According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the Knicks like Kirk Hinrich, but the Bulls would likely push Tyrus Thomas in a sign and trade deal.

The Knicks were hoping to get Robinson and David Lee signed at the same time and that is still a possibility if Lee is willing to agree to a one-year deal worth between $7 and $8 million. If Lee isn’t signed, the Knicks will try to work out and sign and trade. The Bulls have always been high on Lee and may try to work out a deal. The Knicks like Kirk Hinrich but Chicago would likely push Tyrus Thomas.

The whole Knicks situation is quite interesting. I think it is pretty classy of the Knicks to be offering these guys much more money than their qualifying offers on these one year offers.

I find it interesting that the Knicks may be willing to pay Kirk Hinrich long term money, but not David Lee (or Nate Robinson). That must show that Mike D’Antoni truly believes that Kirk Hinrich can run his system.

I find this to be laughable, as Kirk Hinrich is a bit of a fastbreak killer. Just analyzing the Bulls last year, they had Derrick Rose who was blazing fast on the fastbreak and Ben Gordon who was one of the league leaders in fastbreak points. There is something that Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon understand about the fastbreak that Kirk Hinrich doesn’t, and that is that you have to push the ball. If Rose saw Gordon ahead of him on the fastbreak, he would push the ball up to Gordon to attack the other team’s defense in transition. Gordon would do the same if Rose, Salmons, Hinrich, etc. were ahead of him.

Kirk Hinrich on the otherhand, feels the need to dribble the ball up the court himself, instead of pushing the ball ahead to teammates, which kills the fastbreak, as it allows the other team to fully transition back on defense, taking away the Bulls’ advantage on the fastbreak.

It is logical that the Bulls would want to include Tyrus Thomas in a trade for David Lee. Minutes would be scarce in the front court with James Johnson, Joakim Noah, Brad Miller, and David Lee up front, and with Luol Deng possibly playing some minutes at the four as well.

The Bulls also probably aren’t planning on keeping Tyrus Thomas longterm, as keeping him would prevent them from pursuing a big name free agent in 2010 free agency.

David Lee is an interesting player. He averaged 16.0 PPG and 11.7 RPG, there’s not many players that can do that in the NBA. That is a valuable player to have on your team. The problem is that the Bulls will still need to find some more star power, and trading for Lee would take away a lot of the Bulls flexibility this coming summer, which would mean that there would have to be another move made after trading for Lee to improve the team into a position where they truly have a chance to compete.

According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks are discussing a trade that would send Larry Hughes to the Knicks in exchange for Malik Rose. Jerome James or Nate Robinson could also be involved in the trade, as well as David Lee if the Bulls were willing to part with Tyrus Thomas or Joakim Noah.

The Knicks are in talks with the Chicago Bulls about a deal for shooting guard Larry Hughes, whose contract expires in two summers.

Malik Rose’s expiring contract is being dangled in a potential deal but the Knicks would have to include another player to make the deal satisfy salary cap restrictions. The Knicks would gladly include Jerome James, who is coming off Achilles surgery and may never play again. James’ contract also expires after next season.

There is a possibility that Nate Robinson could be included in the deal since Robinson is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1. The fans may not want to see the popular Robinson traded but the team president Donnie Walsh has made it known that his plan is to sign two All-Star caliber free agents by 2010.

The only way David Lee would be included in a deal for Hughes is if the Bulls include either Tyrus Thomas or Joakim Noah, who may be expendable now that Chicago has acquired Brad Miller from Sacramento.

Why are the Knicks willing to trade for Larry Hughes? The Knicks are likely looking at a potential trade for Larry Hughes because they realize he has a lot of offensive talent that has not been focused in his career, and they think they could bring his offense to its full potential in D’Antoni’s system. Hughes’ contract expires after next season, so it will not interfere with the Knicks’ 2010 plans.

This would be a great trade for the Bulls. The Bulls would get rid of Larry Hughes, who no longer players, and they would do it, getting some relief for next season by getting Malik Rose’s expiring contract. By unloading some salary off the cap with this trade, the Bulls will have more room to maneuver when trying re-signing Ben Gordon this summer.

This is a good trade, and I hope to see it go through tomorrow.