Can the Nuggets get Kobe?

So Kobe wants out of LA.... or he doesn't.... or wait, yes he does. Nope. He doesn't. Whatever is going on there he is obviously unhappy and may have made things too awkward and difficult for him to stay in LA. If that's the case than the Kobe trade sweepstakes is about to begin. Everyone has been throwing in their opinions of what trade possibilities are out there. But their is only one possible location that concerns us Nuggets fans, so let's have a look at the possibility. Can Kobe be a Nugget? Here is a trade that Scott and Al from The Fan were talking about on the radio yesterday: Nuggets trade Iverson, JR Smith, and K-Mart for Kobe and Lamar Odom. First off, the salaries match up. Which is obviously the most important aspect to making any trade work. K-Mart makes $12.06 million, JR $1.38 million, and Iverson $17.18 mill. For the Lakers, Kobe makes $17.71 and Lamar Odom $12.34 million. One thing to remember is that Kobe has a no trade clause, which he can waive. But this clause says that any team Kobe is traded to has to pay him a $15 million signing bonus that won't count towards the salary cap. But still, $15 million ain't chump change. So the salaries match up, but will it work? LA would still have a superstar in Iverson and an exciting young player in JR Smith to keep the fans paying an average of $350 per ticket. I really don't think that the Lakers will make any kind of trade that doesn't involve at least one superstar player. The Nuggets would get two All-Star players to replace an All-Star and a former All-Star. Granted, K-Mart is a far cry from his former All-Star caliber of play, but he is still a pretty big name. Plus, the Lakers would end up with JR Smith who has huge potential. Denver fans have consistently booed Kobe since the alleged rape a few years back. I'm talking about every time he touches the ball he has been showered with boos. So would Denver fans accept his past transgressions? A forgive and forget for the sake of winning? Definitely. Wait... actually, that booing statement is not completely true. Every single time the Lakers come to Denver there are always a couple thousand Lakers fans who have never been to LA in their lives, who are wearing Kobe jerseys and go bananas every time Kobe does even the littlest thing... like dribbling the ball between his legs. "Holy shit bud!! Did you see that move by Kobe!" they will scream. Kobe would be huge here. So maybe Kobe could work out in Denver. Let's have a look at the lineups: Starting Fives: Nuggets: PG - Steve Blake SG - Kobe SF - Melo PF - Lamar Odom C - Nene / Marcus Camby Lakers: PG - AI SG - JR Smith SF - Luke Walton PF - K-Mart C - Kwame Brown Looks pretty lopsided now doesn't it? Jesus! If the Nuggets managed to make this trade, we could potentially be one of the greatest dynasties of all-time, and we will have pulled off the greatest trade steal of all time. You've got 4 or 5 possible All-Stars every season on the same team! It would be glorious!! One problem though.... It will never happen. Don't get me wrong, I wish it would, but there is no way the Lakers are going for this. Look at their starting 5 after this trade, they aren't improving much if at all. Why would you trade a player like Kobe Bryant and not make your team better? Not gonna happen. We're going to chalk this one up to another bout of stupidity over at AM950. Kind of like the time that Irv Brown thought that the CU hoops squad should just get Larry Brown to be the coach. His rationality was "He loves Boulder!". Yep. That'll get him here Irv. Maybe you should go back to yelling at the TV again while on-air, or tell us again about some guy who played for Wheat Ridge HS in 1957. I love Irv and Joe, but sometimes I wonder what they put in the weed over there because it must be outstanding. Not to worry though Nuggets fans, I think our team has a pretty bright future with the current lineup. Trade or no trade I think we will be in the title hunt next season. Some quick hits from around Colorado: - Maybe I was a bit premature in calling the Rockies season a few weeks ago. With a seven game win streak going they have managed to climb out of the cellar. I feel confident that they will now do just enough to make us believe that they might have the potential to be a playoff team. Just enough to make sure that the Monforts don't have to spend any money in free agency this off-season, or won't sell the team. Just enough to ensure several more seasons of mediocrity. - We all know about David Kircus passing Shanny's breathalyzer test to stay on the team. Good for Kircus. I hope he makes the team this season. Because he's either telling the truth, or his ability to lie is rivaled by only Catherine Trammell - Dan Graham's addition to the Broncos is exciting for me on a few levels. 1.) He's good. 2.) He's a former Buff. 3.) He's my boy. But it makes me wonder what Shannahan will do with Tony Scheffler. Scheffler was Cutler's favorite target and best friend from last year's team and has seemingly been demoted. I figure with the questions at WR and our love of the running game that we will see a lot of 2 TE sets next season that feature passing over running plays. - Lastly, Chatfield HS alum Lendale White forgot to come back to training camp the other day leaving coach Jeff Fisher just a little bit peeved. Here's what Fisher said: "Everybody else managed to make it back," Fisher said. "He didn't, so I don't know, I guess he had things that are more important to him than what we're doing." and... "I've been on record with being disappointed with him right now," Fisher said. "I hope to have him back on the practice field Thursday. But again, everybody else was here, he wasn't. I'm anxious to hear what kind of excuse he has." Wow. I'll never understand what goes on in the minds of some athletes. With Travis Henry coming to the Broncos, the Titans basically handed the keys to Lendale White as their #1 RB. Then he reports to camp earlier in the off season at a whopping 260lbs. So the Titans use a 2nd round pick on a Chris Henry, a kid who didn't really play at Arizona but was the star of the combine. So what does Lendale do when he has a little competition? He shows up a couple DAYS late to camp, while his eager rookie replacement is busy wowing the coaching staff. I hope Lendale gets his shit together before the season starts because he has all the potential in the world to be a great running back in the NFL.