Apparently the Bulls are going to use both the MLE and Lower Exception this off-season which means there is a very good chance that the Bulls plan on making some lopsided deals (2 or 3 for 1 type deals).

KC Johnson and past rumors have always brought up the name Al Harrington and depending on what the Bulls do he could end up being a tremendous fit.

I could see the Bulls using the MLE on a guy like James Posey or Mickael Pietrus to shore up the SF spot if Deng/Nocioni is moved in a deal for Wade. Also, a big man like Kurt Thomas would be nice as a veteran backup.

I don't want anything to do with Posey.

I should point out that I've done the research now and Harrington is not a FA, although the Bulls are apparently considering trading for him. He wouldn't cost a ton in terms of value (as the Warriors would be moving his contract).

Wasn't Corey Maggette a name that's been thrown around a lot?

Posey is the exact type of guy that would be tremendous on this team. He's gritty and a true winner but there is obviously the history between Posey and the Bulls. That said I love players like him and he'd join Noc as one of those guys that other teams just hate to play against.

Maggette is a UFA but I assume he wouldn't take that sort of pay-cut. If he did, than that would be a tremendous pick-up as he is the exact type of offensive player we could use (ie a guy that knows how to consistently get to the line).

I would. Good/great role player off the bench, can fill the 3 or 4, can shoot the 3, and is an abrasive player that can get under people's skin.

what's not to like?

It would be a lesser version of the Bulls picking up Starks. I like guys like Noc, but Noc isn't dirty. Posey is.

Exactly, he's exactly what winning, title contending teams need. The Bulls probably won't be a title contending team next year, but it helps to have a guy like that who can teach and show the young Bulls what to do. Some may call Posey dirty, but for the most part I just think he's a good basketball player (and ocassionaly just based on the nature of the way he plays a dirty play will come up, such as that dirty play he pulled off on the Bulls).

I'll never forgive Posey for the way he treated Kirk that one game in the playoffs. He is in the same boat as RIP Hamilton to me, I hate em both and I always will.

stephen a smith was blabbing saying that we could trade Hinrich/Tyrus for Shawn Marion...

i laughed a little.

It was rumored earlier today too. It's not that ridiculous of a rumor.

The rumor could make a lot of sense. However, I think the Bulls will go the route of MLE and veteran exception to get a few more guys around the young players and the Bulls will try and use youth to get into the playoffs and slowly get built for a championship run a couple years from now. I expect Pax to begin whittling out some extra parts this off-season and than give the bulk of the minutes to his chosen young guys (Deng/Rose/Noah/Tyrus/Sef). One of Gordon/Hinrich will stick around and you'll probably see Noc stick around (he is overpaid but very solid and an asset) and obviously they'll keep Gooden (he's a rock solid post player).

Of course there are no guarantees and if the right deal opens up Pax will explore it, but I think we'll just see him clear out a few of the higher paid guys and position himself to have a lot of cap room in 2010 (which is gonna be around the time this team is fully ready to dominate anyway). That isn't to say that I'm not expecting to make the playoffs this year.

i cant see pat riley wanting anything to do with tyrus.

However, before they got Chalmers it seemed like the Heat fans loved Kirk Hinrich. He's had some of his best games against them, and I could see where a possible trade could happen. I don't know about it now that they have Chalmers buts its still possible that they could be interested.

that's true.. but even with chalmers they still don't have a true PG, so maybe they would take that. Beasley will basically replace marion... so basically the only questions are if the heat have room for kirk and if both sides want to move tyrus.

to be honest though, i think i'd rather keep thomas/hinrich instead of getting marion.

Any move we make to get a superstar, and guys that have been talked about such as Melo, and Brand are going to have to involve Tyrus. Right now, heres my trade, Chicago sends Luol Deng (Sign and Trade) Kirk Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas and a first round pick for Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin.

PG Rose/FA?/Hughes
SG Gordon/Sefolosha/Hughes
SF Melo/Nocioni/Sefolosha
PF Gooden/Martin
C Noah

If we're taking back that ridiculous Kenyon Martin deal then I hate that deal. We're giving up too much to take back that horrid of a deal for a guy who's constantly hurt and even if he wasn't wouldn't be worth half what he's being paid. You want to talk about Hinrich, Nocioni, Thomas, Hughes, or some combination thereof and then you might talk me in to taking on that deal.

What if you substituted Martin for Camby?

I'm not a huge fan of giving up Deng in any deal, but you could probably talk me in to that.

I think its important for us to get a star player (hopefully a superstar like Melo) to play with Rose because he certainly isn't ready to be the number 1 scoring option on this team. I know Gordon and Deng can score and would be primary options over Rose but they aren't stars that get theirs every night. Carmelo would come in and get his 28-30 ppg and that takes alot off the shoulders of Derrick making him the number 3 option right after Ben Gordon. I like that situation much better.

We've heard Melo's name being mentioned alot in trade rumors but I'm not sure whether Denver is really up to trading him quite yet or not. Its going to take a sweet deal to get him thats for sure. Maybe they look to change their game a little bit and start looking at defense in which they get in this deal that includes Kirk and Luol; Tyrus would be a deal sweetener.

If the Bulls were able to find takers for three of Gordon/Hinrich/Nocioni/Hughes and use that to improve the low post and find a back-up point guard I would be a major proponent of using the MLE on Josh Chidlress who I think would be a real nice fit/role player for the squad. Childress is a pretty under-rated player to me who is a very efficient scorer and good long defensive player. I guess you could say he compares to Sefolosha which could be a reason you wouldn't bring him in (as you'd prefer to have a guy with a varying skill-set).

I have 2 problems with that as proposed...First, if we're giving up Deng, I don't like the idea of giving up another of the youngin's at the same time, although I understand how it could be necessary in that case...I just see the youngin's as being the key guys to keeping our cap space straight for the next few years if JR insists on not paying the luxury tax. A bigger problem though is the PF slot. You move TT and suddenly that position goes from being too deep to being too shallow. Nocioni becomes our backup PF, and after the disaster that was the last 2 months of last year I'm going to probably vomit the first time I see the small lineup come in this year. And on top of that, Gooden is an unrestricted FA at the end of next season, so we'd be potentially a season away from having Nocioni as our starting PF. We'd have a draft pick coming but with Anthony it'd likely be in the teens at worst, which means we'd have to find some way to pick up a PF with our only obvious tradeable asset being Hughes's expiring contract and potentially Gordon.

I like Childress a lot, I think he's really been underrated the last few years. As you said, he's a monstrously efficient scorer with great length and can back up at either wing spot (though he's better at SF, not the quickest player in the world). He really finishes in the basket area well and is a decent ball-handler for his size. Statistically he compares pretty favorably to Deng, though he doesn't shoot as much and is nowhere near the mid-range shooter.

However, I don't think he's a great fit for our team right now, I don't think you can put him and Deng on the floor at the same time for long stretches. Neither can effectively guard SG's and both would struggle mightily against post players. Atlanta got away with it because Smith can play the 4 fairly effectively and Williams sort of can, Deng really can't and eats up a ton of minutes at SF. Noc played both spots and still only got 25 MPG last year, and that's with Tyrus only averaging 17 a game. Childress would probably struggle to get more than 20 MPG even assuming we got rid of Noc, and he deserves more than that. Someone that can effectively play both wing spots would have more value to us.

If all it took was the MLE, the Bulls would be stupid not to throw out that offer to Maggette. He's a 6'6 SG, strong, gets to the line, and is from the Chicago area on top of it. Can't argue with 22 points a game. Plus, it allows us to have Gordon coming off the bench. Imagine when we go small...Rose/Gordon/Maggette/Nocioni/Thomas. That's an athletic 5 that can put the ball in the bucket. He solves your issues for a big guard and doesn't cost you a trillion dollars.