Buss said hes willing to field offers for Kobe. Any chance the bulls are taking a stab?

The Bulls have nothing that would satisfy the Lakers. The only way Kobe was going to be on the move at all was if Kobe held out and forced the Lakers to accept whatever the best offer for him was.

No team can/will offer a fair price for Kobe Bryant. They're not going to get Lebron, D-Wade, Amare, etc, because no team is going to just decide to swap stars for Kobe, and anything other than one of the top 5 players in the league is not a fair price for him unless he forces a deal. Especially since Kobe's contract goes up several million $ if he's traded.

Kobe Bryant will not be traded until he holds out. End of discussion.

NO MORE KOBE THREADS

I think you are underestimating the discord he is creating within the Lakers by crapping all over his teammates and the management. If the Lakers struggle this season, I could definitely see Buss ditching him for 50 cents on the dollar.... especially after 76ers proved that it is possible to survive post franchise player.

The Bulls don't have a big dollar star on this team that would make a trade work. End of story.

NO MORE KOBE POSTS

I [heart] Kobe Bryant, we should trade for him.

comedy

If we got Kobe and got to keep Deng we'd be instant favorites to win the eastern conference finals.

agreed. its not happening.

I don't agree with that at all Balta. Maybe with a ton of parts...the Laker could actually become a "team" again. For the past few year....it's all about Kobe...and that worries me that's what the Bulls would turn in to. I actually like the Bulls "team" right now. For as good as Kobe is....it's not worth pilaging the roster for him.

Not true. If we got Kobe, kept Wallace, Deng, Gordon, & Hinrich then yes we would. But if we got Kobe and had to give up Wallace, Tyrus, & Gordon & Nocioni I'd say we wouldn't be better than the Celtics or the Pistons.

Last time I checked,

Deng
Kobe
Hinrich


wouldn't be better than

KG
Pierce
Allen

Not only that, but it takes time to build chemistry and adding the one man offense definately wouldn't bring chemistry.

I'm with Steve. I'm kind of tired hearing about this spiff. If we get Kobe we better not be favorites to win the East, it better be because we got him cheap and we are favorites and not only win this year but 3 peat before Kobe & Wallace both retire and leave our team with only Deng, and possibly Noah or Tyrus as the only youngsters still left to rebuild with.

I don't know about all of you but I sure don't want to go through another 8 year rebuilding plan. Kobe's old. He's only got a few good years left. If we kept the current team together, we could probably have a chance of winning for the next 8+ years if things go right and even longer if we get lucky with new young talent in the future.

I do agree the Lakers would want a star back for Kobe. I don't think the Bulls have that, but a 3 way might get it done. I have no scenerios however.

What do you mean "Last time you checked"? You actually checked to see which is better? Amazing

You forgot one thing, Kobe has the upper hand in any of the deals. He isn't going to come to a team that would be gutted. So if they trade him, its going to be for less than what you would expect.

There's no way I'd want to trade for Kobe unless we could keep Deng. But, I highly doubt that Lakers would go for that, so unless Kobe really forces their hand, nothing is gonna get done. An ideal trade would focus around Gordon, Nocioni, Noah or TT, and a couple 1st rounders.

Even though I'm loving both TT and Noah right now, I'd be extremely happy with a lineup of:
PG- Hinrich
SG- Kobe
SF- Deng
PF- Smith/TT or Noah
C- Wallace

The Lakers aren't going to just give him away because even a disgruntled Kobe puts butts in the seats. Unless they can get a better team put together without him or get a comparable player back, he's going to stay put. It'd also take a ridiculous amount of players to get him because his cap figure increases to something insane if he gets traded (I don't remember the exact number, but it was something like 25 mil).

The rumored price last time this came up was Deng, Gordon, and Wallace. Even if their demands come down a bit, that's going to end up being 2 of those and Tyrus. Even if it dropped to Shaq-level prices it'd still end up being Gordon and Wallace. End of discussion.

Here's the best possible argument I can make for why we shouldn't even consider going after Bryant.

Taken from ESPN's recent expert QA on Kobe:
"If and when Bryant is traded, which team will get him?

Adande: The Chicago Bulls are the only logical bartering partners for the Lakers. A trade to Chicago gets Bryant out of the Western Conference, so they don't have to worry about him paying multiple visits to their home court each season, or igniting against them during the playoffs.


Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Playing with a polished point guard like Jason Kidd makes Kobe smile.

The Bulls have a wealth of talented, smart young players. But the Lakers have to hold out for Luol Deng and/or Ben Gordon. They can't make the same mistake they made the last time they dealt a superstar, when they sent Shaquille O'Neal to Miami and didn't get a single all-star in return.

The Bulls could still have enough pieces to be competitive, and it's a good market, so Bryant would be less likely to exercise his no-trade clause. Chicago appealed to him when he was a free agent in 2004, and three years later, with the Baby Bulls growing up, it's an even better destination.

Broussard: The Bulls have to be the likeliest destination because Kobe wants to go there and they have the young assets to get a deal done. Plus, I don't think the Bulls as currently constructed can win a title. Once they realize that they'll be willing to trade for the closest thing there is to MJ.

I think Dallas will be in the hunt (if I were the Mavs, I'd trade Dirk for Kobe straight up). Forget the Knicks, and I don't see how Phoenix can get it done without breaking up its duo of Nash and Stoudemire.

Bucher: Technically, Dallas and Chicago, because those are the only teams currently on Kobe's list. But the field could expand, depending on what the Lakers want in return.

If the Lakers would accept a Paul Pierce package, he'd happily go play with KG and Ray Allen. Would the Lakers accept a Suns package that didn't include Nash or Amare? He'd go there, too.

My guess is that Chicago remains the only logical choice for both Kobe and the Lakers, because it puts him in the East, far from L.A. -- as well as San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix, if you can smell what I'm steppin' in. He does have a no-trade clause, so he won't go just anywhere and he won't go to a team stripped of contention by the deal.

This, by the way, is the price a team pays for screwing up its relationship with its best player. If it's any consolation, the Lakers are only the 914th team in league history to put itself in this position.

Sheridan: If the Lakers trade him -- and I think it'll take one more blow-up from someone to push it forward -- I still see Chicago as his likeliest destination. But that works only if Bulls GM John Paxson includes Luol Deng in his offer (along with Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, a No. 1 pick or Thabo Sefalosha plus P.J. Brown -- currently a free agent considering retirement -- for sign-and-trade purposes, to make the salaries match).

If the Bulls are stingy (and some league sources believe Chicago owner Jerry Reinsdorf has no stomach for giving Kobe an extension if he acquires him), the Knicks will be in the picture if Kobe thinks New York is an acceptable fallback destination. Bryant has a trade veto and is wary of playing for a franchise run by Jim Dolan in the wake of last month's sexual harassment case by a fired Knicks executive. But no one has deeper pockets than Dolan, who would be more than willing to pay Kobe's full trade kicker and give him an extension that would make even Allan Houston jealous.

Still, there's always the question of whether the Lakers would accept anything offered by New York, which would try to overwhelm the Lakers with some voluminous combination of Jamal Crawford plus young talent on rookie contracts (David Lee, Renaldo Balkman, Nate Robinson, Randolph Morris), plus Malik Rose or Quentin Richardson for salary cap purposes.

I don't believe Buss will trade Kobe to a Western team, but if he does, I think it'll be Dallas -- in part because Buss has a good relationship with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

My long-shot team is New Jersey, for a package starting with Vince Carter, although that can not happen until after Dec. 15, when players (like Carter) who signed over the summer become trade-eligible.

Stein: Don't forget that Kobe will continue to have a stronger-than-anyone say in this whole process; he has the NBA's only active no-trade clause in his contract. And the three-team Kobe wish list that keeps coming up on the front-office grapevine -- with apologies to the Knicks -- is Chicago, Phoenix and Dallas.

The Suns and Mavs, though, continue to rank as pretty much the last two teams Buss would want to send Kobe to. The Bulls, then, are by far the most logical destination, because they possess more trade assets than anyone and given that Kobe actually likes the idea of trying to win in Michael Jordan's city. But Chicago is just as likely as Buss to want to wait until season's end before seriously considering this.

The Lakers would certainly be holding out for Luol Deng and/or Kirk Hinrich as the cornerstones of a package for Kobe and the Bulls aren't going to part with their best players without giving them at least one more shot to go far in the playoffs. You are bound to hear folks suggest that the Lakers need to move to fast, because the offers will be better now rather than later, but I'd argue that the bids in this case might not get better until teams start to believe that Kobe is really attainable. Any potential trade partner, furthermore, is more likely to break up their team after playoff disappointment than they are in October or February."


Looks like the "experts" think the Bulls are the most likely destination.

I'd just like to see the "experts" show me a trade that feasibly matches the salaries on our end.

A lot of them were talking about a trade following this season... hopefully by then Deng and Gordon will have been re-signed... and Wallace will be nearing expiring contract status. I'm not saying that I want this deal... but it is possible.

^^^^^^^
What Balta said....

Here is what i expect to happen. The Bulls will re-sign Gordon and Deng to extensions during the season. Paxson will determine what direction the team will take after the season. We will not see a Kobe trade during the middle of the season. If the Bulls don't at LEAST make the Eastern Finals this year I wouldn't be surprised for Pax to make a strong push for Kobe during next offseason. You figure Gordon will get about 9/10 mill/season and Noc is getting about 9 mill per season so those 2 guys alone plus maybe a Chris Duhon and a #1 pick could get it done if Kobe DEMANDS to be traded. I know that seems like a crappy offer for a superstar like Kobe but if he puts the Laker organization into a situation where they are backed into a corner than i think this can happen. Like i said though, it wont happen this year, it will be during the summer.

For now, Gordon is our starting shooting guard and there is nothing wrong with that... this team can still take the East.

The deadline to negotiate extensions for Deng and Gordon is October 31. They can't negotiate in season. Duhon is in the last year of his deal so his expiring contract is only an asset until the trade deadline, not the off season.

As our younger guys sign extensions and get out of their rookie contracts matching salaries becomes less and less an issue.

If we trade for Kobe the trade will almost certainly include either Deng or Gordon (not both) (likely Gordon) &

1. Tyrus
2. Thabo
3. Duhon (for $3 million)
4. Khryapa

I'm thinking it would be the players listed below and possibly a sign and trade of PJ or one of the camp invites that are currently on our team.
Gordon $4.8 million
Tyrus $3.5 million
Duhon $3.3 million
Thabo $1.8 million
Khryapa $1.9 million

It won't include Nocini b/c of his new contract and the cap restrictions on trading newly signed players.

Kobe will be traded. But not this year... it will be after this season before the 2008 NBA draft. Like i said before it only makes sense to sign Gordon and Deng to extensions now and play out the season. This team as assembeled has a really good shot at making the NBA finals. Winning the finals is another story. But after Deng and Gordon get there new contracts, matching Kobe's salary will be less of an issue like sports1016 said. You figure Gordon will make about 9mill/season + Nocioni's 8.5/season and Duhon's 3.3/season that equals = 20.8 mill. Kobe's contract is worth about 20/season.
What LA do that? Im not so sure.. they would probably ask for a Gordon, Thomas, Nocioni package and i would still probably have to say yes. We are talking about one of the greatest NBA players of all time. The question is, can LA wait to trade him in the summer?

Can you guys imagine:
Kirk Hinrich PG
Kobe Bryant SG
Luol Deng SF
Joe Smith PF
Ben Wallace C

Bench: Sefolosha, Noah, Khryapa, Griffin, Gray, Duhon, Curry, and a couple FA

We lose a lot of depth, but that starting lineup would be SICK!

"Sources: Kobe traded this week
Posted: Tuesday October 23, 2007 06:39AM ET
Some piped-in people in Los Angeles are convinced Kobe Bryant will not be a Laker Oct. 30 when they open the season, even if L.A. must accept an inequitable return for the league's preeminent talent; that's how repugnant he supposedly has become to the owner's senses. Bryant isn't going anywhere unless Phil Jackson says so. Evidently the entire Buss family - Jerry and Jim, not just Jeanie - has given Jackson personnel power.

-New York Post"


is Kobe already a Bull

I'll believe it when I see it.

bulllllllshiiiiiit

I wouldn't believe it if it came from the Chicago Tribune, let alone the New York Post, the least reliable source on the planet

SportsHubLA

The trade will be

Chi Receives:

Kobe Bryant
Brian Cook

LA Receives:

Ben Gordon
Joakim Noah
Andres Nocioni
2 future first rounders

Which means we will have a lineup of..

PG Hinrich
SG Kobe
SF Deng
PF Thomas
C Wallace

and a nice bench of Thabo, Cook, Gray, and Joe Smith.

Which also means you have a dominant offense in the starting lineup with the big three, Kirk, Deng, and Kobe. You know Kobe is capable of scoring 30 ppg, Kirk can be around 14 ppg and Deng around 20 ppg. With Kobe on our team that makes Tyrus so much better because he will get the ball with an easy attempt at a score because of Kobe's drive and kick ability.

Except that trade doesn't work financially, the Bulls are still over $6 mil short. Noc is a base year compensation player and can't be dealt until December, and if they were to try to re-sign Gordon to make the deal close that would have similar issues.

Base Year Compensation rules- "Certain players in the first few months of a new contract are subject to base year compensation (BYC). The intent of BYC is to prevent teams from re-signing players to salaries specifically targeted to match other salaries in a trade (in other words, salary should be based on basketball value, not trade value). A BYC player's trade value as outgoing salary is 50% of his new salary, or his previous salary, whichever is greater. BYC applies only to players who re-sign with their previous team and receive a raise greater than 20%. It also applies only when (and as long as) the team is over the salary cap."

In other words, his contract counts even less.

They need to get up to at least like $15 mil to make it work, and that doesn't count Kobe's trade-kicker (not sure if that counts on the cap or not). That means that unless Kirk (actually he's still a base year compensation guy as well) or Wallace are included, it's going to take at least 4 non-minimum guys just to match Kobe's salary.

No, Kobe's trade-kicker does not count against the salary cap rules.

why would kirk still be a BYC player now?

He was last year, but now he should be in the first year of his extension at 9 million or whatever it is.

Last year he was still on the final year of his rookie deal with a large extension pending, hence the poision pill provisions. This year he's a base year compensation player. The same thing would be the case with Gordon and Deng if we signed them before the season.