Kobe a Wizard

I think it was on rome is burning, but they were talking about it would a more possible and intelligent deal if they just cut out the pacers and then the trade would go as follows:
Minnesota gets Al Jefferson and the Celtics #5 pick
LA gets Garnett and maybe a crap contract from the celtics
Boston gets Odom, Bynum, and the waste of space known as Kwame Brown.

this would probably work out for all the teams pretty well but as a Lakers fan the main thing the team really needs is a reliable high end point guard maybe like Chauncy Billups.

Point is, people seem to think they are 1 piece away from winning it all, I think they are one peice away from having a high lottery pick. Case in point, you were 4-12 in the final 16 games. I understand injuries play a factor, but 4-12???? (2-8 in the last 10)
In case you didn't notice, they have gone from 45 wins, to 42, to 41. The last two years they exited the playoffs first round.

ps- to me, if you are .500 or barely .500, I don't consider you a playoff caliber team...just fresh meat for the first place teams to feast on.

I disagree with you Jsarno. Clearly this is a team that is running in place to an extent, but I don't know how anyone can conclude that the addition of an impact big man wouldn't make them relevant in the East. Detroit is done, Miami is entering a rebuilding period, and Cleveland is a team we have always competed with. Toronto is on the up but I'm not scared of them yet.

If you argument is that the Wizards are "only" the loss of their two best players away from being a lottery team I would agree.....but come on, I'm not even going to bother explaining why that's a bad argument.

The bottomline is the Wizards, who have not enjoyed any sustained success in my entire lifetime, and I know this because I have been following ｔｈｅｍ for as long as I can remember, have a built a team around a legit superstar, a legit allstar, and a solid group of reserves and roleplayers. Nobody is saying they are going to win the championship next year, but I don't know how you can conclude that there is anything flukish about them when they have been consistent for three years and if anything have underachieved.

I disagree with you Jsarno. Clearly this is a team that is running in place to an extent, but I don't know how anyone can conclude that the addition of an impact big man wouldn't make them relevant in the East. Detroit is done, Miami is entering a rebuilding period, and Cleveland is a team we have always competed with. Toronto is on the up but I'm not scared of them yet.

Detroit is not done, nor is Miami...that's just wishful thinking. Toronto is up and coming, and you can not compare with Cleveland.

If you argument is that the Wizards are "only" the loss of their two best players away from being a lottery team I would agree.....but come on, I'm not even going to bother explaining why that's a bad argument.

I didn't say 2. They are 1 injury away from being a lottery pick. ANY team that loses their best two players are going down. I am saying that the Wizards even losing their 2nd best player is no longer close to a playoff team.

The bottomline is the Wizards, who have not enjoyed any sustained success in my entire lifetime, and I know this because I have been following ｔｈｅｍ for as long as I can remember, have a built a team around a legit superstar, a legit allstar, and a solid group of reserves and roleplayers. Nobody is saying they are going to win the championship next year, but I don't know how you can conclude that there is anything flukish about them when they have been consistent for three years and if anything have underachieved.

They have been consistantly average for 3 years and they have what you already mentioned. (although I will argue to the end that you have a horrible bench, not a solid group, which is also why I feel that adding one player won't cut it...KG is a PF, so who would be the center? Jamison?)

For those who care, here is the latest on the Kobe scenario,

ESPN - Kobe says he apologized to Lakers' Kupchak - NBA (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2927333)

Like I expected it looks like he's back pedaling a bit.