When the Bulls decided to let Ben Gordon walk to the Detroit Pistons this past offseason, they signaled that they were going to pursue 2010 free agency. The Bulls face one major problem, which is that they will not have enough cap space to sign a max free agent if John Salmons opts into his contract. So at the trade deadline this year, the Bulls should first look at trying to move either John Salmons or Kirk Hinrich, to ensure that they can sign a max free agent in 2010 free agency. But the Bulls shouldn’t stop there, the Bulls should work to move all three of Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, and John Salmons for expiring contracts. Moving all three would make the Bulls the biggest power player in the biggest free agent year in NBA history.

First, I would like to clear up some misconceptions. A recent RealGM 2010 Free Agency primer said that the Bulls would have $21.1 million in projected cap space using a $52.5 million even with Salmons opting in. I am not sure where the author got this number, but he either doesn’t quite understand all the subtleties of the CBA, has bad salary data, made some mathematical errors, or a combination of all three.

If Salmons chooses to opt in, with a $52.5 million cap, the Bulls would have approximately $11.468 million in cap space, well short of the $15.75 million needed to sign a max free agent in 2010 free agency using the $52.5 million cap. If Salmons chose to opt out of his contract, the Bulls would have $16.803 million in cap space, enough to sign a max free agent. This of course doesn’t include the Bulls draft pick, which would further reduce the Bulls’ cap space, although if the Bulls were to trade their draft pick, they could have these cap space figures.

If we were to choose to go with the 2010 plan for one max free agent, moving either Kirk Hinrich or John Salmons would ensure that we have the proper cap space for 2010 to sign a max player. Luol Deng could also be moved, but he would be a better piece to keep here to try to attract a max free agent than either Hinrich or Salmons.

However, an even better plan for the Bulls would to move all three of Hinrich, Salmons, and Deng. This would allow the Bulls to sign two max free agents, even if they were to be blessed with the salary commitments that come with the top overall pick in the draft.

How would the Bulls accomplish this feat? They could target a few separate deals moving these players for expirings. But there are two teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks, who could trade for all three in a single trade.

The Cavaliers could do so in a trade based around Shaquille O’neal’s massive expiring contract. Shaq has only produced 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per a game for the Cavs this season, and moving Shaq in a trade for talent to help the Cavs win a championship this year would probably please Lebron more than if the Cavs were to trade his good friend, Zydrunas Ilgauskus, who Lebron promised to win a championship ring for.

The Mavericks also are a championship contender who could use an injection of talent to better their chances at winning the rings. With the window closing on the Dirk Nowitzki era of Dallas Mavericks basketball, I think Mark Cuban in particular would consider such a deal to try to win a championship with Nowitzki. A trade with the Mavericks would include Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, and Kris Humphries going to the Bulls, as well as some more of the Mavericks small expiring contracts.

If the Bulls were to pull off such a trade, they would only have salary commitments to Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, and James Johnson.

The Bulls would take a major stepback talent wise this year, and would probably slide into a top seven draft pick. The Bulls main selling point to the 2010 free agents would be that they would be able to play with Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, a top 7 draft pick, as well as another max 2010 free agent.

Here is how the salaries would work out, using the dream scenario of the Bulls winning the top overall pick.

The salary for the #1 overall pick will be $4.287 million for the 2010-2011 season. Therefore the Bulls would then enter free agency with $33.398 million in cap space.

After they sign their first max free agent, starting at $15.75 million, they will have $18.085 million in cap space.

After they sign their second max free agent, starting at $15.75 million, they will have $2.808 million in cap space.

The Bulls could use that left over cap space to either sign another established NBA player to build depth, or bring Omer Asik over from Europe. The amount of left over cap space would grow depending on how

If the Bulls are able to sign any two of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, and Carlos Boozer, using this plan, I think they will have a pretty good team. I think signing any two of these players would make the Bulls title contenders. Of course, which two out of these six players they sign is important, because the Bulls could be left anywhere from being a lower level contender to an absolute juggernaut, but I think they will be contenders none the less. How their 2010 draft pick pans out also would play a role into what kind of contender they become, as will the continuing development of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.

Coming out of the offseason, the Bulls main components would be Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, James Johnson, 2010 Max Free Agent 1, 2010 Max Free Agent 2, 2010 Leftover Cap Space Free Agent, 2010 Top Draft Pick. I think just this here could leave the Bulls ready to compete for a championship in the 2010-2011 championship. They will then have to try to convince veterans signing for the minimum that Chicago is the place they should sign, in order to add depth. I think Brad Miller is one of the expiring guys from this year’s team who would return next year on the minimum salary.

Otherwise, during the 2011 offseason, the Bulls would be able to add depth using the MLE, LLE, and their 2011 draft picks.

This is the plan that will give the Bulls the best bet at winning a championship anytime soon. The Bulls finally need to go all in for a championship, and the best way to do that is going all in for 2010 free agency.

The Amare Stoudemire trade talks could finally come to an end on Monday. In his Washington Post article today, Michael Wilbon mentioned that Amare Stoudemire probably would be traded on Monday. It seems like the question of “Whether Stoudemire will be traded or not?” has been answered. But one question remains, to who?

A report form the Sacramento Bee from earlier in the day suggested that the Bulls and Cavaliers were the two teams still in the running. But a report from Ken Berger of CBS Sports says that the Cavaliers never had serious talks with the Suns and are now pursuing Marcus Camby.

This corroborates with the reputable Cavaliers poster, Wine and Gold, who sent Cavs Nation in a frenzy when they overreacted to one of his posts last night and thought it meant that they had landed Amare. Today, he took a more sobering view, trying to lower the expectations of Cavs fans.

Amare Stoudemire going to the Cavaliers never made much sense. The package they were offering did less to help the Suns shed salary this year than the proposed Bulls package, and the young player in that deal has much lower potential than Tyrus Thomas. The proposed Bulls deal at least gives the Suns a player who they can be hopeful about. I don’t think any sane NBA fan thinks that Hickson has any type of serious potential like Tyrus Thomas does.

So with the Cavaliers being out of the running, that means that Amare Stoudemire is coming to the Bulls. Right? Not quite, according to Arizona Central, the Blazers might be in it again. This time for a package of Raef Lafrentz, Jerryd Bayless, and a first round pick.

I just can’t see this package going through. For starters, a potential Bulls trade of Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, and Cedric Simmons for Amare Stoudemire, Louis Amundson, and Matt Barnes does more to save Phoenix money this year than Portland’s package of Raef Lafrentz and Jerryd Bayless for the same Phoenix package. The Bulls package would save Phoenix $4.022 million this year (in cap, not actual money), getting Phoenix down to $71.74 million in salary. The Portland trade would only save the Suns $1.949 million. It is pretty much impossible to find a workable scenario where a Portland trade based around a package of Lafrentz and Bayless can shed more money on the Suns cap than a Bulls trade based around Gooden, Thomas, and Simmons.

The Blazers deal may be able to save the Suns a little more money if this was the only trade they were to make. But with the Bulls trade, the Suns would just have to do a small trade to slide under the luxury tax threshold of $71.15 million. If the Suns can get under the luxury tax threshold, not only do they no longer pay the tax, but they will get some money in luxury tax revenues. So the Bulls package can do more for the Suns in terms of getting the Suns under the luxury tax than the Blazers can, which presents the best money saving option for the Suns.

It is also unlikely for this package to go through because it would set up Portland to compete for championships for near a decade. The Blazers may be able to contend with just what they have right now. Adding Amare to the mix would surely make them championship contenders, but not only that, powerful championship contenders. Yes, the Suns are rebuilding, but you have to believe they have enough foresight to see that putting together Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez, Amare Stoudemire, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Greg Oden will keep them out of the finals for many years.

I do think however, that the Suns and Blazers could be talking trades. Perhaps the Blazers could facilitate an Amare trade between the Bulls and Suns. NewsOK, mentioned Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng as potential Blazers. Or maybe the reports are what they appear on the surface and the Blazers are pursuing Stoudemire hard. I just don’t see them being the team that gets Stoudemire, especially for the rumored package. I don’t think Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver want to hear about how they were Pritchslapped for the next few years.

Oklahoma City has also sprung up as a potential destination for Amare Stoudemire. What they would trade has yet to be determined.

I actually think Oklahoma City can put together the best package. They have the best young talent to trade away in Jeff Green and five first round draft picks in the next two years. A deal based around Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox, and Saer Sene would do more to shed money from Phoenix’s salary numbers this year than the Chicago or Phoenix packages. But they are not really being treated as serious contenders by the media, just as a team that will end up as an also ran. Pairing Kevin Durant with Amare Stoudemire is something the Suns probably aren’t too interested in doing, since the Thunder are in the same conference as them.

There is a little bit of inside info regarding the Bulls in this trade. InsideInfo of the RealGM forums, who is a legitimate insider, says that Tyrus Thomas, Cedric Simmons, and Thabo Sefolosha all would welcome trades, but Drew Gooden is reluctant to be traded.

Chris Ballard in his SI.com column made it seem as though the Chicago beatwriters are confident that an Amare trade will be done. According to John Hollinger, the Bulls package of Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, Thabo Sefolosha, and Cedric Simmons is the leader in the Suns’ clubhouse as we approach the trade deadline.

So do today’s rumors make it seem as if Amare to the Bulls is more likely to get done? Not really. But they do seem to indicate that an Amare trade is imminent. And if Wilbon is correct, it might just be done by Monday. We can only hope that it will be to the Bulls.

According to the pretty reliable poster InsideInfo on the RealGM forums, Ben Gordon’s injury is real and is significant.

InsideInfo posted:

I just want to clear this up for some people who may think that Gordon is faking his toe injury. It is his left foot, and it does look like its in pretty bad shape. I also know for a fact that Gordon has got treatment from the team for it and has also spent time on his own treating it using a machine that stimulates his toe.

Im not sure how bad it is hurting him, and im sure if he wanted to he could play thru whatever pain he is feeling, but the Injury is def real.

That must have been one mean piece of furniture.

Ben Gordon has stated that he wanted to play in the game against Dallas on Tuesday, but Vinny Del Negro held him out.

“I’ve given him a couple of extra days off here,” Del Negro said. “I probably could have played him against Dallas and [Wednesday night in Minnesota]. But we’re being more precautionary.

It seems like Vinny Del Negro is trying to coerce Gordon into a bench role. He has been building up the excuse that he can’t start Gordon to begin the season, because he hasn’t seen enough of Gordon in preseason. This type of cowardice and team politics was not what was advertised at the Great Communicators introductory press conference.