Over the past four years I have had the privilege of attending a private university in the Los Angeles area. Over those four years I have taken a particular liking to the AM Sports Talk Channel 570. While I understand that because I live in LA, most calls will be about the Lakers, it drives me crazy me how idiotic most of these fans that call in are. The most recent influx of calls to this radio station deal with how the Lakers can improve this off-season, and more specifically how everyone in LA (besides the radio hosts) seems to think they can land Kevin Garnett.
First off the Lakers have no cap room. They will not see any relief from the salary cap until at least another year. According to hoopshype.com, this past year the Lakers had the 6th highest payroll in the NBA at $72,962,790. Kevin Garnett alone makes $18,000,000, a number that Lakers could nowhere near afford. Secondly, the Lakers have no assets to trade. They would never give up Kobe, Lamar Odom would be a good start, but you would have to package him with someone else, but the only problem is there is no one else. Kwame Brown? Smush Parker? Aaron McKie? Please. Kwame Brown is a bum who will never be more than a filler in the lane. Smush parker disappeared down the stretch, and Aaron McKie only scored 7 points the entire season (quite possibly the most worthless player in the NBA as brought up on Good Times on AM 570 on Friday).
While I don't think Garnett will even be traded the only possible place for him to go would be.... to my beloved Chicago Bulls. While I know this may sound biased hear me out. Only two other teams had lower payrolls this year in the NBA. Those two teams were in the worst five teams in the league, the Charlotte Bobcats and the Atlanta Hawks. The Bulls used started to use their air pumps on their shoes the last two months of the season and really made a strong showing in the playoffs giving the Miami Heat a run for their money. They are a youthful team that has the cap space to sign Garnett to a long term deal, and they have the assets. They have the #2 Overall Draft Pick (thanks to the ultimate game killer Isiah Thomas) and the #16 Pick in the first round, as well as a glutton of guards where they could be willing to give someone up (Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, and Chris Duhon). The one thing the Bulls were sorely missing during the playoff series was an inside presence. If I were John Paxson I would even give up Gordon (arguably their best player) and my first round draft choices, for one of the top 5 players in the league. Tyson Chandler will never be a proven scorer in the paint, only possible a good rebounder and a threat to block shots, after him Michael Sweetney won't be able to cut it for too long despite some of the flashes he showed in the playoffs. They just plain need the inside presence.
My gut tells me that Garnett will stay in Minnesota, but I just wished the Laker fans would shut up about him coming to LA. It's not going to happen. No if's, and's, or but's about it. It's just not possible........then again they have the second worst GM in the game in Kevin McHale.
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