I see no evidence that the Bulls have gone very hard after any trades, but instead are consigning themselves to whatever FAs they can get. Obviously they're limited by who'd be willing to trade back with them, but I don't see dick about them trying to pry a really good player lose from some other team. I don't think its a choice between offense only or defense only. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few guys I'd be willing to give up more than just cap space for (obviously I'd give up a lot for a guy like Anthony, but...): Iggy Trevor Ariza Danny Granger James Harden. The Thunder have like a trillion 2/3s. Why not try?
I think Philly probably said something to the effect that they wanted to see how Iggy and Turner could play next to each other and they weren't looking to dump him for cap space right now. Ariza might be in play if Houston needs to gain some cap space, but he isn't really a classic 2. Not sure why the Thunder would give up anybody right now either. Why would Indiana want to move Granger? The bulls only have 7 guys under contract, so they really aren't in the position to be trading players away unless it's a really lopsided deal. The goal has to be to get somebody to play along side Deng to match up properly with the Heat. Redick isnt' the best fit, but he's the best fit right now without giving anybody else up it seems.
Offering a player making $50M over the next few years isn't trying very hard if the team you're talking to want to unload salary. Regarding the other guys, Granger is a bit overrated, and he doesn’t have the handle I’d like, but he’s certainly a good enough athlete to play the two. I do worry that Jim O’Brien might be ruining him as an all-around player and turning him into a chucker, but every time I’ve heard him, he seems like a good, smart kid. I think he could work. The big problem is Larry Bird seems absurd to deal with. He always asks for too much. A couple other guys I’d consider. Any possibility the Rockets would part with Trevor Ariza now that their big Bosh plan fell through? He’s not as strong as I’d like, but he’s a super athlete and a very good defender. Clearly he wasn’t good enough to carry the load, but he wouldn’t be asked to here. Ariza + Jared Jeffries for Taj seems at least plausibly equitable. I hate giving up Taj, but I’ll trade a backup for a 35mpg starter every day of the week. James Harden is probably not feasible, but I’d make a similar sort of offer for him, just based on the fact that I really like him (good athlete, good defense, good handle, good shooter) and the Thunder seem to really love Thabo (and signed him to a long term deal) and keep acumulating other wing players (Cook, MoPete, Kyle Weaver) and I’m not really sure Westbrook will work out as a PG. Since they perpetually need bigs, maybe a swap of Harden for Taj plus some other stuff would work out well for both sides? Regarding Iggy, I think Bullshooter might be right that the Sixers want to give it the old college try first. Unfortantely, by the time they realize they're not going anywhere (because they're bad up front and have no PG, not b/c of Turner or Iggy), the Bulls won't have the capability to make the right offer to them anymore.
Given that Houston has Budinger and Battier at SF and Martin at the 2, Ariza might be the next name to listen for. Although he's really more of a SF than a 2 and is basically a spot up shooter, that's all the bull's really need at the 2. Bulls would be big 1-3 and match up very well with Miami at that point, but they would be vulnerable to small quick PG's.
But we'd be long for the most part. So i dont think that smaller, quick pgs would be that much of a problem.
Given that teams like Suns, Raptors, Cavs have huge TPEs and teams like Twolves, Knicks, Nets, Clippers and Bulls all had cap space, wouldn't one of these teams called around and picked up Iggy, Granger or Ariza if their teams were just ready to give these guys away.
