Kobe to Atlanta?

When Kobe Bryant first demanded a trade, I took it as a threat to the organization. If the Lakers didn’t make a move and get him some help, Bryant would refuse to continue his career in Los Angeles. Well, two weeks later, Bryant has realized what everyone else already knew. The Lakers don’t have enough talent on their roster to trade for the difference-maker (Jason Kidd, Jermaine O’Neal) that Bryant wants to team with. So now the question becomes what do the Lakers get in return for one of the best players to ever play? A lot of teams will be interested in Bryant, but there are only a few that can offer the Lakers anything close to a fair deal. One team that absolutely can is the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have a terrific young nucleus in Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and the #3 and #11 picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. All of those players and picks would interest LA. A possible trade would be Johnson, the #3 pick, and Williams to the Lakers for Bryant and Kwame Brown. In this case, the Lakers would be able to draft Al Horford at #3 and would probably take a PG with their own pick at #19, such as Acie Law or Gabe Pruitt. Say they get Law, which is a strong possibility, here’s how their depth chart for next year would look:

PG- Acie Law, Jordan Farmar
SG- Joe Johnson, Maurice Evans
SF- Lamar Odom, Sasha Vujacic
PF- Marvin Williams, Al Horford, Vladamir Radmanovic
C- Andrew Bynum, Ronny Turiaf, Brian Cook

Note: This is assuming that after completing the trade, LA will not re-sign Luke Walton, Shammond Williams, Smush Parker, or Chris Mihm.

Atlanta might have to give up a lot to get Bryant, but if this trade goes through, the Hawks will automatically become one of the league’s elite teams. Assuming they draft a PG with the 11th pick, here’s what their lineup would look like next season:

PG- Javaris Crittenton, Speedy Claxton, Tyronn Lue
SG- Kobe Bryant, Salim Stoudamire
SF- Josh Smith, Josh Childress
PF- Kwame Brown, Solomon Jones
C- Shelden Williams, Zaza Pauchilla

Josh Smith would be the Scottie Pippen to Kobe’s Jordan. In addition, they would have a very physical frontcourt with Brown and Williams and a potentially great point guard in Crittenton. This Hawks team would be very dangerous in the East.

Other Draft News…Marquette PG Dominic James wisely pulled out of the draft. He was projected as a late second-round pick…Nevada G/F Marcelus Kemp also withdrew from the draft after receiving advice from his long-lost father, Shawn…Washington C Spencer Hawes is still debating whether to remain in the draft or go back to school, but he’s pretty much guaranteed to go in the lottery, and thus should keep his name in the draft…Detroit has apparently made a “verbal commitment” to pick Eastern Washington G Rodney Stuckey if he available when they pick 15th…Players rising up the draft board include Nevada PG Ramon Sessions, North Carolina SF Reyshawn Terry, Vanderbilt G/F Derrick Byers. Players sliding on the board include Texas A+M PG Acie Law, Alabama PF Jamareo Davidson, and Fresno State SF Dominic McGuire.