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Luol Deng is no stranger to trade rumors. Since entering the NBA, he has seemingly been involved in yearly trade rumors and this offseason has shown to be no different. However, for the first time, the Bulls are legitimately faced with a dilemma: With Deng entering the final year of his contract, his uncertain future with the franchise, and given the position the team is currently in, should the Chicago Bulls actively seek a trade for Deng? Braedan and I discuss the merits of whether or not the Bulls should trade Luol Deng.

Avi Saini- Trading Deng Makes Sense for Chicago:

On paper a lineup of Joakim Noah-Carlos Boozer-Luol Deng-Jimmy Butler- Derrick Rose looks like a tough team to stop. Why would I want to break something up that could potentially work out really well in Chicago’s favor? Why would I want to trade away Chicago’s small forward when we seemingly finally have our shooting guard of the future?

My first reasoning stems from the fear that the Bulls could lose Deng for nothing as they did with Omer Asik just one year ago. This season Deng is set to make $14.2 million, a tad bit overpaid for his level of production. Any contract extensions or free agency negotiations the Bulls engage in with Deng will likely be centered on cutting his salary down to the $10 to $12 million range (more likely the latter). The problem is that Deng can command more on the open market and it’s highly likely both he and his agent realize that.

Next year’s free agency period will be highlighted by the likes of some of the league’s best players and looks to be strong. The list of players includes Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, and Carmelo Anthony. However, it’s highly likely that most, if not all, of these players will likely resign with their current teams. In that situation, who’s left? Not much. After the top seven players (or eight if you include Pau Gasol), Deng arguably becomes the best player available should he become an unrestricted free agent. If history has shown us anything it’s that as the best player available it’s highly likely that several teams will be willing to over-pay for his services. It doesn’t exactly help that the market for Deng has been set with the $14 million per year offers Andre Iguodala received. Letting Deng walk into that kind of market where he will be offered like $6 to $8 million more of the life of a contract could be enough to see him walk away and leave Chicago with nothing.

To me it makes more sense to simply get what you can for Deng while possible.

My second reasoning for wanting to move Deng stems from the major flaws with the 2014 plan in which Deng’s and Boozer’s contracts come off of the books. Let’s assume the Bulls push through with the plan and free up all that cap space. Operating under the assumption that the salary cap will be approximately $58 million, roughly what it is set to be next season, let’s see how the finances work out. The Bulls will start off with around $40 million on the books leaving approximately $18 million left to work with under the cap. After picking up Butler’s and Marquis Teague’s options ($3 million), paying Mike Dunleavy ($3 million), and bringing Nikola Mirotic over ($5 million), the Bulls will only be left with around $7 million left to spend. Clearly this is not enough to get one of the big name players. Coupled with the fact that there are no other impactful scorers to be had in the free agency class after the big names the entire plan essentially goes to waste. Chicago could look to fill out their roster with that money and sign Deng past the cap with their Bird Rights but: 1) Deng could already have chosen to leave for another team willing to pay him more money as noted earlier and 2) Signing Deng with Bird Rights could jeopardize Butler’s contract extension and put Chicago in a financial situation similar to the one they’re in now. Trading Deng eliminates the possibility of Chicago walking away empty handed, or worse, from the 2014 free agency frenzy.

To me the most compelling reason to move Deng lies in the fact that he and Jimmy Butler are the same kind of player. In fact in most situations on both offense and defense Butler has shown himself to be the better, more improved, and significantly cheaper version of Deng according to Synergy Sports.

Note: All numbers are each player’s respective points per possession scored on offense or allowed on defense. The higher the number on offense and lower the number on defense the better. For consistency’s sake, Butler and Deng’s PPP are arranged in the parentheses as (Butler’s PPP vs Deng’s PPP).

On defense Butler holds advantages over Deng in the following situations: isolation (0.75 vs 0.83), pick and roll situations guarding the ball handler (0.68 vs 0.83), spot up (0.79 vs 1), and overall (0.76 vs 0.85). Deng does hold advantages in post defense (Butler’s 0.84 vs Deng’s 0.78) and guarding the roll man in pick and rolls (Butler’s 1.05 vs Deng’s 0.95).

On offense Butler is better as a spot up shooter (1.04 vs 0.81) and transition scorer (1.24 vs 1.04). Butler is also a better scorer as the ball handler (0.8 vs 0.68) and roll man (0.92 vs 0.83) in the pick and roll, off of rebounds (1.36 vs 1.12) and better at cutting to the hoop (1.34 vs 1.19) to score. Deng holds an advantage in isolation situations (0.69 vs 0.82). In off-screen plays and all other uncategorized situations, Deng and Butler are the same. Overall, Butler is the more prolific scorer (1.02 vs 0.89).

According to Basketball Reference, Butler was able to record a better true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage, offensive rating, and win shares per 48 minutes while notching a similar player efficiency rating and defensive rating compared to Deng.

According to the points per possession numbers above Butler’s skill set aligns more properly with that of a wing player who doesn’t dominate the ball. Butler is no better an isolation player than Chicago has had in the past and does nothing to help take the offensive pressure off of Derrick Rose, who would once again have to create everything himself. Analysis of all the stats demonstrate that Butler is in fact as good as, if not better than, Deng defensively and a much more prolific offensive threat. Also given the fact that Butler is a significantly cheaper player, it makes more sense to simply shift Butler to a position where he can utilize his skill set more (small forward0 and simply trade Deng for a shooting guard to take the pressure off of Rose to be the sole creator of offense.

I love Deng as much as the next guy. He’s been a great teammate, role model to the community, hard worker, and done nothing but good for the franchise. But the NBA is a business and if you, as an organization aren’t winning, you’re losing. It’s time to entertain trading Deng for the final pieces that can push Chicago over the top and to the trophy.

Braeden Ritter- Keep Deng, because I’m sentimental:

Deng is set to make 14.2 million next season on a Bulls roster that is currently constructed (counting Rip Hamilton’s $5 million until they buy him out for one million) to have about $80 million on the books for the 2013-2014 season. So yes, Deng is slightly overpaid, but he isn’t close to the worst contract on the team (I’m looking at you, Carlos Boozer…no don’t try to hide behind Kirk Hinrich. I can still see you, Carlos). The problem isn’t just Deng—at least he is productive—it’s much, much deeper, so by getting rid of him you’re putting a Band-Aid over an arm that’s been chopped off. That’s why the Bulls should give it one more shot with this squad.

I’d say this is the Bulls best chance to go for a title run since 2011, the first year of the ‘Big Three’ in Miami. Rose is rested…like really well rested. They finally have a ‘shooting guard’ in Jimmy Butler. Deng, Boozer and Joakim Noah ranged from solid to great last season. Mike Dunleavy coming off the bench is a nice option with Taj, and Nazr Mohammed has proved himself to be valuable at times. They are still behind the Heat, but the things that kept running through my head during the last two rounds of the playoffs were: “Can I make it to Chipotle and back before this commercial break is over?” along with “Man, the Heat look really beatable.”

It seems a little weird to say that, considering they are the two-time defending champs with the best basketball player in the world on their team, but the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals showed that Miami isn’t untouchable. A sub-par playoff stretch from Dwyane Wade—who will be a year older—and two seven-game series showed that Chicago could give the Heat a run as currently constructed if Derrick Rose returns healthy. And a big reason the Bulls would be a good matchup is because of Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler on defense; both can guard LeBron James or Wade. If they get rid of Deng, that puts a lot of pressure on Butler, who really will be a second-year player, to try and stop LeBron alone (although, I admit, keeping a player for one playoff series doesn’t make much sense).

However, if they aren’t able to get it done, a possible “fresh start” next season (let Deng walk, amnesty Boozer) won’t give the Bulls a ton of money under the cap as you explained , but it’ll be a place to start where they can finally look to add legitimate pieces, not just small parts.

I’ve made fun of the ‘2014 Plan’ since it was announced, because it was basically like saying “we’ll coast for a few years and then try to get better, even though we won’t have that much money and will be putting all our chips in the free agency basket which hasn’t worked out well for us as of late.” But a different plan could work. Either Deng resigns for a discount, or you can let him walk. That would save a good chunk of change on the cap, and then (hopefully) amnesty Boozer, saving even more money. That savings would be enough to bring in a pretty big name free agent at either shooting guard or small forward that could actually be the final piece to the championship puzzle.

Letting assets walk away for free really hurts (see: Omer Asik), but you can’t bail on something without the right deal. Unless the Bulls are getting valuable draft picks or young players under contract for a while, they will be right back in this exact same spot in a few years.

And to your point on Deng and Butler being the same player, all I can say is yes, that is true. Both are really natural small forwards, with solid length. But is that a bad thing? Wouldn’t nearly every team in the NBA love two wings that can hit threes pretty well and defend with some of the best in the league? One slice of pizza is awesome and delicious. But two slices of pizza is even better. That analogy doesn’t really work, but you get the idea. The Bulls have been looking for a shooting guard for what seems like a century, and now that they have found someone who fits there, there is a rush to move him to a different position.

According to 82games.com, Butler’s net rating at shooting guard (3.5) was much better than when he was at small forward (.5). At shooting guard, Butler’s opponents put up a PER of 7.0. At small forward, the number jumped to 12.7. Now neither of those numbers are good—15.0 is an average PER—but that is a testament to how good of a defender Butler is. He is clearly a better defender at shooting guard with his length. Jimmy may not be the best fit as the shooting guard of the future, but why not let him fill that role in the present, while Deng plays one more year alongside him at the three, and this Bulls roster gives it one last go.

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You’ve heard our takes on the subject. Let us know your opinion in the comments.

The post Throw Back Thursday: Revisiting an Old Deng Discussion appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Avi Saini- Trading Deng Makes Sense for Chicago:

On paper a lineup of Joakim Noah-Carlos Boozer-Luol Deng-Jimmy Butler- Derrick Rose looks like a tough team to stop. Why would I want to break something up that could potentially work out really well in Chicago’s favor? Why would I want to trade away Chicago’s small forward when we seemingly finally have our shooting guard of the future?

My first reasoning stems from the fear that the Bulls could lose Deng for nothing as they did with Omer Asik just one year ago. This season Deng is set to make $14.2 million which the Bulls would hopefully like to bring down as low as they possibly can. Any contract extensions or free agency negotiations the Bulls engage in with Deng will likely be centered on cutting his salary down to the $8 to $12 million range. The issue with this that Deng can command more on the open market and it’s likely both he and his agent realize that.

Next year’s free agency will be highlighted by the likes of some of the league’s best players such as Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Carmelo Anthony, and a few others. Though these players can become free agents there is a fair chance that several of these players may not opt out of their contract or will simply resign with their current team, leaving a teams angling for only just a handful of stars. If the league’s history has shown us anything it’s that after a team swings and misses on landing a coveted star, the next best available player will be over-paid for his services. After the top seven players (eight if you include Pau Gasol), Deng arguably becomes the best player available should he become an unrestricted free agent. Given this trend and the fact that Andre Iguodala was offered a $14 million by the Sacramento Kings, Deng could cash in big in the offseason and receive significantly better offers than the one the Bulls are willing to give him. Letting Deng walk into a market willing to offer him $8 to 12 million more of the life of a contract could be enough to see him walk away and leave Chicago with nothing if he isn’t traded away.

To me it makes more sense to simply get what you can for Deng while possible.

My second reasoning for wanting to move Deng stems from the major flaws with the 2014 plan in which Deng’s and Boozer’s contracts come off of the books. Let’s assume the Bulls push through with the plan and free up all that cap space. Operating under the assumption that the salary cap will be approximately $58 million, roughly what it is set to be next season, let’s see how the finances work out. The Bulls will start off with around $40 million on the books leaving approximately $18 million left to work with under the cap. After picking up Butler’s and Marquis Teague’s options ($3 million), paying Mike Dunleavy ($3 million), and bringing Nikola Mirotic over ($5 million), the Bulls will only be left with around $7 million left to spend. Clearly this is not enough to get one of the big name players. Coupled with the fact that there are no other impactful scorers to be had in the free agency class after the big names the entire plan essentially goes to waste. Chicago could look to fill out their roster with that money and sign Deng past the cap with their Bird Rights but: 1) Deng could already have chosen to leave for another team willing to pay him more money as noted earlier and 2) Signing Deng with Bird Rights could jeopardize Butler’s contract extension and put Chicago in a financial situation similar to the one they’re in now. Trading Deng eliminates the possibility of Chicago walking away empty handed, or worse, from the 2014 free agency frenzy.

To me the most compelling reason to move Deng lies in the fact that he and Jimmy Butler are the same kind of player. In fact in most situations on both offense and defense Butler has shown himself to be the better, more improved, and significantly cheaper version of Deng according to Synergy Sports.

Note: All numbers are each player’s respective points per possession scored on offense or allowed on defense. The higher the number on offense and lower the number on defense the better. For consistency’s sake, Butler and Deng’s PPP are arranged in the parentheses as (Butler’s PPP vs Deng’s PPP).

On defense Butler holds advantages over Deng in the following situations: isolation (0.75 vs 0.83), pick and roll situations guarding the ball handler (0.68 vs 0.83), spot up (0.79 vs 1), and overall (0.76 vs 0.85). Deng does hold advantages in post defense (Butler’s 0.84 vs Deng’s 0.78) and guarding the roll man in pick and rolls (Butler’s 1.05 vs Deng’s 0.95).

On offense Butler is better as a spot up shooter (1.04 vs 0.81) and transition scorer (1.24 vs 1.04). Butler is also a better scorer as the ball handler (0.8 vs 0.68) and roll man (0.92 vs 0.83) in the pick and roll, off of rebounds (1.36 vs 1.12) and better at cutting to the hoop (1.34 vs 1.19) to score. Deng holds an advantage in isolation situations (0.69 vs 0.82). In off-screen plays and all other uncategorized situations, Deng and Butler are the same. Overall, Butler is the more prolific scorer (1.02 vs 0.89).

According to Basketball Reference, Butler was able to record a better true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage, offensive rating, and win shares per 48 minutes while notching a similar player efficiency rating and defensive rating compared to Deng.

According to the points per possession numbers above Butler’s skill set aligns more properly with that of a wing player who doesn’t dominate the ball. Butler is no better an isolation player than Chicago has had in the past and does nothing to help take the offensive pressure off of Derrick Rose, who would once again have to create everything himself. Analysis of all the stats demonstrate that Butler is in fact as good as, if not better than, Deng defensively and a much more prolific offensive threat. Also given the fact that Butler is a significantly cheaper player, it makes more sense to simply shift Butler to a position where he can utilize his skill set more (small forward0 and simply trade Deng for a shooting guard to take the pressure off of Rose to be the sole creator of offense.

I love Deng as much as the next guy. He’s been a great teammate, role model to the community, hard worker, and done nothing but good for the current team and franchise overall. But the NBA is a business and if you, as an organization aren’t winning, you’re losing. It’s time to entertain trading Deng for the final pieces that can push Chicago over the top and to the trophy.

Braeden Ritter- Keep Deng, because I’m sentimental:

Deng is set to make 14.2 million next season on a Bulls roster that is currently constructed (counting Rip Hamilton’s $5 million until they buy him out for one million) to have about $80 million on the books for the 2013-2014 season. So yes, Deng is slightly overpaid, but he isn’t close to the worst contract on the team (I’m looking at you, Carlos Boozer…no don’t try to hide behind Kirk Hinrich. I can still see you, Carlos). The problem isn’t just Deng—at least he is productive—it’s much, much deeper, so by getting rid of him you’re putting a Band-Aid over an arm that’s been chopped off. That’s why the Bulls should give it one more shot with this squad.

I’d say this is the Bulls best chance to go for a title run since 2011, the first year of the ‘Big Three’ in Miami. Rose is rested…like really well rested. They finally have a ‘shooting guard’ in Jimmy Butler. Deng, Boozer and Joakim Noah ranged from solid to great last season. Mike Dunleavy coming off the bench is a nice option with Taj, and Nazr Mohammed has proved himself to be valuable at times. They are still behind the Heat, but the things that kept running through my head during the last two rounds of the playoffs were: “Can I make it to Chipotle and back before this commercial break is over?” along with “Man, the Heat look really beatable.”

It seems a little weird to say that, considering they are the two-time defending champs with the best basketball player in the world on their team, but the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals showed that Miami isn’t untouchable. A sub-par playoff stretch from Dwyane Wade—who will be a year older—and two seven-game series showed that Chicago could give the Heat a run as currently constructed if Derrick Rose returns healthy. And a big reason the Bulls would be a good matchup is because of Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler on defense; both can guard LeBron James or Wade. If they get rid of Deng, that puts a lot of pressure on Butler, who really will be a second-year player, to try and stop LeBron alone (although, I admit, keeping a player for one playoff series doesn’t make much sense).

However, if they aren’t able to get it done, a possible “fresh start” next season (let Deng walk, amnesty Boozer) won’t give the Bulls a ton of money under the cap as you explained , but it’ll be a place to start where they can finally look to add legitimate pieces, not just small parts.

I’ve made fun of the ‘2014 Plan’ since it was announced, because it was basically like saying “we’ll coast for a few years and then try to get better, even though we won’t have that much money and will be putting all our chips in the free agency basket which hasn’t worked out well for us as of late.” But a different plan could work. Either Deng resigns for a discount, or you can let him walk. That would save a good chunk of change on the cap, and then (hopefully) amnesty Boozer, saving even more money. That savings would be enough to bring in a pretty big name free agent at either shooting guard or small forward that could actually be the final piece to the championship puzzle.

Letting assets walk away for free really hurts (see: Omer Asik), but you can’t bail on something without the right deal. Unless the Bulls are getting valuable draft picks or young players under contract for a while, they will be right back in this exact same spot in a few years.

And to your point on Deng and Butler being the same player, all I can say is yes, that is true. Both are really natural small forwards, with solid length. But is that a bad thing? Wouldn’t nearly every team in the NBA love two wings that can hit threes pretty well and defend with some of the best in the league? One slice of pizza is awesome and delicious. But two slices of pizza is even better. That analogy doesn’t really work, but you get the idea. The Bulls have been looking for a shooting guard for what seems like a century, and now that they have found someone who fits there, there is a rush to move him to a different position.

According to 82games.com, Butler’s net rating at shooting guard (3.5) was much better than when he was at small forward (.5). At shooting guard, Butler’s opponents put up a PER of 7.0. At small forward, the number jumped to 12.7. Now neither of those numbers are good—15.0 is an average PER—but that is a testament to how good of a defender Butler is. He is clearly a better defender at shooting guard with his length. Jimmy may not be the best fit as the shooting guard of the future, but why not let him fill that role in the present, while Deng plays one more year alongside him at the three, and this Bulls roster gives it one last go.

—————

You’ve heard our takes on the subject. Let us know your opinion in the comments.

The post Deng it! What Should the Chicago Bulls Do? The Debate to Trade or Keep Luol Deng appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Apparently, J-Rich decided to go for money over winning. After all, Dwight Howard has demanded a trade. So unless Orlando pulls off an amazing trade for several quality players, the Magic aren’t going to be very good this season. And maybe not for a long while to come.

As ESPNChicago’s Nick Friedell points out, finances will likely prevent the Bulls from acquiring other high profile targets such as Arron Afflalo, Jamal Crawford and Nick Young. Which makes Rip Hamilton the team’s most likely target. And all signs point to Hamilton inking a deal with the Bulls.

Additional reports indicate the Bulls may go after Howard.

That’s not going to happen.

As Friedell writes:

Again, according to capologist Larry Coon, in order to make the numbers work in a deal which would include Hedo Turkoglu (there’s little doubt the Magic would include Turkoglu’s contract in any proposed deal for Howard) the Bulls would give up Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Omer Asik and Taj Gibson, plus probably a draft pick or two. Does Smith really want to build his post-Howard Magic squad around Deng and Noah? Both have had injury problems in the past; but what is surely more alarming to Smith is the fact that Deng and Noah have guaranteed contracts worth more than $100 million over eight years.

Not to mention the fact that Asik and Gibson are due for big raises over the next year. Does Smith really believe that the best deal to make revolves around that kind of guaranteed money within his own conference?

There are major questions whether Howard would even want to play in Chicago, and the deal outlined above simply wouldn’t be that attractive to the Magic…not if they’re going to rebuild. So let’s assume Dwight won’t be walking through that door any time soon. As in ever.

Neither is Kurt Thomas, who plans to sign a two-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. I’ll miss Big Sexy. He was professional and tough, and he really came through when Noah was injured last season. Still, Thomas is the league’s oldest player, and with the emergence of Asik, Kurt was a luxury more than anything else.

One major non-luxury is the future of Derrick Rose. But the Bulls are on the verge of taking care of that. According to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:

Rose will win on the bottom line soon. General manager Gar Forman said the formality of Rose’s five-year, $94 million extension is being finalized with Rose’s agents, Arn Tellem and B.J. Armstrong.

Said Forman: “Derrick is the centerpiece of what we’re putting together here. We want Derrick to be a Bull for a long, long time. It’s very important that we put the right pieces around Derrick.”

My take: We will soon see a Bulls team that look very much like last year’s squad…except that Hamilton will replace Bogans as the starting two guard. Which means, as long as everybody stays healthy, the Bulls can be as good as anybody.

The post No moves so far…but plenty of reports and rumors appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

These are some of the names bloggers, Bulls fans and various experts have mentioned as potential answers to Chicago’s problem at the shooting guard position. The “problem” being Keith Bogans.

So, even as the Bulls nip at the heels of the Celtics and Heat for the best record in the Eastern Conference, and as they eagerly await the return of Joakim Noah, the biggest question heading toward the trade deadline (February 24 at 3:00 p.m.) is: Will the team trade up at the two spot?

Bulls executive vice president John Paxson was a guest on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000 Friday. Here’s what he said: “What we would be looking for as this trade deadline approaches is a little more scoring if we can find it, but we aren’t going to do anything to disrupt the chemistry of this team. We’ve made huge strides this year, and we still think our best basketball is yet to come.

“If we continue to get a guy like Keith Bogans playing well, knocking down two or three 3-pointers a game, and we bring guys like Ronnie Brewer off the bench and C.J. [Watson], we’re real comfortable with that,” Paxson said. “The bottom line is [Derrick Rose] is going to have the basketball in his hands the majority of the time.

“We’re not going to compromise our chemistry, because it’s an underrated thing in this league when you have a group that plays well together and fits together. And we’re not going to compromise what we believe we can do in the future to make us a championship team, not just for a year, but for a long period of time with Derrick Rose being just 22 years old. We’ll be cautious. We talked to a lot of teams. We listen, and throw ideas out there. And you never know, things can happen before the deadline … but we feel good where we’re at.”

I see where Paxson is coming from. At this point, the Bulls have very few tradeable assets. And by “tradeable asset” I mean something they are willing and able to give up and something other teams actually want. Because of this, it could be dangerous to make a knee-jerk move.

For instance, a lot of people are talking about Anthony Parker. Why not give up, say, Omer Asik and/or a first round draft pick or two to bring in a savvy vet who plays solid D and has shot better than 41 percent on threes over his career? Well, for starters, Parker is 35 years old and will turn 36 on June 19. So, obviously, he’s not going to be part of Chicago’s future plans. Furthermore, his Player Efficiency Rating (11.0) isn’t that much better than Bogans’ (8.1). So while he does represent an upgrade, it really is a relatively minor one.

The Bulls have limited cap space and very little to work with trade-wise. And, considering how well the season has gone so far despite the injuries to Noah and Carlos Boozer, it’s hard to imagine management making a move unless the perfect opportunity presents itself.

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According to Adrian Wajnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “Everyone understood Chicago executives are now determined to move Thomas, and a clear price has been established for suitors: Expiring contracts and a future first-round draft pick, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Bulls are also exploring ways to package Thomas with guard Kirk Hinrich to free themselves of his contract.”

Wajnarowski continued: “Bulls management is telling teams they expect to take the bidding right to the Feb. 18 deadline. The Bulls want to avoid the possibility of Thomas accepting a $6.2 million qualifying offer on the eve of this summer’s free agency, which would deliver a major dent to their salary-cap space. Thomas, 23, will be a restricted free agent this summer.”

Chicago’s end-game is clear: Add a superstar — Dwyane Wade? Chris Bosh? Amar’e Stoudemire? — and another star or semi-star next summer. Oh, and a blue-chip draftee wouldn’t hurt, either. And players who aren’t part of that solution are part of the problem. Even if they don’t scream at the coach. (Sorry, Kirk. That’s just the way it is. It doesn’t mean we don’t love you. Or at least like you. Or at the very worst tolerate you.)

Here are some possible trade buddies who may be in the running for Chicago’s enigmatic big man:

Boston Celtics:
That grunting and panting you hear is Danny Ainge trying desperately to hold the Celtics championship window open a little longer. Plus, if Ainge wants to get anything out of Ray Allen’s expiring contract, this is the time to do it. We could see Thomas and Hinrich included in a deal with Boston.

Charlotte Bobcats:
Apparently, the Bobcats have offered Acie Law, Flip Murray and their 2010 first-round pick for Thomas. The Law / Murray combo represents over $4 million in expiring contracts, plus it would keep Thomas from accepting that $6.2 million qualifying offer. That’s $10 million in cap savings and a draft pick. Don’t we owe it to Michael Jordan to take his team’s money?

Denver Nuggets:
The Nuggets want a big man to bolster their playoff odds against the Lakers and their monster frontcourt. However, their roster situation doesn’t look very promising, trade-wise.

New Orleans Hornets:
They’re weak up front, and, as an added bonus, they’ve already traded with the Bulls once this season. That said, the Hornets are looking to cut costs, not take them on. And New Orleans is on the books for over $73 million next season.

New York Knicks:
The Knicks are trying to shift as many pieces as they can to lure LeBron James to New York this summer. But beware: They’re been looking to shed salary as much as anything else. Still, Al Harrington’s expiring contract might be an enticing offer…

Portland Trail Blazers:
The “Frail Blazers” lost both Greg Oden and Joel “The Vanilla Godzilla” Przybilla for the season. Those are their first and second string centers, by the way. Portland has been getting it done with Juwan Howard’s decaying corpse…but how long can that last? Also, teams have been scoring a lot of points in the paint against the Blazers. Thomas would provide depth up front and some interior defense.

It appears Portland “offered either Steve Blake or Travis Outlaw — both of whom have expiring contracts — and two future second-round draft picks for Thomas. The Bulls reportedly declined the deal, though, because they want more value in return.”

Sacramento Kings:
The Kings want size. They need it, really. And here’s an argument for Tyrus heading to Sacramento. Unprotected first round draft pick, anyone?

San Antonio Spurs:
The Spurs may be the only team that might be grunting and panting at their championship window more than the Celtics are at theirs. And no offense to Antonio McDyess, Matt Bonner and Theo Ratliff, but San Antonio needs some youth and athleticism in the frountcourt. At this point, McDyess and Ratliff are this closeto being legally declared “mummy” by leading mummy-ologists.

The post Everybody loves Tyrus (except, you know, the Bulls) appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Coming soon to a Bulls game near you?

Heading into October, it looked like this season was going to decide Tyrus Thomas’ fate as a member of the Chicago Bulls. However, rumors seem to indicate that Chicago management has seen pretty much everything they need to see out of their enigmatic forward. Apparently, the Bulls have had discussions with “several teams” and an “ongoing dialogue” with New York Knicks president Donnie Walsh.

The theoretical deal would be a bargain platter of Thomas (who’s still out with a forearm injury) and Jerome James (who, let’s face it, was never going to play for the Bulls) in exchange for Knicks forward Al Harrington.

According to one league executive briefed on the talks: “Nothing is imminent, but both sides would like to figure out a way to do this.”

Walsh has been understandably reluctant to part with Harrington — currently is averaging 19.5 points (on 45 percent shooting) and 6.2 rebounds with a Player Efficiency Rating of 19.2 — but the Knicks aren’t going anywhere this season, with or without Harrington. Why not roll the dice with a young stud like Ty? Mike D’Antoni’s run ‘n gun offense can alway use athletic jumping jacks like Thomas. If any system is going to unleash Ty’s potential, it’s New York’s Seven Seconds or Less Lite. Think about it: a system that forces a player to shoot early and often without requiring him to give consistent effort on defense. It was made for guys like Tyrus!

As for the Bulls, they would get a certified frontcourt scorer (which they desperately, desperately need) who can play both power forward (as a starter) and small forward (to relieve Luol Deng). Adding scoring and versatility never hurts. But just as (if not more) importantly, Harrington has a $10.2 million contract that’s set to expire next summer. Ergo, the Bulls would still have plenty of spare cash to pursue impending free agents like Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, et al. (I didn’t include LeBron James on that list because, let’s face it, he’s not coming here.)

It’s been fairly obvious since the preseason that Taj Gibson is being groomed to replace Thomas anyway. And, frankly, he’s probably worth about 70 percent of “Good Tyrus” and around 127 percent of “Bad Tyrus” already. So if the Bulls can bring in a stopgap player who can provide instant offense and frontcourt versatility with no long-term obligations, it seems like a borderline no-brainer.

The downsides, of course, include the following. First, for all we know, Tyrus was set to have a breakout season before he got injured. After already investing several years in his development — although it could easily be argued that Chicago’s efforts at “developing” Thomas have been poorly concieved and even more poorly executed — it would be rather painful to see him explode for another team. Second, Al Harrington is young (well, 29 anyway), talented and has skills that are more “proven” than “potential.” However, if you browse over his career history, you’ll notice that he’s never really been an integral part of a winning situation. Numbers are nice — we know for certain that Al can provide 18-ish points and 6-ish rebounds a game — but it’s even better when the numbers equate to victories.

Maybe Harrington has never been in the right situation. Maybe the Bulls would finally provide him with one. Who knows? But either way, it’s an intriguing possibility. We’ll have to wait and see what comes of it.

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According to Shania Sampson of the BlockShopper: “Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich has listed for sale his four bedroom, 3.5-bath at 816 Castlewood Lane in Deerfield for the asking price of $829,000. Hinrich paid $906,500 for the home in Aug. 2004. The 4,000-square-foot home was built in 2004 in the subdivision of Deerfield Park.”

So not only is Captain Kirk trying to beam out of his house, he’s willing to accept a $70K loss (although it’ll probably be more than that after all the other extraneous expenses). Maybe that kind of money doesn’t mean much to a guy who’s going to make $9.5 million next season, or maybe he just wants out of the mortgage as quickly and cleanly as possible.

Of course, it seems as though his house has been on the market for a while, so this might be a simple re-listing. But “Kirk Hinrich” has been a hot name in several trade rumors this summer…so who knows. It’s probably not something to get all that excited about, but it’s worth keeping an eye on during these slow news times.

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