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 Deng over Kobe Bryant.

This is like turning down the lead role in the new Marty Scorsese movie because the TV show your uncle Herb is putting together on his Mac might really take off.

Getting equal value would require Deng to turn into the best scorer of his generation, which no one believes will ever happen. There isn't even a guarantee that Deng will ever be a top-10 player in the NBA.

It just doesn't make sense to hold onto him.

If the Chicago brass believes this Bulls team can win a title this year, they should keep it together. But their lack of a go-to scorer and a reliable back-to-the-basket big man makes that highly unlikely.

None of this is to say that a trade is imminent. The money is complicated. Any deal not involving a third team almost certainly requires Deng and/or Gordon to agree to a sign-and-trade.

The only alternative would involve Ben Wallace heading to LA, which the Lakers wouldn't accept (unless it was Deng, Gordon, and Wallace).

Kobe on a Deng-and-Gordon-less team doesn't by any means pencil the Bulls into the Finals. However, it makes the team more exciting, brings in more money, and gives them a chance to really compete for a ring.

What more could Bulls fans ask for?

Listening to talk radio on the way to work this morning, I heard several Chicago fans arguing against Kobe coming to the Bulls. Their main point seemed to be that they've stuck with this team and watched it grow—and they want to see how far it can go.

I appreciate that sentiment, but part of the reason to grow a team is so you can have players to use in a blockbuster trade.

The Bulls may have a chance to acquire the best player of the post-Jordan era, with at least two years of outstanding basketball left in him.

Sorry, but that sounds a whole lot better than hanging on to Luol Deng, Potential All-Star.

Personally, I'd love to see Danny Ainge make a call to Dr. Buss and try to convince him that a Pierce-Rondo package is a good value.

'Cause you know, come the end of the NFL season, those Boston fans aren't going to be used to losing games.