Don't believe for a second it's a dead deal

The ball firmly in his court, Bulls GM John Paxson fired it back at Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Thursday afternoon.

In classic Bullspeak that would have made even Jerry Krause proud, Paxson issued a nondenial denial that served several purposes along the way.

Paxson admitted that he's interested in Bryant and has been talking to the Lakers, but also said he couldn't find the parameters for a deal -- today.

Paxson didn't say he couldn't or wouldn't trade for Kobe Bryant tonight, tomorrow or next week. He merely said he couldn't do it at the moment.

By saying, "It's just such a complicated thing and we kind of put it to rest now,'' Paxson left the door wide open but shouted to Bryant and the Lakers that the Bulls can't find a way to meet their demands as constituted.

It was a superb tactical move by Paxson, who knows Bryant will do anything to get out of L.A., but some of Bryant's demands will have to ease up to make it work.

Same goes for the Lakers, who'll have to back down on some of their requests or they'll wind up with what the Sixers got for Allen Iverson and the Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett: nearly nothing.

Paxson also admitted that reports of the Bulls protecting untouchable players were untrue, meaning he will move anyone he has to in order to get Bryant -- including Luol Deng or Kirk Hinrich -- as long as he doesn't gut the team in the process.

As much as anything, Paxson wanted to settle down his roster, which has been hearing the talk for weeks and didn't bother to show up for the first half Wednesday night in New Jersey.

By addressing it Thursday, Paxson also is hoping his players arrive on time tonight for the home opener against Philadelphia and play at least three quarters of NBA basketball.

Other than that, nothing has changed from 24 or 48 hours ago, and don't believe for a second that this deal is dead.

The Bulls still want Kobe Bryant and he still wants them, but John Paxson has made it clear that he will let this deal die a slow and painful death if reason isn't brought to the table.

The next move is theirs.

Halas halt

Bears GM Jerry Angelo couldn't really have said, "Cedric (Benson) is performing to the best of his abilities.''

Right?

If that's true, undrafted free agent for minimum salary seems more appropriate than No. 4 pick in the 2005 draft, signing for five years and $35 million.

Best of his abilities. Can you imagine what Benson would look like if he played at something less than the best of his abilities?

And don't say "Curtis Enis,'' because that's an insult to Enis.

Super Bowl XLI½

When the line was posted Sunday night for this weekend's monster matchup of New England and Indianapolis, Caesars Palace sportsbook manager Chuck Esposito knew it was going to be a wild week.

"The line moved up right away (from Pats -4.5 to -5.5), and we've had a record amount of action on the game. It's something you just don't normally see for a regular-season game,'' Esposito said.

"It's like the Super Bowl in the sense that people who normally don't bet on these games have been coming by to get in on the action.

"The only in-season game that rivals this in terms of hype and buzz, and I hate to bring it up, is the 1985 Monday night game between the Bears and Dolphins.''

Yeah, let's move along.

"Fine by me,'' said Esposito, a Chicago native. "Normally we have about a half-dozen props for a Sunday night or Monday night regular-season game. We've got 50 for this one, for a Sunday afternoon game.

"It has a chance to be a phenomenal football game. I hope it lives up to the hype.''

Far out

Ernie Banks will join WGN Radio's Steve Cochran Monday as they talk to Glenbard East ('79) grad Dan Tani, a die-hard Cubs fan currently orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station.

The segment, which we assume will include an outer-space version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," will air during Cochran's show Monday afternoon (4-7 p.m.).

First and goal

Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome is becoming a hot topic around the majors these days, but who was the first to tab him many months ago? E-mailer Sanjay H., my favorite GM not working in baseball today, the same guy who predicted Ryan Dempster would be the Cubs' closer more than a year before it happened.

The quote

Arizona's Eric Byrnes, to Fox Sports Net: "How about Joe Torre and possibly A-Rod coming to the Los Angeles Dodgers? Honestly, being in the National League West … the last guy I want to see 18, 19 times a year is Alex Rodriguez."

Boiling it down

Voice-mailer Mark from Atokad Park: "Kobe Bryant is beachfront property. When it's available at a discount price, you get it while you can, because it's not available very often and never at the same low price.''

And finally …

ESPN.com's Bill Simmons: "As much as I respect David Stern's passion, leadership and vision over the first 23 years of his tenure, it's hard to fathom what happened over the past 12 months and what's being allowed to continue to happen now … Let's hope Gary Bettman didn't secretly take over this league a year ago.''

brozner@dailyherald.com