This may be just a wild idea, but is there any possibility that JR Smith doesnt return to denver this offseason? What if we dumped Gordon and picked up Smith?

I doubt we'd be interested. Remember that Pax shipped him off to Denver for two 2nd round picks right after we acquired him in the Chandler deal.

Tim Thomas says hi.

We essentially acquired Tim Thomas' salary, we're not exactly expecting him to play a major role on the team.

Apparently the Heat are looking to make a trade to get a first round pick this year. I don't really know what we could get out of them for one of ours

Out of their roster, assume Chalmers we don't want because we have a PG, Wade isn't moving, Beasley I dunno how low they are on him (no unless they really soured on him last year), Jermaine O'Neal they'd probably be willing to move but that $22 million he earns next year is a bit rough (it'd be Deng + Hinrich + the draft pick or soemthing like that), Jamario Moon doesn't really excite me, then the others are backup guys like Daquean Cook and Jamaal Magliore.

The Heat's roster is pretty damn awful outside of Wade. Granted I like Chalmers and Beasley, but they're pretty average players at the moment (granted Beasley is a talented offensive player that got better late in the season, but he makes Rose look decent on D).

Okay assuming the Bulls let Gordon walk, or a trade involving Hinrich for an expirering contract- giving them cap space to sign Gordon, the Bulls should be in great shape to take on a Superstar in the summer of 2010.

What players are likely to stay with there teams?

1) Kobe Bryant- many expect him to opt to finish his contract with LA, however, with Phil Jackson getting older and him being on the last year of his deal, would Kobe really want to come back after this season? LaMar Odom is going to depart via free agency making there team a little weaker for next season as well. I predict he will opt to stay, but if LA loses before they reach the Finals, I could see Phil saying farewell and Kobe opting to leave for a new scenary. The Bulls would have to take on that luxory tax for one season if he comes here, but it is sure something to think about.. . Keep an eye on that Laker-Rocket series......
Its far fetched to think Kobe will leave LA, but you never know........

2) Lebron- He'll likely stay in Cleveland or head to New York. I just don't see him going anywhere else. Sorry fantasizers who had great dreams with Lebron in a Bulls uniform.

3) Dwayne Wade- Another guy i expect to remain with his team. However, if there is a team i could see him going to, it would be the Bulls- his hometown team. Many question if a backcourt of Wade and Rose would work. Ummm yea it would most definitley work!!!

4) Chris Bosh- The answer to our low post problems. Many speculate to whether he will be dealt this offseason. Pax should definitley look into it. But if Toronto is asking for too much, he will be available in 2010. The Bulls shouldn't act desperate this offseason to get this guy. But he would give us a tremendous boost to reach the top 4 seeds in the East next season.

5) Nowitski- Guy is a scoring machine. But he would be another one of those non-defensive guys that we cant really afford.

6) Amare Stoudemire- This is what we expect Tyrus Thomas to develope into. I'd rather continue to develop THomas at a much cheaper cost than spend loads of money on Amare. We need to use that money on other needs.

Summary- Either D Wade or Bosh to the Bulls in 2010! As far as next year goes. We would be in decent shape if just stood still this offseason and let guys like Thomas, Noah and Rose to improve there games.

I really hope no one still believes that, he'd have to double his PPG and add about 10% to his field goal percentage.

They're not in THAT great of shape, unless they can dump Hinrich or Deng they'll have to let their second best player walk as well as out-right Tyrus to offer a max contract.

If the Bulls wanted Amare in the least...they'd have him already. There is a reason the Suns were offered pretty much next to nothing for Amare at last year's deadline...he's one of the more overrated players we'll ever see.

No disrespect to his offensive game as he's extremely talented around the basket, but that's it. As far as Tyrus developing into Amare, he's already far superior to that of Amare defensively. I watched Amare try to defend the pick n roll in Milwaukee a couple years ago...that was the biggest joke I've ever seen. When the Bulls were rumored to have wanted Amare this year I immediately screamed NO. I want no part of Amare in Chicago.

Eh...they'll be in great shape shortly after they let Gordon walk and deal Hinrich for expiring contracts.

I'd definitely do that purely for O'Neal's expiring contract. That would allow us to re-sign Gordon this off-season and still have the cap space to sign a guy to a max deal in 2010 (I don't care if that involves out-righting Tyrus... that's a trade I'm willing to make if it gets us a star big man). Our depth would be hurting a bit for next year, but we'd still have a 1st round pick.

Next year is like a bonus year for me. Anything extra we get (like Noah developing offensively or Rose becoming a much better defender) is great, but I try to look at next season realistically. We aren't going to win a championship with the team we have now. My main goal for next year is to see the continual improvement of Rose, Noah, and our draft pick (so he can turn into a solid role player) so we can contend in 2-3 years. I'm willing to make the short-term downgrade in talent (Deng/Hinrich to O'Neal) to better ourselves for the long-run. Now, obviously, my outlook changes if Pax makes a deal for, say, Chris Bosh.

No one will argue that Amare is a good defender, however the gap between Amare's offense and our interior offense is quite a bit bigger than the gap between our interior defense and Amare's interior defense. We're not exactly stopping anyone as it is, that's why we let Glen freakin' Davis average about 17-7 for the series and made Kendrick Perkins look like a mini Dwight Howard.

I'm kind of torn as to whether I want him or not given the high cost and those defensive deficiencies (plus his effort seems pretty inconsistent), but there's no question he's an upgrade that would help the team and would immediately become our second best player. The debate is whether that upgrade ends up being large enough to justify killing our cap space for the next 6 years or so.

When we put Amare on the bench for 18 minutes for the 4 guard lineup, the offense will be a wash.

I wonder if Amare was watching us against the Celtics and thinking "Man, I'm the missing piece, If I were there we would have won the series for sure."