Among the favorite pastime of some Lakers fans is a game called “Where can we trade Andrew Bynum?” Kobe Bryant has even played this game before. Bynum has been offered up in deals ranging from Dwight Howard to a rack of shootaround basketballs.
Those games may be over.
One thing the hiring of Mike Brown as coach has made clear is that the good ship Lakers is now captained by Jim Buss (son of longtime owner and poker legend Jerry Buss). And what was Jim’s big Lakers claim to fame? He was one of the early champions in the draft process of Andrew Bynum. He is a Jim Buss favorite.
Which leads to this note from Adrian Wojnarowski, of Yahoo.Now, Jim Buss has two guys in the franchise: Brown and Andrew Bynum(notes). In fact, Buss has made something clear within the Lakers, sources say: Bynum is untouchable in trade talks.
For now, this could include a sign-and-deal for the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard. The Lakers are Howard’s preference, but they don’t have salary cap space to sign him. They’ll need a deal that includes Bynum to the Magic, but there are those seriously doubting Jim Buss’ desire to make such a trade. After all, Bynum was Jim Buss’ discovery, his pet project and believes Bynum will ultimately resonate as the son’s personal Lakers legacy. Buss’ loyalty will be Bynum and Brown. These are his guys now.
Two thoughts here. First, the Lakers should be hesitant to trade Bynum for just about anything. There just are not young, defensive presence centers like this out there and if you don’t think that matters a lot go watch a Dallas Mavericks game with Tyson Chandler. In an era where you can’t touch guys on the perimeter you have to have somebody who can defend the rim. Bynum does that.
Right now Orlando has no interest in a Dwight Howard for Bynum deal and until we all see a new Collective Bargaining Agreement this talk is all moot. That said, if a deal like this could be worked out, the Lakers would be foolish not to think about it.
One other little note on Jim Buss: What made Jerry a great owner is that he let his basketball people make the basketball decisions. He set parameters, he got in the very big things (signing Magic Johnson to an extension, forcing the Shaq trade) but for the most part he stayed out of the way. Jim would be wise to follow that counsel.