Click-a-Bull (Aaron Gray Traded!, Weekend Sweep, Rose, Noah, Rudy Gay, Amare)

Sources: Hornets trade Brown for Gray

The New Orleans Hornets have reached terms on a trade that will send guard Devin Brown to the Chicago Bulls for reserve big man Aaron Gray, according to NBA front-office sources.

The trade, barring an unforeseen snag, is expected to be formally approved by the league office later Monday.

The Hornets nearly traded Brown to Minnesota in hopes of reducing their luxury-tax bill in December, but the deal could not satisfy salary-cap requirements unless Brown agreed to waive a portion of the trade kicker in his contract. Brown declined.

This deal would net only a small luxury-tax benefit for the Hornets but bring them an extra big man for their bench. Brown has started 37 games for New Orleans this season, but the Hornets want to give more minutes to rookie Marcus Thornton and decided they needed the extra size.

In spite of its recent improvement, Chicago has been looking for perimeter help to help fill the void created by Ben Gordon's free-agent departure to Detroit.

I have never liked Aaron Gray, so getting anything for him is an improvement. The fact that we got someone who could actually contribute is even better. Anyone who can give us some perimeter scoring off the bench - and whose name doesn't rhyme with Benero Fargo - is a welcome addition!




Bulls' weekend road sweep not the only NBA surprise

The good theme to the current NBA season would be, "Don't be so quick to judge."

The Bulls kept up with the slogan this weekend by pulling off surprising wins at Phoenix and Houston. An 0-7 road trip seemed possible, if not likely, when they started with losses to Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers.

But then, who knew veteran center Brad Miller would erupt for 25 points while Joakim Noah rested a foot injury and help beat the Rockets?

In the past two games, the Bulls demonstrated what can happen when Derrick Rose is aggressive, they get scoring from both Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons, and someone steps up with a good performance off the bench.

The three remaining games on the ice show road trip - San Antonio, Oklahoma City and New Orleans - will be tough, but maybe another win is possible.

Noah still hurting, Rose sick

Joakim Noah said he will do anything he can to play tonight when the Bulls visit the San Antonio Spurs despite plantar fasciitis of the left foot, but the usually upbeat Bulls center was subdued and didn't sound optimistic about his chances of playing following the morning shootaround.

"It's frustrating because I had it for a while and it just got worse," Noah said. "I'm trying to go, but I'm limited and I can't really go the way I want to. We'll see how it goes.

"If I can play, I'll play. I'm gonna take a pill, take a shot, I'm gonna do whatever I have to do, but I took a shot last game and it didn't help at all. There's no point in trying to go when deep inside you know you're only hurting the team."

Noah isn't the only player trying to get ready for tonight. Derrick Rose is battling flu-like symptoms (apparently unrelated to the stomach virus that hit Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons last week) and Brad Miller has a sore knee.

"We'll see how he feels before the game," coach Vinny Del Negro said of Noah. "Hopefully, we can get him out there. Brad's knee is bothering him a little bit, Derrick's sick, so we're just trying to get over this sickness with the team, heal some plantar fasciitis up and try to get our guys out there.

"But the rest of the guys will be ready. We'll see how Derrick feels and how Jo warms up and Taj [Gibson] and Brad and just go with what we can go with. Our body counts a little low, but we'll see."

Grizzlies' Gay could be a diamond in the rough this summer

He doesn’t get talked about much with the big free agents, in part because he is a restricted free agent. But some of the teams lining up for this summer’s potential free agent bonanza are quietly eying Memphis’ Rudy Gay as the secret diamond in the rough.

Some of the scenarios being discussed have LeBron James perhaps winning a title—or making the NBA Finals—and staying in Cleveland, and then maybe Chris Bosh joining Dwyane Wade in Miami. If that were to happen, the three A-list free agents would be off the board, leaving several teams to fight over the likes of Amar’e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, David Lee (no one expects Dirk Nowitzki to leave Dallas) and Joe Johnson. When you want to pay big money for a star, you want a finisher, someone to whom you can throw the ball and isolate to make a last shot. Among that group, there’s perhaps only Johnson, and I can see given his age and superior athletic ability, teams will go for Gay.

I can see, assuming you cannot get any of the Big Three, someone throwing a max offer front loaded with a bonus at Gay. I know Hall of Famer and longtime team executive Jerry West has a bias because he traded for Gay when he ran the Grizzlies. But West is one of the most knowledgeable talent evaluators in NBA history, and while not connected to any franchise now, West keeps a keen eye on the league and he sees big things coming for the underrated Gay.

Suns seeking trade offers for Amare

After recent discussions with Amar’e Stoudemire’s(notes) agent that didn’t appear to destine a contract extension, the Phoenix Suns have increased their efforts to trade the All-Star forward, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Sunday night.

League executives say the Suns have become more active initiating talks over the past few days, and believe the franchise will take the best offer for Stoudemire before the Feb. 18 trade deadline. The Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons are among multiple teams that have a strong interest in Stoudemire, sources say. The Arizona Republic reported Sunday night that the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have also inquired about Stoudemire.

Suns general manager Steve Kerr met with Stoudemire’s agent, Happy Walters, on Thursday, and league sources say there was little sense an agreement could be reached before the trade deadline. With Stoudemire able to opt out of the final $17.7 million season of his contract, the Suns don’t want to risk losing him for nothing in free agency this summer.

As they did when shopping Stoudemire last season, the Suns want a combination of young talent, salary-cap relief and draft picks for him. Some teams are hesitant to trade for Stoudemire for fear he won’t want to re-sign with them this summer. The Minnesota Timberwolves lead that group of teams, sources say. The Wolves are mostly eyeing small forwards, including the Memphis Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay(notes), the Bulls’ Luol Deng(notes) and the Washington Wizards’ Caron Butler(notes). No one is untouchable on the Wolves roster, sources say.

What Should the Bulls do Before the Trade Deadline?

Over the past couple of seasons, the Bulls have been part of many trade rumors involving TT Tyrus for Amare, TT for Carlos Boozer; some more recent rumors involving Kirk for Caron Butler, Salmons for any expiring, and even Noah for T-Mac!

So how does this all play out? And how does it affect the Bulls this summer?

Tyrus Thomas -
The Bulls did not extend Tyrus last summer, instead opting to let him play this season, show some development, and earn a contract extension. Makes sense. But, there is always a "but" with this organization, it seems clear the Bulls never wanted/intended to re-sign TT. Extending Tyrus last summer or re-signing him this summer would severely hurt the Bulls cap-space this summer, meaning we would be passing on all the available free agents to keep TT. (If you haven't heard, that list includes: D-Wade, Bosh, JJohnson, Rudy Gay, Amare.)

I was opposed to trading TT for Boozer or Amare when the rumors came out last year, but would be all for it knowing what I know now. I wanted to keep TT long-term, hoping that eventually his enormous potential/up-side would manifest itself in a Bulls uniform. Looks like that won't happen, so we might as well get something for Tyrus instead of starting another summer by letting another talented young player sign elsewhere.


Kirk for Caron -
I like Kirk, and I like Caron. They both have similar contracts, so that doesn't matter. I already said it in this space, but I don't see us getting Caron then adding another wing player (Wade, JJohnson, Rudy Gay) this summer, so it might limit options.

Salmons for expiring -

This is my favorite option in this list. While Salmons actually has an "expiring contract", he has a player option for next season. With the current economy and Salmons getting off to a terrible start this year (just got his FG% over .400), there is a pretty good chance that Salmons could opt in and take that money. (Even Boozer opted in last year, and is having a great season - so that will pay off for him.)

If Salmons opts in for next season, the Bulls will have virtually no cap space this summer. That means we will have another season of watching D-Rose have to carry an organization that has failed to give him a real coach, failed to develop him as a PG, and failed to surround him with any real talent (save JoaNoah).


Noah for T-Mac -

Laughable. Stupid. Not-worth-writing-about. This is one of those moves that would make me legitimately question my fanhood. (Or is it "fandom"? Either way, I would question it.)

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So where does that leave the Bulls? I've written extensively about how the summer of 2010 may play out - I just have that feeling that the Bulls will fail to get Wade or Bosh, and could end up over-paying for a second-tier free agent, such as JJohnson or Rudy Gay. That is not to say those guys aren't great players ... but are they true franchise players?? I would say there are only about 12-15 REAL franchise players in the Association, and D-Rose isn't there yet. That list would include: Dirk, Melo, Kobe, Yao, CP3, KD, B-Roy, D-Will, LeBron, Granger, Wade, D12, and Bosh.

The Bulls are already stuck with Luol Deng's big money, long-term contract. If we offer another max or near-max deal to a less-than-franchise player, we will be severely limited in the future. It appears that trading TT or Salmons would give us a better chance to offer a max deal to either Wade or Bosh ... so those options have to be considered.

I would hate to give up TT just to get cap space, so if we move him, I would hope we can get back some combination of expiring contracts, draft picks or good players with reasonable contracts. I would give away Salmons for any expiring, just to ensure that he doesn't opt-in to his player option for next year. Other than that, excluding D-Rose and JoaNoah, I am open for any trade possibilities.

Right now, the Bulls are at risk to not have enough cap-space to offer some free agent (Wade or Bosh!) a max deal. On a recent podcast, Bill Simmons talked about the possibility of the Bulls making some moves (trading Kirk, Salmons for expirings) and then signing Bosh AND LeBron (who supposedly want to play together). I'm not a big LeBron fan because of his cocky-selfish-attention-whore attitude, but a team of D-Rose, Bron and Bosh would be unstoppable. I don't think it's a realistic possibility.

Best case scenario would be to move Salmons, sign Wade or Bosh, and replace VDN. Worst case scenario would be Salmons opting-in, Bulls over-paying for JJohnson or Rudy Gay (putting us over the salary cap), then keeping VDN to save some money. That is a huge contrast ... and I'm very scared that the latter could happen.