Kobe wants out, where does he want to go?
OK, Kobe. Now that we've heard you say you want to be traded, we move on to the next big question:
Where?
I know you mentioned to Stephen A. Smith that you'd play on Pluto at this point, but Pluto does not have a team.
New York does, and Chicago does, and Phoenix does, and they all have the assets to get a deal done if they are on your short list of acceptable destinations.
So who's on your short list?
A source close to Bryant told me that such a list does not yet exist, but will be forthcoming soon. That was, however, before Bryant backtracked somewhat on ESPN Radio's "The Dan Patrick Show" and said he was "optimistic" he could stay with the Lakers.
One very important point to remember in the days ahead is this: Bryant, not the Lakers, is in the driver's seat here because of his no-trade clause. Yes, he's going to waive it at some point if he indeeds follows through on his trade request. But he's not going to waive it if the Lakers try to trade him someplace he doesn't want to be. He's going to tell the Lakers whom they should talk to, and the Lakers really will have no choice but to listen to him.
So let's go ahead and look at what Bryant's short list might be.
He is going to want to be in the spotlight, so take all the small-market teams off the list. He wants to compete for championships immediately, so knock the Celtics, 76ers and Clippers off the list.
I could see Bryant accepting trades to five teams (at most): New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas and Miami -- and that last one is a bit of a reach.
So let's look at how each of those teams could get it done, since they'd have to offer a player or package of players whose salaries are within 125 percent (plus $100,000) of one another.
Bryant's salary this season was $17.72 million, and he has a 15-percent trade kicker, which must be included (unless Bryant were to waive it) in calculating the number to work off of for any trade that would take place between now and June 30. As of July, Bryant's cap number goes up to $19.49 million (add in the 15 percent kicker, and it's $22.41 million).
NEW YORK
Any package presumably would begin with Stephon Marbury, whose salary is almost an identical match with Bryant's, and then the Knicks would have to include a package of young players (David Lee, Channing Frye, Nate Robinson) and (presumably) their No. 1 pick in exchange for an additional player the Lakers would want to get rid of (Vladimir Radmanovic?).
Bryant has a good relationship with Isiah Thomas, who courted Bryant three summers ago when he was a free agent, and he could probably be sold on the argument that teaming him with a dominant offensive big man, Eddy Curry, would make the Knicks immediate championship contenders.
CHICAGO
It'd be difficult to put together enough salaries to add up to at least $16.2 million, which is the minimum needed to make the trade work prior to June 30 under the 125 percent rule. If you do it after July 1, you'd have to find $17.9 million worth of salaries to lump together.
You could do it by putting together a package of Tyrus Thomas ($3.5M), Ben Gordon (4.9M), Chris Duhon (3.3M) and Andres Nocioni (in a sign-and-trade deal in which the Argentine would get a starting salary of $6.2 million).
But would John Paxson be willing to give up that much?
PHOENIX
This is one of two places where the Lakers could get the most pound-for-pound value if the Suns were willing to give up Amare Stoudemire or Shawn Marion along with a sweetener or two such as Boris Diaw, the Atlanta Hawks' unprotected 2008 first-round draft pick or the 24th and 29th picks in this year's draft.
DALLAS
Straight-up for Dirk Nowitzki? The salaries are a match, so it'd be a question of whether both teams would be willing to do it, and whether Bryant wanted to play there.
Dallas is not as glamorous as New York or Chicago, but his chances of winning another championship would be higher with the Mavs than they would be with the Knicks or Bulls.
MIAMI
From the way Bryant was speaking with Stephen A., you almost got the impression that he'd welcome a reunion with the Big Fella. But there's no way the Lakers trade him to the Heat unless Dwyane Wade is coming back in return. And even if Miami were willing (and I don't think it would be), Wade is a base-year compensation player, which makes him next-to-impossible to move in a Bryant deal.
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