That, of course, was before John Paxson, the Bulls GM, announced Thursday, "There's not going to be a deal done." There was the rumor of a three-way trade that would land Ben Gordon and Shawn Marion in Los Angeles, Tyrus Thomas in Phoenix and Bryant in Chicago.
There was another rumor that had Gordon and P.J. Brown going to Sacramento, Ben Wallace and Ron Artest to the Lakers and Kobe to Chicago.
The rumors were flying so fast and furious, Bulls players were showing the strain before the season-opening loss in New Jersey Wednesday night. "I think today sends a message to our players that nothing's going to be done," Paxson told reporters in Chicago.
So, what's next? If I was serious about trading Kobe I would call the Wizards about Arenas, who at 25 is four years younger than Kobe and much cheaper at the moment.
And if I ran the Wizards I'd say: Thanks, but no.
Start, as everything does, with the money. Arenas makes $11 million while Kobe makes $21 million, plus gets a 15 percent lump sum in a trade clause. So, the Wizards would have to include at least a couple of other players.
Maybe Antawn Jamison or two of the younger players the Lakers probably aren't interested in. Kobe loves Caron Butler, so he probably wouldn't sign off on any deal (Kobe has to approve the trade) that would send Butler back to the Lakers, and the Wizards would be crazy to deal their best two players anyway.
If the Wizards did that they'd be the Washington Lakers, a team with nothing more than Kobe.
