Kobe Bryant Has To Go and the Chicago Bulls Have To Take Him

The Lakers shouldn't trade Kobe Bryant.

When you trade away the best player in the world, you can't get equal value.

In addition, Kobe draws a bigger crowd than any NBA player, so from a business standpoint a trade doesn't make much sense.

Unfortunately, the Lakers have to trade Kobe Bryant.

Make no mistake—Kobe wants out, as his not-so-subtle press conferences have indicated.

If the Lakers want to get anything close to a fair deal, they need to complete a trade sooner rather than later. Sure, they can hold onto Kobe for two more years until his contract runs out—but do they really want to let the best scorer of his generation walk for nothing?

Of course not—and with Kevin Garnett poised to wrap up his career in New England, there don't seem to be any viable sidekicks with whom to team Bryant in LA.

So trade Kobe they must, and if the Lakers learned anything from the Timberwolves debacle, they'll trade him ASAP...to avoid ending up with a slew of unproven players in exchange for their superstar.

That said, I'm not convinced Kobe has played his last game in a Lakers' uniform.

Trades in the NBA take time, and Kobe is smart enough not to just sit on the bench until his demands are met. He'll play hard, play well—and do his best to end up on a team that doesn't suck.

Potential suitors include the Suns, the Knicks, and the Pistons. The problem with all of those teams is that they can't offer anyone to even remotely match Kobe's popularity and talent.

The Mavericks might make sense if there were really looking to move Dirk, but that seems highly unlikely. And then, of course, there are the Bulls.

Much as I want to buck the conventional wisdom of the last 36 hours, I must say that Chicago seems to be the best possible suitor for Bryant, given the team's slew of young talent and Bryant's desire to play there.

The Bulls should take any reasonable offer, up to and including a package that includes Ben Gordon and Luol Deng.

Listen, Deng is a nice player. Nice—and as of right now, nothing more.

At 21, Deng has tons of room for growth, but the Bulls have been growing for a decade. It's time to start winning.

There are those who say a Kobe-for-Deng-and-Gordon trade is unreasonable. I'd like to know what games they're watching.

Sure, Gordon can score (as can Tony Delk and Bobby Jackson), but when you factor in what he gives up on defense—both in terms of size and ability—he only accounts for 12 or so positive points.

Deng lovers are suffering from Swollen Value Syndrome, an ailment common among fans who haven't seen true contenders for seven-plus years. Many Bulls fans are actually reluctant to give up Deng because of what he might do down the road.

Yes. Luol

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