NBA Trade Rumors: Kobe Bryant Smart to Subtly Hint Lakers Need to Tweak Roster

Kobe Bryant is the type of player that would come out and say if he thought the Los Angeles Lakers flat out needed to acquire help to compete for a championship.

But he's also smart enough to know when to hint that the Lakers should, at the very least, tweak their roster without offending any of the current players who have already been the subject of trade rumors, such as Pau Gasol.

This is exactly why his comments yesterday were a brilliantly subtle indication to the Lakers' front office that the team will need to make some changes if they hope to compete for a championship.

He started subtle. (All quotes via Dave Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.)

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"I'm sure they'll do something," Bryant said. "They'll tweak something. I don't know what. But I'm sure they'll do something."

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He ramped it up a bit.

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"They obviously tried to pull the trigger on a trade that they thought was going to improve our team with CP and it just didn't happen. But, that shows me that they're thinking in the right direction in terms of doing things to improve our ballclub. So that's why I'm not really tripping on it. We have to be patient and we have to make the right moves and I'm sure we will."

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And he delivered the key point—the Lakers should wait until the right move comes along, but a move should probably be made.

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"The motivation is for us to build a contender. It's not to just kind of sit around and see what falls in our lap. That's not the impression that I get from management at all, so I think that allows me to be patient. You can't just rush into things and then you make bad decisions, you make bad choices, you're locked into bad contracts. So, it's important to be patient, make right choices and we'll be fine."

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If Kobe was convinced the Lakers could win as currently constructed, there is absolutely no way he makes these comments.

You obviously can always make your team better, but do you think if Kevin Durant was asked about trades in Oklahoma City he would say anything beyond, "Hey man, we believe we have a championship-caliber roster already. If management thinks they can improve things, so be it, but we already think we're good enough."

No, I don't think he would.

Kobe is smart. He knows the Lakers need help. He knows the best way to frame his point is to say the motivation is always to build a contender, not to frame his point as this particular roster absolutely needs an upgrade.

They need tweaking, according to Kobe.

Unless it takes more than tweaking to bring another championship to Los Angeles, that is.

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