Maybe I’m just a big tease after all, though balding at about 5 feet 9 inches and wearing glasses when I can find them, you shouldn’t get the wrong idea.
After all those trade proposals and scenarios, here’s a chance for the Bulls to get Kobe Bryant, generally regarded as the best talent in the NBA, the player I’ve long argued is the only Michael Jordan-like player I’ve seen in the last decade and a guy I actually like more than most of my colleagues do.
And I say the Bulls shouldn’t make this trade.
At least they shouldn’t do it now.
It’s something I would revisit after this season if these Bulls don’t have a successful regular season and a significant playoff run. It’s time to give this group, in its first true test as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference, a chance to prove itself.
A future trade is also why I wouldn’t offer extensions yet to Luol Deng or Ben Gordon. OK, fellas, you think you deserve eight-figure annual contracts despite never once making an All-Star team? Go out and prove yourselves. You’ll get paid, but you have two years until you are true free agents. The Bulls should remain flexible on long-term contracts that can impede trades in case they want to make a run for Bryant after this season.
And, really, despite all the Los Angeles hysteria about Bryant in recent days, it makes little sense for the Lakers to do anything drastic now because Bryant can’t opt out of his contract for two more seasons.
But where will he end up? My guess is not with the Bulls.
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After trading Shaquille O’Neal to Miami and not getting the Heat’s best player, Dwyane Wade, in return, the Lakers seem determined not to be held up again. Besides, the Lakers, with the NBA’s top ticket prices in the movie and celebrity capital of the world, historically have pursued the game’s biggest stars and never, ever rebuilt. The Lakers don’t do blue-collar. They do red-carpet. They’re not taking anyone’s bunch of Sefoloshas.
Rumors circulating around L.A. have the Bulls suggesting a package of Gordon, Tyrus Thomas and Andres Nocioni, which sounds questionable because Nocioni can’t be traded until Dec. 15. The Lakers were said to have mocked that possibility.
The Bulls, sources say, have put Deng off limits in any trade discussions. Sources also indicate the Bulls haven’t made any trade offers to the Lakers.
It’s the Lakers who are fishing around.
Believing the Bulls will not consider moving Deng, the Lakers are said to have asked for four pieces from the Bulls, including at least two from among Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Wallace. Reportedly hearing that, Bryant balked, sending word that if he is traded to Chicago — and he has the only full no-trade contract in the NBA — he wants to play with Wallace.
That, presumably, would mean the Lakers want Gordon, Hinrich and at least two more players.
Such a deal would cost the Bulls their two best long-distance threats, as Gordon and Hinrich were the only Bulls to shoot above 40 percent on three-pointers.
If they were to go for Bryant, the Bulls would have to acquire other players who could complement Bryant.
Because Bryant requires a double team from defenses, and Deng is not a three-point threat at all, you need shooters around Bryant. Could you make more deals after trading so many pieces for Bryant? And the Bulls still wouldn’t have that big-man post threat, though Bryant can play out of the post like Jordan did.
Is Deng good enough to be a Scottie Pippen for Bryant? Though Deng is a better scorer, Pippen averaged 16.5 points per game his third season. And Deng is nowhere near the defender and ballhandler Pippen was.
Plus, with Bryant, the Bulls would have to change their style of play from a fast, drive-and-kick movement game to one where Bryant controls the ball more because of his transcendent offensive abilities.
So should the Bulls say no to a chance to get the best player in the NBA?
They probably need to now.
Aside from the aforementioned, Bryant’s contract is arguably the best in the NBA, even though he was the only player to vote against the 1999 labor agreement, presumably because of the cap on maximum salaries.
Bryant makes about $19.5 million this season on a deal that ends at about $24.8 million after the 2010-11 season. He has the no-trade clause, and he got the earliest possible opt-out clause, after the 2008-09 season. He received the maximum trade kicker, which means the team acquiring him would have to increase his salary 15 percent each season.
And to enhance the present value of his contract, he receives 70 percent of his annual pay on the first day of the season.
And he’s furious with the Lakers, apparently because they are losing.
But what happens if the Bulls don’t win with Bryant?
The Lakers were 13 games above .500 last season until being hit by injuries. They were ahead 3-1 over the Suns in the playoffs two years ago. They’re not iron filings. One of Bryant’s best traits is he desperately wants to win, like Jordan. But if you trade for him and give up multiple players, you, in effect, are turning your franchise over to him.
Remember, he will be 30 next year, has had knee surgery (an arthroscopy) and has played more than 28,000 minutes in 11 NBA seasons. By the time Jordan had played that much, he only played two more seasons for the Bulls.
Everyone also assumes Bryant would waive his opt-out clause if he is traded, but no one has said anything about that. You certainly could never trade for him if he didn’t. But he certainly would seek an extension with any trade. He can make 5 to 10 percent per year above his highest salary, which means you would be paying Bryant close to $30 million per season when he’s 34 and has been in the league 16 years.
But how about Andrei Kirilenko and …
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