Kwame/Lamar for Kirilenko/Fisher/Collins
Why it works (other than Trade Machine telling me it does):
-Immediately upgrades our D at two positions, which should be the focus of off-season moves in my mind
-Gives us the "Fisher-like" player that everyone acknowledges we need in Fisher, making his triumphant return to L.A., who would be able to provide the steadying veteran influence we need at the point, without crowding out the development of Farmar.
-Before getting bumped out of position last year, AK was easily more efficient than Odom. Hopefully Utah keeps in mind how woefully out of place he was throughout the year with career lows in points and rebounding.
-With Deron coming on as one of the best point guards in the league, I'm sure Fisher's contract is looking more and more cumbersome to Utah.
-I would be exccedingly happy with a 5 of Farmar/Kobe/Luke/AK/Mihm with a bench of Fisher/Evans/Vlad/Ronny/Bynum.
Why it doesn't work:
-After Fisher's heroics and AK's resurgence, I'm not sure they can deal either of them anymore. After all, they're in the Western Conference Finals now with a very promising young core. If it ain't broke I guess.
-Fisher's contract is absurd. Good one, Golden State.
-Lamar just went under the knife, so not the greatest trade-bait.
-It really just exacerbates our need to get Kobe a legitimate second option. Oh well, I'm confident he could average 40 with AK patrolling the paint to free him up of his duties on that end.
-As Ty is quick to point out, I didn't consider Utah's needs at all in putting this together. But we would be taking Derek's contract off their hands in exchange for Kwame's expiring 9m, which should count for something, right?
-Update: my friend Ric Golbez adds: "Have they ever had a dark black player or a black player who has 'attitude issues.' Moreover...would they really take two of ours??" A very valid point I failed to consider. The man who created the Black Jesus shirt probably wouldn't work out too well in Utah.
In the absence of a splashy KG/Gasol/O'Neal deal that probably can't happen, I'd be perfectly content with something like this. I'll be checking in with other random unlikely scenarios in the near future, so stick around for that. I'll try better next time.
