Los Angeles Lakers: Reason to consider Brandon Ingram, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope trade
Brandon Ingram and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have been at the center of many Los Angeles Lakers trade rumors. Here’s one reason the Lakers front office should at least consider trading both players.
Before the Los Angeles Lakers season started everybody said there’s no point in playing this year because the Golden State Warriors are going to win the championship.
The experts in the media stated over and over again that the only way Golden State wouldn’t win a championship is if they got ravaged by injuries. If the Warriors core players got hurt, everyone said the Rockets were clearly the 2nd best team in the league and that they’d win the championship.
Both teams are filled with stars who stuff the stat sheet, but do they look like the two best teams in the league right now? No, not at all.
The Warriors have two players in Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson who are in the last year of their contracts. It’s clear that Durant has his own agenda this year and he’s thinking about where he’s going to play next season.
At the same time, Klay’s been pressing, and probably thinking about next year as well. The Rockets lost Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah A Moute, two players who knew their roles and played them perfectly for the good of the team. Now they’re gone and the Rockets brought in player’s who aren’t 100% about the team.
I know what everybody says; the Warriors are bored, and the Rockets have had injuries. Perhaps that’s true. It’s very possible both teams will figure it out, but if the Warriors or Rockets do win a championship this year it won’t be simply because they’re incredibly talented.
Many members of the media like to make it seem like championships are won by the team with the most gifted set of players. That’s simply not true. Championships are won by great teams, not just a few talented players. Championships are won by the squad whose players put their team first, instead of their own stats.
As things stand right now, the Raptors, Bucks, Nuggets, and Thunder have a real chance at winning a championship, because their player’s know their roles and they play their parts very well.
In Bill Simmons book, The Book of Basketball, he quoted what Isiah Thomas told a group of reporters, during the 1989 finals.
Isiah Thomas was asked a question about what it takes to win a championship. Here’s what he said, “…it’s hard not to be selfish. The art of winning is complicated by statistics, which for us becomes money. Well, you gotta fight that, find a way around it. And I think we have.”
What’s this have to do with Ingram and KCP being traded?
If there is one reason to trade Brandon Ingam and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, it’s not based on their talent or production. I think it’s clear that both players have put their own agenda’s and stats above the needs of the Lakers.
No team, including the Warriors or the Rockets, can win a championship when two of their key players are more worried about their box score results, instead of what the team needs.
If the Lakers are going to trade either player, this could be the reason why.