Cam & Bilbo Weekly Chat: THE Melo to Lakers Discussion

Bilbo likes beards



Cam likes beer



Bilbo: Doood, I’m hearing rumors of Melo going to The Lakers. My first reaction is how could this possibly work? Where do Anthony’s 20+ shot attempts come from? Gasol and Bynum already bitch about Kobe’s reluctance to feed the post, so adding a second wing player with the same mentality is the solution? Remember Melo had 50 points and ZERO assists the other night! And then there is the alpha dog issue. On one hand you have Kobe, the perceived clutch time hero who will never play second fiddle to anyone. On the other hand, you have Melo, who if you look at the numbers is actually the better crunch time play. He is younger than Kobe and is used to being the number juan option on the Nuggets. So who runs the team? You would think Kobe, but when Melo starts outplaying him and the other players start deferring to him rather than The Mamba, things could get ugly quick. The only reason The Heat work is because LeBron and Wade are part of the new generation of superstars who try to have fun and want to collaborate with other superstars to win championships. Kobe is the last of a dying breed from the Jordan era. Juan superstar, juan sidekick and a bunch of good role players. So what if The Lakers make the move anyway without Kobe’s consent? Am I wrong to think it would be a delicious disaster?

Cam: I think it would eventually work out just fine. Gasol has fit in very nicely and Melo could only help them with his superior juan on juan skillz. I’m sure that they’d figure out the shot distribution but it would be hilarious to hear Melo and Kobe gripe at each other through the media during this figure-it-out phase. What I would be the most interested in is if Phil Jackson and the Lakers could get Melo to use his incredible abilities to actually play solid defense. He has all the skillz to play great D but chooses not to. This is the most frustrating part of all that is Melo. But I love your point about who would take the crunch time shots. Kobe has a terrible crunch time field goal % and lovers of his nutsack say that it doesn’t matter because the 20% of heaved 35 footers over quadruple teams while Gasol stands wide open on the wing that he does make are so awesome to re-watch on youtube. If the goal is winning games, you’d go with Melo who shoots a great crunch time percentage yet still would pass to an open man if it meant winning the game. I would love for this trade to happen, but I say there’s no way. Lala and Melo want to go to the Knicks and there’s going to be a February 24th deal worked out for him. Knicks GM Donnie Walsh hasn’t had his contract extended by Owner/Excellent Singer James Dolan unless he lands Melo. They’ll figure it out because Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri doesn’t want to let Melo go in Free Agency. But the bigger point is that I think Melo would deny a trade with the Lakers.

Bilbo: Great point about Melo’s lack of enthusiasm on D. I don’t think going to the Knicks will help him in that regard considering their style of play. And I know this is just a rumor and fills a lull in NBA news at the moment, but it is fun to imagine “what if”. In other news, what do you think of The Lakers next year without Phil Jackson? Do you think they could get Eric Musselman to coach them?

Cam: Thanks. That was a great point. But now that you’ve stroked my ego I’m going to smack you. Why do you, dear Bilbo Baggins of The Shire, care so much about the Lakers? Do you secretly love them? Maybe we should talk about Los Spurs. They do have the best record in the Association. Their “Big 3” have no real ego and are OK with sitting out half the game while their reserves get the W. Everyone on the squad seems to be on the same page and focused on the same goal. They’re a gem to watch to see how they pick apart teams. 43-8 is one of the better starts in NBA history. Thoughts? Feelings? Level of give-a-fuckedness about Los Spurs?

Bilbo: Come on, you know I love The Spurs. Every year I pick them to go to the WCF in your playoff pool and you and Maaatt make fun of me. But I think that should be a separate post….and to answer your question, I love to hate The Lakers. They always give you something to talk about, good and bad. They have one of the most polarizing superstars to ever play the game, the coach with the most rings, one of the craziest players of all time in Ron Ron, and really, really stupid fans who don’t know shit about the NBA outside of The Staples Center. What’s not to like (love?)?

Cam: Alright, I get where you’re coming from regarding the Lakers. I know that you battle a lot of Lakers-Only fans in your personal life so your focus on anything that can go wrong with them is heightened. That being said, should the Warriors trade Monta Ellis for Bynum? Give me your thoughts on possible big men the Warriors can trade Monta for to balance out their team? Don’t make them “really bad trade ideas that you actually kind of like” a-la Ryen (with an “e”) Russillo on the NBA Today podcast. But actually trades that could possibly work for both teams. For example, trading Tim Duncan for Aaron Afflalo and Louis Williams is something Los Spurs would never do but it will totally work for my Fantasy Team.

Bilbo: Of course I'd like a trade of Monta for Bynum.  That's exactly what the Warriors need!  But do you really think that Laker-only fans wouldn't freak over a Bynum for Dwight Howard trade?  The Bynum love is too strong to actually trade this guy.  I'm pretty sure they'd rather get rid of Gasol since he hasn't been a purple blooded Laker from the start.  And this, my friends, is why Laker-only fans make little sense.