The Bulls have found it lately, winning 5 straight road games for the first time since 2006. With that being said- we are 6 months away from the NBA free agent frenzy and will have pleanty of room to make 2 big splashes. Do we make a deal for a Chris Bosh right now or should we wait for the summer to go after him? What would it cost?

Well if I were the Bulls, I would try to make a hard run at Bosh or Amare now as opposed to waiting until the offseason. I have always been on the Amare bandwagon. I think more than anybody, he is the perfect fit with the Bulls because he and Rose are so gosh darn athletically gifted they'd run the PNR all day long and nobody could stop it. Now Bosh is a much much better defensive player and right now he is playing at a higher level than Stoudemire. I don't see Bosh going anywhere because Toronto would want a star like player in return to help build around their core and I don't think the Bulls have much to offer unless they are interested in Deng. If I had to put money on it I don't think the Bulls make any major moves this deadline and they wait it out. Though I'm always holding onto a glimmer of hope that Amare may be coming to Chicago

I agree that Toronto would likely keep Bosh. But there are no garuntees that he will stay after this season, so he may very well be dealt for the proper package. A lot will depend on how the Raptors finish this season. Right now the Raptors are 25-22 and are currently in the center in the Eastern Conference.

The Suns have some young pieces but they will likely inject a youth movement sooner rather than later. It all starts with their star Amare Stoudemire. With 2 years left on his deal, the Suns could ask for a pretty solid package in return.

just a little FYI greatscott, you spelled derrick wrong in your sig

The Bulls will make a push for it but will discover that they can't when they combine their unwillingness to pay the tax this year (and hence, their inability to add more than like $200k in additional salary) with their natural hesitancy to give up Hinrich and their unwillingness to give up Miller without getting equal amounts of expiring money back next year.

2 years? No...he can opt out this next season. He has a player option for 2010-11 which pays him around $17.5M for one season only.

Now there is talk about a Ray Allen for Kirk Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas, Jerome James swap. I don't know how I feel on this one. I think I'd do it because we desperately need a 3 point shooter and obviously Allen's 18 million dollar contract expires but Kirk and Tyrus is quite a bit of talent to give up for someone who's old as hell and on the last year of his contract. Not to mention we lose whatever defense we had with Kirk and Tyrus, but we gain a pure shooter and a perfect compliment to Rose. There was also talk of after making this trade the Bulls would be happy to resign Allen at a lower price to pair him with one of their FA big name targets such as Bosh.

I'd do it, look at it this way yes this year its old man Allen for Kirk and T2 but next year its got the potential to be those 2 for 2 big FA.


Wait a sec i just read the last sentence hmmmmmm now i dont like. Just looked up Ray and Kirks stats and this year Kirk is putting up a better 3P%, yes i know hes close to a career .400 shooter but this year hes at .338, where as kirk is at a .358 clip plus I believe hes a better defender and is a PG.

If we dont have the money to sign 2 big name FA like Joe Johnson and Chris Bosh which is ideal then id rather go in there with a Bosh & Kirk...unless Kirk has to be dealt to clear money for bosh.



On a side note this is my first post here in awhile and man is this place weak or what???? anyone know of a better bulls message board.

If...Kirk is dealt, Salmons opts out, and the Bulls rescind their Q.O. to Tyrus, it's possible that they could be able to offer 2 max deals. 3 big ifs there.

Unless the Bulls make a deal for Amare or someone like that they have no chance at a title this year and without enough cap room they have no title chances next year either b/c they won't have enough to even offer a top free agent a max salary.

With Allen, they Bulls would get a great 3 point shooter and a great expiring contract. I doubt the Celtics would deal Allen for Kirk/Tyrus but they might considering that they'll probably dump Rasheed next year. If they did that they could play Tyrus at the 3 or 4 and Kirk would pair nicely with Rondo. This would be a win for the Bulls even if they can't clear up enough to sign 2 max free agents. Just having the ability to sign one max and another very good free agent is an upgrade over not being able to sign a single max and keeping Kirk and Tyrus.

I'd even throw in a 2nd round pick to make things better b/c we don't do a great job with our 2nd round drafting anyway.

What I'd prefer to do is trade for Amare now. If we can trade Deng/Taj/& Jerome James expiring contract for Amare & Grant Hill I'd be all over it. Then we could swap Kirk & Tyrus and a pick for Allen and we'd be able to pursue Lebron or Wade next year.

Overnight we'd go from no chance to title contenders.

And with such a well balanced starting lineup we'd still be very competitive in the playoffs this year while also being able to give Johnson more development minutes.

Noah/Miller
Amare
Hill/Johnson
Allen
Rose

Stoudemire says he's leaning towards NOT opting out of his contract. If the Bulls were to deal for him expecting to be able to maintain cap space when he opts out, and thus be able to offer 2 large deals by using Amare's bird rights, that would kill any chance of that happening.

Yeah I just have a feeling Amare still isn't going anywhere. And if he is it'll be Philidelphia because the 6'ers have the piece the Suns desperately want (Iguadola). I also just can't see Boston getting rid of Ray Allen. I don't know what the Bulls are going to do but I know they will probably try to get rid of Tyrus and Salmons if they can.

I don't see the Bulls going after a star at the deadline- unless it's Bosh...but Toronto will NEVER trade him to the Bulls unless it were a sign and trade type scenario in the off-season.

The Bulls will unload as much salary as they can (Hinrich...maybe Salmons) and hope to chase two of the mega free agents this off-season. To be honest...I really like the Bulls chances in getting that done.

Is anyone sensing somewhat of a letdown? Or do you guys think the Bulls WILL get one of Lebron, Bosh, Wade?

Lebron is almost definitely going to stay in Cleveland IMO. I'm thinking DWade stays as well (Why would anyone want to leave South beach?) Bosh is defintely gone. He will not want to stay in Canada. I'm hopefully we will be able to get either Bosh or DWade but I have a feeling were going to end up with either Joe Johnson or David Lee. That would be a huge disappointment.

Yeah, that's kind of how I'm feeling. I guess if Rose can step up and be a top tier player then having a compliment like Johnson would certainly help. Although, there's no guarantee that he will take that next step. I won't be surprised if at the start of next season, the Bulls don't have one of Bosh or Wade. Hopefully I'm wrong!

I'm definitely thinking the Bulls end up with someone like Johnson, Stoudemire, Boozer or Lee that's decent but not stellar. My guess is Lebron and Wade stay and Bosh joins Dewayne in Miami.

The issue is going to be...if the Bulls sign someone like that...how much do they have left over? Do they give Johnson or Stoudemire a max deal?

Unless they dump some salary, I don't see how they have anything left to sign anyone else with their $15-ish mil in cap space.

espn is saying the cavs are close to getting amare for big z and jj hickson. couldnt the bulls easily make a better offer than that?

they also said mcgrady/hinrich talks are picking up again

Depends...if the Suns aren't willing to take on salary next season, then maybe not.

tyrus for harrington back on...again

if the bobcats are really willing to give up their 1st round pick i would do it, but i dont care much for murray, is his contract expiring?

Yes, the Bulls would be taking on zero money for next summer in those 2 contracts. They would be taking on money if they picked up another draft pick.

hopefully the bulls are one of those teams

I am sick and tired of hearing Cleveland in the Amare rumors. From what I've read, Phoenix fans are sick of hearing about him going to Cleveland also. Ooooh boy! JJ HICKSON is in the deal??? WHAT?!! Yeah he's definitely the deal breaker there.. Cleveland has absolutely nothing to offer because everything outside of Lebron on their roster is garbage. The best deal for Phoenix is probably either Miami or Philly.

I've always though Deng fits well with Phoenix. They were the ones that originally drafted him and right now they have no SF. The problem is Deng's contract and I don't think the Suns want to deal with that.. But it would be an absolute steal for the Bulls if they could get rid of Deng thus allowing them to give Amare a trial run for this half of the season and then they can decide what they wanna do afterwards knowing they'll have the ability to sign TWO max guys.

Supposedly, Phoenix is really not thrilled about the idea of Beasley and an expiring deal for Amare just yet. They still are interested in Iguodala, but the 76ers aren't currently willing to give away Iguodala for a guy who won't be there next year.

I would be fine with Amare going to Philly in an Iggy trade but I swear if he goes to Cleveland for a load of garbage I might boycott the NBA.

trib

I would.

From Insider:



I really think this has some weight to it. Kahn is from the Spurs organization and they've always been rumored in talks when Ty's name comes up. Blount/Wilkens and their two non-lottery 1st Round picks for Ty/Salmons would clear 5.8 million off of the cap next year while giving us a few 1st rounders to fill out the roster.

wow thats kinda unexpected... i don't know if i would do it for Jefferson but those picks could be nice

Sounds like Amare to Cleveland is almost a done deal. If that's the case, I'm done with the NBA for the next 3-4 years and I'll join Greg Popavich in starting the NBA trade committee that blocks all stupid trades from happening. Seriously, JJ freaking Hickson!! hahahaha. You can't tell me some combination of Tyrus Thomas, our 1st round picks, and whatever else is better than JJ MF'ng Hickson. This just pisses me off so much I can't stand it. Taj Gibson >>>>>>>>>> JJ Hickson.

marc stein just reported the heat are going hard trying to get a 3rd team involved to get amare.

RicBucher

Source says Clippers have dealt Marcus Camby for Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake. Details and deeper confirmation to follow on the mothership.

Dang.. well there goes my Travis Outlaw hopes..

it's getting ridiculous.. the nba is starting to turn into mlb with all this "rich get richer" business.

So, let's flesh this all out a bit. If Amare goes to Cleveland, LeBron stays. If Amare goes to Miami, Wade stays (Bosh and James cant go to Miami). So, at this point. everything revolves around where Amare goes.

But if Amare goes to Cleveland, that means Lebron stays and Bosh would likely team up with DWade and leave us with 2nd tier level players.. If this is a done deal that Stoudemire goes to Cleveland, we have to pull off some blockbuster deal like Deng for Al Jefferson to have a shot at pulling off a sign and trade in the summer, Jefferson for Bosh and then allow us to get a Joe Johnson to compliment him or if we have the money, DWade.. If we stand pat and do nothing, chances are we are going to end up with nothing.

nice to think about but i dont think its going to happen

God, I'd love to add Al Jefferson.

http://www.rumorpress.net/

talk is that the Bulls are in talks for Bosh and they're dangling Noah as a center piece. I don't think I do this if I'm the Bulls. I'd rather take my chances in the offseason

Umm, no. You do that deal and you work your ass off to sign Chris Bosh to a long-term deal. You lock him up, and you still have Miller and James expiring for 17 million, and hopefully Tyrus goes for expiring too. Then you have the money to go out and get whoever you please because you have Rose and Bosh and the money to get Wade, Lebron, Johnson, or whoever.

http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/...838893/20082353

Looks like TMac is going to the Knicks. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/bask...rady/index.html

just read on espn the rockets are trying to decide between trading mcgrady to either the knicks or bulls by tomorrow.if its to the bulls its rumored to be for tyrus, miller, and james

according to ken berger:

idk, I guess I'm glad I'm not Gar. I have really grown to like Noah a whole lot as a player and for us to trade him now when we really don't have to for a player that can just flat out sign with us anyways doesn't seem like the right choice to me. I know Bosh to Miami is probably closer to happening than Bosh to Chicago but then I'd almost go the route of pairing Joe Johnson with DRose, Luol, and Joakim. But I can see why you would do this trade. Bosh is clearly better than Noah and it'd be looked at as a steal in terms of talent and value the Bulls get in return but it still scares me that he walks anyways and then we'd be in deep spiff with no Noah and no Bosh..

The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached agreement on a six-player, three-team trade that lands them former All-Star forward Antawn Jamison(notes), league sources with knowledge of the talks told Yahoo! Sports.

The Cavaliers are sending center Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes) and a first-round pick to the Wizards. The Wizards also will receive Brian Skinner(notes) and Al Thornton(notes) from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Cavaliers will get point guard Sebastian Telfair(notes) from the Clippers. The Wizards will send Drew Gooden(notes) to the Clippers.

the bulls better get on the amare trade or else he is going to miami!