The Los Angeles Lakers are struggling in a big way to start the season, which brings up a major question. Could Kobe Bryant be traded during the season? Rumors will fly about the Lakers, especially with Bryant potentially being in his final NBA season.
Seeing Bryant in a jersey other than the Lakers would be an extremely strange sight for NBA fans.
He has been the franchise player for the Lakers for the majority of his career. Bryant has also taken his team to five NBA championships. Los Angeles has been his home and his stage throughout his entire career and a trade would be a shocking occurence.
That being said, Los Angeles and Bryant both have to do what is in their best interests. Bryant has been struggling with the Lakers and there is no future for him with the franchise, which would make the Lakers' trading him a reasonable decision. As for Bryant, he is in the final year of his deal and could retire following the season which would make sense why he would want to contend for a championship.
Bryant has played in seven games so far this season for the Lakers. He has averaged 16.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Perhaps the biggest concern has been his shooting percentages, at just 33.9 percent from the field overall and 23.2 percent from behind the three-point arc.
Finding a trade partner that would take Bryant with his struggles wouldn't be terribly easy, but having the chance to acquire a player with Bryant's fame would be intriguing for any team.
At 37 years old, a big part of Bryant's issues is trying to figure out how to change his game without the impressive athleticism that made him so great. He is struggling to make the necessary changes and there is reason to believe that he may never figure things out.
Could the Lakers decide to trade Kobe Bryant during the season? Absolutely. No one is untouchable at this point and they could talk with Bryant and find out that dealing him is exactly what the star wants at this stage of his career.
That being said, trading him would also break the heart of diehard Lakers fans everywhere. Bryant has meant so much to the Lakers and seeing him leave would seem to tarnish the legacy that he has in Los Angeles.
Expect to hear plenty of rumors fly around the NBA and don't be surprised if Bryant's name is mentioned in them. There is a good chance that he will remain with the Lakers through the end of the 2015-16 season, but anything is possible. Big trades with star players have happened in the past, but Bryant would be one of the biggest names traded in a long time.
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