[IrishHand]

I'm going to assume that Kobe's untradeable (he is) and that Kupchak's not one of the worst GMs in the NBA (he is) - or that Kupchak will get fired in the next year or so and be replaced by someone competent.

How then do the Lakers get returned to their rightful place among the league's elite?

PRIME ASSETS
Kobe - arguably top player in the league, in his prime, untradeable
Bynum - Lakers desperately need him to develop into a fringe All-Star calibre guy
Odom - All-Star in his prime, injury history a concern

OTHER ASSETS
Fisher - serviceable PG on good team, fits well with Lakers
Walton - serviceable SF on good team, fits well with Lakers
Crittendon - potential to be decent PG, still 1-2 years away
Farmar - less potential to be decent PG, likely still a year away
Mihm - serviceable backup C
Turiaf - potential to become serviceable PF

CAP FODDER
Kwame - $9M trade chip
Cook - $3.5M/yr for 2 years trade chip
Evans - $1.5M trade chip

CAP KILLERS
Radmanovic - Lakers can't give him away (owed $25M/4 years)

The Lakers evidently refused Odom for Marion, arguing that Odom knows the triangle and is a better fit than Marion. Seems to me that getting the more athletic, healthier, superior defensive Marion over the superior offensive talent Odom is a no-brainer, but who am I to question Kupchak?

The biggest problem is a flat-out lack of assets. They only have 3 that every other team would want, and you need 3 fringe-All-Star-or-better quality players to be championship contenders imo. Trading Odom for someone is largely a lateral move...trading Bynum for someone can only be helpful if the get an early-30s superstar who puts them over the hump, and I don't know who that is. (I agreed with not trading for Kidd - too small a window imo.)

If Bynum can develop into a quality C (say 15/10 w/ 2+ bpg this year), the Lakers are a playoff team...but unless he develops into an All-Star in the next year or two, the Kobe window starts to close and all of a sudden LA starts to look like Minnesota of the past couple years.

I think the best-case scenario is that the Lakers are good enough early on that Phil can showcase Crittendon, then as soon as he has a couple 16 point, 8 assist efforts and gets a little hype on Sportscenter, you ship him and Kwame for someone good.

Anyone else have a brighter idea? There just aren't enough Ainges and Isiah's who are willing to butcher their teams for the benefit of others (read: Phoenix, Orlando, Portland, Toronto, Dallas, Minnesota, Seattle).