Jerry Buss has said all along that he wasn’t interested in trading Kobe Bryant, but softened his stance in an interview with three newspaper reporters at the team’s training camp in Hawaii.
Buss [told] three Los Angeles-area beat writers covering training camp in Honolulu on Wednesday that he “would certainly listen” to trade offers for the two-time NBA scoring champion.
“At any time, I think you have to do that with anybody,” Buss said, discussing Bryant publicly for the first time since the often-frustrated Lakers’ star asked to be traded at the end of last season. “It’s just part of the game, to listen to somebody who has a dissatisfied player that you think is going to fit.
“You can’t keep too many loyalties. You’ve got to look at it as a business. He looks at it the same way I look at it.”
This development probably stems from the fact the Lakers have done little to improve their team in the offseason (or the last few years, for that matter). Had they played their cards right, they could have Caron Butler and Jason Kidd on the roster, sacrificing Andrew Bynum and Kwame Brown in the process. Looking back at those decisions has to make Kobe wonder what could have been. A starting lineup consisting of Kidd, Kobe, Butler and Odom would have been nice.
More recently, the inability to swing a deal for Kevin Garnett really stings, though it would have been difficult to come to terms considering the pieces the Lakers were willing to move. Odom isn’t as valuable to a team like the T-Wolves, who are in full rebuilding mode. Trading for Jermaine O’Neal remains a possibility, but the clock is ticking. Kobe is signed through the summer of 2009, but it is doubtful that he’ll stay quiet through another disappointing year. If the Lakers are struggling by the time 2008 rolls around, expect the Kobe trade rumors to really heat up.
