This looks like it could be one of the most important weeks in Bulls history. This is the week they may or may not trade for Kobe Bryant. I’m told this by sources who may or may not know.
And by the way, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
Sure, it’s a stupid reference (“Saturday Night Live,” mid-1970s). But this Bryant saga is getting more and more stupid.
I was contacted by an ESPN program Sunday asking if I’d be up early Monday to answer questions about the trade if Bryant is dealt to the Bulls Sunday night. I told them to sleep in too.
Let’s see if I can recap this Bryant-to-the-Bulls thing.
ESPN came in latest with a deal for Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. What, no LuvaBulls, too? I am assured, though, that the Bulls said a definite no to giving up the fat-guy dancers. The Lakers also would like the rights to Dragan Tarlac, Dalibor Bagaric and Michael Jordan’s lucky underwear. But there appears to be a hang-up about the rights to Kornel David, the Hungarian Jordan.
That came after talk it would be Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Wallace … which was after rumors of Gordon, Hinrich and Andres Nocioni, though that would have to wait until after Dec. 15 when Nocioni can be traded.
That would basically leave Bryant playing with Thabo Sefolosha, Chris Duhon, Aaron Gray and Viktor Khryapa.
Can you say Title No. 7?
This is what I think is going on:
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Bryant wants to be traded to the Bulls. (News flash there, eh?) The Bulls have a chance to obtain the best player in the NBA and are interested. (Who’d have imagined that?)
The Lakers have the best player in the NBA who doesn’t want to play for them anymore, but he has two years left on his contract. They are mad at him after they gave him the best contract and the best coach in the league. OK, they said, we’ll trade you. But we are running a team here. We know we can’t get equal value, but we should get close, which means, say, at least one All-Star player and some pieces.
But Bryant has a no-trade clause, which limits where he can go, and he has decided on Chicago. OK, the Lakers say, we’ll take four of their top guys, even though not one has been an All-Star.
No way, Bryant says — then they’re worse than the Lakers. They also have to take Kwame Brown or some other stubble we have hanging around, the Lakers say. After all, you lose Bryant, you have to begin to rebuild, and we need financial relief.
So Bryant is mad at general manager Mitch Kupchak, who he believes is blocking a deal with unreasonable demands, and is talking only to Phil Jackson. Jackson is practically begging Bryant to play to enhance his value and make the Lakers feel more kindly. Bryant isn’t in the mood. The Lakers want Bryant to drop the no-trade so they can open up the field and get a better deal. Bryant doesn’t trust them.
No, this doesn’t appear to be going anywhere for now. But it isn’t about to go away.
A real deal?
Look for the Bulls to be among the teams to express interest in Juwan Howard, especially in connection with a possible Bryant trade. The Timberwolves are expected to buy out Howard this week and Howard has talked about joining Kevin Garnett in Boston. Cleveland, Dallas, San Antonio, Miami and Phoenix also have been mentioned as possible destinations.
Howard is undersized for a power forward, but the Chicago native from Vocational High School is one of the good guys in the NBA. Though he has profited economically, he has had something of a cursed career, playing for six mostly poor teams and making just two playoff appearances in 13 years. He could give the Bulls depth to sweeten an offer for Bryant and would give Bryant another solid veteran to team with.
The NBA way
Here’s one big thing standing in the way of any Bryant trade: Lakers season ticket-holders renewed at a 93 percent rate. Renewal rates around the league average about 85 percent. Hardly an anti-Kobe vote, even though the Lakers again raised ticket prices an average of 5 percent. Courtside seats were increased from $2,200 to $2,300 a game and lower-level sections between the baskets went from $220 to $230 per game.
Every courtside ticket-holder renewed and the Lakers added 15 courtside seats in previous media seats.
There’s a chance the Lakers could have a Koby on their roster even if they trade Kobe. They’re considering keeping Koby Karl, son of Nuggets coach George. Jackson calls him “Koby II” or “George” to distinguish him from Bryant during practices. …
It’s as backward, Bizarro a world as ever in Minnesota, with T’wolves owner Glen Taylor defending GM Kevin McHale to the St. Paul Pioneer Press and claiming it was former coach Flip Saunders who didn’t want Chauncey Billups or believe he could succeed in the NBA. Taylor also blamed Saunders for free agent Rasho Nesterovic leaving. He said Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell quit on Saunders, who should have benched them but didn’t, and that Garnett was the cause of Saunders’ demise.
If that weren’t enough, Taylor criticized Garnett for not getting along with Wally Szczerbiak. The interviewer didn’t ask whether Saunders and Garnett are responsible for the mortgage crisis or global warming.
The T’wolves have three players left from 18 months ago: Marko Jaric, Rashard McCants and Mark Madsen, and they’re expected to move Jaric.
Agent Zero going Hollywood?
One general manager on the periphery of the Bryant talks says he believes the “dark horse” to make a deal with the Lakers is the Washington Wizards. The consensus is the Wizards have hit a plateau, but have the star power in Gilbert Arenas to make a deal.
Arenas is talking about opting out of his contract after this season. He’s from Los Angeles and has become a star, one of the league’s highest-scoring players and an engaging personality who would embrace the Hollywood scene. He would meet the Lakers’ demands for an All-Star player if they trade Bryant.
“Watch out for them,” the general manager said, meaning the Wizards.
The Lakers probably would want a power forward, which the Wizards don’t have. The biggest obstacle, though, may be Bryant’s no-trade clause, along with the fact he hasn’t indicated any interest in Washington. Still, with Bryant, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, the Wizards would have a three-star set that could match up in the East.
A gamble? Not really
Good for David Stern. Though columnists and other conspiracy theorists were pining for more alleged referee scandal and saddling up their horses to get real high, Stern did the right thing. He didn’t worry about enforcing the rule banning referees from any kind of gambling — casinos, lotteries, office pools — because it was unfair when some of the biggest names in the game, including Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, were admitting to gambling millions of dollars.
Also the NBA just played an exhibition game in Macau, which is a casino designed as a nation, and has played in casinos on Indian reservations.
So even though about half the referees on staff admitted to being in casinos at some time, Stern acknowledged that the rule was bad and there would be no penalty. After all, the referees volunteered the information, so how fair would it be to seek their cooperation, then turn around and punish them without proof.
Stern’s handling of the matter won’t make Phoenix Suns fans any happier. When Suns players were suspended for a playoff game against the Spurs last season even though they were not going to fight and the real culprit was Spurs’ Robert Horry, the commissioner said he could do nothing but follow the letter of the law. “A rule is a rule,” we heard.
No, being a commissioner is about making the fairest decisions. It was patently unfair that the Spurs profited from their player being a goon and trying to incite a riot. The incident remains an embarrassment to the NBA, though it seems Stern learned from it and did the fair thing with his referees. Not the blind thing.
Around the league
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Perhaps the biggest head scratcher of the summer was the Spurs not only trading the rights to polished power forward Luis Scola, but to neighboring Houston, and basically just to save money. Scola, an Arentine national team teammate of Spurs Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, wanted to play in San Antonio, but the Spurs decided Scola played Tim Duncan’s position and might hold the ball too much. So they traded Scola, their 2002 second-round pick, and Jackie Butler (thanks for that suggestion, Larry Brown) for Vassilis Spanoulis, a 2004 second-round pick, and cash. Though the Spurs are regarded as one of the savviest scouting organizations, many believe Scola is the missing piece for the Rockets perhaps to overtake San Antonio. …
It has been a miserable preseason for Darko Milicic in Memphis, where he doesn’t seem to fit with Pau Gasol. He averaged 6.9 points in the preseason and shot 35 percent. … Speaking of Memphis, No. 4 overall pick Mike Conley is listed as the No. 3 point guard behind Damon Stoudemire and Kyle Lowry. With Stoudemire at point guard, it doesn’t seem as if coach Marc Iavaroni is importing the Suns’ open style of play, but they may be showcasing him for a trade. …
On second thought, coach Don Nelson says Warriors rookie Marco Belinelli isn’t so great after all. Nelson is now saying he’ll start guard Mickael Pietrus at power forward and bring Al Harrington off the bench. … Ron Artest’s name continues to come up in trade talks. It’s likely the Kings are going nowhere with Mike Bibby out two months with torn thumb ligaments. Artest has an opt-out after this season and might be worth the risk as he supposedly wants to take it to try to sign a longer deal somewhere.
Odd choices
Worst decision of the summer: Earl Boykins, after his trade to Milwaukee, passing on $3 million for this season to take an opt-out and seek a long-term deal. He remains unemployed. … LeBron James is fuming, and no longer privately, about the Cavs’ do-nothing summer. “We’re worse,” he told Cleveland reporters last week. “We didn’t do any reshaping. We didn’t do any regrouping. You start to think a little bit, ‘How are we going to continue to get better?’ I’m going to give it my all [but] I’m not going to pick up the charges Andy [Varejao] took. I’m not going to hit the open threes Sasha [Pavlovic] made. I’m not going to do that. That’s not who I am.”
Steve Francis is pretty much out of the rotation in his return to Houston. … The San Francisco Chronicle’s Scott Ostler noted that the Warriors have formed a book club and Baron Davis wrote in his blog, “Yes, Steve Jack (Stephen Jackson) is a member.” Said Ostler: “I’m not sure why Davis singled out Jackson, since Jack is the one Warrior who has been booked.” … The Cavs’ Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the distractions from playing preseason games in China: “The cigarettes. Even the dogs smoke over there.”
Ready or not, here they come.
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