Kobe to the Bulls?

Many News sites have said that L.A. Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is demanding a trade and the Chicago Bulls are a possible destination.

Excerpt from Msnbc.com's article about Kobe:

Just weeks after announcing on a sports radio show of being "frustrated" and expressing a desire to be traded from the Lakers only to later back off after talking to coach Phil Jackson, Bryant met with Lakers owner Jerry Buss on Friday in Barcelona and reiterated his trade demand, the Los Angeles Times and Press Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.) reported.

Bryant is the only NBA player with a no-trade clause in his contract. He had said he would waive that clause. But he could make a trade more difficult because he has a three-team wish list, the Press Enterprise reported Friday. Two of the teams are the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks.

One report had the Lakers hoping to acquire Bulls center Ben Wallace, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and Chicago's No. 1 draft pick (9) for Bryant.

But the sources said every team, including the Bulls, knows the Lakers will try to "gut" a team in order to get as much value as possible for Bryant.

Bryant could also veto a trade if he thinks the team has to give up too many players, which, the sources said, could also make a trade more difficult.

For a team to acquire Bryant, it cannot swap one or more players exceeding 125 percent of his $19,490,625 million salary he'll earn this season.

Bulls may trade for Abdur-Rahim, Wells

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Bulls are unlikely to acquire Memphis Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol, but might trade for Sacramento Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim or Houston Rockets guard Bonzi Wells.

Here is an excerpt from today's article in the Tribune titled "Bulls have eyes for Abdur-Rahim, Wells":

Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim is the most prominently mentioned possibility in the latter scenario, though a late rumor Wednesday had the Bulls trying to pry Bonzi Wells from the Rockets.

A Bulls team source said Paxson wasn't optimistic but had to wait until Thursday to see if Grizzlies general manager Jerry West would lower his asking price for Gasol. That chance has been rejected categorically in public comments from West and Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley.

Paxson is active, though, and said to want a deal with his team underachieving in the winnable Eastern Conference.

P.J. Brown's expiring $8.6 million salary has drawn considerable interest, but the Bulls are keeping him in case the Gasol talks change direction Thursday. Neither team expects that to happen.

The Bulls also have the expiring deals of Michael Sweetney and Malik Allen, which could be used in a deal with the Kings. Abdur-Rahim has three years and $18.6 million left on his deal.

Wells is a post-up guard about whom coach Scott Skiles has talked favorably in the past. Off the court, Wells has been cited for criminal trespass while with the Trail Blazers and had several run-ins with coaches, including being deactivated earlier this season by Jeff Van Gundy for a lack of conditioning.

Those character issues would seem to run counter to the philosophy of an organization that has sent Tim Thomas home and J.R. Smith to the Nuggets for lesser transgressions.

Wells' $2.1 million salary is a matchable trade with Sweetney's $2.7 million deal.

Skiles met with Paxson on Wednesday morning before the team departed for Cleveland.

"As coaches, even though I know more than the average person, I still have to operate under the assumption that this is the team we're going to [have] the rest of the season," Skiles said. "If you don't do that, you're making a mistake."

Sam Smith wrote what he thinks Bulls chances are of getting either Abdur-Rahim or Wells in his column today:

The talk is that the Kings want to come out of the deal with a young player, a draft pick and salary-cap relief. They don't have all those assets, which could open the way for the Bulls to end up with Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

Wells is a post-up guard who is on the outs with the Rockets and again exhibiting unreliable behavior. His contract status, though, is favorable. He has an opt-out after this season he says he will use, and he had a great finish for the Kings last season.

Wells inexplicably rejected an offer of about $30 million to re-sign, and Wells was left to take just $2 million from the Rockets. There's a good chance he would be motivated for two months to get a new contract and could be a weapon for a team like the Bulls if they don't make a major deal. Still, the Bulls have a history of avoiding potentially difficult players such as Wells.

For two months, the Bulls probably could put up with a character. Perhaps Houston would accept salary-cap relief and a second-round pick.

I don't really want either trade to happen. Most likely the Bulls might have to trade one of their young stars: Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Duhon, Luol Deng, or Andres Nocioni. Unless the Bulls can get a trade done without including those five players, I say let the trade deadline pass and stick with the players the Bulls have now. The Bulls are already a good team and my fear is that a trade could make them worse, not better.