Kobe and the Matrix

^sounds like a sitcom... or a bad bandname...

So the newest premiere small forward to demand a trade is the Sun's Shawn Marion. Since they won't give him $60 Million, and he's playing third wheel to Nash and Stoudamire, he wants out. Apparently Kobe has been whispering sweet nothing's in his ear, brining up a much expected Odom vs Marion debate, seeing as that could be the trade, strait up.

Would the Lakers be better off with the Matrix? My gut reaction is yes. I've always assumed that the Matrix was much better than Odom. You don't see fantasy teams drooling over Odom the way they do Marion. However, many fans believe that Marion is simply a product of the Suns offense the same way that Diaw is. How quickly they forget the close to 20/10 seasons Marion had when "Starbury" was running things.

Comparing the two, however, is an interesting debate. On one hand you have Odom who had great size, ballhandling, and courtvision; able to play 1-4 and a constant triple double threat. He stands at a looming 6'10 which in this league, towers over Marion's gracious 6'7. However, while Odom can play the 1-4 on offense, Marion can guard the 1-4 with great success on defense. And this is where I see the best advantage for the Lakers. If you look at 82games.com's blueprint for an NBA Championship, you'll see that almost every Championship team has had a top 10 defender on their squad, and frankly the Lakers just don't have that right now. Marion brings a pretty solid 3 point shot, insane rebounding for a player of his size, and quality defense; all things that Odom can't really do and the Lakers need. Odom would do wonderfully in the high powered suns offense and do an adequate job filling Marion's shoes thanks to Nash and the rest of the squad.

All the Lakers need after this is for Bynum to step up his game, and for one of Jordan Farmar or Javaris Crittington to step forward and become a quality point. Then we'd see what Phil Jackson and Kobe can really do. Speaking of that dynamic (and I do mean that in the truest sense of the word) duo, a trade like this would probably silence their complaints for the mostpart, thus allowing chemistry to flow freely.

Let's all hope for the Lakers and the NBA's sake that this trade goes through. God knows we need something after Oden's unfortunate injury.