According to Victor Bellan of rumorpress.net, Shaquille O’neal of the Phoenix Suns, could become a member of the Chicago Bulls.

Shaq was an allstar last year.

There is a possibility Shaquille O’Neal could be in a Chicago Bulls uniform next season. In a rather surprising discovery, the Phoenix Suns aoneal.jpgnd Bulls plan on engaging in trade talks that could send the future hall of fame center to Chicago, as soon as teams are allowed to talk after the playoffs. Suns GM Steve Kerr is looking to deal Shaq and is said to be interested in Loul Deng. The Suns would like to move the aging center mainly because he has slowed the up-tempo Suns down drastically. They feel Deng could bring some young, athletic energy back to the team. The Suns also feel Deng could still live up to his potential and contract if he can stay healthy.

The Bulls apparently will listen to the potential idea at the very least. However, Chicago fears that O’Neal will slow down the Bulls young, up-tempo style of play (with the Bulls already having a slow moving, aging center on the team in Brad Miller). On the other hand, the Bulls would love to get rid of Loul Deng’s huge contract, especially with the emergence of John Salmons and with their hopes to resign Ben Gordon. In addition, Shaq’s contract expires at the end of next season, freeing up even more money for 2010. The Bulls also feel Shaq could be a good influence on the young big men and could fit temporarily for one season as a low post presence. The trade would likely be O’Neal for Deng, Tim Thomas and Jerome James (assuming James exercises his player option) Look for the Suns and Bulls to at least toy around with the idea.

This would be an excellent move for the Bulls. Essentially, they would have last year’s playoff team back with the addition of Shaq. Who knows how far the Bulls could have gone with a scoring big. If Shaq could draw some double teams to free up Ben Gordon for some wide open three pointers.

In addition, Shaq is a good defensive center, and would help to improve the Bulls’ weak interior defense.

Additionally, Shaq’s contract would come off the books at the end of the year. By unloading Luol Deng, the Bulls would open themselves up to becoming players in 2010 free agency, while retaining the deadly backcourt of Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon.

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, a Bulls insider, is reporting on his website that the Bulls and Warriors are discussing a trade involving Al Harrington. Here is what Bellan wrote:

No more than a couple hours after Al Harrington demanded a trade out of Golden State, the Bulls and Warriors had discussions about a trade that would send him to Chicago. The Bulls likely would send one of their many guards to the Warriors. Many scenarios have been thrown out, but apparently the Warriors are most interested in Kirk Hinrich and Thabo Sefolosha. If Sefolosha would be in the deal someone with a larger contract would have to be included. The Warriors have talked to many other teams as well and it’s possible they could wait a while and see what happens before they make a move. It is only talk at this point, but it is interesting to see the Bulls are still willing to shake things up with opening tip to the season being tonight.

Trading Hinrich for Harrington would be good in the sense that you clear out the guard glut. You would have a new glut to clear out in the big men spot, but it would be very easy to trade away Drew Gooden, since he is an expiring contract.

If Thabo Sefolosha was the key guard involved in the trade, Drew Gooden would likely be the piece that the Bulls package with him. It is the only financially possible way for the Bulls to do a trade based around Sefolosha without giving up someone who they would like to keep around long term.

I would rather do the latter trade, involving Sefolosha, than one involving. I think Hinrich may be too much value to trade for Harrington, who is expressing publicly that he wants out.

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