With so many players having the option to opt out, this could be the year for the Bulls to take advantage of a sign and trade possiblility. Players like Arenas, Maggette, & Brand have the option to opt out if they want and become unrestricted free agents.

Obviously the player that makes most sense would be Gilbert Arenas. Although Arenas has talked a big game about how he will stay and in Washington and be willing to take a paycut if the Wizards resign Jamison, I wouldn't be shocked if he demanded a trade especially if the Wizards lose to Lebron in the playoffs again. The Wizards if they resign Jamison and Arenas to sizeable contracts will be over the cap next year. Chicago is a huge market and Gilbert would fit this team perfect. He's big enough to guard SG's and a Gordon/Arenas lineup on the permiter would be sick. Although Arenas has had a lot of injuries he's still only 26 years old and we would still probably be the youngest team in the NBA after the trade. An Arenas/Thabo lineup would also be sick from a defensive standpoint. I'm sure the Wizards would rather get something back instead of letting Areana walk and Areanas would probably prefer to have a sign and trade so he could make more money (with so few teams having the kind of cap room necessary to sign him). With Arenas we'd finally have that big time player. The true all-star with the ball in his hands to make decisions at the end of the game. Who would the Wizards want in a trade? That depends on whether or not they resign Jamison. If they resign Jamison they'd probably be looking for some young talent. I think they'd want the first round pick, Tyrus, and Kirk. They might even want to trade both Arenas & Daniels and get Kirk, Nocioni, Tyrus, & the pick.

Brand in particular could request a sign and trade if he feels the possibility of winning in LA isn't great after seeing what draft pick they end up with. He did the same thing to the Bulls and I wouldn't be surprised if he did it again. I think Brand would be willing to take a deal to come to the Bulls and I think the Clippers would be willing to take Hinrich in a sign and trade. Maybe Hinrich and our first round pick. PG is definitely the position they need to fill (unless they are comfortable placing all their eggs in the injured Livingston basket). Kaman had a breakout season and proved that he can be the focal point in the paint. They'd be better off with an athletic rebounding PF which would be either Tyrus or Gooden so both could be options with Hinrich in a possible Brand trade. Maybe we could even suck the Clippers into taking both Hughes and Kirk since they will likely loose Maggette and will need to have another SG. If the Clippers get a top 3 pick they will likely want to do exactly what the Sonics did last year. That is, trade for another high first round pick (the Bulls) and trade Brand. They'll then have 2 very high picks to go along with whoever they get for Brand, Kaman, Mobley, Livingston, Thomas, & Thornton.

The Bulls are seriously a new coach and either a top 2 pick or a sign and trade away from being back as one of the top teams in the east (if not the top).