Change looming in LA

LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson and all-star Kobe Bryant have finally agreed (and admitted) that the Lakers need help. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that the Lakers are largely dependant on one player, which most coaches would agree is not advisable. Lamar Odom does contribute a fair bit, but without Kobe, LA would be screwed.

In the 2006/07 NBA season, the Lakers averaged approximately 103.4 ppg. Kobe Bryant averaged 31.6 ppg in 06/07. If you subtract Kobe’s score from the team average, you get 71.8 ppg. Atlanta Hawks had the lowest average score per game in 06/08, with 93.65 at home and 98.41 when away.

Basically, if Kobe suffered a career ending injury tomorrow, the LA Lakers would by far be the lowest scoring team in the league, unless they would be lucky enough to sign somebody who can score more than 20 ppg, which isn’t likely. They would most likely crash and burn.

Phil Jackson was quoted by SI.com as saying that “Kobe and I are very much in collusion in that we want to have an opportunity and we want this team to have an opportunity to succeed, "And one of Kobe's complaints is to improve the talent and give him the teammates he can compete with. I'm in collusion with him on that.”

Kobe is obviously disappointed that the Lakers are not advancing far enough come playoffs time, which has, in part been caused by a lack of talent on the LA roster. The current roster, even with Bryant and Lamar Odom, is not strong enough to compete against teams such as Phoenix, Boston and San Antonio, with multiple star players on the roster. Kobe is good, but he can’t do it all.

Earlier in the year, Kobe slammed the Lakers' front office and demanded a trade. Since then, he has softened his stance. LA can and should make some trades and get somebody else in. There was a rumour going around about LA trading Lamar Odom and a few others for KG, but that obviously didn’t work out.

Another rumour surfaced in August. Pacer Jermaine O’Neal has apparently indicated that he wants a trade to the Lakers. O’Neal has been quoted as saying that: “It’s time for me to move on,” he says. “And the Lakers are the team I want Indiana to trade me to… I love Indiana and the fans and we have a lot of nice young talent, but obviously they’re in a situation now where they’re rebuilding. I told them I can’t be in a rebuilding mode right now. I’m at a point in my career where I can’t wait another five years to contend. I’m not in a position physically to take in five years of losses and downtime.”

Jermaine wants to go and no doubt, Kobe would be thrilled to have him in LA. If such a trade goes through, the Lakers could emerge as a contender for the Western Conference finals. A possible deal could send Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and maybe cash, 1^st round draft picks or even another laker to Indiana, in exchange for O’Neal.

I personally would love to see such a trade go through – it would make the Western conference much more competitive, and the impact on the East would not be huge.

Fingers are crossed.