team loyalty? owners have as much loyalty to players, as the players have to them...which would be none. No, unless a player is a super star in their respected sport, and they're putting butts in the stands, then every other player on the roster is nothing more than a commodity. Hell, look at the Dallas Cowboys in the nfl. They traded away Emmitt Smith during his twilight years, after he broke the all time rushing record, and he was traded immediately afterwards that same said season. Hell, the Yankees do it all the time in baseball.
As for the lakers, who cares? If you stop to think about it, then you might as well hate almost every other nba team in the league, as they're guilty of doing the same damn thing as the lakers. Look at what happened with Dennis Rodman. He was completely loyal to the Pistons, in his early years, and even admitted that he wanted to retire there originally playing only for that team. But guess what happened? They traded him away to the Spurs, even though Rodman was a loyal player to Detroit. It's just the nature of the game.
Who's to say this won't work out for the lakers in the long run? Personally, I too feel it was a mistake to trade odom to be honest, but we'll have to wait and see how it shakes out. Personally, I think the Lakers NEED to trade away Fisher, or make him retire because he's definitely not the defensive player he used to be, and he hasn't been as consistent in hitting clutch shots like before. In fact, it's because of him, the lakers' back court sucks when it comes to defense, so he needs to retire. As for Kobe, I think he'll stay as long as he puts butts in the seats, but he's definitely not the player that he once was, and they need a player for the future to build around; hence I can understand why the lakers want Dwight Howard so badly. Don't get me wrong, I think Bynum is a good center, and I think he has the potential of growing to become one of the elite centers in the nba, but I don't see it happening in LA for him. Why? Because Paul Gasol and Kobe demand too many touches of the ball that Bynum barely has the opportunity to develop his offensive abilities too. And knowing how Kobe would rather try to win now rather than work towards the future, it's not surprising Kobe would rather play next to a player that's already developed than waiting for a player like Bynum to live up to his potential.
This is why I can understand why the Lakers would want Howard, as he's already an elite center. In fact, he's arguably the best one out there, so the Lakers or any other franchise would be fools for not wanting him.
