Andrew Bynum is one of those players that you have to wonder if his level of talent is worth all the negatives he brings to the table. He’s had moments of brilliance over his 7-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he’s also caused some big headaches.
Bynum has always had the height to play in the NBA, there’s no doubt about that. He’s always had the skill as well, but at times it seems like he lacks the drive to have a successful career. You’ll see him sitting away from team huddles, going half speed on the court and being an all-around bad teammate. The guy should be one of the dominant big men in the NBA, but he’s just not.
Now the Lakers have to decide if they want to continue their run with Andrew Bynum. They have a team option on his contract for next year, which they will most likely use so they can at least trade him if they want to, but I’m not sure he’ll be a Laker for long.
As for Bynum, in his typical unenthusiastic fashion, he just says: “I’m not sure. It really doesn’t matter to me. I’ll play anywhere.”
Unless you have a coach and teammates that can really motivate the 7-footer, there’s no point in giving up much for Andrew Bynum. If he hasn’t found the drive to be one of the greats after 7 years of playing for one of the greatest NBA franchises of all time that has seen a number of hall-of-fame big men come through, he won’t find it anywhere else.
As for the Lakers, the Kobe Bryant era is in its final years. Even if Kobe can still play, he can’t carry the team with the supporting cast he has now. After losing in 5 games to the Oklahoma City Thunder, we know this team isn’t built to win a championship. The city of Los Angeles and the Lakers organization won’t tolerate mediocrity for long, so you can bet some big changes are coming. Will the future of this team revolve around Andrew Bynum? Probably not.
Now it just becomes a question of what the Lakers can get for the players they have now. We could be looking at a totally new Lakers franchise as early as next season.
