Dream World: Kobe Heading to Sweet Home Chicago?

Los Angeles Lakers' superstar Kobe Bryant demanded a trade on ESPN 1050 AM hosted by Stephen A. Smith today; however, with no control over a possible trade a lot is up in the air.

Chicago fans start dreaming and believing...the possibility of having arguably the best player in the league and a player in the same realm as Michael Jordan became a small, but nonetheless possibility Wednesday.

All the drama surrounding the Lakers came into light when Kobe discussed his anger over a Laker "insider" blaming him for the departure of Shaquille O'Neal in an article in the Los Angeles Times and how the team promised to build a contender around him. Kobe told Stephen A. Smith that Lakers' owner Jerry Buss was the one responsible for sending Shaq packing stating Buss' said, "Kobe, I am not going to re-sign Shaq. I am not about to pay him $30 million a year or $80 million over three years. No way in hell. I feel like he's getting older. His body is breaking down, and I don't want to pay that money to him when I can get value for him right now rather than wait" (ESPN.com). Later in the day, Shaquille O'Neal said he believed Kobe a thousand percent.

Furthermore, Kobe feels that the organization especially GM Mitch Kupchak has done nothing in regards to building a contender around him and instead have been rebuilding for the last three years. The three-time NBA champion stated that he even suggested going after Carlos Boozer, Jermaine O'Neal, Jason Kidd, and Ron Artest during the last three years and none of them have been fulfilled. Instead, Kobe has been forced to play with the likes of Smush Parker, Jordan Farmar, Kwame Brown, and Ronny Turiat. The only players that should start in the NBA on the Lakers are Andrew Bynum and Luke Walton.

With all this coming to fruition and Kobe demanding a trade and then backing off a bit after talking to head coach Phil Jackson, the Chicago Bulls seem like the only viable option to possibly make a trade for the superstar. The Bulls have a huge amount of young talent in the likes of Ben Gordon, Loul Deng, Chris Duhon, Tyrus Thomas, Andres Nocioni and Kirk Hinrich. It seems to me a reasonable trade would be Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni (sign and trade deal), Chris Duhon and the Bulls no. 9 overall pick this year for Kobe Bryant. The Lakers would get a scorer in Gordon, a scrappy and potential scorer in Nocioni, a solid back-up guard in Chris Duhon, and a young talent with the no. 9 pick. The Lakers also have the no. 12 pick in this year's draft and since it is such a deep pool of talent they should be able to get some nice value there.

If the Lakers come calling for Loul Deng and Ben Gordon in any trade combination the Bulls and GM John Paxson would have to shoot down any offer. Taking Deng and Gordon away would leave the Bulls without a number two scorer to support Kobe and although the Bulls would get their closer on offense they would simply lose too much.

Imagine a starting line-up of: PG Kirk Hinrich, SG Kobe Bryant, SF Loul Deng, PF Tyrus Thomas and C Ben Wallace. Now, that is a team that equals a championship!

Chicago would immediately be brought back to dominance in the East since the Jordan era ended in 1998 and have yet another Hall of Famer to lead them to multiple championships. The possibility of Kobe even leaving LA is small, but if any team has the assets to offer a trade it is the Bulls. Here's to wishing good things in Chicago since the Cubs and White Sox have given up playing any decent baseball. Basketball and football are once again taking over Chicago sports.

Take a second and close your eyes, remember the Jordan/Pippen days...now picture the Bryant/Deng days. I know it's the ultimate dream, but here's a toast to those dreams becoming a reality in 2008 and the Chicago Bulls claiming the 2008 championship!