Trade Kobe, now

KG's in Boston, Jermaine O'Neal is overrated and not coming anyway, and Kobe still wants out of LA.

So, let him. It seems clear that if the Lakers wait a year to deal him, they will get less - re the Iverson and KG trades, in which teams traded too late and got less back. And keeping an overrated ballhog who doesn't want to play with his teammates and can force his way out in a year strikes me as disastrous.

So here's a trade that works under the salary cap (as of August 27) and I think the Bulls would make: Kobe for L. Deng, Ty Thomas, J. Noah, Ben Gordon, and T. Sefolosha. The Bulls would still still start Hinrich, Kobe, Nocioni, Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, with C. Duhon, V. Khyrapa, Adrian Griffin, Jameson Curry, Aaron Gray, and others they could still pick up - there are more than the usual number of cheap free agents left - off the bench. They would vitiate their depth, but their starting 5 would be fearsome.

The Lakers get multiple great pieces for a bright future. As a matter of fact, I think the 2007-8 Lakers will have a significantly better record if they make this trade than if they keep Kobe - to say nothing of further down the line. It's time - trade Kobe!