|
Welcome to the Weekly Rant!!
I woke up this morning all ready to write another one of my college football previews when I read that the Lakers have agreed in principle to trade Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins for Kwame Brown!! Say it ain’t so Mitch, say it ain’t so! Unfortunately, this trade looks like it will go through so this edition of the rant is going to be an old school tounge-lashing.
I guess its good to know the D.C., is still the thievery capital of the world. The Wizards will get Caron Butler and most likely Chucky Atkins for their malcontent. The Lakers are trading away two legitimate starters on a Western Conference team, to get a guy who couldn’t even stay on the playoff roster on an Eastern Conference squad. What the hell are they thinking!?!?!?
This is the classic example of “sell low, buy high”. If there is anyone who thinks this is an equal trade, I’ve got a mountain cabin in Omaha I’d love to talk to you about. Caron Butler improved his stock tremendously in the final third of the NBA season and will be one of the primary threats on a team who now misses Larry Hughes a lot less. The Wizards are ALSO getting Chucky Atkins or Devean George, players who have proven themselves in the league. These guys have value, and the Lakers should have waited for a better offer to come along. Instead, they pulled the trigger faster than a guy on Cialis.
Kwame Brown is a joke. Let’s start with the stats. He’s averaged an inexcusable 7.7 points a game in his career. Even Kareem Abdul you know who, at age 60 would’ve gotten double figures in the East. His offensive skills need more work than Tori Spelling’s boob job. Its no coincidence that Michael Jordan’s rumored favorite two worlds while in Washington was “Fu*kin Kwame!”
Ok, well maybe he can dish the ball. Maybe he can join the list of great Laker centers like Shaq, Kareem, and even Vlade who could not only score but also distribute the rock to the open shooter when needed. Nope. This guy has averaged 1 assist a game in his “illustrious” three years in Washington. These are numbers that only World B. Free could be proud of. This guy is a black hole, a not so super nova.
On top of all of that, his attitude is far from stellar. He has feuded with many in the Wizards organization including ex-coach Doug Collins and Michael Jordan, his former teammate and boss. I thought everyone wanted to be “like Mike”. Not Kwame; he’d rather fight with him. There is substantial evidence that Jordan and Brown despised each other. I guess we can assume that MJ never offered Kwame to “Come Fly With Me”.
Last year, Kwame raised his level of outlandishness to a new level by getting kicked off of the Wizards playoff roster. That’s a pretty tough thing to do considering he was their best hope of guarding Shaq. As you can see, this is why Mr. Brown was best in Washington, a city where people make a good living out of being full of hot air and unfulfilled potential.
I guess the Lakers must be looking at his “potential”. I sure hope that this guy can develop, because at this point Kwame the rapper even has a better legacy. It seems to me that if this guy had any chance of being a star, he would’ve already done in Washington, whose system was designed to showcase his talents. He has been a complete disappointment and has consistently underperformed in D.C. I’m sure Ernie Grunfield, the Wizards general manager, was more than happy to unload him.
Conversely, Mitch Kupchak, the Laker GM, will try to put some kind of spin on this trade and convince everyone how good it is. Even Bob Cousy can’t put enough “english” on this one to make it palatable. If Kwame thought Mike was unnerving, just wait until he meets Kobe. This acquisition has made the already fragile Laker chemistry much worse. This will definitely be the trade the ends up getting Kupchak fired. It breaks down like this, with Brian Grant’s impending release; the Lakers have now traded Shaq for Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown. Wow.
I’m sure there must have been a memo, but since when did the Lakers and Clippers switch places. The Clippers are now the young, exciting team with loads of potential. Cuttino Mobley, a proven veteran, will only add to the probability that only one L.A. team will make the playoffs. Unfortunately that team is not the Lakers. The Lakers have morphed into the West Coast version of the Knicks; a team that shells out a lot of cash but whose playoff prospects are dim.
The deal for Kwame Brown only makes the chance of Laker success that much more remote. Kupchak and the Lakers are on the wrong end of this game of “Texas Hold dem’ Ankles”. L.A. needed to acquire a player like a Jermaine O’Neal, who could contribute and blend in with the triangle offense. Instead they got a guy who can’t even blend in.
|
|
|
5 comments - join this discussion...
|
|
|
|
|
|
