Stein writes: "No trade partner has emerged for the enigmatic former No. 4 overall pick, but moving Thomas before the deadline is still Chicago's intention." Earlier this season, there were talks of Thomas heading to the Knicks in exchange for Al Harrington, and last week a rumor surfaced he could head the Raptors along with Kirk Hinrich and a pick for Chris Bosh. Without Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla for the rest of the season, the Blazers could swing a deal for Tyrus Thomas to shore up their frontline depth. His restricted free-agent status this summer could work well for the team, as they'd could just keep him for the back half of this season as a replacement for their injured players if they so choose. But the Bulls would likely want some value back in a trade, and the Blazers might not be willing to trade any of their young chips if Thomas is only a temporary solution. Steve Blake and Andre Miller are two players that have been rumored to be on the block, and the Blazers have expressed interest in Hinrich before. Hinrich could be included in the deal, and either of those two could replace Hinrich's role on the Bulls' depth chart.
Hinrich does have trade value, but only because of the size of his contract. Thomas for Bosh wouldn't work under the CBA. Bosh makes $15M, Thomas $4.7M. Add Kirk's $9.5M paycheck and it's a deal that works and that the Bulls can do and stay barely under the LT threshold. The Bulls would be getting a top tier FA this season instead of having to wait for the summer, but they're going to have to add at least one more top tier FA to be considered a contender. What does this deal do for the Bulls' cap situation for the vaunted 2010 summer? Losing Kirk and his salary would be a huge plus for the Bulls, but they were counting on letting Thomas walk to recoup his $4.7M to help buy a FA. The S2 salaries for the Bulls shows $44M in committed salaries. Minus $9M for Kirk, minus $6.25M for Thomas' QO (his cap hold is significantly larger), and plus at least $16.4M for Bosh and the Bulls are $15.25M - $16.4M = -$1.15M worse shape regarding room to sign another FA. They're currently not likely to have enough cap space to sign a MAX free agent as it is, unless Salmons exercises his player option. It's a bit more complicated than I've explained it. The Bulls are making a 2-for-1 deal here, and they're going to have to sign a minimum wage guy to meet the minimum roster (12 player) requirement. The 2-for-1 has no meaning for the offseason if they were planning on Thomas walk anyway; they're losing Kirk and gaining Bosh, a wash. The followup deal that begs to be made would be Deng to Portland for some combination of Blake, Outlaw, and possibly another player. Blake and Outlaw are expiring contracts. Deng makes $10.4M, Blake $4.9M, Outlaw $3.6M. Not sufficient to satisfy the CBA, according to ESPN's trade machine. However, if Portland throws in Rudy Fernandez, it works. Before the followup deal: Rose, Salmons, Pargo at guard Deng, Bosh, Noah, Miller, Gibson up front Obviously weak at guard. After the followup deal: Rose, Blake, Salmons, Fernandez at guard Salmons, Bosh, Noah, Fernandez, Miller, Gibson up front We've seen that Salmons is an adequate replacement for Deng at SF, and he can give us some backup minutes at guard. We'd be lacking enough true depth at SF, though. But look at the summer and we have enough room to sign Joe Johnson or Wade, and we actually would be an attractive destination with Bosh already on board: Rose, Wade (Johnson), Fernandez at guard Salmons, Bosh, Noah, Gibson up front We'd use our draft pick on a SF or backup guard, and we'd have some cap space left to sign something close to an MLE sized deal for another FA to play SF or backup guard. Resigning Blake is always an option.
You have insider? Then you might be able to post that article about Bosh not being on the bulls top priority to trade for, and the article on us and the Wiz being the top two teams in the running for mcgrady. And I still dont know how much portland and toronto would jump at those deals. For our sake we would hope so.
I think Portland definitely does it. Deng and LMA are a pair of 24 year olds who give them a solid future at the F positions. Deng would not be in a position where he'd be relied on to be 1st or 2nd option - he'd thrive there. Portland's owner isn't so stingy he'd avoid the LT to solidify his team. It shortens Portland's rotation by doing a consolidation trade. And they're not likely to find a better SF for what they have to offer. I assume Toronto does it so they don't lose Bosh for nothing, and still have a nice big (Kirk) contract to use in another trade. If I were Bosh, I'd be looking at signing with Miami over the summer. They already have Wade, and the two would be one of the more impressive top two pairs in the league - rivaling the Celtics and the Lakers for sure. On the other hand, if the Bulls traded for Bosh and cleared enough cap space to sign Wade while still having a core of Rose, Noah, Gibson, and even Salmons, he might resign. Worst case for us is we have the cap space to sign to full boat UFAs, but don't have the overpaid contracts of Hinrich and Deng on the books. Consider the TMac deal. He makes $23.2M. The Bulls have to give back about that much, and then some to avoid paying the LT. Hinrich makes $9.5M, Deng makes $10.4M, Miler makes $12.25M but is expiring, James makes $6.6M but is expiring,Thomas makes $4.75M but is expiring. To gain cap space, we have to pay the LT this year, or deal one of Hinrich or Deng along with Miller. We don't end up with enough cap space to sign two full boat FAs. Why? We need Salmons and his $5.8M to exercise his player option to be able to sign one MAX FA. Do the math - Hinrich + Miller is $12.2M expiring out, we get back $23.2M or $11M, which is NOT enough to pay a second MAX FA. What I proposed works because we're getting our first MAX FA via trade of a non-expiring contract, and we're trading a second big non-expiring contract for expiring deals (plus Rudy, who can actually help us).
Hinrich and Miller works for TMac. Let's do the math. $21.75 out, $22.75 in. $1M in cap space gained from the difference. $9M gained for losing Hinrich's salary. $10M gained. $10M isn't enough to pay a MAX salary to a 2nd FA, especially when some of that $10M would go to help pay MAX for the 1st. I don't see why Houston would want to pay Hinrich next season at all.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/T-Mac-headed-to-Bulls-Wizards-76ers-?urn=nba,213054 T-Mac headed to Bulls, Wizards, 76ers? By Mark J. Miller The Houston Rockets are apparently thinking there is more than a 50 percent chance that a trade will be able to happen that'll take Tracy McGrady(notes) off of their payroll, according to ESPN. Rumor has it that the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls both have interest in bringing McGrady to their rosters. There are apparently other teams asking about McGrady but these are the ones the Rockets would most like to trade with. The Wizards want to save as much cash as possible right now since the Gilbert Arenas(notes) fiasco has pretty much killed much chance of many more tickets being sold in D.C. this season. The team could send Caron Butler(notes) and some expiring contracts (Mike Miller(notes)? Randy Foye(notes)?) to Houston for McGrady. It seems like the Rockets desire Chicago's Joakim Noah(notes). If the Bulls would send him and a few expiring contracts, such as the ones belonging to Brad Miller(notes) and Jerome James(notes), a deal could be done. The Bulls would reportedly love to unload Kirk Hinrich(notes) somehow. And the longshot rumor is that the Philadelphia 76ers could send Andre Iguodala(notes) to Houston for McGrady. Believe that one when you see it.
I wouldn't be shocked if the Rockets want Deng (or that its coming out of some reporters ass). He'd average 5 more points a game with their ball movement and team play and getting kickouts from Yao next year and Houston already has Scola at PF. Houston could move Ariza to the the 2. Deng has already shown he can guard Melo and Lebron. Houston would be pretty stacked. I don't see Yao and Noah as nearly as effective or potent offensively, but maybe Houston wants to do a twin towers thing.
The problem with giving up Noah is you have to replace him as well as fill the SG spot in the offseason.
Nobody thinks they're going to trade Noah. I think Broussard is probably just repeating what the Rockets actually asked for. That doesn't mean much of anything though. They're just checking to see how desperate or stupid the other team is. Tere’s no urgency to get something done, so they want to sit back and see how folks react. That is, Houston isn’t going to trade McGrady until they feel out the interested teams. They do this by asking for something outlandish and seeing how quickly they get hung up on. If they feel another team is particularly gullible, they might even get more outlandish. Then, as they have a feel for what teams are willing to offer, they go back and make a serious offer. But despite thinking the Bulls aren't all that great, I don't think they're going to go off and do something like trading Noah. It's just part of the process to ask.
Why would the Bulls trade Noah? It's absurd. He's on a rookie scale contract and can start and play big minutes. He's exactly the kind of player the Bulls want to keep until his extension is due.
