According to latimes.com, Kobe Bryant has again expressed his desire to be traded from the Lakers, this time in a meeting with team owner Jerry Buss in Spain.

The NBA may have enough problems with flopping, but I'm not sure if Kobe apparently going from "Trade me," to "Laker for life," to "Trade me," can be counted among them. Hear me out. I believe Bryant claims that the Lakers expressed to him a commitment to winning now when he resigned with the team in 2004. Lakers officials, to my knowledge, don't dispute that. I imagine that this commitment was restated when Kobe first asked for a trade earlier in the offseason.

If recent reports about the Lakers' attempts to make deals are accurate, then Bryant has a reason to question the team's commitment to winning now. Yesterday, latimes.com reported on LA's lack of progress in trade talks. Apparently, a reluctance to give up Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum has kept the Lakers from acquiring Jermaine O'Neal and Troy Murphy, and LA nixed a pursuit of Marcus Camby when they found out they would have to offer more than Kwame Brown.

Seriously? I understand that Bynum may be a pretty good player in the future. I understand that Odom is a good player and provides crucial ballhandling for the Lakers, who lack a developed point guard.  But L.A. is supposed to be committed to winning now, right? Can they really not take the loss of Bynum's future and Odom's value in favor of a true star post-player and a decent role-player? Resign Luke Walton (good passer, well-regarded basketball IQ) and let him handle the ball more; I think maybe he, Kobe, JO, Murphy and Jordan Farmar could figure it out offensively.

In fairness, I haven't dealt with the financial aspects involved. Still, I'm not sure if the Lakers are really showing a desire to win now. The NBA may have too many players flopping, but perhaps some teams have floppers in the front office too.

Source: (Los Angeles Times)