LA Beats Knicks

Knicks 21 - 26. (14 - 10 @MSG) Kobe finally reaches his potential. It's all downhill from here.

LA Beats Knicks

Knicks 11 - 14, looking more and more like late-season contenders.

Laughable LA Trade Rumors

Over the past few days, there have been Jermaine O'Neal trade rumors to pacify Kobe who wants out.

First, a report that Odom and Bynum are too much to give up for O'Neal! Then the laffer of the lot that Kwame Brown had to be part of the deal!

Oh, wait, there's one more punch line; Denver refused a Camby for Kwame deal straight up! No shit, Sherlock.

Is Scott Layden running the Lakers these days?

Kwame Brown trades - hmmm - no way I suggest trading Jerome James for Kwame Brown uh, uh.

Odom is kind of a sad story though. Talented guy who always landed in the wrong place at the wrong time. If LA is rebuilding it is hard to imagine Odom hanging around much longer either. LA is melting down.

Walton may bail out.

Jackson might just call it a career as well. Will he want to hang around developing a winner. It could take a decade or more. Highly unlikely, IMO.

How the Lakers Affect the Knicks

John Hollinger of the NY Sun claims, Lakers May Throw Wrench in Knicks Off-Season Plans.

For those who have been living in a cave for the past two days, Bryant's trade-me-no-wait-don't plea has implications that will affect the 'Bockers. On the pipe-dream side, there's the possibility that Bryant could become frustrated enough to consider a jump to New York in 2009, when he can opt out of his current contract. That's both a long shot and a long way away, plus it would require two more years of salary discipline by team president Isiah Thomas to keep the Knicks under the cap — yeah, right.

However, Kobe's tirade indirectly affects the Knicks in a more important way: He puts the Lakers in pursuit of many of the same players. The entirely legitimate part of Bryant's lament is that ever since the Shaquille O'Neal trade, the Lakers have wasted the prime years of his career because they've been too scared of their own shadows to pull off a trade. Call them the anti- Knicks, if you will. Most obviously, they passed up a shot to acquire Jason Kidd in February when it wouldn't have even cost them that much.

And he concludes...

The lack of tradable contracts similarly eliminates the Knicks' hopes of obtaining most of the other players listed above. If they can't get O'Neal, New York's pursuits in the trade market are likely to be limited to the same guys they've chased ever since Thomas came to town: faded pseudo-stars, overpaid mediocrities, and other assorted castoffs who have fallen out of favor in other NBA cities.

One player in particular fits the mold. File this one under "it's crazy, but it just might work," but of all the players I listed above, the one guy New York has a realistic shot at is Artest. He's from Queens, he wants to play here, and he'd be willing to play for Isiah. Obviously, there's a big risk here — the Knicks have a young locker room, and adding Artest to an already somewhat volatile mixture could be a recipe for disaster.

Additionally, I'm not sure Isiah is desperate enough to try something like this yet, not after getting a contract extension in March as a reward for owning the East's no. 8 seed for an entire day. Remember, he's seen the "Artest Experience" first hand, and there's no reason to live through it again when he's got such a cushy gig right now.

However, if the Knicks start slowly this fall, all bets are off. Artest's salary is small enough — $7.8 million this year — that either a straight-up trade of Crawford, or a two-flakes-for-one deal that hands over Robinson, Jerome James, and a draft pick (lottery-protected, please), would satisfy the league's salary cap requirements.

In the meantime, expect plenty of smoke and little fire. Other than a possible O'Neal deal, New York doesn't have the goods to pull off a big-time trade unless it's for a whack job like Artest. You'll hear plenty of rumors this summer about the Knicks pursuing trades for big-name stars, but without better chips it will be all strictly entertainment for their beleaguered fans. O'Neal was the one quasi-realistic trade possibility, but with the Lakers now likely to bid against the team, it adds one more daunting obstacle to the Knicks' hopes for an off-season upgrade.

I happen to think Artest is a great fit assuming the trade is right.