Lee Jin-man / AP file

Kobe Bryant is far too talented to waste the prime years of his career with a bad Lakers team.

The deal sitting there the Lakers must make and which seems reasonable for both teams is for the Indiana Pacers' O'Neal.

It's clearly time for O'Neal to leave the Pacers, which he brings up about every three to four months. The Pacers aren't going anywhere, especially with O'Neal. O'Neal's a big name player, though not quite with the game to match.

He's talented, no question. But he's one of those guys, sort of like Kevin Garnett, who needs to be with a better player. They score, rebound and make plays, but they can't carry a team or really finish a game. O'Neal has shown that since the Pacers turned the team over to him after going to the Finals in 2000. True, Ron Artest was a big distraction, but the Pacers also were at their best in that era when Artest was at his best. When he wasn't, O'Neal wasn't good enough.

But put him with Bryant and you have a comfort zone for O'Neal and finally a star to play with Bryant, a player who'll score and defend and block shots, and then leave the finish to Bryant.

The Pacers have time, so Bynum makes sense for them. You can grow him with a young core instead of marking time just trying to get the eighth spot.

It remains the Lakers' best option. The teams talked, and the Pacers probably would have done the deal for Odom and Bynum, but never were offered them. The Pacers now have decided they want to see whether O'Neal has the commitment to try to carry them with a new coach and a system in which he'll play more small center and run the court. It's not something he's cared to do much of recently. So maybe a two-month test in Indiana and Los Angeles to find out if O'Neal or Bynum is worth keeping.

As for Kidd, it's unlikely the Nets would deal him now that it seems like they have a legitimate chance, with the return of Nenad Krstic, to win the East.

The obvious deal at some point is O'Neal for Lamar Odom, who was best in Miami when he could control the ball and the team, Bynum and someone like Brian Cook, a useful big man shooter to equalize the salaries. Perhaps Kwame Brown and Troy Murphy could be added to give the Pacers a little future salary cap relief.

If the Lakers don't do something on that scale, they'd be doing themselves and their fans a bigger disservice than they are doing Bryant. Players like Bryant come along rarely. Yet, the Lakers act like after Kobe there'll be another. They always got great players, so they assume they always will. They are wrong. If they waste Bryant's last few with a mediocre roster or in a feud, they'll regret it for years. Bryant owes the Lakers two years and he'll have to give it to them under his contract. But they could have six or seven more years of excellence with a healthy and happy Bryant, and it's a crime to waste that. Perhaps it's the fans who should be demanding the trade to Chicago.

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Nathan Denette / AP

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