Should the Knicks Trade for Kobe Bryant?
Fresh of another blowout loss, the Los Angeles Lakers’ 0-4 start to a doomed season has started to spring up rumors of an exit strategy to Kobe Bryant’s $48.5M contract. According to Chad Ford, the Knicks have been cited as one the teams that might be interested in trading for Kobe.
Of course the thought of taking on Kobe’s albatross contract just months before millions of dollars in cap space clears is something that would give Knick fans more nightmares than anything else this Halloween. However, when thinking of the pros and cons of a move like this, it’s easy to see why the Knicks are being linked to Kobe. Let’s quickly review the pros for both teams:
- Kobe would be reunited with former coach Phil Jackson, his old running mate and current Knicks coach Derek Fisher, and immediately would become the Knicks’ most experienced player in the triangle system.
- A few days earlier, Melo stated that he would love the chance to play with Kobe, so it would be a move embraced by the Knicks’ most important player. Over the summer Kobe also tried to pitch Melo on becoming a Laker, so the enthusiasm of playing together would be mutual.
- The Lakers, who have no shot at competing this year, would clear vital cap space in preparation for 2015’s Free Agency bonanza and likely attain some valuable pieces from Knicks; probably Shumpert and/or Hardaway.
- For the Knicks, 2015 Free Agency might not be a sure thing since targeted players like Marc Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge have already made overtures about remaining with their teams. With the new TV deal possibly resulting in a larger salary cap, perhaps $70M, Kobe’s remaining $25M next year might still leave around $15M left to field a team of veteran players.
Now for the cons:
- Kobe, currently averaging close to 25ppg, might still be a gifted scorer but at 36 years old, he is a major injury risk. He hasn’t played 80 games since 2011 and he will probably never be able to do that again. There’s simply too much money involved in making that kind of gamble.
- The Knicks would be making another patented myopic “win now” trade that always comes back to haunt them once that veteran All-Star starts to breakdown. The Phil Jackson era was supposed serve as a referendum against this kind of lunacy that Knick fans have become so used to.
- For the Lakers, trading Kobe would be one of the worst PR moves they can make after all that talk of how much Kobe means to the franchise this past spring. Kobe is also the only real draw at Laker games so trading him away would leave an entertainment vacuum that could take years to fill.
- Most importantly for the Knicks though, throwing away their cap flexibility this summer would be beyond foolish. Kobe sure makes it sound like retirement is around the corner and the Knicks are years away from Championship talk. Now is the time to bring in pieces that will be here for the rest of the decade, not players that are on the verge of retirement, regardless of how good they are.
Phil Jackson sees the game differently than most of us, but I don’t think that even he can convince himself that Kobe is the saving grace of the Knicks. There’s no denying how exciting it would be to see Kobe in a Knick uniform but that’s all it would be: excitement. It still might not bring the Knicks to the top three of the Eastern Conference, so what’s the point?
Knick fans deserve more than excitement though. This is a franchise starved for rings and unless there is a trade or acquisition that undoubtedly moves the needle closer to that, then I think its best passing on these blockbuster trade rumors regardless of how enticing it seems. The Knicks are building a new culture here and next year summer will be best chance at finding pieces that will be able contribute to that for many years moving forward.
To put it bluntly, when thinking about why this trade would be a bad move, there are simply 48.5 million reasons why.
Follow Richard Bertin on Twitter @RichardBertin and check out his Knicks’ blog “Starks Raving Mad” or email him at richbertin@gmail.com