Who would have thought that with a team comprised of Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, either a trade or a free agent pick up would be a serious consideration mid January? The NBA trade deadline is exactly one month away (February 21st) and the fact of the matter is, currently this Lakers team full of superstars simply isn’t clicking. That’s not to say it will never happen, but at 17-23 the Lakers are running out of time.
After the Lakers 108-103 loss to the Toronto Raptors Sunday afternoon, Kobe Bryant surprised reporters by drawing attention to the idea of a roster change, as reported by Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News.
“This team needs me on both ends of the floor…So unless they’re going to do something roster wise, I have to continue to push through it.”
You can bet that comment perked plenty of ears, but was Kobe sending a message to the Lakers front office? Not necessarily. As Mark Medina noted, Kobe was quick to shake his head “No” when asked that question. But, his following response didn’t exactly sound confident.
“Listen, if this is what we’re rolling with, I can’t make no excuses. I have to go out there and do my job. Tonight wasn’t good enough. I did okay defensively and played very well in pressuring the ball. But my offense was sub par in terms of missing easy shots. I have to do a better job putting that ball in the hole when the opportunities present itself.”
By sub par, Kobe was 10-32 from the field, including 3-12 from behind the arc, and had six turnovers. So, will there be a trade or a free agent pickup in the next thirty days? Especially after Kobe’s comments, I wouldn’t count it out. Bryant is generally pretty careful with his words, and he did say if. Whatever happens, the Lakers are just about to encroach the line where it’s too late to turn this ship around.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
VIDEO: Kobe Bryant Says Playoffs Aren’t The Goal
