The Choice (and remember, death is not an option): The Bulls’ reported unwillingness to trade Luol Deng for Kobe Bryant or the Bulls reported unwillingness to trade Joakim Noah for Carmelo Anthony? Anthony has turned down an extension in Denver and appears determined to leave the Nuggets as a free agent after this season. He wants to be traded, and the Bulls have been mentioned as prominently as the Knicks and Nets, but the holdup is the Nuggets want Joakim Noah and the Bulls refuse. As with most rumors, maybe it’s true, maybe not. Our Bulls Guy K.C. Johnson cites a source as saying reports the Bulls are holding up a trade for Anthony because of Noah have been overstated. Of course, it’s in the Bulls’ best interest to spread that idea. Whatever the truth, here’s the deal: If the Bulls won’t trade Noah to get Anthony, someone needs to be fired. The rule is simple: The team that gets the best player wins the trade. Anthony’s the best player. Ballgame. I’m not trying to diminish Noah’s game or his role. I love his relentlessness, his unselfishness, his work ethic to become a double-double center. But right now, the Chicago Jazz are only a competitive team that looks good enough to get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. OK. Fine. Nice. Pat them on the head. Scratch them behind the ears. Then watch Orlando, Miami and maybe even Boston send them outside. The object of the exercise is to win the NBA title, not just be better than the season before. At this point, the Bulls don’t appear to be good enough to get out of the conference, not to mention beat Kobe. Anthony would make them a better bet to do that. You can’t guarantee a championship either way, but wise up, people, we're talking about trading one of the two best players on your team for one of the five best players in the league. In my country, this is a gimme. One of those “people’’ I’m talking about is Scottie Pippen, who said Anthony might not be a good fit with the Bulls. “If I'm a GM, I probably couldn't pull the trigger based on Carmelo's ... sort of what he's doing now,’’ Pippen said. “Based on his reputation, I'd probably have to stay with Joakim because you know that this kid is going to come out to play night in and night out. There's no excuses. He's a great teammate. That's what you want."
