What if this years lakers didn't have Kobe?

[NBAfan83]

Do you think they still win as many games?

Who do you think will be scoring most of the points? Pau, Odom?

Do you think PJ can coach a team without a bonafide elite star? How will he cope with not having the best player in the league in his team?

I personally think they will do fine, and win almost 50 and make the playoffs, and make a good run, hopefully they get a diff coach during this like Carlisle or Pops, whose used to not having THE GUY on their team.

Then maybe instead of Kobe, have a more defensive minded swingman like artest, I can see the lakers losing the soft defence tag, and being another defensive powerhouse in the west.

Just a though...

[lil_penny]

the suns would of made the playoffs before them I think.... and pau would of been the leading scorer for sure.

[ffadicted]

Let's say the lakers lost Kobe to someone this offseason (lol..)
They'd have no backcourt at all. However, with the cap Kobe would open, they could bring in someone like Ben Gordon, and still have cash to sign both Ariza and Odom. With that, they make some sort of trade to bring in a decent PG. A good lopside trade could happen with Rafer Alston, as him and Jameer clearly can't share minutes in the same team. They lakers could package Fish, Powell/DJ and maybe some draft picks for him and someone else to balance the caps, and let Brown go to keep their cap space down.

PG - Rafer Alston / Jordan Farmar
SG - Ben Gordon / Sasha
SF - Trevor Ariza / Walton
PF - Pau Gasol / Odom
C - Andrew Bynum / DJ or Powell

That's still a contender if you ask me.

Now, if we're talking just randomly kill kobe this season, and restrict them to keep the same team, there's no way lakers make it past the first round of the playoffs, and I very much doubt they make it past the suns to the playoffs. Gasol is would be the main man for sure

[IronMexican]

ffadicted, I doubt two teams who just met in the Finals would make a trade with each other.

[ffadicted]

ffadicted, I doubt two teams who just met in the Finals would make a trade with each other.

true, but I'm just spitting out ideas, the specific players can be different lol

[spurscenter]

What if the Lakers didnt have Gasol and had Kwame instead?

[Muser]

What if the Spurs didn't have Duncan?
What if the Rockets didn't have Hakeem?
What if the Pistons didn't have Isiah?

"What if" threads are retarded

[DenDen]

Lakers Fan = but we still have wilt bynum...

[YellowFever]

Do you think they still win as many games?

Who do you think will be scoring most of the points? Pau, Odom?

Do you think PJ can coach a team without a bonafide elite star? How will he cope with not having the best player in the league in his team?

I personally think they will do fine, and win almost 50 and make the playoffs, and make a good run, hopefully they get a diff coach during this like Carlisle or Pops, whose used to not having THE GUY on their team.

Then maybe instead of Kobe, have a more defensive minded swingman like artest, I can see the lakers losing the soft defence tag, and being another defensive powerhouse in the west.

Just a though...

Did you just discount TD...just to make a point of dumping on Kobe?

What happened to
"TD is the player of the decade" mentality you Spurs fans like to harp on?

[21_Blessings]

Lottery.

[Ghazi]

9th place team. People massively overrate LA or underrate Kobe when they say they would still make the playoffs w/o him.

They would in the East though as a lower seed team. But not saying muuuch.

[SnakeBoy]

I think if the Lakers didn't have Kobe this year there wouldn't be so many Laker threads.

[Jacob1983]

If the Lakers didn't have Kobe this year, a WNBA team could beat them.

[Chieflion]

Even if they make the playoffs, they would be swept. Remember that Pau Gasol will never win a game in a series where he is the best player on his team.

[Def Rowe]

Remember that Pau Gasol will never win a game in a series where he is the best player on his team.

That pretty much cements Kobe's legacy.

[Chieflion]

That pretty much cements Kobe's legacy.
I don't care about Kobe's legacy.

[Allanon]

The Lakers have alot of talented players but only 1 guy that can make it a winning team and it's Kobe. That's probably the Laker's biggest flaw...there are no strong willed and talented guys on the team except for Kobe.

Teams like the Spurs are so consistent because Tony/Manu can also lead the team. Suns have Nash/Shaq and maybe even Amare. Mavs have Dirk and JET. Celtics have KG/Pierce/Allen. Magic have Dwight and Hedo. Rockets have Yao/Artest/McGrady.

Teams like the Cavs/Lakers/Heat suffer greatly when their main guy is out.

Lakers without Kobe would probably miss the West Playoffs; maybe a 6th seed in the East.

[Nahtanoj]

If minus Kobe, and the Suns still finish behind the Lakers - then Kerr needs to be shot.

[TDMVPDPOY]

its not kobe

its fkn pau, without pau they will be out in the first round.....pau is the difference maker,

then again if bynum can live up to the hype he is, then they wouldnt need pau and the lakers couldve been something...

[stretch]

take kobe off, they are still a 6-8 seed easily

[stretch]

you still got odom, gasol, and andrew wilt chamberlain bynum

[Nahtanoj]

its not kobe

its fkn pau, without pau they will be out in the first round.....pau is the difference maker,

then again if bynum can live up to the hype he is, then they wouldnt need pau and the lakers couldve been something...

You do realize that having Pau as THE MAN never won any General Managers in the league a Playoff game right?

[Allanon]

No way the Lakers beat out the Suns for the 8th spot without Kobe.

People say the Suns were dysfunctional and all but they still won 46 games.

Lakers without Kobe would be something like a 40 win team and miss the Playoffs unless they were in the East.

[dirk4mvp]

Gasol would be the main man. He's been the main man before and made it to the playoffs 3 times (getting his shit pushed in all 3 times is a different story), and the supporting cast he'd have in LA would be far superior to his Grizzlies supporting cast. They'd easily make the playoffs on talent alone.

[KSeal]

Lottery.

[j.dizzle]

If Bynum stays healthy the Lakers are a strong team but kobe puts them over the top..Hopefully Andrew gets to play a healthy full season next year (knock on wood) cause what I saw from him before this years injury was incredible for a 21 year old. He has all the tools to becoming a dominant center but he's not as conditioned at the moment & is still not very confident in his knee.

[Avitus1]

Rockets eliminate them.