Kobe To the Bulls Rumors

[ZoomSlowik]

The Bulls need to put together at least $15 mil to send out for the deal to work financially. That means one of a few things need to happen:

 

1) Ben Wallace is dealt. Clearly not going to happen, they won't want someone that old or expensive.

 

2) Hinrich goes. Far more likely, in fact because of his $9.5-ish salary (does he count at $11 mil right now? That'd help...) he's probably the most likely centerpiece. Possibly something like Kirk/Tyrus/pick might make sense (though I think Duhon/Khryapa might need to be included as well). The packages in the next part are probably more appealing though...

 

3) Noc goes in a sign-and trade. He'd have to get at least $8 mil on the new contract to make it feasible. However, unless he signs an insane deal you'll need at least another $6 mil going out, and he'd be less desirable talent-wise. Packages would vary depending on how much he gets, from something like Hinrich/Noc/Tyrus and/or #9 (or possibly future pick if they get Tyrus, seems a bit much if they got 9 too) to something like Noc/Gordon/Tyrus and/or #9 (same as previous). A Noc/Gordon core in the deal makes the most sense for the Bulls, but IF they accept that pairing I would assume that Tyrus would have to be included.

 

IMO it makes sense if you can manage to keep Deng and one of Hinrich/Gordon. That'd give you 3 pretty solid scoring options as well as at least 3 plus defenders (Wallace/Deng/Kobe/maybe Hinrich or Tyrus), plus Kobe is still only 28. Whether or not the Lakers would do it without Deng is an entirely different story, he'd form a pretty solid forward pairing with Odom. I think I'd consider the Gordon/Noc/Tyrus option, but only if I'm desperate to unload Kobe.

Edited May 30, 2007 by ZoomSlowik

[GoodAsGould]

Makes you wonder why so many people want him out of here?

 

Because this is Kobe Bryant we are talking about? Ben Gordon if it comes to that would be a very valuable trading chip. Keep in mind its not like the Heat gave the world to get Shaq so I doubt we would too. Tyrus Thomas would be our Caron Butler and Gordon would be our Odom. Than Nocioni would be like the Brian Grant of the deal. Noc would need a new contract thats frontloaded and Ben Gordon would need a new contract for it to work.

 

That leaves us with:

 

PG:Kirk Hinrich

SG:Kobe Bryant

SF:Luol Deng

PF:PJ Brown

C: Ben Wallace

 

 

Than we would have Duhon, Thabo, and Hawes be our main bench contributers. Maybe we can trade up if we have to and draft Glen Davis too. He could probably log some minutes in at PF. Trade up from our 2nd rounder that is.

 

This trade would be beneficial to the Lakers too. They would have Gordon and Odom who can both score 20 a piece than Bynum and Thomas who are both young great athletes. Plus they would have the Farmar kid coming off the bench and a combo of Nocioni/Walton at SF. With their 19th pick they could add a tall guard too play with Gordon too most likely.

Edited May 30, 2007 by SoxFan101

[Balta1701]

SI.com:

 

BREAKING NEWS Kobe Bryant says he wants to be traded by the Lakers.

 

ESPN Link

The story lines that have engulfed the Los Angeles Lakers in the last week hit a crescendo Wednesday when Kobe Bryant said he would welcome a trade.

 

"I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant said on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there's no other alternative, you know?"

 

Bryant, interviewed by Stephen A. Smith, was asked if there was anything the Lakers could do to change his mind?

 

"No," Bryan said. "I just want them to do the right thing."

...

Bryant was left "beyond furious" by a report in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times that read, "as a Lakers insider notes, it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from Shaquille O'Neal that got them in this mess."

[SleepyWhiteSox]

Interesting...

 

Bulls could probably make one of the better packages overall, but I wonder if anyone would offer a superstar?

[Balta1701]

Maybe Dallas or Phoenix. But both of them are trying to deal with cap issues.

[Chisoxfn]

I would love to be able to find a way to keep Tyrus/Deng/Hinrich/BenWallace but I don't see anyway that would happen.

 

Would a Nocioni (sign and trade), Gordon, Sefolosha, plus the Knicks pick this year be enough to get a deal done? The one major problem I see is we are giving them 3 wing players in return and I don't know if they would want that. They could potentially have some interest in Duhon and letting him run the point (they are looking for a PG) and while he wouldn't be a good starter he does a lot of things right.

 

Odom could play the 4 and they could go with a pretty athletic lineup and hope Bynum develops. Still I'd think they would have to get Tyrus in any deal. But if they could make the above deal, than get a bench player or two by splitting up the excemption (I think they could, especially with Kobe in the lineup as the Bulls are already contenders and would be even more so after the deal) and I would pretty much guarantee the only thing that would stop the Bulls from winning a championship would be injuries.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

Kobe has a full no-trade clause, which could potentially help the Bulls if he truly would want to come here.

 

 

Since everyone is gonna be making their guesses at trade scenatios :

Ben Gordon

Tyrus Thomas

Number 9 pick in a deep draft

Nocioni sign and trade with front-loaded contract, as someone mentioned before?

[CWSGuy406]

Nocioni sign and trade with front-loaded contract, as someone mentioned before?

 

Can someone explain to me why Noc would have to be signed-and-traded for this to work? I'm pretty oblivious to NBA contracts, so any insight would be appreciated.

 

As far as a deal, if I'm Pax, I'm insisting on Gordon going to LA and not Deng. I'd definitely give up Thomas, but would the ninth overall also have to be included?

[Mr. Showtime]

Can someone explain to me why Noc would have to be signed-and-traded for this to work? I'm pretty oblivious to NBA contracts, so any insight would be appreciated.

 

As far as a deal, if I'm Pax, I'm insisting on Gordon going to LA and not Deng. I'd definitely give up Thomas, but would the ninth overall also have to be included?

 

Trades in the NBA have to be dollar for dollar. So if Kobe makes 20 million per year the Bulls need to send back players who combined make that much in particular season.

 

In some cases depending on where you are under the cap you can trade within a certain percentage of the contracts as well.

 

 

 

From an old Cuban blog about trades:

 

3rd. In trades, if the teams exchanging players are over the cap (and the Mavs are), then current year salaries exchanged must be within 15pct plus 100k dollars of each other. So if the Mavs trade a player who makes 1mm per year, we can take a player, or players, whose total salaries in the current year equal $1.25mm. That breaks down as 1mm plus 15pct of 1mm plus 100k. Rights to players or draft picks who are unsigned do not add any monetary consideration to the totals.

 

If one or both of the trading teams are under the cap, they may receive a player up to the amount of their cap room without giving up equal salaries. If a team is at or over the cap, they must adhere to the above rules

 

4th. If you acquire a player in a trade, you may trade that player straight up for another player immediately. If you wish to package that player with another and make a trade, you must wait 60 days.

 

5th. In a sign and trade deal, the deal must be for at least 3 years, and the first year MUST be guaranteed, the next 2 or more years do not have to be guaranteed.

 

6th. If a player is part of a sign and trade, and that player receives more than a 20pct increase in salary, that player is considered a base year player. When a player is considered a base year player, the team can only take back salaries equal to 1/2 of the current year salary of the base year traded, or 120pct of the previous year salary (whichever is higher)* if that player is traded to a team at or over the cap. If the player is traded to a team under the cap, base year does not apply.

 

The reason for this rule is to prevent teams with a players bird rights (the ability to pay a player any amount up to the max) from offering a player an inflated deal with only 1 year guaranteed in order to get a higher priced player from a team that may be trying to dump salary.

 

So for instance, if we wanted to do a sign and trade with a player whose salary jumped from 4mm to 8mm dollars, we would only be credited for 4.8mm in salary for that player in the trade. We would then add the 15pct plus 100k to the 4.8mm, meaning we would be able to take back a player making $5.62mm. This would make it impossible to do a 1 player for 1 player deal. We would have to make the deal bigger or bring in more teams in order to make the deal work.

 

 

Making up the base year trade penalty is why you see trades get very big when there is a player included who is receiving a big raise.

 

7th. There are 3 exceptions available to teams that are over the cap. (If a team is under the cap, they may not use the exceptions.)

 

a. The mid-level exception. This allows teams to sign a player to a 6-year deal with a starting salary that is the average salary of the entire league. If the player is your own player, you can offer up to 12.5pct increases. If the player is from another team, you can offer 10pct increases. Increases are based on the first year of the contract. So a 5mm dollar contract with a 10pct increase, increases 500k per year. A 12.5pct increase would be 625k per year.

 

b. The 1.6mm dollar exception. This can be a 2-year contract only and a team can not use this 2 years in a row. If you use it one year, you do not have it available the next.

 

 

c. The minimum salary exception. A team can sign as many minimum salary players as they have roster slots for.

[CWSGuy406]

Wow, much thanks, Showtime -- that's good stuff right there. Very clear explanations.

[chimpy2121]

Trade Machine

 

This is something cool to play around with.

[ZoomSlowik]

One addendum to that rules post: I'm about 99% sure that the figure has been changed to be 25% instead of 15%...

[Brian]

Supposedly Kobe has spoke to Phil Jackson and has backed off his trade request.

[knightni]

Jackson to Bryant: "You don't want to go to Chicago and deal with those front office/owners either, Kobe."

 

[SoxFan562004]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2906373

 

guess it's time to get this fire burning again.

[Brian]

I forgot Rob Pelinka was his agent. He went to Lake Forest High School and played basketball at Michigan.

I remember him when he played at Lake Forest.

[daa84]

I forgot Rob Pelinka was his agent. He went to Lake Forest High School and played basketball at Michigan.

I remember him when he played at Lake Forest.

trib said this morning that kobe has full no trade and is willing to accept a trade to only 3 teams...the bulls and knicks being 2 of them

[knightni]

What's the third?

 

San Antonio?

[rangercal]

What's the third?

 

San Antonio?

phoenix

[DBAHO]

phoenix

A deal built around Shawn Marion and Raja Bell perhaps?

 

How would a Nash and Kobe backcourt go?

 

.01% chance of happening though.

 

I think if he's going anywhere, it'll be the Knicks, if Mitch Kupchak can stomach a deal not involving Eddy Curry.

[DBAHO]

Also a good piece here;

 

The Lakers would never trade him to a Western Conference team and Kobe knows that. The Lakers also know that dealing Kobe is not going to return anything close to what Kobe is worth now, and Kobe knows that too. Kobe’s desired destination would be New York, according to those near him. The Knicks do have the pieces to trade without completely boning the team – considering that a package including Channing Frye, Jerome James, Quentin Richardson and David Lee works under the cap, toss in some cash and two first round draft picks, and that might be enough to get the Lakers talking. But it lacks star power – something the Knicks don’t have. The Orlando Magic would have serious interest in Kobe Bryant. It would likely take some romancing on their part to get Kobe to consider Central Florida, but the Magic can offer some cap relief for the Lakers and a means to replenish their roster. Forget about Dwight Howard going West, that won’t happen, but the Magic could offer Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Redick, Carlos Arroyo and Keith Bogans and not lose any sleep over it. Toss in some cash and some first round draft picks and some talent goes to the Lakers with some Laker friendly contracts – still no star power but arguably some better role players than the Knicks could offer. The Wizards could make things interesting with a Gilbert Arenas-Kobe swap – but that’s more of a pipe dream, as Washington wants to retain Arenas, and Washington’s roster doesn’t offer anything of value to the Lakers. The Nets? Richard Jefferson and Nenad Krstic? The Raptors – anyone not named Chris Bosh? So while there are no shortage of teams interested should the Lakers really open the phones for offers, the game plan for the Lakers today is see if they can talk Kobe back into program, if not it seems they are more than willing to wait out the process rather than fire sale their biggest asset.

[daa84]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/col...&id=2906327

 

More than two weeks after Kobe Bryant made his trade request to the Lakers, he still wants out, says his agent.

 

"Kobe's position remains unchanged," Bryant's agent Rob Pelinka told ESPN.com on Friday. "Kobe would like to be moved."

 

In fact, Kobe met with owner Jerry Buss on Friday and once again voiced his desire to be traded.

 

The question remains, will the Lakers move him? The head says no. But the scuttlebutt suggests otherwise. A number of GMs and agents around the league seem convinced that Bryant is going to be traded.

 

The Lakers had strong interest in trading for Jermaine O'Neal before Kobe's trade request. But that interest has cooled since then. Why? The Lakers have been saying that the Pacers' asking price (Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and the No. 19 pick) is too high. But maybe it's because there's no need to bring in a big-money player like O'Neal and gut the team if Kobe isn't going to be around.

 

From what I can gather, the Lakers would have two conditions to meet in any Kobe Bryant trade:

 

1. They want to send him to the Eastern Conference.

2. They need a star player back in return.

 

The Eastern Conference preference would potentially rule out such places as Phoenix and Golden State, both of which have significant assets and interest.

 

And, of course, the lack of available stars would rule out just about every team in the East, including the Knicks.

 

Some East teams lack the star power to bid directly for Bryant. Others have stars that aren't going anywhere.

 

For instance, the Cavs and Heat have superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but both are untouchable. Ditto, apparently, for Dwight Howard in Orlando.

 

Chicago, from what I hear, is Bryant's first preference, so he probably would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to play there. While the Bulls have lots of assets, such as Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and the No. 9 pick in the draft, that package lacks true star power.

 

Based on my conversations with various sources around the league, I see two intriguing possibilities if the Lakers are looking for an Eastern Conference star -- the Wizards' Gilbert Arenas and the Celtics' Paul Pierce.

 

Scenario 1

 

Arenas isn't Kobe, in talent or stardom. But he is from Los Angeles, he's more than three years younger, he has great magnetism and, like Bryant, he can fill the seats.

 

With Arenas saying he'll opt out of his contract with Washington next summer, the Wizards might want to start looking at ways to move him now before running the risk of losing him for nothing.

 

Here's one potential trade, with Bryant headed to Chicago and Arenas to L.A.

 

The Bulls would send Gordon, Tyrus Thomas and P.J. Brown (sign-and-trade) to Washington, and the No. 9 pick to L.A.

 

The Lakers would send Bryant to Chicago.

 

The Wizards would send Arenas and Etan Thomas to L.A.

 

Under that scenario, which couldn't be completed until mid-July, the Lakers would get a star player (Arenas) and a high draft pick (No. 9) that, I'm told, they'd use to get Yi Jianlian if he's still on the board.

 

The Bulls would be paying a very high price for Kobe -- two high lottery picks and this year's No. 9. But Chicago would keep Deng, something it desperately wants to do. On the other hand, the Bulls still wouldn't have a low-post scorer.

 

The Wizards would avoid having to break the bank for Arenas next summer, would bring in two very talented young players and would get some serious cap relief down the road.

 

Scenario 2

 

A similar trade could work if the Lakers were willing to substitute Boston and Pierce. While Pierce is almost 30 years old, I'm told the Lakers like him -- and he's from L.A., too.

 

The Bulls would send Gordon, Thomas and Brown (sign-and-trade) to Boston, and the No. 9 pick to L.A.

 

The Lakers would send Bryant to Chicago.

 

The Celtics would send Pierce to L.A.

 

That deal would make the Celtics even younger than they already are, but it would also give them plenty of assets to continue making deals.

[Steve9347]

Sign me the f*** up... getting Kobe for Gordon, Tyrus, PJ (just a cap formality), and the draft pick would be a steal and make us favorites in the East... easily.

 

We'd be a good deal better than the Cavs now, and we can all see the Pistons' dropping soon... This would be a team that would be set up for a 3-4 year run (replace wallace with someone of similar caliber in two season.)

[rangercal]

Chicago, from what I hear, is Bryant's first preference, so he probably would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to play there. While the Bulls have lots of assets, such as Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and the No. 9 pick in the draft, that package lacks true star power.

 

 

 

Sign me the f*** up... getting Kobe for Gordon, Tyrus, PJ (just a cap formality), and the draft pick would be a steal and make us favorites in the East... easily.

 

We'd be a good deal better than the Cavs now, and we can all see the Pistons' dropping soon... This would be a team that would be set up for a 3-4 year run (replace wallace with someone of similar caliber in two season.)

 

[knightni]

bump.

 

Kobe cleared out his locker.

 

 

Could something happen?

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...mp;lid=tab3pos1

 

 

 

No listing of the Bulls there, but they have more to trade than Dallas does. (They were the two teams Kobe was okaying a trade to earlier)