Friday, June 29, 2007 Sayson: Can Kobe, KG compete in the wild West? By Homer Sayson Second Overtime
CHICAGO - On the heels of all these Kevin Garnett trade talks, a reader named Christian of Cebu City (frances_bread@yahoo.com) asked, “Who is the player that can best help KG?” And, “Is there a need for the Big Ticket to be traded?”
A selfless star for 12 NBA years, Garnett has shown that he can play with anyone. But a fearless scoring machine such as Kobe Bryant, a slashing, jump-shooting 2-guard with unparalleled athleticism is a perfect match to KG’s low-post might.
The potential Kobe-Garnett union could easily become the most lethal 1-2 punch in the NBA today, an outside-inside threat waiting to explode.
I don’t think Garnett should be traded. You don’t just swap your franchise player especially if he’s a loyal, do-it-all captain, who has never feuded with management or teammates, and has represented your organization in the best possible light.
But nothing lasts forever. Garnett has toiled too long and too hard. He deserves a chance at a championship. He needs a new zip code to do that, acquire a dramatic and meaningful change that would pump life into a career that had seen more lows than Paris Hilton’s celebrity.
“Kobe and KG on the same team is really scary,” writes John Cabahug. “But they need to have a decent center and a point guard to be competitive, right?”
Kobe and KG will have a combined salary of around $39 million next season —a bundle of cash, which hinders the Lakers from grabbing a center, who can really make the Lakers offense a triple-threat on both ends of the floor.
I think that 7-foot, 275-pound Chris Mihm, once he returns from injuries, could legitimately patrol the middle. The point guard slot, however, has a hole the size of a moon crater.
The Lakers need a more effective point guard than the painfully erratic Smush Parker, whom Coach Phil Jakcson relegated to the doghouse during this year’s playoffs.
And by the way, John Cabahug asked me to mention his dad, Fabiano, here. Apparently for very good reasons.
“He is 67, and is an avid fan of your column. He used to work at GSIS Cebu, and played high school and college ball at the University of the Visayas. He walks a couple of blocks to the newsstand every morning to buy Sun.Star Cebu and read your column.
“He’s the one who influenced me and my brother to read your columns. And yeah, we occasionally drink Rum with Coke.” Cheers to you, Fabiano. And may you influence more people to read Second Overtime.
FREE THROWS. Instead of exercising the final year of his contract and collecting a guaranteed sum of $6,819,000, the Pistons’ All-Star Chauncey Billups has opted to become an unrestricted free agent.
Billups is said to be asking for at least a four-year contract beginning at $10 million a year. I believe Detroit will pay him the money.
Earl Boykins of the Milwaukee Bucks, the shortest and smallest player in the NBA at 5-foot-5 and 133 pounds, also opted out of the final year of his contract which pays $3 million. The 31-year old is likely to get a 5-year, $20 million extension.
But Michael Finley has opted to stay with the Spurs and exercise the final year of his three-year deal with San Antonio.
Finley, 34, will get $3.1 million from the Spurs, plus $18.6 million from the Dallas Mavericks, the team that released him for luxury tax amnesty purposes back in August 2005.
THANKS. Let me share this nice e-mail from Jovely S. Satorre, who wrote: “Before I was a San Miguel employee, I seldom read newspapers. But thanks to SMC’s wonderful library, I am now able to grab a copy of SunStar Cebu every lunch break.
And then there’s your column. It is as informative as Quinito Henson’s, but with a different style. You always write and stick to what you believe in and never soften against detractors. You are all glory, with guts. Thanks to you, I am as informed as my 1996 version of Microsoft Encarta. Keep up the good work. We, in our department, also look forward to your NBA segment at DYAB with Leo Lastimosa.”
Oh, I have only one word for you Jovely—breathless.
