So John Salmons is gone, likely for Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander, and I have to admit I’m a bit torn.  It was necessary in the sense that we needed to dump his contract to assure we have enough cap space to sign a big free agent this off season.  On the other hand, even though he was having a down year, Salmons was still one of our better offensive players for a team that desperately needs scoring.  But more scoring could be on the way!

Here are some trades the Bulls have discussed and will continue to offer.  The Bulls are willing to trade Brad Miller, Tyus Thomas and Jerome James in exchange for Tracy McGrady.  In addition, the Bulls have asked that the Rockets release Miller in order for him to return to the Bulls.  The Bulls are unwilling to add any picks or other considerations for a trade that helps them in no way financially for 2010.  Its basically a trade to give away Tyrus and to add a scoring punch in McGrady.  If the Rockets continue to play hardball, they will likely work out something with the Knicks or nothing at all.

If a Tyrus to Rockets deal falls through, the Bulls will likely trade him to the Knicks for Al Harrington.  This would be a move, again, to add more scoring punch with the loss of Salmons.  If for some reason the Knicks change their mind on trading Harrington or if he is packaged in a Rockets deal, there is a strong chance Tyrus stays for the remainder of the season.

Lastly, Chris Bosh for Deng and Noah was offered by the Bulls and is still on the table, however, its the Raptors who are reluctant.  The Raptors were intrigued by the idea and do fear they will lose Bosh for nothing this off season, but seem unwilling to make such a huge splash and are highly attached to their franchise player.  They’re reluctant to make such a drastic change, trade the face of their franchise and disrupt the chemistry of a playoff team.   It’s an interesting proposal but seems too large scale for each team to handle.  We will see though.

UPDATE 2.17.10 - T-mac headed to the Kings.  Look for Al Harrington-Thomas trade now.

By Victor Bellan

In a shocking discovery, the Bulls and Raptors have engaged in talks that would send Chris Bosh to the Bulls before Thursday’s trade deadline.  The Bulls would send Luol Deng and Joakim Noah to the Raptors for Bosh.  Personally, I’m surprised by this.  The idea of giving up Noah with the possibility of Bosh leaving after the season seems like a high risk.  In addition, Noah is enjoying a breakout season and I’m surprised they’re willing to trade him.  On the other hand, it does clear Luol Deng’s large contract and gives the Bulls a better chance at resigning Bosh at the end of the season.  If the trade goes down, it would make it one of the biggest mid-season blockbusters of all time.  Update: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 4:00 central time.

In smaller news, Tyrus Thomas is likely to be traded.  Big surprise right?  Thomas’ has been discussed in almost a dozen different scenarios and is almost certain to be moved by Thursday.  If Al Harrington is not part of a T-Mac deal, look for a Tyrus-Harrington swap (and salaries to make it match) to go down. 

By Victor Bellan

Look for the Chicago Bulls to make a strong push for Carlos Boozer. Reports have indicated the Bulls are interested in trading for the Utah Jazz power forward and there is a lot of truth to it. General Manager Gar Forman has already had discussions with the Jazz about sending Boozer to Chicago and talks could heat up even more in the coming weeks. The Bulls are looking to send Tyrus Thomas and most likely Jerome James to the Jazz for Boozer, the problem is the Jazz are talking to several other teams and may wait to find a better deal. Either way, the Bulls will at least make a strong effort at trying to get Boozer in Chicago.

Trading for Boozer would be a huge lift for the Bulls. The front office has really felt the pressure from the media and the fans after losing Ben Gordon. Acquiring Boozer would take some of the pain and focus off losing Gordon. Boozer would also add the low post scoring threat the Bulls desperately need, so long as he stays healthy. Plus, they would only be losing Tyrus Thomas, whom they have been trying to deal all summer anyway. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming weeks.

AI Talk: Reports earlier last week suggested the Bulls may sign-and-trade Ben Gordon to the Pistons in exchange for a re-signed Allen Iverson on a 1 year deal. Although it seems like a crazy idea, the possibility was actually discussed briefly within the Bulls organization. However the Bulls fear Iverson would not respect Vinny Del Negro, would take the ball out of Derrick Rose’s hands, as well as possibly corrupt the team’s chemistry. So obviously, this idea is highly unlikely.

Pargo to Bulls?: It’s well documented that the Bulls could sign Jannero Pargo. The Bulls are ready to sign, but Pargo is still deciding between Chicago and New Orleans.

Update 7.8.2009 - Bulls sign Pargo to 1 year, 2 million dollar deal

There is a possibility Shaquille O’Neal could be in a Chicago Bulls uniform next season. In a rather surprising discovery, the Phoenix Suns and Bulls plan on engaging in trade talks that could send the future hall of fame center to Chicago, as soon as teams are allowed to talk after the playoffs. Suns GM Steve Kerr is looking to deal Shaq and is said to be interested in Luol Deng. The Suns would like to move the aging center mainly because he has slowed the up-tempo Suns down drastically. They feel Deng could bring some young, athletic energy back to the team. The Suns also feel Deng could still live up to his potential and contract if he can stay healthy.

The Bulls apparently will listen to the potential idea at the very least. However, Chicago fears that O’Neal will slow down the Bulls young, up-tempo style of play (with the Bulls already having a slow moving, aging center on the team in Brad Miller). On the other hand, the Bulls would love to get rid of Luol Deng’s huge contract, especially with the emergence of John Salmons and with their hopes to resign Ben Gordon. In addition, Shaq’s contract expires at the end of next season, freeing up even more money for 2010. The Bulls also feel Shaq could be a good influence on the young big men and could fit temporarily for one season as a low post presence. The trade would likely be O’Neal for Deng, Tim Thomas and Jerome James (assuming James exercises his player option) Look for the Suns and Bulls to at least toy around with the idea.

If those talks do not work out, the Bulls, as we all know, will likely target the Clippers Chris Kaman or Marcus Camby in exchange for Kirk Hinrich. It seems more likely that the Bulls would be interested in Camby with his contact expiring after next season. It will be interesting to see what direction the Bulls go once the off season begins, stay tuned.

The Bulls have just completed a second trade in as many days sending Larry Hughes to the New York Knicks in exchange for Tim Thomas, Jerome James and Anthony Roberson. It will be interesting to see what the Bulls do with Thomas, being that last time he was in Chicago the team released him after playing just 3 games. More trades could come.

Update: The Bulls have traded Thabo Sefolosha to Oklahoma City for one of the Thunder’s five first-round picks in the next two drafts. The full roster now stands at 13.

Well, it took almost seven months from when Rumor Press first broke the story that the Bulls may bring Brad Miller back to Chicago for Andres Nocioni, see http://www.rumorpress.net/?p=23, and after the long wait a trade finally went down. After months of on and off talks, and various trade scenarios, the Bulls and Kings finally reached an agreement less than a day away from the the trade deadline. The Bulls will send Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Michael Ruffin to the Kings (who will ship Ruffin to the Blazers) in exchange for Brad Miller and John Salmons. The Bulls were ecstatic to hear they could get Salmons in the deal as well.

Don’t think the Bulls are done trading though. The team is still likely to make one or possible two more moves before the deadline tomorrow. It’s well documented that the Bulls could trade Kirk Hinrich to Minnesota for Rashad McCants and Jason Collins, and that Larry Hughes could be dealt to Washington for Etan Thomas and Mike James. However, the Bulls are still seeking to find better value for both.

The Bulls are trying to decide if they should trade Hinrich for expiring contracts to dump salary, or to get something equal or better in return. The Clippers and Bulls are discussing a trade that would send Chris Kaman and Mike Taylor to the Bulls for Hinrich. However, the Bulls are worried that Kaman would over clutter the front court, and they’re not sure if they want to take his big salary back.

As Larry Hughes, consider him being gone as an automatic. The 76ers are willing to trade Samuel Damelbert for Hughes, but the Bulls aren’t interested. If the Bulls cant find a better deal for Hughes, look for the trade sending him back to the Wizards to go down for sure.

I’ve received a lot of mail on why I haven’t posted any news or information recently with the deadline approaching. Well, the reason is most of the information already out there is everything you need to know about what is happening. And I’m sure most people can figure out which rumors are the far fetched ideas and which are closer to reality.   Let’s recap some of the information though.

1.) We know the Bulls have an offer out to obtain Amare Stoudemire. Which is based around Drew Gooden, Tyus Thomas, probably Thabo, and picks.

The Bulls would love to make this move, but it seems Steve Kerr and the Suns management have cooled on the idea of trading Amare. A deal is somewhat unlikely at this point. That could change Thursday, we’ll see. It’s up to the Suns, and they will wait until the very last minute on Thursday to decide

2) The three way trade that would send Chris Bosh to Chicago is not going to happen. That rumor picked up steam real fast, and I’d say there is about a 1% chance of that happening.

3) Bulls will try to go after Chris Kaman. As we all know, if the Bulls cant get Stoudemire, they will have a back up plan for someone else. Kaman is the most likely candidate to come to the Bulls. I hear it would probably take Drew Gooden and Tyus Thomas to get him as well.

4) The player the Bulls would most like to trade is Larry Hughes, obviously. The Bulls have several different trade proposals out there, the problem is, will another team finally agree to take Hughes? Trades involving Hughes that the Bulls have discussed with other teams include Hughes for Bobby Simmons, Hughes for Samuel Dalembert, Hughes for Etan Thomas/M. James, Hughes for Quentin Richardson/J. James, and long shot Hughes for Brad Miller. If the Bulls don’t deal Larry, look for them to send him home for the rest of the season.

Keep checking for Breaking News, but at this point, there is not much to break.  Just a whole lot of talk.

As we all know, the Bulls and Suns have had lengthy discussions about a possible trade that would send All Star big man Amare Stoudemire to Chicago.  The Bulls are very much in the running to land Stoudemire, as GM John Paxson is willing to package just about any deal with mutliple players involved to get him, except for Derrick Rose of course.  One scenario that is very possible and has been discussed the most would be a deal that would send Drew Gooden, Tyus Thomas, Thabo Sefoloshia and a 1st round pick to the Suns in exchange for Stoudemire.  However, Steve Kerr would like Joakim Noah added to the deal as well.  Phoenix will continue to talk with other teams to see if they can either find a better deal, or wait and see if the Bulls will add Noah to the trade.  The Bulls want Stoudemire so much, that adding Noah may just happen.  Even then, the ball will still be in the Suns court as they have multiple teams to work with and several deals to weigh out, the highest bidder will win.

Reports out of New Jersey have stated a trade that would send Larry Hughes to New Jersey for Bobby Simmons and Maurice Ager is close to being done. This rumor is very true as talks between the teams have really heated up in the last 48 hours. In fact, General Manager John Paxson has already agreed on the trade, the only hold up is a Nets approval of the deal. It’s a surprising deal because several other teams have shown interest in Hughes. We all know Hughes has been a distraction to the team, but if the Bulls can wait it out a little longer, they could definitely find better value for the Forward. It seems, though, that Paxson is set on trading Hughes as soon as possible. For that reason, look for this trade to go down as soon as the Nets agree, which there are no guarantees they will.

Recent reports around the internet have indicated the Raptors may be interested in striking a deal with the Bulls. I investigated the issue and found there is a lot of truth to the rumors. The Raptors seem very interested in Andres Nocioni and may be willing to deal Jermaine O’neal to the Bulls to get him. A trade that has been discussed involved Nocioni and Larry Hughes going to Toronto with O’neal coming to the Chicago. The Raptors, however, are trying to come up with different variations of deals that would bring Nocioni and Drew Gooden to Toronto. Another deal the teams discussed involved Nocioni, Gooden and Tyus Thomas to Toronto for O’neal and a filler, but the Bulls felt they would be giving up too much. Look for the talks between Toronto and Chicago to heat up the closer we get to the trading deadline, a deal very likely could go down.

Update Apology: To those of you who follow the site, I want to apologize for not updating recently. I have been on vacation so my Bulls information slowed significantly. The closer we get to the trading deadline the more Rumor Press will heat up. Keep checking for updates.