General Chat / Mitch Kupchak Is An Idiot

So the latest rumors point to the Lakers trying to deal Caron Butler and prolly another player and a draft pick to the Washington Wizards for the highly talent, super versatile, future Hall of Famer, multi-skilled, best player in the world.....

Kwame Brown.







If you're gonna trade someone, trade Odom, who couldn't play well in LA if thugs were gonna jump him for it. At least he'd work pretty well on the Wizards. Caron was on fire late in the season and can very well prove to be Scottie Pippen for Kobe's MJ, at least as a tandem. Butler's got huge talent.

But secondly... KWAME BROWN!?!?! This is the guy who's got less upside than Andrew Bynum. Mitch is too desperate for another HS prodigy like Kobe... Kwame did do jack in the east... what makes anyone think he'll do well in the west??? And to trade your second best player for him? That's just idiocy. That'd also make it basically Shaq for Odom (and Brian Grant) last year. Great job Mitch.

So I PRAY that this doesn't happen, or else Mitch would be just tearing down a great team... Jerry Klause style.




In other offseason news, Michael Redd and Ray Allen resigned with their original teams. Bobby Simmons left the Clippers for the Bucks. Clippers look like they'll replace him with Cutino Mobley (good move IMO).

Larry Hughes will be going to Cleveland, so Lebron finally has something to smile about. The Suns seem super intent on keeping Joe Johnson.




So yeah... talk about your team. Or rag on Kupchak for acting like an idiot and making all the wrong moves. Or whatever.

Make that IS an Idiot.

Id swich to the Clippers if I were you Cork

I'm not a typical LA bandwagon jumper, Kumba. Lakers 4 LIFE.

But that doesn't mean I can't bash them when they make bonehead mistakes.



I was thinking about this, and I've decided that I'd rather have Ildraunus Zylgauskas (sp?) than Kwame Brown.

Yeah... bad feet and all.

Still confused about Luther head, but we still have Mac and Yao.

^ LOL, you switched the first letters...

Anyway, we got Danny Granger, I hear he's good, but we really don't need a good rookie...

Heh. Then we'll take him. He's awesome.

Anyway Cork, at least they didn't sign Jerome James. New York is frighteningly bad. And I think Kwame will be alright. Except that there'll be even more pressure on him in LA than there was in Washington. And everyone's going to be watching the return of Phil Jackson and expecting him to turn it around. On second thought, maybe he won't be alright. Oh and now Andrew Bynum's got the ideal role model.

Crappy news: Laker 2nd pic Ronny Turiaf will have to have open heart surgery. This might end his career before it ever started.

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=2113689

Ronny Turiaf, the West Coast Conference player of the year at Gonzaga and a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers, has an enlarged heart and will need open-heart surgery, possibly ending his career before it ever starts in the NBA.

Turiaf's agent, Bouna Ndiaye, confirmed to ESPN.com Thursday night that the condition was discovered during extensive medical testing in Los Angeles.

Lakers spokesman John Black said Turiaf would have open-heart surgery in four to six weeks. Black said Turiaf would meet with the media at 10 a.m. PT Friday in Los Angeles.

"Obviously he's disappointed," Black told The Associated Press on Thursday night. "I think it's fair to say he's anxious and somewhat scared to have to undergo open heart surgery. But now that he's had time for it to sink in, and looking at the big picture, he's hopeful for his future."

Black said it was too early to determine if the condition would be career-ending.

"We don't want to speculate on that, but obviously we're hopeful that if things go well he will be able to [play again],'' Black said.

The good news, Black added, is that catching the condition now likely saved Turiaf's life.

"Had he not had this corrected, my understanding from our doctors is very likely this would have been a fatal condition," Black said.

It wasn't clear what impact Turiaf's loss will have on the team this season.

"He would have still had to go to training camp and earn a spot on the team," Black said. "But he did fill a role at power forward that we thought we needed help at."

The Lakers selected the 6-foot-9 Turiaf, who was originally from France, with the 37th pick in the June 28 draft. He averaged 15.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.9 blocked shots as a senior at Gonzaga last season. He was the Lakers' second pick behind 17-year-old center Andrew Bynum of St. Joseph High in Metuchen, N.J.

Los Angeles signed Turiaf to a two-year guaranteed contract on July 14. He played for the Lakers in a Summer Pro League and was averaging 14 points and 4.7 rebounds in 21.9 minutes a game. Turiaf, 22, was held out of the final four games of the summer league.

Ndiaye said Turiaf would remain in Los Angeles to meet with more doctors Friday before determining when and where to have surgery.

"His aorta is too large for his heart," Ndiaye said. "This is open-heart surgery. He could come back if everything goes OK and he works hard."

Ndiaye said the contract would be voided but Lakers owner Jerry Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak would "take care of the medical costs and told us they would keep his rights."

"They are showing us the good human part," Ndiaye said. "Ronny is down. He's a winner and he's determined to get back one day."

Black said the contract Turiaf signed was conditional on passing the physical and once he didn't, the contract becomes void. But Black said the league lawyers might not agree with that interpretation. Black said the Lakers want to pay the medical costs, but once again this is up to the league's interpretation of his contract.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who spoke with Turiaf on Thursday night, said Turiaf was in the best condition he had seen him in when he visited Turiaf at the Chicago predraft camp in June.

"We're in a state of shock," Few said. "We're going to be by Ronny's side during this entire ordeal. Our staff, our players and the entire community of Spokane are behind him. He's meant so much to all of us. We're going to see him through this and get him back healthy. There will be a lot of thoughts and prayers coming out of Spokane."

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.




That's really sad to hear, and hopefully everything goes well and he can make a comeback. But man... Mitch has the worst luck with draft picks, eh?

What kind of fucking moron watches NBA? All of the players are so full of shit.

Watch college basketball.

Stromile Swift is gonna be a Rocket

Good move... he's a solid player and can be a great boost for the main stars. How much you guys paying him?

Could someone explain this Larry Brown/Pistons situation to me? I don't understand why the Pistons would want to unload this guy for...Flip Saunders.

Good move... he's a solid player and can be a great boost for the main stars.  How much you guys paying him?

Im thinkin 30 mil for 5 years.

Not a bad deal.


Jellybones, Brown's always been a nomad; he never stays in one place for long. He probably wanted out so he could go somewhere else. However, he was under contract for another two or three years, so they had to buy out the contract if they wanted to release him. And of course, it's better to get rid of a disgruntled employee than keep him (we're assuming there's no threat of him going postal). Flip was the "best coach out there" and was thus hired.

But it basically comes down to Brown prolly not wanting to stay in Detroit anymore.

The Kings have finally made a move -- for Bonzi Wells. A good move I think as we needed a SG and he's got the potential to be a very good one if he plays as well as he did in Portland. I think he's a better SG than Cuttino Mobley. We still need a PF though and all of the good free-agents are taken.

Trade ya Kwame Brown...

For who? How do you feel about Kenny Thomas?

Actually, I'd take Kenny Thomas if he can repeat what he was doing whenever I saw him on TV late last year... put up 25 a game.

Yeah, but we'd like a PF who doesn't take jumpshots from the top of the key for a change. Preferably one taller than 6'7" too.

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=2122976

Wade and Shaq alone are not stopable, but now, shit!