The marriage between the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant will not end in divorce, according to sports talk radio and various on-line experts.  Bryant is a piece of art that no buyer can afford, they say, because of his salary and league rules that mandate roughly equal salary value in two team trades.

To which I say, "shoot".  That's what we say here in the South as a substitute for another more descriptive exclamation.  "Shoot", say I, "send that old boy down here.  We'll take right good care of him."  In Charlotte or Atlanta.

The two or three experts who think Bryant will leave LA have him headed for Chicago, New York, or Philadelphia.  The problem is the Bulls have alot of young talent and not enough high priced contracts to match up in a two team trade.  New York?  There are legitimate questions as to whether the Knicks are still in the NBA.  Some say they are basketball team, others a reality TV show gone horribly wrong.  The 76ers?  That's like trading with Fred Sanford.  Not much down at the junk yard, unless you believe Andre Iguodala will make LA fans forget Kobe.  (Which is about as likely as Laker owner Jerry Buss swearing off younger women.)

No, the answer lies South.  And North.

Here's the deal.  Both Atlanta and Charlotte have good young talent.  The Minneapolis Timberwolves have Kevin Garnett and a confused look on their faces.  The Lakers have Kobe and need a replacement star.  That would be Garnett, who goes to LA for Bryant, who goes to Atlanta or Charlotte for a combination of young players and/or a draft pick, which are sent to Minnesota.  As an added bonus, there are all kinds of exceptions to the equal salary rule when multiple teams are involved in a trade.

Charlotte makes sense for two reasons.  Attendance and Michael Jordan.  The Bobcats have failed to capture the imagination of old Hornets fans, despite a new owner in Robert Johnson of BET and a new arena downtown.  If you want people to come to the circus, you'd better bring an elephant.  Kobe is the biggest elephant in NBA captivity.

The brightest star in the West coming to play for Jordan is intriguing.  There is probably no other person in the sports world with a better understanding of what it takes to build a team around a singular talent like Bryant than Michael Jordan.  Bryant gives Jordan the chance to win, not years from now, but from Day One.  

Bryant is quoted as wanting to go to a contender. But who is to say the Bobcats won't be, especially if they can obtain Kobe for some combination of their first round pick, last year's top pick Adam Morrison, and one other young player (perhaps Sean May)?  Emeka Okafor would also give Bryant the low post scoring partner he has lacked since Shaq took up residence on the Gold Coast.

If not Charlotte, why not Atlanta?  Some people in the NBA believe that since Sherman burned Atlanta things have only gotten progressively worse.  But Atlanta has alot going for it, especially the fact that it literally is the capital city of the New South.  It's no LA or New York in terms of media attention, but that cuts in two directions.  Under a less intense media gaze, and far removed from the recriminations over Shaq's departure,  Bryant can have something he often lacked in Los Angeles.  Adulation.

Bryant would be the face of the Hawks and, Michael Vick and Chipper Jones aside, probably the biggest sports celebrity in the South.  A trade to Atlanta would be a fresh start, albeit one with risks.  The Hawks have proven to be almost uniquely inept when it comes to building a playoff contender.

To position Bryant in a situation similar to that of LeBron James, Atlanta would have to build any deal with LA or Minnesota around the #3 pick in the draft plus a couple of young players.  That pick will likely turn into China's Yi Jianlian (still a 7'0" question mark), Ohio State's Mike Conley, or Florida's Al Horford.

A deal for Bryant would likely also cost Atlanta Marvin Williams or Josh Smith, two very talented young players.  Whatever is lost, though, would be more than made up for in fan interest and credibility.  Both are sorely lacking in ATL.

There are still alot of questions.  Would LA be any better off with Garnett and perhaps a draft pick or prospect than with Bryant?  Would Bryant accept a trade outside of his current list of chosen teams?  Does Charlotte have the finances to bring home the player the Hornets traded to LA on draft day in 1986?

At the end of the day it's about the hard choices Jerry Buss and Kobe Bryant must be willing to make.  A trade gets a fresh deck of cards for Phil Jackson and the Lakers.  For Bryant, a trip to a young talented Eastern team puts him in a conference where a star player and even a little bit of support gets you to the NBA finals.

Just ask LeBron James.