Link:The Lakers will trade Kobe Bryant only if they get a bona fide superstar in return. So goes the standard logic in analyzing Kobe's persistent attempts to force his way out of Los Angeles.
There is ample star quality on the teams for which Kobe would agree to waive his no-trade clause - Dallas, Chicago, maybe Phoenix - such as Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Ben Gordon or Luol Deng. A package built around any of them would allow Jerry Buss to save face in a Kobe deal.
But what if the Lakers can't get a superstar such as Nowitzki (the Mavs want to pair him with Kobe, not trade him for Kobe) or Stoudemire? Then what?
Clearly, the Lakers are "serious this time," one person familiar with the situation said. "I think they're going to seriously contemplate movement."
So if Buss can't get a superstar, he needs to do the next-best thing. He needs to collect assets he can parlay into a superstar.
This is where the Knicks enter the equation.
Those dismissing the Knicks from the Kobe discussion say they don't have anybody the Lakers would want. These people aren't paying attention to the details.
Isiah may not have a team that makes much basketball sense, but he's cornered the market on assets that the Lakers could use to prepare for a major free-agent score: decent young players on rookie contracts; players whose contracts expire by 2010, when LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will be free agents; first-round picks, cash and an assortment of garbage to make the salaries match under the league's 125 percent rule.
