LA Lakers Trade Speculation: Is Pairing Kobe Bryant with Superstar Right Move?
As NBA lockout negotiations continue to plod along, the Los Angeles Lakers and their fans are impatiently waiting for a chance to define their team's direction.
Names like Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Andre Iguodala and Monta Ellis have been tossed around. Role players like Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler and T.J. Ford have been suggested. And the futures of Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum have been debated continuously.
Where has left Los Angeles? In a desolate place the Lakers are not used to residing: The realm of uncertainty.
Bynum hasn't panned out according to plan, Pau Gasol remains inconsistent and Los Angeles is void of a capable point guard. These shortcomings became evidently clear last postseason, and it became even more clear they weren't going to fix themselves. This is why names like Howard, Iguodala and Ellis have been thrown around so frequently.
But are they solution?
The only true superstar that Bryant ever played alongside was Shaquille O'Neal and look how that ended.
Some, including myself at one point, theorized that the aforementioned failed relationship was because Bryant was best served playing alongside a prolific athlete whose job it was to deliver him the ball. As someone astutely pointed out to me last week though, Bryant has never played alongside a heralded point guard in their prime.
The closest he ever came was Gary Payton, who was a star in his own right, but not when he came to Los Angeles.
It is for this reason that players like Ford and Ramon Sessions may be the best fit. Even Steve Nash would be a better option.
Why? Bryant may have matured, but there may not be room for another superstar sized ego in the Lakers locker room.
Bryant is entering the tail end of his career and having another star on the roster, especially one like Ellis or Iguodala who excels at his position, may create a counterproductive type of competition between him and the face of the future. This is why Los Angeles may be better served targeting a young and capable, yet humble athlete or a star, like Nash, who is at the same point in their career as Bryant.
As far as the Lakers future is concerned, it doesn't truly begin until Bryant hangs up his kicks and while Ellis or Howard would give them a promising post-Kobe outlook, there are still some who believe Bynum will get his act together.
That being said, even if Los Angeles would rather move him in favor of a superstar, doing so right now may be an attempt at having their cake and eating it to. The Lakers may not be able to prepare for the future while ensuring they can still contend for the present.
In other words, the team cannot continue to build around Bryant and put a proven star in place to succeed him. It doesn't work like that, especially with Bryant.
Unless the Lakers are prepared to tell Bryant to take a backseat, obtaining another superstar may not be the best decision. For now, the Lakers need to table their Howard and Ellis aspirations, and surround their star player with capable—not star studded—tools he needs to win.
Cap space is not the only obstacle that limits Los Angeles' ability to make roster adjustments, and as long as Bryant is the face of the Lakers, it will remain that way.
You can follow Dan Favale on Twitter here @Dan_Favale.
