Should The Lakers Trade Bynum?

[Turf Hitta]

HOOPSWORLD
Evening Scoop: Bynum Expendable?

By: Bill Ingram   Last Updated: 2/23/09 6:07 PM ET | 2007 times read
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I hosted my weekly chat this morning, and during the course of the rapid-fire Q&A the question came up of whether or not the Lakers should trade Andrew Bynum this summer and let the group that got them to the NBA Finals last year and the best record in the league this season continue to comprise their current rotation.

The idea stems from the play of Lamar Odom, who has put up All-Star numbers since taking his place back in the starting lineup. As a starter this season, Odom is averaging 17.2 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 52% from the field. Meanwhile, Pau Gasol, playing back at the center position, is putting up season-highs of 22.3 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game while shooting a season-high 62% from the field.

With that in mind, consider trading Andrew Bynum.

Some Lakers fans will angrily say that Bynum is dominant and the best center in the NBA. Blah, blah, blah. You can't dominate from the bench, and historically we've seen that big men who get injured early and often usually continue to suffer injuries throughout their careers. As one regular emailer pointed out to me today, Bynum just underwent his third knee operation at age 21 and has a four-year deal worth around $50 million. Is that a sound investment?

Let's say you could work a deal with the Detroit Pistons and land Tayshaun Prince for Bynum and add-ons. Now you have a premier perimeter defender - much more important in today's NBA - as well as another Finals-tested All-Star caliber player. Meanwhile Detroit could put Bynum out there with a young core and try to build for the future, which is their new goal.

The NBA has changed. Sure, dominant big men will always have a use, but the permium in the new generation of run-and-gun offense is quicker, running big men like Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. If that tandem continues to play as well as they have over the last few weeks, the Lakers should consider letting another team take the gamble on Bynum's questionable health. They can win a championship without Andrew Bynum.

Interesting. What does everyone but NIK think?

[OG Hack Wilson]

if they can get a nice physical player in return  (a Ron Artest like player) then they DEF should


ofcourse its too late now but this offseason? they should def address that

[OchoCinco]

booozer hah

[Kool Beenz]

LOL @ everyone but Nik

[Chamillitary Click]

if they got equal talent back, hell yeah.

but the kid is good & you need a big man in return too.

[M Dogg™]

the only young big, outside of Dwight Howard, that I see that's going to be good is Tyson Chandler, but his got the same injury bug Bynum has. So for right now, no, lets invest in Bynum and see what happens.

[Don Jacob]

fuck no!

why trade a TRUE center away in a league without many true centers. will all know big men bring W's.


so fuck no!

we'd have to get:

Dwight Howard
Emeka + someone else
B Lopez + someone else
Al Horford

if we were to ever trade bynum.

none are going to happen because we've invested too much into him and he's not THAT injury prone.

[thisoneguy360]

No.

[PLANT]

they seem to be doing DAMN good without Bynum, so yeah, why not.  If they can get value for him, and someone whos going to be out there for all the games, I would do it.

[Fuck Your Existence]

  never that...

[Halu Sination]

Imma be 100% real on all aspects. It's no secret that the starting line-up's offense simply runs more smoothly with Odom in there, they are simply amazing when it comes to overwhelming their opponents and dictating the tempo. The only thing is, without Bynum, we lose our x-factor... the player who we could rely on if we CAN'T overwhelm our opponents with the most fluid offense in the NBA.

Honestly though, I don't think we necessarily need that x-factor. But the one thing Bynum offered which we DO need is a huge, physical 7-foot bruiser presence. He doesn't necessarily have to be as valuable as Bynum is, but he needs to fill in some of Bynum's roles, which is playing tough defense and finish plays. I initially thought Mbenga could play that role, but it doesn't seem like Phil likes him too much. Probably because from the looks of it, Mbenga's basketball IQ isn't too high. Hopefully things might shape up come play-offs time.

they seem to be doing DAMN good without Bynum, so yeah, why not.  If they can get value for him, and someone whos going to be out there for all the games, I would do it.

Honestly, I gotta agree, but it would REALLY depend on who we could get. Anything less than a star player, then fuck that.

Hell, even with Bynum's injuries, trading him for someone like Artest would be retarded. It's not that we can't use a player like Artest, because we could, but Bynum is just worth a hell of a lot more than that. Not to mention Artest has played even less games than Bynum has this season, and missed like 30 games last season. That's not exactly much more reliable than Bynum.

[Rick McCrank]

just because Kobe almost snapped his leg in half by FALLING ON IT doesn't make him injury prone

non-Lakers fans just badly want him to be like Greg Oden

if he's running up the court next year and falls down on his own, then you have an argument

until then there is no evidence he's injury prone

[Antonio]

No.

[Turf Hitta]

just because Kobe almost snapped his leg in half by FALLING ON IT doesn't make him injury prone

non-Lakers fans just badly want him to be like Greg Oden

if he's running up the court next year and falls down on his own, then you have an argument

until then there is no evidence he's injury prone

what is that supposed to mean? Oden has had one knee surgery. Bynum has had 3.

[OG Hack Wilson]

the NBA isn't about Centers anymore it's clearly about PG's


the rule changes over the last 5 years support this too