Tech N9ne updated his site today, talking about a potential trade of Larry Hughes to the Wizards and Kirk Hinrich to the Clippers for Chris Kaman.

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.

In the Chicago Tribune, K.C. Johnson confirmed that the Bulls turned down a potential trade with the Timberwolves that would send Kirk Hinrich there in exchange for Jason Collins and Brian Cardinal.

Chris Kaman or cap relief in exchange for Kirk Hinrich? That’s a tough one. Kaman when healthy can be a really good center. He averaged 15.7 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 2.8 BPG last year for the Clippers. But he is often injured, and has a big contract that could be ugly if he continues to sustain injuries. Now that we have Brad Miller, I would rather do the Timberwolves deal, as that would give us a path to becoming players in 2010 free agency, while giving us a little more time to see if there is anything there with Thomas and Noah.

K.C. Johnson mentioned in passing that Paxson pulled Hinrich aside to tell him about trade talks regarding him and Portland. The trade with Portland would presumably be for Raef Lafrentz’s super expiring contract.

The Wizards trade for Hughes isn’t too exciting, but getting rid of Hughes for two contracts that end at the same time, but who won’t whine has to be looked at as a plus for the Bulls. Hopefully the Knicks trade talks heat up again, as that would give the Bulls some salary flexibility for this summer.

There is still a chance that the Bulls can work out a three way trade for Amare Stoudemire or Chris Bosh, using Minnesota or Portland to facilitate it. The odds of the Bulls landing Stoudemire or Chris Bosh going into the day of the trade deadline look slim to none.

The Bulls might want to take another look at Tyson Chandler, who is back on the block after the Thunder rescinded their trade for him.

It looks like the Bulls will have a busy day tomorrow.

According to Victor Bellan (Tech N9ne), the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors are talking a trade that would involve Andres Nocioni going to the Raptors in exchange for Jermaine O’neal as the principle.

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.

As I said yesterday, when Marc Stein broke the rumor, Andres Nocioni and Larry Hughes in exchange for Jermaine O’neal is ideal. Giving up Drew Gooden’s expiring contract is too much value. I see the scenario with Hughes being the only one that the Bulls would accept. I could see the Bulls adding Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, or Thabo Sefolosha as sweetener to get the trade done. Preferably, the trade would not include Tyrus Thomas, as he still shows the potential of being a good NBA player, something Noah and Sefolosha do not at this point.

Whatever variation the Bulls end up making, getting rid of Nocioni for a contract that expires before 2010 is key, as it allows them to keep Ben Gordon while becoming a player in 2010 free agency.

Victor Bellan of rumorpress.net, a Chicago Bulls insider recently answered some questions from Bulls fans.

Here are the main points from the Q&A:

• The Bulls very likely will make a trade, although closer to the deadline.
• Vinny is playing Hughes for two reasons.  1. He feels Hughes can contribute.  2.  Him and Paxson are afraid benching Hughes could create a distraction for the team.
• The Washington Wizards were mildly interested in Hughes.  The Bulls would love to trade him to Washington.
• The Bulls have shown interest in Al Harrington, Zach Randolph, and Chris Kaman.  The Bulls would love to trade for Kaman, but the Clippers don’t want what the Bulls have to offer.
• Bulls feel their best chance at landing a 2010 free agent is Dwyane Wade.

You can view the entire Q&A at rumorpress.net

Victor Bellan, aka Tech N9ne is reporting that the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trailblazers are in trade talks. The Blazers are reportedly offering Travis Outlaw and Joel Pryzbilla for Kirk Hinrich. The Bulls are said to be mildly interested, and seeing if the Blazers are willing to take Ben Gordon instead.

The Bulls, after the trade as stated above, would be in the luxury tax if they were to resign Ben Gordon to the reported approximately $59 million contract.

Not sure why the Bulls would do this one. Travis Outlaw will be buried behind Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni, and Thabo Sefolosha on this team. He does fit one role, that of a three point shooter, but you would think the Bulls would be able to get something a little better for Kirk Hinrich, at least an expiring contract.

If the Bulls do decide to make this trade, they should try to get Portland to trade one of their European prospects. That is Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, and Nicolas Batum. Rudy Fernandez would be the best case scenario, as he actually appears to have real talent. Rodriguez and Batum have high bust potentials, but it would be nice to have these prospects just in case they might pan out.

If Ben Gordon is the trade piece and not Kirk Hinrich, the Bulls better be getting Rudy Fernandez back. If the Bulls do the trade as is, with Ben Gordon (and the necessary supplemental players to balance the trade so it works under the CBA), the Bulls are just proving that they don’t care about winning, just being good enough to turn a massive profit. At least with Rudy Fernandez coming our way, we would be having some good talent coming our way.

I would personally not trade Hinrich or Gordon in any type of deal like this, except of course if Rudy Fernandez was involved. I think it is in the Bulls best interest to either package these guys with other players in a consolidation trade or to trade them for expiring contracts.

Also, with this rumor and the previous Brad Miller rumor, it looks like John Paxson is focused on getting the Bulls a legit center.

Source: Rumorpress.net

According to the very reliable blogger, known as Tech N9ne or Victor Bellan, the Bulls and Kings are discussing a trade of Andres Nocioni, Cedric Simmons, and a future first round pick to the Sacramento Kings for Brad Miller. He says that the trade likely will not happen until both Gordon and Deng are resigned.

Tech N9ne broke the Donyell Marshall signing, both Jalen Rose trades, the Tyson Chandler trade, the Eddie Robinson signing, the selection of Gordon and Deng, and most recently, the Ben Wallace trade before anyone else.

What does this mean? Paxson is preparing for the 2010 free agency, which will feature Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Yao Ming, Joe Johnson, and Tyson Chandler among others. Brad Miller’s contract expires after the 2009-2010 season.

Tech mentions that the Kings want Joakim Noah in place of Cedric Simmons. I would personally not be shocked to see the Bulls let go of Noah, as he was a major strain on team chemistry last year, missing practices, fighting with coaches, and constantly being fined by the team. The veterans on the team did not appreciate a loud mouth rookie who didn’t put in the work. Noah followed the eventful season by being arrested for marijuana posession and showing up for summer league grossly out of shape. On Friday, Noah appeared on ESPN’s First Take and said he’s looking forward to winning, but does anyone believe him? He spent the majority of of his time on that ESPN segment not taking responsibilty for his mistakes and just displaying himself as a guy that doesn’t get it and who will probably never get it. Noah followed up his apperance on First Take by being a no show for a planned chat with ESPN.com, just as he was a no show for multiple Bulls practices last season.

By including Noah in the trade, the Bulls would have an additional $3.1 million of cap space in 2010. There doesn’t seem to be a spot for Noah in the long term with Omer Asik coming over in 2010. Asik plays a similar role to Noah on a team, but Asik projects to be a much better player than Noah. Longterm, the Bulls likely big man rotation will be Tyrus Thomas, Omer Asik, Aaron Gray, and the blockbuster free agent they plan on signing in 2010.

While it seems the Bulls giving up a future draft pick seems to be overkill in this scenario, the Bulls will likely not want their first round picks for the next two years (unless they end up back in the lottery). Mid to late first round players generally don’t pan out and they would just be chipping away from our potential 2010 cap space. If the Bulls decide to keep the picks, they will likely take a foreign player they can stash over in Europe the next two years or trade the pick like Phoenix has in the past.

[Tech's Blog Post on the Rumor]