Knicks Rumors: Trading for Kobe Bryant Would Set Back New York's Future

Only in the Big Apple would a retooling franchise get linked to a 36-year-old with a massive contract. The New York Knicks acquiring Kobe Bryant is highly improbable, but the slim notion of them possibly entertaining the idea would derail their efforts to repair a sinking ship.

The New York Daily News' Frank Isola kicked around the tire on such a blockbuster move that is fun to consider even though it has less than 1 percent chance of materializing. An anonymous general manager told him that Bryant would have to push a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers to reunite with Phil Jackson.

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The Lakers could begin the rebuilding process immediately by removing Bryant’s salary from their cap. The Knicks are one team that has expiring contracts to placate Los Angeles.

'I don’t see it happening,' said one Eastern Conference GM. 'I’d put it at minus 20%.'

The same general manager thought about it for a moment and added: 'The only way this happens is if Kobe goes to the Lakers and asked to be traded.'

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SNY and NBA.com insider Adam Zagoria has also heard the big-name star and big-name franchise connected to each other. He's also, however, among the many who don't understand why the Knicks would ever even hypothetically consider it.

All the while, Bryant has vehemently denied wanting to jump ship from the 1-5 Lakers. He told USA Today Sports' Sam Amick that he isn't going anywhere.

"It's not going to happen," Bryant said. "It's not going to happen. You go through the good times, you've got to go through the bad times."

Easy to say six games into the season, but what happens when the Lakers stick to the bottom with no signs of improvement? That thought has spurned the trade speculation, and if the Knicks were dumb enough to take on Andrea Bargnani's massive contract, what's to stop them from erring again?

They may not want to admit it, but the Knicks are in a rebuilding year. Sure, they kept star Carmelo Anthony, but they have little supporting talent to claim anything more than a late playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Even that's an uncertainty following a 2-6 start.

Under Jackson's watch, the Knicks have only gone backwards. Entering Monday night, they declined significantly in points scored and allowed per possession, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Year	Record	OFF RTG	DEF RTG
2013-14	37-45	108.3	109.1
2014-15	2-6	103.7*	112.1*

But hey, they actually have their first-round pick. So toil away for a year, procure another young piece and fortify the roster by assembling talent from within. Like a normal team.

If they labor through one uneventful year, they can press the reset button around Anthony. They'll clear nearly $35 million by getting Bargnani and Amar'e Stoudemire off the books, per Spotrac. That gives them enough salary space to pursue an impact free agent such a Marc Gasol, as suggested by Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher in the video below.

In order to match Bryant's massive salary, they'd need to offer up at least one of those expiring contracts. Hardly seems worth watching Bryant and Anthony fight for the ball for two years.

While banking on free agency again makes New York fans uneasy, it beats trading for a 19-year pro inflating his stats with nobody else to help in Los Angeles. On the surface, Bryant is enjoying a bounce-back season after playing just six games last year. He's averaging 26.5 points per game with 5.3 rebounds, giving it his all on a dismal Lakers squad. 

Yet, Bryant is thriving on sheer volume alone. He's also shooting a career-low 39.4 percent, leading the NBA with 23.7 shot attempts per game. Iman Shumpert, meanwhile, is shooting 50.6 percent.

Then there's the matter of how Bryant is perceived by peers. Henry Abbott wrote a scorching piece about Bryant for ESPN The Magazine, discussing how no free agents would touch the Lakers with the competitively crazed shooting guard steering the ship.

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'Peek behind the banners,' says one longtime NBA agent, 'and it's rotten.'

'Kobe is like the big rock in their front yard,' says an agent who has had a Lakers client in recent years. 'You can't mow over it, so you just have to mow around it.'

Another agent with current Lakers clients was asked whether Bryant undermined the team's rebuilding by alienating would-be free agent recruits. 'Well, duh,' he replied. 'Isn't that obvious?'

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So maybe he's not the best player to recruit a potential third wheel. Let the Lakers live in purgatory until 2016 with Bryant. Succumbing to the big splash that makes no logistical sense is what got the Knicks here in the first place.