the same if not more.

 

[coloradosun]

Are you rolling your eyes at me?

 

[slinslin]

Yes because it is impossible to pay Kobe more than 14.3 or so. The Lakers and Suns will pay him EXACTLY the same amount in the first year.

The only difference is that he can get an additional 2.5% raise in LA after every year and an extra contract year.

The ONLY reason Shaq is making so much money is because his original contract was signed before the lockout and before the current CBA.

I still think we have a very good chance to get Kobe.

Duncan could not have signed an extension. He had to opt out to get a new contract.
Same for Jason Kidd.

Marbury , Iverson and Garnett though all signed extensions instead of opting out in a year.

Sorry but not agreeing on a max extension and playing a full year with the risk of suffering a career ending injury before signing the next contract, and opting out.

That's not signs of someone wanting to stay... And to say Kobe just wants to do what Duncan and Kidd did is not correct.

Just because Shaq wants out now doesn't mean Kobe wants to stay all of a sudden.

 

[SunsTzu]

Shaq has put his house on the market in LA. Quote "When I said I want out I wasn't messing around". Go To realgm.com

Kobe is staying put. If the Lakers can pay Shaq 26M a year, they will find a way to pay Kobe the same if not more.

Trading Shaq and keeping Kobe is easier said than done. Getting sufficient talent and matching salaries would be difficult. If a team like Dallas is not willing to part with Dirk, but gives expiring contracts and some young talent instead why would Kobe want to stay? With the Suns and Clippers they already have pieces in place for him to have success.

 

[coloradosun]

As I mentioned in another thread, MONEY TALKS, and the additonal money and length of contract Kobe can sign is the reason he opted out of this contract.

And when did Kobe say " I REALLY WANT OUT OF L.A., I HATE WHAT THE LAKERS HAVE DONE TO ME AND MY FAVORITE COACH PHIL JACKSON".

 

[slinslin]

As I mentioned in another thread, MONEY TALKS, and the additonal money and length of contract Kobe can sign is the reason he opted out of this contract.

Wrong again.

The money is exactly the same.

And the one additional year is the reason he played a whole year with the risk of suffering a career ending injury instead of signing the same contract for 6 years?

Marbury, Iverson, Garnett.... they are all prove that superstars sign extensions if they want to stay..

 

[coloradosun]

It's a power play. If he had not threatened to opt out and actually opt out, Jackson might still be the coach and Shaq might not be crying foul and want out. It now becomes Kobe's team because of this tactical move. Marbury, Garnett and Iverson already had this power before they agreed to their extensions, they did not have to share the spotlight with anyone else.

 

[slinslin]

Marbury didn't have to share the spotlight with Amare? Marbury knew oh too well that Amare would become the star of this team.

To summarize some things that were said before.

The money difference is only about 10-15M$ if you adjust the contracts to the same length. That is not even counting the higher taxes in California.

Kobe and his wife are rumored to divorce after the trial. They say she already hired a lawyer and wants to cash in on his new contract. In that case the total difference becomes even smaller.

Kobe is friends with the D'Antoni and knows him since he is a young boy. He wears the #8, the same numer D'Antoni, an italian league legend, was wearing in Italy when Kobe lived there.

Kobe's father is friends with D'Antoni as well and already said he would like his son to play for the Suns.

Before Kobe was drafted he worked out for the Suns. Him and his parents went to dinner with Colangelo before the draft. Kobe already agreed he would play for them.
It was only spoiled because the Lakers worked out a trade with Charlotte to get 2 spots ahead of the Suns.

If Kobe goes to Phoenix he knows he can take all the credit for turning around the team like Jason Kidd did in New Jersey and becomes immediately the frontrunner for MVP.

Even if the Lakers can trade Shaq they won't be able to put as much talent around Kobe as Kobe would have in Phoenix with Amare, Marion, Johnson, Barbosa...

If you were at the last Lakers-Suns game in Phoenix you would probably agree that there is a good chance.
When the teams came back on the floor after halftime Kobe was for minutes at the Suns bench joking with and hugging D'Antoni.

He almost forgot to go back to the Lakers bench when the quarter started. He had to sprint down the whole court.

Amare has a lot of respect for Kobe. He said Kobe was the player who impressed him the most during his rookie season.
Kobe has a lot or respect for Amare. He said Amare was hands down the rookie of the year and it wasn't even close.

I hope that's enough indications for starters.

While there is definately a good chance he remains in LA there is a very good chance he signs with Phoenix as well. Lakers fans are underestimating that chance because most Lakers fans are very ignorant.

It's Phoenix or Lakers.

 

[Skkorpion]

Kobe's trial begins Aug. 27. Who knows when a verdict will finally emerge? So it's unlikely anything happens before the end of September as far as contract offers.

At least this subject is helping keep our ASFN traffic count up.

 

[slinslin]

Kobe's trial begins Aug. 27. Who knows when a verdict will finally emerge? So it's unlikely anything happens before the end of September as far as contract offers.

At least this subject is helping keep our ASFN traffic count up.

Disagree.

Kobe will have a bunch of max contract on the table he can sign. Starting July 14th.

 

[SunsTzu]

Marbury, Garnett and Iverson already had this power before they agreed to their extensions, they did not have to share the spotlight with anyone else.

Yeah Marbury clearly had all the power on the Suns last year and a coach he loved.............

If the Lakers can't get a good return on Shaq or do not trade Shaq at all I think the chances of him leaving the Lakers are pretty good.

 

[SunsTzu]

Kobe will have a bunch of max contract on the table he can sign. Starting July 14th.

I agree. I don't see how a team can wait that long at the risk of him not signing and missing out on other FA.