The Republic of Sport

Posted Saturday October 13, 2007, About: Kobe to Bulls, Mavs or Suns?

This is an interesting situation. The reason that the Bulls, Mavericks and Suns are the three teams mentioned is because those are the teams that Kobe is willing to be traded to; however, each of the trade scenarios has its own hangup.

In my opinion, the Bulls make the least amount of sense (although that doesn't mean that it is the least likely to happen) because Chicago would be giving up too much. If Deng, Hinrich, Gordon, Thomas and/or Nocioni were all to leave, who left would even be as good as Lamar Odom? Kobe would basically trading the situation he has in Los Angeles for the same thing in Chicago.

The Mavericks trade makes more sense because the Mavs could actually put a package together around Howard (possibly including Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry or Devin Harris, Erick Dampier and or DaSagana Diop and draft picks) that would be enticing for the Lakers. But would the Lakers be wiling to trade within the conference?

The Suns could put together the most enticing package because they could include Shawn Marion, who is not only the most talented player that any of the three teams could offer but has also recently requested a trade. The main issue is that the Suns would be the team that the Lakers would be least likely to deal with due to being in the same division. On top of that, I personally believe that Marion would not be anywhere near as good a player without Steve Nash.

It's also worth mentioning that Kobe has a no-trade clause so he could nix any trade that he doesn't like.