Kobe Bryant Playing in Turkey Would've Been a Blessing in Disguise

Kobe Bryant is one of the best shooting guards in the game.

Deron Williams is one the best point guards in the game. 

The Lakers have a gaping hole at the point guard position. 

During this NBA lockout, any news is good news. Kobe Bryant playing on the same team overseas with Deron Williams would've been great news.

We've already seen what can happen when star players go out and recruit other star players (see Dwyane Wade creating the Big Three in Miami). Kobe has already shown this willingness to recruit with Ron Artest and Matt Barnes. 

If Kobe would've made the move overseas with D-Will (it's still a possibility), it would've been a flat out win-win situation. 

Kobe gets to play basketball and work on polishing his game even further than he already has in addition to having an opportunity to recruit one of the best point guards in the league.

Deron Williams is taller, has a better outside shot and is stronger than Chris Paul. Paul is an amazing player in his own right, and the Lakers would be overjoyed to add him to their team, but Deron Williams is the more realistic option at this point in time.

The Hornets are not willing to part with Paul at all and would want Andrew Bynum to be included into the deal if they were. The only player in in the league the Lakers should trade Andrew Bynum for is Dwight Howard. True back-to-the-basket centers are far too rare in the league to give up without seeking equal value in return.

More likely than not, Deron Williams is not resigning with the New Jersey Nets, and he has no loyalty bound to them at all (unlike CP3 with the Hornets). That means that the All-Star point guard is up for grabs if he chooses to opt out of his current contract after the 2011-12 season.

The chances of the Lakers actually signing Deron Williams or any of the looming All-Star free-agent names that have been floating around are slim. They're way over the salary cap and they just don't have too many pieces they're willing to part with.

With the new CBA, it's a strong possibility that the Lakers may not be able to offer Williams the type of money he can make elsewhere. However, great players in the past have taken pay cuts for the opportunity to win a ring. 

Which is definitely in the back of his mind.