Living With The Curse: The L.A. Lakers’ Options For Kwame Brown

He’s a human curse-a living, breathing voodoo doll just without pins. My friend’s opinion of L.A. Laker Kwame Brown is an exaggeration, but behind every overstatement is an element of truth.

Investing in Brown is costly; career-wrecking, in fact. Drafting the seven-footer first overall in 2001 destroyed Michael Jordan’s reputation as an executive, while Mitch Kupchak never lived down trading All-Star Caron Butler for the lumbering post.

His return from injury has sparked much speculation about his long-term future with the purple-and-gold. Most important: will Brown’s expectation of regular minutes impact Andrew Bynum‘s rapid development from prospect to star?

The Lakers have three options:

• Option 1) The Showcase: Brown, because of his expiring contract, has trade value. Increased playing time could set-up a deadline deal; after all, every team has interest in his 9 million dollar salary coming off their books this summer.
  

• Option 2) Platoon Until Summer: Brown can come off-the-bench for the next five months, then the Lakers can let him sign with another team and use the cap space. 
  

• Option 3) Keep Him: The Lakers may still have faith in Brown’s tremendous physical gifts. If so, they should use the next few months to establish a fair value and re-sign him at an affordable wage. Could a Bynum-Brown combo work long-term?
  

The Lakers shouldn’t feel rushed into making a decision. Without Brown, they’ve jumped out to a surprising 19-10 record. Whatever they do will only enhance their promising season.

What should the Lakers do with Brown: trade him, let him sign elsewhere, or develop him? Get at us in the comment box or drop us a line in our fan forum. Click here to read and subscribe to Oly Sandor’s NBA Blog.