Jason Kidd cannot pass on a good deal

New Jersey seems intent on trading Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks, so GM Rod Thorn traded Kidd again to Dallas.

The new deal — as reported by various media outlets Sunday night, all citing anonymous sources — has Kidd and forward Malik Allen going to Dallas for point guard Devin Harris, center DeSagana Diop and swingman Maurice Ager, plus a few new pieces: retired forward Keith Van Horn and Trenton Hassell.

New Jersey also will get two first-round draft picks and $3 million.

Van Horn and Hassell replace Jerry Stackhouse and Devean George. source

Rod Thorn was not done there, he just went right on trading with Dallas.

In a separate transaction, Dallas will acquire Antoine Wright for a second-round pick.

Hey, why not? Gotta a deal working with Dallas myself, if the commissioner allows by dead great grandfather to be included in the deal.

Van Horn hates paperwork

Talk about a guy that really hates his paperwork. Keith Van Horn never got around to filling out his retirement forms for New Jersey. That is why he can be included in the trade.

How does that work?

And why did you attend his retirement party a year ago. Feel kind of foolish now, don’t you?

Aaron McKie returns

Now it can be revealed that the same stuff took place in the Memphis Grizzlies to Los Angeles Kobe Lakers Pau Gasol trade.

the Los Angeles Lakers had to extricate the 35-year-old from a coaching job in Philadelphia before signing-and-trading him as part of their package for Gasol.

Nothing fishy there, since you only have to convince the league you are serious about playing for the new team. Yeah, right.

Money talks

Apparently there is not much to show are far as desire to play with the amount of money being thrown around. Keith Van Horn was not sure he wanted to leave his business interests in Colorado.

Sources close to the process insist, however, that the league has not imposed any time requirements for staying with the Nets that Van Horn must meet to collect the full $4.3 million he’s scheduled to receive for the rest of the season. source

Hmm, 4.3 millions reasons to leave Colorado.

Anyway, Kidd was traded to Dallas and may being playing as a Maverick with Dirk Nowitzki and company as soon as Wednesday.

If not, Rod Thorn can always trade him again.

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Maurice Brooks writes for NBA.com and has an ongoing article keeping track of his Top Ten nominations for NBA MVP.

It is called Race to the MVP Weekly Leaders.

Let’s take a look at Maurice’s list with your intrepid author’s comments in italics.

LeBron says – It is all about team (yeah, right)

1. LeBron – Last Week’s Rank – 1
The Cavs are six games below .500 without James in the lineup and 13 games above it when he plays. This past week I received a large amount of e-mails pointing out that he is in the East. Do you really think his stats would be any worse if he were in the West? As well as he has balled this season, he has been even better lately, averaging nearly 33 points, nine boards and six assists over his past six games.

You will get no argument from me. LeBron is bringing it right now and his team is winning.

2. Chris Paul

Wow, Maurice goes out of his way to rake Deron Williams over the coals, but the Hornets are hot right now and that helps.

3. Kobe Bryant

Maurice seems to think Pau Gasol will reduce Kobe’s chance to win the MVP, but your gallivanting author thinks it will increase his chances. Pau will be a number two star that will keep the winning coming, especially when they get Bynum back.

4. Steve Nash – I know there are a bunch of fans checking out R2MVP right now and wondering how come this guy is always in the top five. We’ll start with the fact that he is a great teammate, shoots over 50 percent from the floor and over 90 percent from the line, leads the league in assists and is the best player on the best team in the West and go from there.

Nash is unbelievable, but it is how he incorporates Shaq that will make the difference.

5. Dwight Howard

Maurice kids Dwight a bit and he is an emerging star, but this ranking just seems too high.

6. Allen Iverson

The only person that plays less D is Melo.

7. Paul Pierce

An unrecognized star for years, there is still the question of how well he will play number two star to Kevin Garnett.

8. Dirk Nowitzki

Wait a minute, this guy plays less D than AI.

9. Baron Davis

Love watching this guy play, but then Stephon Marbury amazes me too.

10. Kevin Garnett

This guy has to be in the top five. Come on.

Love Maurice’s column, but does he have to get down on Rasheed Wallace being picked for the All Star game? Rasheed has his ups and downs, but the Pistons are nothing without him. He routinely shuts down opposing centers and power forwards and scores his share in the Pistons balanced scoring offense.

Defense needs to be included in the MVP award and sadly is not.

Where is Tim Duncan?

NBA Basketball Fan Question Who is missing from your Top Ten?

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Shaq to change uniforms again

Has Shaq done it again.

Is Shaquille O’Neal up for “Rent a NBA Title”?

You get the Shaq, you win a title, and then you wait for someone to take him off your hands.

Quick quiz: What is missing from the Phoenix Doughnuts…er…Suns.

Answer: a center!

Quick quiz number 2: What is Shaq?

Answer: a center!

Are we starting to see the logic here?

No longer confident they can win a championship with their current roster, the Phoenix Suns are close to completing a blockbuster trade that will bring them Shaquille O’Neal, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said Tuesday.

O’Neal is scheduled to travel to Phoenix aboard a private plane Wednesday, the source said, to undergo an MRI on his ailing left hip. If he passes the physical, the Suns will complete the trade by sending Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat. source

This would allow Amare Stoudemire to move over to power forward. Although some tweaking of the Sun’s small ball run all the time offense may have to happen.

The trade represents a dramatic change for the Suns, whose run-and-gun, small-ball style had revolutionized the league in recent seasons. That same style, however, had failed to bring the Suns a championship, and team officials had become increasingly skeptical about their chances of contending without giving Amare Stoudemire some help on the front line.

The Lakers picking up Pau Gasol and moving to the head of the Western Conference list of favorites could be yesterday’s news.

Kobe Bryant thought Pau Gasol was taking him over the top. Now Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr has told the Western Conference, ”I see your Gasol and raise you one Shaq.” Shaq’s style doesn’t work in Phoenix? Taking passes from Nash kind of works for anyone. And dunking and shooting 60 percent fits just about anywhere.

The Suns need a center. The Suns get a center.

Look out Lakers!

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Kobe is flat out a great scorer

The Bulls have got to be wondering what they were thinking.

Hold on to Luol Deng and pass on Kobe Bryant?

Luol Deng. Now how many votes for the All Star team did he get? Hmm, there was that one from his mother. And that one from his agent.

Oh well, Luol is going to be great, right? Right?

Kobe is great and has been since the day he stepped on the court.

GM Mitch Kupchak should get more credit for not pulling off any deals.

Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports has compiled some first half of the season awards with the MVP being one of them. Let’s look at Adrian’s awards choices and why he feels that way.

Your intrepid author’s comments will be in italics.

Most Valuable Player: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

Sometimes, there are superstars due to win the Most Valuable Player Award. It is the year owed them. No one wants to hear this, but it’s true. Kevin Garnett has an MVP trophy. So does Dirk Nowitzki. Steve Nash has two. Once Shaquille O’Neal left, Bryant was considered an unworthy candidate because the Lakers were still losing. source

Adrian goes on to support his argument, by stating that LA winning in the West is far harder than Kevin Garnett winning in the East.

He also states that LeBron will win several MVP’s but this is just not the year for him to get support from his team.

It will be a great MVP race. Not like in past years where you arguable could have just handed the trophy to Shaq every year. In fact, it got to the point that someone had to get smoking hot to take the trophy away from Shaq.

For the first half of the season you have to go with Kobe.

Least Valuable Player: Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets

He has stopped going to the rim, stopped risking life and limb and declared his new four-year, $62 million contract fit for a suburban jump shooter.

Have never understood why Rod Thorn thought the Nets could win with a 6′ 4″ ball hog that played no D.

Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant, Seattle SuperSonics

Adrian brings up what could have happened with a healthy Greg Oden.

Kevin Durant is instant star power in a franchise that is floundering. He will be a star for his entire career and hopefully will leave town to play for franchise intent on winning.

Oden has the power to bring back the true center into the NBA. But at this point, Greg is just potential and Kevin is doing it.

Rookie Bust: Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls

no one can live with the insubordination that he showed with assistant coach Ron Adams prior to getting a two-game suspension in mid-January. Maybe his chatter will be entertaining when he’s considered a good player, but until then, Noah needs to grow up.

Just be glad you are not a kid in an adult world where everything you do is told to the media and printed the next day or shown on the internet. Noah will make it in this league. He will mature as well.

Executive Disaster of the Year: Isiah Thomas, New York Knicks

This is a career achievement award for Thomas. Kevin McHale has been a different disaster, but he does have a blossoming young star in Al Jefferson, No. 1 picks and cap space on the way. Odds are, he’ll do nothing with it, but at least you know Thomas has no chance with the constitution of his team.

All the Isiah Thomas stuff just stuns me. As a long time Piston fan it is so hard to fathom.

Did Isiah ruffle feathers as a Piston? Absolutely.

Did Isiah turn people off, in spite of his cherub smile and youthful energy? Absolutely.

Did Isiah move beyond all that and get the job done? Absolutely, positively.

Try two rings as the team leader of a franchise that had no belief in itself for decades.

And, like now, Thomas told everyone that he would do it!

Let me leave you with this thought, no matter how ludicrous. What if the Knicks start to win?

Adrian gives us some other awards, so be sure to check them out!

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He is at it again.

Johnny Ludden, Yahoo! Sports has come out with his Power Rankings of the NBA.

Let’s check out some of his top teams with your intrepid author’s comments in italics.

PARADE PLANNERS

1. (2) Boston Celtics – In less than a week, the Celtics were linked to Damon Stoudamire, Sam Cassell and Gary Payton. At this rate Bob Cousy will be back in uniform by mid-February.

Rajon Rondo a key to the Celtics

The Celtics put together a little win streak after their little losing streak. The injury to Rajon Rondo showed a weakness in the formerly impenetrable armor of the Celtics.

Rajon Rondo, who has missed the Celtics’ last two games and three of the last four with a combination of back and right hamstring woes, went through practice yesterday and thinks he’ll be ready to play this afternoon against the Knicks. His coach isn’t so sure. source

The Boston Celtics and GM Danny Ainge will most certainly be looking for point guard talent.

The player mentioned most often is Damon Stoudamire. Damon has been a shoot first player in the past and would not fit in well with the big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, all of whom need the ball on offense.

There is also accusations of a little too much bonging going on.

2. (7) New Orleans Hornets – The Hornets played in front of an announced crowd of 9,882 last week against Seattle, leading Chris Paul to shout to Kevin Durant: “First one to Oklahoma City wins!”

Chris Paul is awesome and the Hornets continue to be one of the surprise teams in the NBA. Hard to believe at this point they could survive the playoffs without more experience.

3. (5) Phoenix Suns – Let’s get this straight: Steve Kerr and Mike D’Antoni reportedly are at odds; Amare Stoudemire is miffed over his shot count; Shawn Marion wants to be traded; Boris Diaw forgot how to play; Grant Hill just had an appendectomy; Steve Nash claims the Suns haven’t had “that same joy” as previous seasons; and Phoenix continues to lead the Western Conference? Maybe there’s still hope for the Knicks, after all.

Face it, the Suns are loaded and play a style that few teams can stop. The missing piece is a center.

4. LA Lakers

Probably headed downward in the rankings until Andrew Bynum returns. Although Kobe may have something to say about that.

5. Dallas Mavericks

Love to watch this team play. They leave it all out on the floor in a race to see who shoots first. When they drafted Maurice Agar from Michigan State University, they announced they got him for defense. Still trying to figure out who Mo ever guarded. So is Tom Izzo. My friend, Ron B, points out that compared to the Mavericks; Mo is a defensive wizard.

6. Detroit Pistons

Another team lacking a post defensive presence. When Rasheed Wallace wants to shine, the Pistons are unbeatable.

7. San Antonio Spurs

Because of Tim Duncan, a Center, you can’t count out the Spurs come playoff time.

8. Portland Trailblazers

Think what this team becomes with the defensive presence of Greg Oden. Unfortunately that happens next year.

9. Golden State Warriors

The mini version of Phoenix starring Baron Davis.

10. Denver Nuggets

Plagued with injuries and lacking defense. What will happen to this George Karl team?

Teams poised to move up:

Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James,

Orlando Magic with Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and a big victory over my Pistons

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Least they forget who has ruled the Pacific Division in recent years; Phoenix brought their ‘A’ game.

The Phoenix Suns have won the Pacific Division title in each of the last three seasons, due in part to their success against the Los Angeles Lakers.

With the Lakers in the midst of their longest winning streak in nearly four years, though, the Suns’ dominance suddenly appears to be in jeopardy. source

Could Chris Weber soon be a Laker?

It was, of course, a game without Andrew Bynum, but this is not the time for excuses, since Phoenix plays without a true center all the time anyway.

LA and Kobe have been red hot lately and fully expected to win this game.

Phoenix outshot the Lakers 51.9 percent to 37.9 percent and that was pretty much the story. If you allow the Suns to shoot over 50 percent, you are in deep trouble.

Leandro Barbosa scored 22 points, Shawn Marion added 20 points and 16 rebounds, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 106-98 on Thursday night to regain the Western Conference lead.

Boris Diaw scored 19 points, Amare Stoudemire and Raja Bell added 16 each, and Steve Nash had 13 points and a season-high 20 assists for the Suns (27-12), who won for the eighth time in 11 games to move a half-game ahead of the Lakers. source

20 assists? Just a thought here, but is Steve Nash puts up 20 dishes for hoops, you are going down! 20 assists? Unreal!

The Bynum-less Lakers

The Lakers without Bynum looked out of rhythm to start the game and later Kwame Brown, the Bynum replacement, looked terrible and drew the fans catcalls.

In fact, they looked like a group of guys who just met for a pickup game at the park, rather than the cohesive unit that had won seven in a row. Their confidence was absent and their momentum was lost in a maze of unsteady play.

Shots clanged off the rim and backboard.

Passes missed their mark.

Rebounds went unclaimed.

Defensive plans crumbled. source

Chris Weber

There was speculation that Chris Weber might soon be signing with the Lakers to fill in for Andrew Bynum. Don’t forget Chris Mihm is also out with an injury for at least a couple of more weeks.

Webber told a Sacramento television station Monday that he expects to sign with an NBA team within two weeks. He said he has received plenty of offers, but is determined to take his time and find the best fit.

“I have three teams in my head (but) I don’t want to (name them),” Webber said, “but I know I’ll be back.”

In fact, the 34-year-old Webber might fit nicely in the Lakers’ high-tempo offense. He was a shooter, passer, rebounder and defender of some renown during a well-traveled 14-year career. He has not played since last spring, however. source

Other players mentioned are P.J. Brown and DJ Mbenga.

The Lakers need to find some solution as the schedule get a whole lot harder right now with a series of winning teams coming up.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will Weber sign with the Lakers?

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If Andrew Bynum keeps it up, hmm, maybe we can win it all

This one is tough to figure out. Maybe you can explain it to me.

If there are any ardent Laker followers, then please leave a comment and explain to me how this group of Lakers can be playing so well.

Phil Jackson must own a lot of mirrors, because it appears he is doing it with mirrors.

Then again, love him or not, Kobe Bryant is special and may just be carrying the Lakers to greater glory. The Lakers are 9 – 3 in December.

The Lakers beat the Suns in the Christmas special NBA game.

The score was Lakers 122 Phoenix 115.

You have heard me expound on the proposed trade of Kobe to Chicago and how Chicago should pull out all the stops to get Kobe. Well, how does it look now with Chicago sinking in the sun and firing Coach Skiles, meanwhile the Lakers are on a roll?

It was rumored that there were two obstacles in the Chicago deal at various points of negotiations. One was Luol Deng of the Bulls and the other was Andrew Bynum of the Lakers. Both teams were ardent about not parting with their young talent.

It appears that Bynum is starting to pay dividends for the Lakers.

Bryant, who complained about a lack of talent around him, has gotten plenty of help recently, especially from the 20-year-old Bynum, who shot 11-of-13 in outplaying Phoenix center Amare Stoudemire.

Bynum left to a roar of approval from the Staples Center crowd of 18,997 and a hand-slap from Bryant with 11.5 seconds to play. source

The victory was a particular pleasure to the Lakers, because the Suns have knocked them out of the first round of the playoffs the last two years in a row. The Lakers need to know they can beat the suns. It is all about confidence.

Kobe NBA records

Kobe is starting to break into the NBA record book.

Bryant, who became the youngest player ever to reach 20,000 career points Sunday in New York, moved past Tom Chambers into 30th place on the career list with his 31st point of this game, which came on a corkscrew jumper that gave the Lakers a 102-95 lead.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can the Lakers overtake the Suns for the Pacific Division?

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Nobody loves me

The rift between Jerry Buss and Kobe Bryant grows ever wider until it appears like the Grand Canyon.

Kobe must go!

How do you do that when he has a no trade clause, a huge contract, is getting up there in NBA years, and worst of all is displaying a definite attitude problem.

Would other teams want to take on the Kobe act of defiance? Few would find it easy to turn down such an offer. Unfortunately, only the Bulls, Mavs, and Suns are on the table right now.

The owner has destroyed Los Angeles’ leverage on a possible trade, delivering an unmistakable message to the Bulls and Mavericks: Don’t bother throwing Luol Deng and Dirk Nowitzki in possible packages, because it’s become clearer that a peaceful co-existence of Bryant and the fledgling Lakers is less and less likely. source

To decode that message, Kobe’s trade value is dropping because he will become a free agent soon enough and the Lakers are not going to be a place where Kobe wants to stay. So why trade when you can just pay?

Jerry Buss seems to be at the end of his rope.

Maybe Buss was still livid enough with Bryant for calling him an “idiot” over the summer, but turning a peaceful training camp into a circus again because he wanted to tell everyone that he was willing to unload Bryant gave No. 24 a chance to re-cast himself as a victim, and check out of practice – if not his locker – for the week.

The most logical and most often named team to acquire Kobe’s services is the young, make that, oh so young Bulls. Being so young it is hard to evaluate if the core they have is enough to win a NBA Championship.

So far, they don’t know if this core can become a champion. Maybe Dallas knows it can’t win as currently constituted; after all, there’s a body of evidence building that says so. What if the Bulls do trade away Deng, along with a Tyrus Thomas and a Thabo Sefolosha and Bryant does start to have serious trouble with those aging knees? The Celtics had no choice but to trade its young players for Kevin Garnett. They had nothing to lose. But the Bulls? If the Bulls re-sign Deng and Ben Gordon to extensions, they have a contender for the next decade.

Mitch Kupchak somehow comes off all innocent in this debacle.

After GM Mitch Kupchak couldn’t pry Dwyane Wade in the Shaquille O’Neal trade, how could the Lakers now justify working deals with Dallas or Chicago that don’t include the best players on those teams, Nowitzki and Deng?

Even now, Kupchak doesn’t have the best returning player from the Shaq trade in his employ, Caron Butler, because he somehow moved him to Washington for Kwame Brown.

Let’s face it Kobe, you are history.

NBA Basketball Fan Question What team would be the perfect fit for Kobe?

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Hmm, Kobe ponders where to play?

Summer of 2009.

Mark it on your calendar. Well, don’t mark the whole dang summer. It was just an expression.

Anyway, Summer of 2009 is when Kobe can walk out of LA as a Free (Agent) man.

Where oh Where will Kobe go? Sounds like a start to a good poem.

5 top reporters were polled on the possibility of the Lakers trading him first. Where would he go? (Must be they forgot about me, huh?)

The reporters are J.A. Adande, ESPN.com, Chris Broussard, ESPN The Mag, Ric Bucher, ESPN The Mag, Chris Sheridan, ESPN.com, and Marc Stein, ESPN.com.

Wait a minute; those are 5 ESPN reporters, which is why yours truly was not asked.

To get on with the story, Adande said Kobe would go to the Bulls.

The Bulls have a wealth of talented, smart young players. But the Lakers have to hold out for Luol Deng and/or Ben Gordon. They can’t make the same mistake they made the last time they dealt a superstar, when they sent Shaquille O’Neal to Miami and didn’t get a single all-star in return. source

The Bulls, of course, are dreaming it would be the second coming of MJ with the only problem in that scenario being that there is only one Michael Jordan.

Broussard has Kobe going to maybe Chicago, maybe Dallas, but not Phoenix. Geez, make up your mind.

I think Dallas will be in the hunt (if I were the Mavs, I’d trade Dirk for Kobe straight up). Forget the Knicks, and I don’t see how Phoenix can get it done without breaking up its duo of Nash and Stoudemire.

Hmm, Dirk on the Lakers? Why would they do that? Kobe shoots enough without having a 7 foot outside gunner. No knock on Dirk as he is a perfect fit for the shoot before you blink Dallas team.

Bucher thinks Dallas or Chicago and ponders the Celtics.

If the Lakers would accept a Paul Pierce package, he’d happily go play with KG and Ray Allen. Would the Lakers accept a Suns package that didn’t include Nash or Amare? He’d go there, too.

My guess is that Chicago remains the only logical choice for both Kobe and the Lakers, because it puts him in the East, far from L.A. — as well as San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix, if you can smell what I’m steppin’ in. He does have a no-trade clause, so he won’t go just anywhere and he won’t go to a team stripped of contention by the deal.

Hey, this Chicago/Dallas thing is getting old. Kobe has a no trade clause and these are the only two teams on his short list with Phoenix on the long list.

Sheridan also has Kobe going to the Bulls and amuses us with the number of players needed in return to match salaries. Another interesting notion he gives us is the Knicks.

But no one has deeper pockets than Dolan, who would be more than willing to pay Kobe’s full trade kicker and give him an extension that would make even Allan Houston jealous.

Still, there’s always the question of whether the Lakers would accept anything offered by New York, which would try to overwhelm the Lakers with some voluminous combination of Jamal Crawford plus young talent on rookie contracts (David Lee, Renaldo Balkman, Nate Robinson, Randolph Morris), plus Malik Rose or Quentin Richardson for salary cap purposes.

What is that smell? Is it David Stern thinking of reviving the Chicago market or better yet jump starting the New York market?

Sheridan also toys with the idea of a New Jersey trade of Vince Carter. Unfortunately, Vince is no Kobe.

Stein brings up the point that Kobe Bryant has the only no trade clause in the NBA. The only one in the NBA (that beared repeating). How stupid is Jerry Buss?

The only teams on Kobe’s list are Chicago, Phoenix (not going to happen), and Dallas.

So what does your NBA Hit and Run Obsessed author think? How funny it would be to trade him to Miami! Actually, it is easy to say Chicago, but if Kobe allowed it, the Nets, Celtics, Cavs, and Pacers all have possibilities.

We will have to keep tabs on how this unfolds.

But the handwriting is on the wall. Kobe will not be a Laker for much longer.

NBA Basketball Fan Question What city do you have Kobe going to?

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Kobe Bryant is dreaming of an NBA Title

Last spring Kobe asked to be traded. That did not work.

So, Kobe begged to be traded. That did not work.

Kobe mentioned that there was not enough talent around him and if the GM could add some good players, then Kobe would want to stay and bring a title to LA.

Like the proverbial lead balloon, Kobe’s teammates did not take too kindly to his analysis.

The owner, Jerry Buss, tried and tried to get Kevin Garnett, but to no avail as he ended up in Boston playing with the long time Celtic, Paul Pierce.

The pre-season started and Kobe wisely shut his trap. He knew he would have to play the hand that was dealt him. There would be no deals.

What is Kobe to do?

Now Jerry Buss is back at it again.

Jerry Buss has already shown that he’ll part with superstars. Yet upon hearing that the Los Angeles Lakers‘ owner would consider trading Kobe Bryant, even Shaquille O’Neal was shocked.

“I guess it’s business before loyalty. But, wow. He said that?” O’Neal said Thursday in Miami after learning Buss told reporters he would trade Bryant under the right circumstances.

Buss indeed did, telling three Los Angeles-area beat writers covering training camp in Honolulu on Wednesday that he “would certainly listen” to trade offers for the two-time NBA scoring champion. source

The Lakers made Kobe very rich right after they traded Shaq to the Miami Heat.

Bryant has four years worth $88.6 million left on the seven-year contract he signed a day after O’Neal was traded, but can terminate the deal in two years. That would leave $47.8 million on the table.

But Kobe wants to win a title. Bryant would love to win that title for the Lakers. It would be so sweet, but if that is not going to happen, then Kobe would like a trade to where he can win a NBA Championship.

The previous titles were on the back of Shaquille O’neal. Kobe wants to prove he can win one without the Shaq.

Keep in mind, Shaq won a title after he left for Miami and did it with a young Dwyane Wade and not much else. This is what Kobe wants. He wants to leave his mark and time is running out.

Even though Kobe is only 29, he is going into his 12th season and that is a lot of pounding on his knees and ankles. Some people believe Kobe is comparable to a 33 year old in the NBA, because of the pounding.

So for this year Kobe will be stuck on a not very talented Laker team and spend his time hoping and hoping for the chance at a title.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will Kobe make the playoffs this year?

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