Trade Update

Well I haven't read much lately on the Bulls' trade front outside of what I mentioned last week. but here's some updates from around the internet:

Chad Ford:

There's so much talk about an Aaron McKie-for-Jerome Williams swap, and it looks like it's bound to happen. Williams' critical comments toward his teammates, even though justified, probably sealed the deal in Chicago. Not sure how it helps either team in the long run, but the truth is that both sides are looking for anything to shake things up.

Well that's good news..right? Despite Aaron McKie's awful contract, I like the idea of getting that much needed wing defender and shooter now instead of waiting for free agency or (gulp) the draft. Tim Kraus over at The End of the Bench also likes this deal for the Bulls. 

And that Fizer to Orlando deal still has life, and its another deal I would like to see happen. And apparently Orlando Magic Fan feels the same way:

While there a ton of people dreaming up trades in every little message board on the net, there are two that seem very possible to happen. The first, is a Giricek/Lue/Williams to the Bulls for Marcus Fizer. This is not a bad trade in my mind. We get rid of two players that are not of starting caliber and have yet to show any desire to play hard this year and then Williams is thrown in for the salaries to match up. If we weren't overloaded at PF and undersized at center before, well - we definitely would be now. So, what is the next move? Trading Juwan Howard for Eric Snow. Another great deal that will undoubtedly involve a few other players. This might our golden opportunity to package Steven Hunter in order to get something else in return.

Sounds good to me. I actually hope for Marcus' sake he does get traded somewhere where he can get minutes. He needs to show something before he becomes a restricted FA this summer. And while not worth the 4th pick (even in an awful draft), I think Marcus can be a contributor in this league. It appears that whether to Orlando or somewhere else, Fizer will not be with the Bulls beyond this week. Word out of today's Daily Herald:

If the Orlando trade doesn't happen, the Bulls could probably send Fizer to Detroit for guard Chucky Atkins. The problem with Atkins is he requires a much greater financial commitment (two more years at $8.7 million) than Lue (one year for $1.6 million).

Chucky Atkins is a better guard than Lue, but is he $7m better? I would assume the Bulls would also get a pick out of that Detroit deal, but especially in this years draft that doesn't sweeten the pot much. The Herald column goes on to describe Pax's plan for the offseason:

Should the Bulls land two backup guards this week, they could focus on the frontcourt this summer and might be able to revitalize the roster with younger veterans.

The feeling here is Paxson would not pass on Connecticut power forward Emeka Okafor in the June 24 draft if he gets the chance. Okafor could share time with Tyson Chandler and provide enough depth to make a larger-scale trade possible.

In free agency, while the teams with cap room wait to see what Kobe Bryant will do, the Bulls might be wise to target small forwards Hedo Turkoglu and Darius Miles with their midlevel exception, worth about $5 million.

So its agreed that the secondary needs (the first being a prime-time scorer if Crawford continues to struggle), are backup guards and a starting SF. If Aaron McKie doesn't come, I suppose Turkoglu would be a decent option. I do not like the idea of Miles though, especially since the Bulls already have an underachieving leaper (E-Rob) at that position. And E-Rob at least has a jump shot.

I'll update as soon as I can if anything breaks....don't expect any blockbusters though.