The Bulls might not want Tyrus Thomas anymore…but almost everybody else does. At least that’s how it seems. And thanks to the way Thomas recently freaked out on Vinny Del Negro — not to mention how he claimed to have no regrets about freaking out — potential trade partners are crawling from under rocks and out of dark corners. Hey, who doesn’t love a high-potential, under-performing, emotionally volatile project? Am I right?
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.
I think I want a career change into mummy-ology unless that means having to watch players 10 years past their prime.
I like that Kings deal and the Bobcats one doesn’t sound too bad either. I’m actually surprised to see so many takes for Tyrus and some pretty decent deals to go with it. Let’s do it.
Heaven help me, I’ve been as patient with Tyrus as anyone — but considering at this point he HAS to go (and yes I want to see it happen), if we can get cap relief AND Charlotte’s first round pick? Considering how much more consistently effective Taj Gibson has been than Ty … if we can do that again, yes please!!!
To all the 5 billion Tyrus haters, why can’t we be at all satisfied with the contributions he has made on the court and through his foundation. He has a lot more friends on the Bulls roster than Larry Hughes ever did. Remember Tyrus only came to Chicago because New York was dumb enough to trade their draft pick for Eddy Curry. I think Tyrus has a better future than Eddy Curry. Please don’t be stupid enough to let the Knicks off the hook by trading Tyrus back to the Knicks. Then Tyrus will thrive off the Mike D’Antoni fast paced offense, and we will see how much of a mistake it was to have not hired D’Antoni last season. Tyrus would have 6 more points per game this year if anyone would throw him lobs. The few times anyone throws him a lob, they throw a bad pass too high or when some huge guy like Dwight Howard is right there to knock Tyrus down. Rose gets more lob opportunities than Tyrus and he plays a position where you’d expect him to be out of the lane when anyone else has the ball. With Tyrus playing power forward he is in the lane, but no one gives him the ball, so he wonders 20 feet from the basket. Gordon atleast threw some nice lobs to Tyrus. With Hinrick in the game Thomas gets no lobs, only way for him to get a dunk is off a missed shot, but normally he’s just standing 15-20 feet away from the basket when someone else shoots a shot. Someone tell him to stay by the basket, and someone please reward him for being by the basket and give him the ball. Then he’d have the impressive stats that would make people want to keep him. Rumor has it Wade don’t want to go to the Bulls if they don’t have Tyrus. Well I made that rumor up, but truth is Bulls never get the big free agents when they become available. They are gonna end up with another Ben Wallace with all that extra money they saved up by getting rid of Thomas, and possibly hinrich salmons and jerome james. If they hadn’t signed Wallace in the first place to all that money, they wouldn’t have had to get hughes, and then jerome james and they’d have enough money to keep Tyrus and sign a big name free agent. I wish teams got players back after trading him. After they trade Tyrus, they could get Tyrus back when his contract is over, but Bulls never do that. They didn’t sign Artest when his contract was up and Sacramento got him and Houston got him and he was a guy worth getting back. Tyrus can improve. Noah did, everyone wanted Noah gone early last season. Tyrus is just slow to mature. Why keep him till now, if they’re just gonna get rid of him.
Ill tell you why not keep tyrus. His almost 7 million on the books next year. We are going after people who are game changers and instant winners. At worse we end up with courtney lee and joe johnson. We keep tyrus we only get one or neither of the big name fa out there.
C’mon, Chad. You’re comparing Noah to Thomas!? What Noah did from season one to this year is the definition of what Thomas has lacked throughout his career. Thomas is slow to mature? Is that how you would characterize Allen Iverson, or Milton Bradley?
Again, one can’t rule out the possibility that he will turn the corner and become a valuable TEAM basketball player. But does anyone believe that the odds are in favor of that happening in Chicago?
Are you like Tyrus’s best friend or something Chad? The only thing I got out of that rambling, incoherent mumbling was that we should keep Tyrus so that the Knicks can’t have him. Sorry, the Bulls aren’t nearly good enough to “hate-keep” players. You can’t keep players who are ineffective on your team just because you’d hate to see them produce in a different system.
You want Tyrus to get lobs, but he stands 20 feet from the hoop, night in and night out. He’s said himself that he’d rather just take jumpers all day.
You’re basically the only person who wants him around anymore. I don’t even know what jibberish you were spouting about the Bulls not getting any free agents. And then you started rambling about Ben Wallace and Larry Hughes…I dunno dude. Don’t post while drunk, ok?
If we can fleece the Bobcats for cap room and their first round pick, I think the Bulls are somehow legally obligated to rip them off blindly.
I am getting sick and tired of hearing all these stupid rumors that don’t help out the Bulls at all but, other teams more! If the Bulls give up Kirk Hinrich for no All Star player in return then their out of luck for picking up players for example like: Jordan Farmar, Adam Morrison, D.J. Mbenga & Josh Powel.
As for Tyrus Thomas if the Bulls do trade him before the deadline (which I hope so) they need another solid PF player to replace him. For example: not someone like Acie Law, Flip Murray and their 2010 first-round pick from Charlotte
Another thing, the Bulls have no chance of landing an All Star player like: Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire before the deadline this month.
That is why I keep on mentioning that the Bulls should trade Tyrus Thomas, John Salmons & their 1st round draft pick for Al Harrington, Wilson Chandler & their 2nd round draft pick from NY since they are planning to move a lot of players.
Beside it’s a perfect deal for both teams: the Bulls will not only get great offensive bench players with Al and Wilson, they will also get Al Harrington $10 million money contract this summer with a 2nd round draft pick.
As for New York they will get great defensive players with Tyrus Thomas and John Salmons. Not only that they will be able to keep Tyrus Thomas 5 million dollar contract this summer if they are unhappy with this talent, along with Salmons optional opt out contract. Not only that they will have a top 1st round draft pick from the Bulls so they can re-building again with younger players.
Not sure about all the talk I am hearing what about noticing what you got b4 you lose it this time bulls fans ty is a great talent else why would so many want him so what he gets hot headed you want players with fire he also is an awsome defensive player why give up yr present and yr futrue with ty to try it all over again you know what you got in ty but think its probally gonna get better after all he had bad deal under scott styles they all did now they got vinny give him a chance dont make the trade stay the course play with the guys you got now the team chem is high with this team if you break it up you might not ever get that back again for a long time something stinks about all the rumoros of trade kirk is doing great on both sides why why why are we looking to let them go we are not gauranteed any player in the free agency but what and who we have now we are stay the course Jerry are you listening paxton stay the course unless its a sure deal we can get what yr going after I do not think its worth the risk or the trade. and if they want to come to the bulls they will but they are not coming cause you made cap sapce that I will tell you for sure if ty was so bad the teams would not want him trust me dont get lost in all the bs talk take a good look at his talent yes I said it talent he has it and most of it is being unused now throw him the ball let him go get it run the court let him do his thing what he is best at make the game fun for them all vinny let the young bulls run and wild if need be long as they ge the job done you see what happend when you ran against boston win win situation do it jerry n vinny and gar dont lose what we got trying to get what we might not ever get got it Peace
Reggie, that was painful to read.
I agree with chad to a certain extent. I do believe that Ty’s teammates don’t look to lob it to him enough. I noticed in the Indiana game that there were a couple of missed alley-oop opportunities.
Anyway, like I’ve said before, I’m still a huge TT fan, and I hate to see him go (Kirk too for that matter). At this point though, a trade seems inevitable. Looking at what possibilities were posted, I like the deals involving Sacramento, Boston, and…….. Houston?
What ever happened to the possibility of dumping some contracts on the Rockets and picking up T-Mac? This scenario, and also the Boston scenario, could possibly help to land a top notch player in the offseason. It might seem like a long shot, but think about it: D Rose performed very well alongside a scoring SG (Ben Gordon as opposed to Kirk Hinrich) in the back court. It would spread the floor and once again take pressure off of the PG.
Now (and I realize that this is a BIG if) if we were able to make a trade with either Houston or Boston, and pick up T-Mac or RayRay, and HE PLAYED AT A HIGH LEVEL THE REST OF THE SEASON, that could only help the team. Bosh/Stoudemire’s eyes would light up! He’d be joining a young core that has superstar PG, a solid and seasoned SG, an above-average SF, and an energetic, up-and-coming C.
Don’t you think that Amare is getting tired of being crushed year after year out in the West??
Whatever happens, I think the 2010-11 roster will look much different then it does now. This is just me gazing into the crystal ball, but if we trade away Kirk, Tyrus, and some scrubs before 2/18, this is what the lineup could be next year:
PG Derrick Rose
SG Tracy McGrady or Ray Allen
SF Luol Deng
PF Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire
C Joakim Noah
Good luck to you Tyrus! And no matter where you end up, you’ll still have a friend in me!
Reggie McGlory and letsgobulls_24 you guys are both crazy, 1st of all TT is not a great player. Let me remind you that he has 4 years of league experience in the NBA and he still has no clue what his position is as a player: PF or SF-PG??? Not to mention he was a high 4th round draft pick with VERY HIGH EXPECTATIONS. When the Bulls traded away their high 2nd round draft pick: LaMarcus Aldridge (WHICH WAS A BIG MISTAKE) they thought they were getting in return a guy like: Charles Barkley mix with Julius Erving athletic skills but, at they end they ended up with a hard headed player that does not listen to nobody.
I would totally be on your side with for the people that love TT if he was a Rookie or in his 2nd year this season as a late 30-60 2nd round draft pick like Paul Millsap who is better then him as a solid PF player unlike TT. That why I say lets just stop wasting our time on him and trade him along with John Salmons for Wilson Chandler & Al Harrington deal close.
all the people*
PLus the Bulls are already getting a lot of money back with their expiring contracts from:
Brad Miller: 12.2 million
Jerome James: 6.6 million
Tyrus Thomas:4.7 million
Deven Brown: 1.1 million
L. Hunter: 1 million
J. Pargo: 1.9 million
J. Salmons: 6.4 million if he opts. out of his contract
Happy to see Ty go get a fresh start.
Sad the Bulls blew this one, and memories of 2000 make me cringe at the idea of giving up 3 decent players for cap space…
I swear, Al Harrington (a scoring PF/aka NEED) feels an awful lot like Ron Mercer.
Also, I’ve never understood the hate. All you ever hear from comments is Ty shoots too many jump shots, Ty doesn’t rebound, Ty doesn’t defend… Why can’t Ty be more like Taj.
http://www.hoopdata.com/shotstats.aspx?team=CHI&type=pg&posi=%&yr=2010&gp=0&mins=0
News flash guys, Taj takes MORE 16-23 footers than Ty. Takes less shots at the rim than Ty. Secures less rebounds than Ty. Shoots a massive 34% on long 2’s compared to a team high 43% by Ty.
Also, opp PF average a 19 PER with Taj in game v. 14 PER with Ty in game. The team is 2 points better with Ty on court than Taj, and Ty gets the majority of his run with the likes of Brown and JJ on the court with him.
Ty’s gone here. He’s burnt too many bridges, but you guys should be careful what you wish for since we’re giving up on a far more talented player
I
“Apparently, the Bobcats have offered Acie Law, Flip Murray and their 2010 first-round pick for Thomas.”
Where did you get this info? I would make that trade in a heartbeat.
“Where did you get this info? I would make that trade in a heartbeat.”
If you follow the Wajnarowski link, it is reported there.
We don’t need guards though. If we needed a more loaded backcourt, yeah that deal would be great.
Acie Law and Flip Murray are never gonna be good. Why trade Tyrus for a 1st round draft pick. Who in next year’s draft is any good? If you give Tyrus to the Bobcats, the Bobcats will make the playoffs, leaving the Bulls an 18th pick of another college player like James Johnson. Tyrus is atleast better than James Johnson. Mcgrady is nothing. Allen can shoot, but he’s getting old and slow. Why couldn’t the Bulls have just drafted a shooter when they weren’t signing Gordon. Draft Lawson or Ellington. I know I always talk about Tyrus, just cause I know he is gonna be gone in a few days and I know they will get nobody any better than him back in return. His $6 million contract is not gonna cost them a chance to sign a big name free agent. Neither will Salmons $6 million and his solid play. According to http://hoopshype.com/salaries/chicago.htm
The Bulls will have plenty of money coming off the books already to get a free agent: Brad Miller-12.25 million, Jerome James-6.6 million, Tim Thomas-6.46 million, Pargo-2 million, Hunter-1 million, Brown-1 million. Thats over $25 million dollars, plenty for Wade or someone else.
Wow I just looked up some youtube clips of Tyrus. It’s amazing what he can do for some short flashes during games. It’s a real shame that he’s going to have to go but like I mentioned earlier, if it’s not for a frontcourt player and/or Ray Allen, Tracy McGrady, one of those guys, then we shouldn’t do it. Don’t want to give up on this season now.
Sounds like Bulls are playing the 2nd act of lets play to get a super star. It didn’t work the last time and it isn’t going to work this time. CHICAGO has nothing to offer. It’s ugly image of being an Al Capone gangster town is resurfaced with the election of Barack and Rahm. Just think playing in Chicago means waking up with a horse head at the foot of your bed when you don’t perform those 20 point 10 rebound nights. That is a lot of Horse over time.
Fact is the Bulls were playing like horse manure before tyrus came off the injury list.
And, who do you think was the mainstay of the playoff series against the Celtics. Don’t say Gordon because Gordon was Gordon and thar makes no difference. What Gordon scores he gives up to the other team because of lazy attitude toward defense.
Chad, the thing is, the Bulls aren’t just looking for one big free agent. They are looking at two, which means we need to trade certain people to make that happen as much as it may hurt us this year. I’m not entirely for it since I think it’s going to be hard just to land one, let alone 2 FA’s.
With the team the Bulls have, adding 1 superstar is enough to become a championship team
I think we should do the bobcats trade and get that first round pick. Two First round picks would be nice.
chad your an idiot, Mike dantoni what has he done, fast paced offense and no defense, might as well hire don nelson and acceppt not winning a ring, vinny is getting it done both ends of the floor after they lost gordon which everyone thought would ruin this, vinny a good coach, tyrus thomas you seem to remember that draft a little CHAD, the bulls traded Lemarcus Aldrigde for tyrus thomas the bulls already look stupid for picking ty,
the bulls should def sign David Lee and then either D.wade or joe johnson. PG D.ROSE SG WADE/JOHNSON SF L.DENG PF DAVID LEE C J.NOAH
So, please tell us CLane, who was the mainstay for the Bulls that series? I’d say it was Rose, Gordon and Noah.
It certainly wasn’t Tyrus, with his awesome 9 points and 6 rebounds a game. Yeah, what a mainstay.
Rocky & Chad, you guys need to do your homework more and learn a little bit more about basketball players.
1st of all Chad, the only reason why most of us don’t like Tyrus Thomas is because like I keep telling other dumb TT Fans: He has 4 YEAR’S of NBA league EXPERIENCE and he still has not taken his game to the next level with his athletic skills like ROSE or NOAH. Another thing, you can’t really talk a lot of trash about Gibson talent (Hint: He is just a Rookie) drafted as a 1st round 26th draft pick with low expectations. As for Tyrus Thomas he was a 4th top draft pick with very high expectations. Not only that if you look at TT stats when he was a rookie and Taj Gibson stats and you put them both you would notice that Gibson numbers are way better then TT numbers as a Rookie. And you want to talk about Al Harrington being an awful resemblance like Ron Mercer??? 1st of all Ron Mercer is not a PF like Al Harrington, he is a SF-SG when he join the Bulls back in 2000-2002 and at that time they did not have a good talented roster like they do now with Deng, Noah, Hinrich & Rose. If anything adding Al Harrington will only make the Bulls strong. Especially when he comes off the bench replacing Gibson for offense.
o0o and Rocky, how does this trade help out the Bulls? Think about it, they already have enough guards and they already have a 1st round draft pick this year, not only that they have enough young talented players they need to develop.
together*
I don’t know about everything im reading theres so much to a basketball team if the bulls get two or more all star FA how do we know they will be able to work/play together? we don’t, also if the bulls trade ty then why not go after david lee? he is just as good as bosh and will come with a cheaper price tag.I like the idea of a D-ROSE and D-WADE back court but they are the same type of player,slashers we need a shooter. we should have kept BG
As for labron he’s going to the nets they are going to get the first pick in the draft and get john wall, jay-z and bron are buddies and they are moving to new york he will be the man in new york…
for you idiots out the taj is starting for a reason like dj said ty has never really taken a step forward, yeah at times he look like he could be greate but so did derrick coleman eddy curry, it’s guys like ty that will have us wondering years down the road asking why he never got it together he dosn’t what to try get em out her, i’d rather bring pj brown back out retiremnt then see ty in a bulls uniform again tired of waiting for him
My bad not Chad but, Greg your the one who needs to do your homework.*
My bad not Chad but, Greg your the one who needs to do your homework.*
i also like the charlotte trade, flip would give us a threat to score of the bench and a much needed 3 point threat to get hot, acie hasnt done much in the pros but i wouldnt be surprised if he became an impact player sometime in his career either way tt is going somewhere and the guard depth would make it easier to trade hinrich or salmons plus i remember law being a pretty good defender in college and i could see the cats falling out of the playoff hunt at any time making the pick more valuable
tyrus for that Bobcats pick now seems good..I honestly don’t see them continuing the solid pace they are on so we could be looking at a solid pick…same goes for the kings…i see Kirk as a great asset to the Lakers and we should milk that hard by bringing in more teams with interest in assets from the Lakers..like the Bobcats maybe gettin both of those picks that could get up to maybe lottery picks? Let’s pray for Derrick Rose lottery luck again huh?
I SERIOUSLY THINK IT WOULD BE A BIG MISTAKE TO TAKE OUT TYRUS THOMAS. HE IS A BIG PART OF WHY MY TEAM (CHI) WINS. MAYBE IF WE GET SOME1 LIKE CHRIS BOSH FOR TYRUS THEN YA LETS DO IT OR MAYBE EVEN DANNY GRANGER THAT WOULD BE A GREAT DEAL. LOSING HINHRICK WOULD SUCK TOO BT HES WORTH A GOOD TRADE COMING OFF THE BENCH.