Craziest trade rumors from Lakers history

If there is one basketball team known around the world, it's surely the Los Angeles Lakers. Ever since they became a professional sports franchise in 1948, trade rumors have been a common theme of their history, mostly in the 2000's. Let's just see and try to predict what could have happened if...

- Kobe Bryant for LeBron James

In 2007, the Lakers wanted to see if there was any chance they could get LeBron for Kobe, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the Cavaliers obviously refused.

Just imagine if this actually happened... a lot could have changed for the both of them.

The funniest part of it is the fact that LeBron is currently the leader of the purple and gold squad.

- Kobe Bryant to the Chicago Bulls

Kobe wanted to play for the Chicago Bulls. A trade offer was made but the Black Mamba wanted Luol Deng to stay in Chicago and the Lakers wanted him apart of the deal.

This scenario would have been great, especially because Kobe becoming the Bulls' leader made sense. After his "big brother" Michael Jordan made them a prestigious organization, he, the "little brother" makes them prosperous yet again.

- Kobe Bryant (again) to the Detroit Pistons

In 2007, the famous guard wanted out of LA. The Detroit Pistons were ready to offer Rip Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell and two first-round picks to get the deal done.

Kobe finally changed his mind and stayed with the Lakers. After those trade talks, he won two championships in 2009 and 2010 with Pau Gasol; they formed an incredible duo.

- Kevin Garnett to the Lakers

As he was apart of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2007 (big year for the Lakers), Garnett wanted out of there. Before ending up with the Celtics, there was a lot of speculation and rumors about the all-time great power forward and Kobe Bryant joining forces in California. A deal including Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom was a possiblity, but it nver materialized.

We've seen it, Kobe and a big man works. After Shaquille O'Neal (three championships) and Pau Gasol (two championships), getting it done with one of the best PF's of all time would have been amazing. Garnett won a ring in Boston.

- Chris Paul to the Lakers

To this day, people still talk about that. The Lakers got a deal done with the New Orleans Hornets to get Chris Paul, but not with commissioner David Stern.

This may have cost the chance of Chris Paul getting a ring. He finally ended up with the Los Angeles Clippers, where he had some great years with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan... but no rings.

- Carmelo Anthony to the Lakers

This almost happened twice. First, when he wanted out of the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers were seen as a primary spot for him. He wounded up with the New York Knicks.

The second time happened when he became an unrestricted free agent in 2014. After a lot of rumors which seemed true, he re-signed a max contract to stay in the Big Apple.

The second move seems smart. Kobe was at the end of his career and a championship run may have never happened.

- Damian Lillard to the Los Angeles Lakers

After getting swept in the first round of the playoffs by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018, a lot of speculation went down about Lillard joining forces with LeBron for the Lakers.

It was all talks, because Lillard re-signed with the Portland Trail Blazers a year after in 2019. Since then, he publicly said he wasn't going anywhere else.

Credit : Clutch Points

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