By Jeremy Tiedt
Staff Writer
Well, we are over a week into the regular season and a team some picked to possibly go to the NBA Finals is sitting at 1-4, the biggest trade rumor of the year looming over the team. So what are the Bulls going to do? If I was John Paxson, I would seriously consider trading for the most explosive scorer since Jordan. Paxson needs to get Mitch Kupchak and the Maloof brothers on the horn and get a deal done.
Am I just a Bulls fan that is in panic mode after watching my team get beat by three bottom level teams? No, I am a Laker fan who wants to see my team restore some order and get something for Kobe Bryant while they still can. And as a basketball fan, I know that there is no way the Bulls can compete for a title with their current roster.
About a week and a half ago there was a three team deal in place that would send Kobe to the Bulls, Ben Gordon to the Kings and Ben Wallace and Ron Artest to the Lakers. However, Paxson has since killed the rumors. The salaries match up.
Why do the Kings do this?
This is obviously a great deal for the Kings. The Kings would probably benefit the most of the three teams as they would get an up and coming scorer in Gordon and get rid of a possible time-bomb in Artest. With a backcourt of Mike Bibby, Ben Gordon and Kevin Martin, the Kings could become a possible sleeper in the West.
Why do the Lakers do this?
This is the only deal that the Lakers are going to get where they can get close to equal value. I would say the Lakers are getting about 80 cents to the dollar with this trade. Even though Wallace is getting old and defiantly didn’t deserve that big contract, he is still one of the best low post defenders in the league and would take a lot of pressure off of Andrew Bynum and Kwame Brown. Speaking of Bynum, this might delay his growth as a player though, by bringing in another center to take minutes away from him. So that may be something the Lakers would want to think about before making this trade.
With the addition of Artest you get a lock down defender back, so nothing is lost on the defensive side. You also get a player that causes a lot of mismatches on the offensive side. With these two additions, the Lakers would be able to do so many different things with their lineup. Plus, Artest is not a player that demands a certain amount of shots every night. This would also really allow for the growth of Lamar Odom as an offensive player and distributor. In the end, if this deal was done I could still see this as a playoff caliber team.
Why do the Bulls do this?
When you look at the Bulls, they are a go-to-guy away from being a Championship contender. The lack of scoring consistency and a defined leader plagued the Bulls last year in the playoff match up with Detroit and it is hurting them again this year. Yes, they do have very good up-and-coming players. But not one of these players have stepped up and decided to lead this team. Kobe will bring this young team leadership as well as the ability to put a team on his back and win them a game like. Kobe is the only player in the league that by himself can get you at least one win in a playoff series. Just look at the past two-playoff series with the Suns for examples.
Kobe brings this team a consistent scorer as well as a player that is going to demand a double team every night. When you look at the Bulls roster they have the players that will make opposing teams pay for doubling Kobe. With shooters like Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni and a get slasher like Deng this team will cause defensive problems for every team in the league. And I suppose it helps that Kobe is the most clutch performer since Jordan. He thrives on taking the big shot, something that nobody on the Bulls team wants to do, as proven in 76ers game and Clippers game this year.
Besides the offense that comes with Bryan’s game, he also brings seven First Team All NBA Defense selections. Kobe is a lock-down defender, which is something you can’t say about Gordon and even though they lose Wallace, they still have players like Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah to fill the gap in the front court.
And the last thing that nobody on this Bulls team has except Wallace is championship experience. However, in the closing minutes of a tight game, you will sometimes find Wallace on the bench due to his poor free throw shooting. You need to have players with that kind of experience on the floor in the crunch and with Kobe you can always count on him being out there.
If Chicago continues to stumble you can bet that Chicago fans will continue to chant Kobe’s name at every home game. The question is how many more losses will it be before Paxson starts listening?
