CAN LAKERS ANSWER KOBE'S CALL? OWNER BUSS FINALLY GETS AHOLD OF SUPERSTAR.

Byline: RICH HAMMOND 

Staff Writer

Dr. Jerry Buss finally reached out and touched Kobe Bryant, but what if it's too late?

On Thursday morning, Buss made the call Bryant had been begging for, and did his best to assure Bryant that the Lakers wanted to repair their fractured relationship and give him an improved set of teammates.

In a statement released Thursday afternoon by the Lakers, Buss said:

"I talked with Kobe this morning and assured him that I share his frustration and, more importantly, I assured him that we will continue to pursue every avenue possible to improve our team with him as the cornerstone. I told him that we will keep him apprised of our progress and we agreed that we will talk again in the very near future."

The Lakers otherwise stayed quiet, and calls to Bryant's representatives went unreturned Thursday. So one day after Bryant's dizzying trade-me, don't-trade-me radio tour, the issue remains unresolved.

Buss' statement leaves open the question of whether Bryant still wants the Lakers to trade him. Bryant himself gave everyone a figurative case of vertigo Wednesday with his public indecision. The latest Bryant weather report still indicates an 80 percent chance of wanting to be traded by mid-afternoon.

After the 2008-09 season, Bryant can opt out of his contract, which is otherwise set to expire in 2011. Any team that trades for Bryant before then must pay him a $9.5 million bonus, or a trade fee, so to speak.

So if the Lakers aren't able to make a blockbuster trade to appease Bryant, they face the prospect of either going forward with a sulking superstar or finding a trade partner, and neither option is particularly good.

Trade rumors are already filling the airwaves and blogosphere, and the only thing certain is that Bryant isn't headed to Pluto, which is where he said he'd rather be than Los Angeles next season.

Bryant has a no-trade clause, by virtue of being an eight-year veteran who has spent four years with the same team, so he would have to approve any deal.

Although it doesn't seem like that would be an issue.

"I'll play anywhere," Bryant told ESPN radio Wednesday. "I just want to play basketball. I want to play basketball and not worry about anything else, not worry about being a scapegoat for anything."

Second, a team would have to have enough, or clear enough, salary-cap room in order to add Bryant, who is due $19 million next season and $21 million in 2008-09. The salary cap this year was $53 million.

Third, a team would actually have to put together an attractive package for Bryant. Simply calling a team and saying, "Send us your two best players for Kobe," is an unrealistic scenario.

Finally, would the Lakers really send Bryant to a Western Conference team?

Given all that, the options would seem to be few. A team seeking to land Bryant likely would have to pair one or two talented young players, a high draft pick and at least one veteran with an expiring contract.

So who fits? Well, nobody, at least not perfectly, but there are a couple possible matches.

Chicago, a team with youth, depth and cap room, might be able to pair Luol Deng and Ben Gordon with the ninth overall draft pick, or perhaps package Ben Wallace with either Deng or Gordon.

Atlanta might be able to offer Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and a draft pick. New Jersey has Vince Carter. Philadelphia has Andre Iguodala and draft picks. New York has a pool of young talent.

It's not unreasonable that any of those teams would make a move.

How about out West?

The only real option -- unless the Lakers want to trade Bryant down the hall to the Clippers -- is Phoenix, which might offer Shawn Marion in a deal that could also include Leandro Barbosa and Marcus Banks.

Naturally, the Lakers don't want it to come to this. Was Buss' call the first step toward saving the day?

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Photo:

(1 -- color) BUSS

(2 -- color) BRYANT