The Chicago Bulls today re-signed free agent forward, Demetris Nichols, to a one year contract. With this signing, the Bulls have showed their commitment in retaining the most important players on the team.

Okay, maybe Nichols isn’t that important, but Paxson does see him as part of the team moving forward. Paxson thinks Nichols can be one of our long range threats in the future. Long range shooting is integral to championship success. Paxson has called Nichols a futures play.

The 59th episode of the Bulls Beat podcast, done by Doug Thonus, was released today. In this episode, Thonus talks about some “Inside Info” and the Ben Gordon situation primarily. He also reads some listeners emails and discusses the Olympics.

“Inside Info” is a poster over at the RealGM board. He has posted a number of rumors that came out to be true. These include the Vinny Del Negro signing, JamesOn Curry being cut, Pargo going to Europe, and the Demetris Nichols signing. He has come out with two more rumors.

The first rumor is that Kirk Hinrich is up to 205 pounds and has been getting stronger. Personally, I think this is pointless. I think a shooting guard (which I assume Hinrich is trying to be) is better off at a lighter weight. At a heavier weight, Hinrich will likely lose some quickness. With the new rules, which allow less contact on the perimeter, being heavier doesn’t give the player much of an advantage. Ben Gordon actually, one of the buffer guards in the league, actually has cut down on his weightlifting the past two seasons because he found it wasn’t benefiting him in games, and has instead focused on gaining more quickness.

The second rumor is that the Bulls are shopping Tyrus Thomas. This is actually a pretty old rumor that has been around for awhile. I think people just ignored it, because of their love for Tyrus, or thought these rumors went away, because of some stories of Tyrus working out hard at IMG Academy.

The Bulls probably realize that Tyrus Thomas will not be the player they hoped he would be, when they decided to take him with the second pick in the draft. Omer Asik looks to fill the same role as Tyrus Thomas, so the Bulls front office might want to package Tyrus Thomas with some other guys in a consolidation trade, and then fill the void with Omer Asik. Joakim Noah also could fill the void. This of course, is all just speculation.

Doug also gives some good updates on the Ben Gordon front.

The first piece of news on the Gordon front is that there are no big money deals left in Europe. It was rumored that Dynamo was after Gordon. They probably were after Gordon, seeing as they signed Jannero Pargo, a scoring guard. Dynamo probably found Gordon to not be too interested at the time, and decided on Pargo, instead of waiting out for Gordon, who they thought was an impossibility.

The second piece of news is that Ben Gordon may switch agents. Doug thinks the Raymond Brothers may have let Gordon’s expectations get out of hands. There are two paths that Gordon could end up taking. The first, is signing an agent who tells him to take the Bulls offer because it is his value. The second, is signing an agent who tells him the Raymond Brothers are poor negotiators and that he can get him more. Doug thinks it is the latter, because Gordon could just take the current offer with Raymond Brothers, and doesn’t need a new agent to take that offer.

One thing Doug didn’t cover in that, is that Gordon shakes things up, and perhaps gets a power agent. Ben Gordon getting a new agent, at least to me, is an indication that he is preparing to take the qualifying offer. Gordon wants an agent that will be able to get him a good deal next summer, as his last agent and Raymond Brothers, have so far failed in that regard.

Doug is reporting that Ben Gordon that Ben Gordon is still waiting out to see whether or not there are any sign and trade offers. Doug personally thinks that Gordon will take the Bulls offer if he cannot find any takers in a sign and trade.

You can listen to this podcast at Bullsbeat.com

Chuck Swirsky got the opportunity to talk to John Paxson in Orlando to talk about summer league, the roster, and all the rumors flying around the internet.

John Paxson says that summer league is always tough because you throw a few guys together in a few days and try to run some sets. The objective is always to get your young guys on the floor. He wants Derrick Rose, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, and Aaron Gray to get minutes. Guys have gotten a little bit better each day.

Paxson thinks that it was unfortunate of all the hype around a first summer league game and the conclusions that are being made about the game. He has always maintained that Michael Beasley would be a great player and a great scorer in this league, but that they think Derrick will be a very good player too.

He thinks that Derrick has been tentative so far, and that this is just his nature early on in things, to let them play out. It played out in Memphis this way, with him being respectful of the people around him in the beginning of the year. People have to be patient with Derrick and give him time to grow. Really likes the way that Derrick can run a team. If the Bulls get people out and running, Derrick is very good in making plays with perfect timing, throwing the ball where guys can catch it and easily lay it in. Paxson has always liked Derrick’s willingness to move ahead. Thinks Rose is going to be really effective when they get their screening angles down. He thinks the screening angles and also the screens in summer league so far have been awful.

He notes that Tyrus Thomas has been playing more out on the floor so far in summer league. He states that Tyrus is in between the 3 and 4 positions. Tyrus has a tendency to try to do too much. The Bulls have to work on getting Tyrus away from getting the ball and holding it. So far in summer league, Tyrus has been aggressive, driving to the basket, and looking for his shot, which are all good things. Paxson thinks they just have to get Tyrus confidence. So far, Noah has been lost in the shuffle. Paxson sees Noah as an activity player. Paxson says that Noah has to play better.

The Bulls scouts really liked Demetris Nichols in the 2007 draft, but they didn’t take him, and tracked him after the draft. Nichols plays a little bit erect which prevents him from doing certain things. Nichols has worked on some dribble moves, 1, 2, 3 dribbles that he can score off of and he can realy shoot the ball. The Bulls have qualified him and haveh im slotted into a roster spot. They think that Nichols will give them a guy that can make shots and have length at the big guard and small forward positions. He sees Nichols as a futures play because there won’t be any minutes available for Nichols this year unless something happens. Paxson thinks Nichols has a future in this league.

The Bulls have been talking to Luol Deng and Ben Gordon. The Bulls are limited in what they can do until they have certainty in those guys in terms of the dollars. Sometimes the process takes time. The Bulls have gotten to the gus early on and have met with both several times. Paxson hopes that the market will dictate their value. He hopes that some deals will get done and that they can take it from there. During these negotiations they look at past contracts of players and similar statistical things. So far no one has dug their heels in the sand and siad they aren’t budging if a certain number isn’t met. So far he feels pretty good about the free agency situation.

Paxson says that a lot of the internet rumors come out of nowhere. He thinks that these rumors are unfair to the players since they hear their names in trade talks all the time, and thinks that it is not good for the morale of the team when things are constantly out on the internet. He says that general managers talk to other general mangers and talk names, but that doesn’t mean that there is any type of deal being discussed or that any deal is close to being done. Often, general managers will brainstorm with each other on ways they can work together to make their teams better. Paxson thinks what really hurts is that there is little accountability for when the journalists get these things wrong, and that they can just move on without being held accountable.

Paxson thinks that the East is going to be really good this year, and sees the Bulls being young being a problem. Paxson said that he is going to try to do something to make the roster better. He thinks the East is going to be really competitive and difficult. He thinks the Bulls have to secure Gordon and Deng, and get competitive, since no one is happy about what happened last year. He thinks the Bulls are somewhere in between a 33 win team and a 49 win team. He said if there’s a deal to e done that makes the team better that he will do it.

The interview can be listened to at Bulls.com