On Monday, we did our best to tell you why the Wizards would never, ever consider Sam Smith's idea for the Wizards to trade Bradley Beal to the Lakers for Kobe Bryant. On Tuesday, Randy Wittman took his best shot at trying to explain why it would never happen.
Wednesday, Tony Kornheiser did his best to squash the idea, when he spoke to Sam Smith on his radio show. You can listen to the full show here, but here's a transcript of their discussion on the Kobe/Beal trade idea Sam Smith suggested.
Tony Kornheiser: By the way, did I hear that you are sending Kobe to the Wizards? Is this something that you're planning on doing? Because it sounds like a really good trade for Los Angeles.
Sam Smith: Yes, exactly.
TK: Why would I do it?
SS: This is why Washington would consider it:
TK: Sketch out what this is, so that people who don't know this can hear it.
SS: Washington, they just picked up Paul Pierce, it can't be a long-term decision there. And you know, given everything that's gone on with the Wizards, which you've documented many times over the years, it hasn't been a pleasant couple of decades.
So the East is not particularly strong. Like I said with Cleveland, they're good, but they have flaws there too. So you have a chance, you have John Wall, you have Pierce, and Gortat. And so, what about taking a shot? Kobe, look, he's terrific.
TK: He was 10 for 26 last night.
SS: I mean, he's playing terrific. And so, what about taking a shot now? You know, you have Kobe Bryant with Paul PIerce, who's a short-term guy. You know, take a short term shot with Wall. The Wizards as currently comprised are not going to sit at one of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.
TK: Who are you trading away from the Wizards?
SS: Okay, well the deal is, and you can do it easily. The key would be for the Lakers to get Beal. Young player, shooting guard.
TK: Why would I give up, a guy who's gonna be, at the very worst, one of the five best shooting guards in the league for ten years, to get a guy who's 90? Why would I do that?
SS: The only reason you might do it, is in the short term, you might have a chance at a title, because you've got this great player with John Wall and the other players you've got.
So Nene, you have to give up too.
TK: Well he doesn't play half the time, so yeah.
SS: So it's a short term thing to say "Hey, look, we've all these young players for all these years, but we haven't done anything. We get Kobe Bryant, to put with what we've got, maybe we've got a shot for this year and next year.
TK: Do you remember when Michael Jordan came to Washington?
SS: Yeah I do. That really wasn't as good of a Wizards team as there is now, beyond Bradley Beal. It's a pretty good group of players beyond Bradley Beal. That was an 18 win Wizards team he came to.
TK: I just think that would be an incredible steal for the Lakers. I don't know why they would make it.
SS: That was sort of my point in what I was writing about. There are some reasons why, because there was this notion that "The Lakers will never trade Kobe Bryant!"
TK: Sure they would!
SS: Exactly! That's my point too. They're about rebuilding. They're about the next ten years. If some team is willing, and that was the other part, if some team is willing to give them a young talent, I think they would go to Kobe and say "Look Kobe, for the benefit of our future, how about taking this trade?"
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There's not much we can add to this discussion, other than what we already said on Monday, but it's nice to see Tony Kornheiser, who usually holds a pessimistic view of the Wizards' future, believes enough in the current roster to see that trading for Kobe Bryant would be a really bad idea.