A source close to the Bulls said the team has targeted Detroit big man Ben Wallace, 32, as its top priority. Wallace, an unrestricted free agent, was expected to be a lock to remain with the Pistons until he and coach Flip Saunders had a late-season falling out.

If the Bulls are unable to land Wallace, Atlanta forward Al Harrington (unrestricted) and Seattle power forward Chris Wilcox (restricted), 23, are next on the Bulls' list of front-court free agents

I want Ben Wallace so freaking bad, if Pax lands him I will forget about the draft and love him again.

AUBURN HILLS - Two NBA officials confirmed Friday night that Detroit center Ben Wallace, considered by most to be the top free agent available this summer, is scheduled to meet with the Chicago Bulls in Chicago today. Teams can begin negotiating with free agents today, but they can not sign players to contracts until July 12.

The Bulls are one of the few teams that will have enough salary cap space to sign Wallace, who as an unrestricted free agent can sign with any team he wants.

While all indications have been that Wallace would re-sign with Detroit, several league officials contacted on Friday said that they're not surprised that the 31-year-old Wallace will consider all his options.

"This is going to be the biggest contract of his career," said one Western Conference official. "He wants to come back to Detroit. Everybody knows that. But he wants to get the best deal he can, too. The only way to make sure that happens, is to see what other teams are willing to offer."

Another factor in negotiations is Wallace's new agent, Arn Tellem, who represents some of the NBA's top players like Los Angeles Lakers' guard Kobe Bryant, Houston's Tracy McGrady, and Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal.

Tellem was instrumental in convincing the Bulls this past season to release one of his clients, Tim Thomas, in time for Thomas to be eligible for the playoffs. Thomas signed with the Phoenix Suns, and was a key performer in helping Phoenix advance to the Western Conference finals.

That relationship, coupled with the Bulls likely to have $15-17 million available to offer Wallace, might be enough to entice the five-time All-star to leave a Pistons team that's expected to offer him a contract in that's expected to start in the $12-14 million range.

Joe Dumars, Detroit's president of basketball operations, has every intention of re-signing Wallace. However, earlier this week he mentioned that the team has a number of contingency plans they will consider if Wallace decides to play elsewhere.

"You have to have an initial plan and you have to have contingencies in a situation like this," Dumars said following Wednesday night's NBA draft. "Because everything is not in your hands, so you better have contingencies. If this were like a restricted free agent, you could sit here and plot out, 'here's (plan) A and here's (plan) B.' But when it's someone else's call at the end of the day, it puts you in a position where you have to have one or two different plans."

Among those options would be to work out a sign-and-trade, similar to what they did with Grant Hill in 2000 when they traded him to Orlando for Wallace and ex-Piston Chucky Atkins. If the Pistons were to pursue a sign-and-trade with the Bulls, they would probably ask for the deal to include Tyson Chandler who, like Wallace, is a defensive-minded shot blocking center.

15 mil a year?.... wow... IMO, thats just a little tiny too much... But i wouldnt be dissapointed if we got Big Ben. That would put our team up to a higher level.

M y moles are telling me the Pistons have one team to beat in the Ben Wallace sweepstakes: the Bulls.

Although there are other teams interested in Wallace's services, the Bulls have made it clear they want the defending defensive player of the year and are willing to spend some big-time cash to secure him.

That's the only way a team will pry him from the Pistons.

Wallace, the cornerstone of the Pistons' turnaround that included the 2004 title, has made it clear he would love to stay in Motown. But he knows this is business.

At the end of the day, finances will determine the future.

The free-agent rush began at midnight, and you can bet Wallace's people received at least two phone calls -- one from the Pistons and the other from the Bulls.

Word is the Pistons will offer Wallace, 32, a four-year, $48 million deal. The Bulls are prepared to offer Wallace about $15 million per season -- for three or four years.

There are basically three scenarios that could play out. Wallace could accept the Pistons' offer, which is expected to start at near $10 or $12 million for four seasons. He could sign with one of four teams -- Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte and Toronto -- that have space under the salary cap. Or the Pistons could arrange a sign-and-trade with another team, giving them something in return for Wallace.

The Bulls and the Hornets are expected to aggressively pursue Wallace, and they have the cap space to offer a maximum deal, starting at more than $14 million.

I have to believe if Big Ben is coming to Chicago, Chandler is on his way out. This team can not win with the both of them on the floor. We would actually take a step back in the low post scoring dept.

Hmmmm....

I would certainly agree. With Chandlers contract gone, the Bulls could afford to get a PF who could score.

You have the Bulls best player listed as 3rd string SF...

There has to be a trade in the works...There's not enough mins to go around, especially with guys like Deng and T2 who need to develop...

According to the Detroit paper its a 4yr/48 million offer, so Pax and company now have to decide whether they are willing to either add an extra year or go with more money over the same years or one more year.

It will be interesting to see what they do. Pyrzbilla is apparently the Bulls backup option in terms of a defensive center (Chandler is gone gone gone, so I think the other big we get will be a scoring PF who can ocassionally play C).

Go 60/4, I bet he takes it. I will be disappointed if we offer lower than that.

Pryzbilla is the backup plan, but he really can't hold a candle to Ben. Might as well just keep Chandler if you want Pryz.

Tyson is not gone, he will be in Chicago For years to come....