Who's This #24 Guy on The Bulls?

On a night where Johnny Red Kerr was honored for his career, the Bulls came through with a great victory. As I've said in earlier posts, this team has no identity. For stretches they play like a team that can be a legitimate playoff team, and then other times its like they don't even understand the basic concepts of team defense. After winning 5 of their last 8 (7 of which were on the road), this team is starting to look like that playoff team again.

One thing is different this time from the previous stretches of great play. Amid swirling trade rumors, Tyrus Thomas has exploded in the last 10 games or so. Not just exploded, but he looks like he can keep this up. He is averaging 15.6 pts and 9.8 rebs in his last 8 games. Do you think you know where this is going? Do you think I'm going to have second thoughts about dealing him to the Suns for Amare?

Are you crazy? Even if this little explosion by TT keeps up, his fg% during that time has been 47%. An excellent fg% perhaps, but for a big man it is just average. Either one of two things happens now, he continues to shoot that jump shot and miss it pretty regularly, keeping his fg% below what would be expected from an elite big man OR he stops shooting it and raises his fg% to maybe 54-55% but averages only about 12 points a game. I don't see how either option makes him as valuable as Amare. Amare is young, averages about 20 pts and 10 rebs for his career, and most importantly makes most of the shots he takes.

The truth is I'm thrilled that Tyrus is playing well right now. If something finally clicked for him, it's win-win for the Bulls. Either we keep him and he is a much improved player, or we deal him (please do the right thing Pax?!) and get THE Amare Stoudemire in return. Worst case scenario is it doesn't work out with Amare somehow and he walks in 2010, leaving us about $15 million in cap room for that magical free agent summer.

We Aren't Ignoring The Amare-to-the-Bulls Rumors

I am just trying not to get caught up in it until I hear something substantive. Like a confirmed source saying that Paxson and Kerr have been talking. Until then, don't forget Garnett, Pau, Kobe, Marion, Wade, and the countless others we were in trade talks for. Or just go play with the ESPN Trade Machine and start a rumor all your own!

Oh who am I kidding, I have been totally caught up in it. I even made the salaries work:

Seriously, it's obvious that we want this trade. Pairing Amare with Rose would be awesome, that goes without saying. More about this as the story develops.

Bulls Trade Possibilities

Bulls GM John "Stockpiling Assets" Paxson has just announced that he is looking to make a deal:

Paxson has been talking trade with teams recently and he will travel with the team to Boston for the game against the Celtics Friday.

''I'm trying right now, honestly,'' Paxson said of swinging a deal. ''We've had a lot of conversations as a lot of teams are. But there's nothing right now that we've been able to lock in on.

''We're trying to find some things that fit [with Derrick Rose]. The fact of the matter is he's very, very good and we're lucky to have him. When you look at the big picture, our goal is going to be to try and get this thing built with Derrick in mind and what fits him. That's going to take a little bit of time here to try and move some pieces.''

We've heard this before, but it seems like now is the opportune time to look to make some kind of deal or at the least move some assets. In that light here are some possible trade possibilities (I meant to write it like that Judd and StevieY, so shut the fuck up) that have been thrown around in the media lately:

• Bulls are looking to RE-acquire Brad Miller. This rumor may actually have some legs to it. He is not exactly the low-post threat everyone wants, but if we deal some combination of Gooden and a bad contract (Hinrich, Nocioni, etc) this could make a lot of sense. He could play very well off of Rose by hitting those pick and pop shots that Rose creates.
• Bulls may be pursuing Chris Kaman. This rumor has been out there for sometime, although apparently the Clips have not officially made him available. He is the kind of blue collar low post rebounder we need who has touch around the basket
• Shawn Marion. It is well known that the Heat are shopping him around, but it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for the Bulls. Aside from questions of how he would fit in on the court, off the court there are serious questions about his contract status. He has made it clear that he will be looking for a new long-term deal at the end of the year. If the Bulls get a player like that, it will only be as a temporary thing.
• Kirilenko? Probably nothing more than a Sam Smith pipe dream, but a possibility
• Any deal to unload spare parts and get contract space for the free agent class of '10 (or possibly '09?). This includes Nocioni, Hinrich, Thabo, Gooden, Hughes, Thomas or Noah. I think everyone agrees that the future must be built around Rose and Deng (and possibly Gordon if they can get him to sign a REASONABLE deal). Any other person is expendable. While we would all like Tyrus and Joakim to pan out, and many of us think Thabo still has potential, but any move that clears cap space is a good one.

There are other names and deals out there that have been talked about, and anything is possible. Hopefully Pax has the balls to pull the trigger on something that makes sense. For now, I'm just happy we are playing like a .500 ballclub. Finally one of my overly optimistic preseason projections for a Chicago team is coming true!