Trade Idea

[DocRI]

Hey all.

So, Rotoworld reports that the Bulls are looking to: A) trade Deng; and B) amnesty Boozer this offseason. Makes sense, as this year is pretty much a lost cause for them and they already have Butler, plus amnestying Boozer would also give them close to enough cap space to make a serious run at Melo. But what if we offered them talent for Deng and a bit of extra cap space going forward for their free agent plans?

BULLS OUT: Luol Deng, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Erik Murphy
BULLS IN: Josh Smith, Charlie Villanueva
WHY: As explained above; they get Smith for Deng before Deng walks for nothing, and wipe Dunleavy's $3M salary for next year off their books with CV's ~$8.5M expiring.

PISTONS OUT: Josh Smith, Charlie Villanueva
PISTONS IN: Luol Deng, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Erik Murphy
WHY: First and foremost, we acquire a player with the same name as one of the lead characters from Entourage; if that's not a reason to pull the trigger on this deal, nothing is! But seriously, best case scenario is that we get a good look at a Jennings / KCP / Deng / Monroe / Drummond lineup, it works well, and Deng re-signs with us. Worst case, we eat Dunleavy's $3M salary and get a mulligan on the Smith signing (assuming we're convinced he just isn't going to work on our squad long term). And by the way, it's not like Dunleavy's purely dead weight, as we could use a 3-point specialist off the bench anyhow.

So, whaddya all think? Is CV's expiring enough to make up the difference between Deng and Smith? And before it inevitably happens, can I please humbly request that this doesn't explode into something huge featuring guys like Monroe, KCP, Gibson, etc.? I was trying to create something relatively simple around Deng for Smith based upon their similar salaries and those Rotoworld reports. Anyone think I'm close? Thanks!

[DBC10]

They probably say no. From what I'm reading it as, I think they're trying to make a case to land Melo when he probably asks for a trade or opts out. They might have to go through a semi-rebuild for a year to make this happen though. Making moves like amnestying Boozer and letting Deng go would be a decent place to start. And considering Melo had the Bulls on a shortlist to be a destination, it makes sense in a weird way.

They could be, if healthy
Rose
Snell/Hinrich
Butler
Melo/Gibson
Noah

Which is pretty legitimate.

[theBigLip]

I like the trade from the Pistons standpoint. A mulligan on Josh Smith seems like a good idea. And if we can keep Deng on a reasonable extension, great. This would change our team a lot in the short term and we'd make the playoffs for sure.

Seems like Chicago would be interested, although I'm sure Smith is not their first option.

[dVs33]

I'm guessing Chicago would have zero interest in Smith.
Smiths value is at an all time low and Thibs would hate to have a guy like Smith because his bbiq is so low.

I would do this in a less than a heart beat. Deng is an all star SF on expiring deal who would do wonders for this teams issues. Dunleavy is also useful role player on a reasonable deal.
This deal is waaay too good for us.

[kurtis48239]

Dosent chi have their pick plus another one,trade monroe for deng and the better of the two picks.I really dont like trading for deng,hes a good player but hes 28 and seems constantly injured,would much rather go after barnes/chandler.Chandlers from MI and 26 yrs.

I would do anything to get kawhi leonard from the spurs,I understand its a long shot but I really think that kid is going to turn out great.

[imagump1313]

While were at it, lets make this trade too!

http://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/6399833

[MotownMadness]

I highly doubt Chi would want Smiths salary. The only team I could see maybe wanting him is Houston or Brooklyn. And there's no way they will include Parsons.

[dVs33]

While were at it, lets make this trade too!

http://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/6399833

No deal, CV's expiring is more valuable than that.

[DocRI]

Well, at least I got three honest replies before someone ignored my request and upped the ante to include Monroe (thanks Kurtis!). And Imagump, if you wanna go for sarcastic mocking, at least try to make it a little realistic next time; Melo for Smith & CV would have made way more sense seeing as Melo could conceivably get moved!

Here's my honest question, to anyone who wants to answer as such — if the Bulls do trade Deng, what will they realistically get in return? Trading a large expiring generally means taking salary back (if the Bulls want cap space, they'll just keep Deng and let him walk). On the flip side, what teams would trade young assets for a potentially half-year rental of a 28-year-old fringe All Star? In my opinion, it seems a tough needle to thread, which was why I thought something might be able to be built around Smith. It would be easier (and CV's expiring would be more appealing to them) if the Bulls had a larger long-term contract they'd want to dump than Dunleavy's, but their only contract that fits that bill is Gibson's, and he's definitely not someone they're looking to jettison.

[sc8581]

If they are looking to amnesty Boozer just for cap space why in the world would they trade Deng for Smith and no longer have any cap space this summer? Do you know how the CBA works at all?

As for what the Bulls might be able to get in return for Deng, it really comes down to what teams might have interest, unfortunately for Chicago I think Dallas might be the only team that would fit that bill and they don't really have any young talent to send back. Seems like all of the other teams that might contend already have a SF in place, Leonard, Iguodala, LeBron, Durant, George, Batum. The Clippers wouldn't be able to make a deal happen because of having to match salaries for him, I think I heard the Spurs had interest but I don't see how that can happen either.

[imagump1313]

Well, at least I got three honest replies before someone ignored my request and upped the ante to include Monroe (thanks Kurtis!). And Imagump, if you wanna go for sarcastic mocking, at least try to make it a little realistic next time; Melo for Smith & CV would have made way more sense seeing as Melo could conceivably get moved!

Here's my honest question, to anyone who wants to answer as such — if the Bulls do trade Deng, what will they realistically get in return? Trading a large expiring generally means taking salary back (if the Bulls want cap space, they'll just keep Deng and let him walk). On the flip side, what teams would trade young assets for a potentially half-year rental of a 28-year-old fringe All Star? In my opinion, it seems a tough needle to thread, which was why I thought something might be able to be built around Smith. It would be easier (and CV's expiring would be more appealing to them) if the Bulls had a larger long-term contract they'd want to dump than Dunleavy's, but their only contract that fits that bill is Gibson's, and he's definitely not someone they're looking to jettison.

Sorry, I was only being a smartass because people need to realize that NO ONE is going to trade for Josh Smith, NO ONE.
No one wanted him when he was a free agent. Why would anyone want to trade for him now?
On top of that, Chicago isn't going to deal Deng to anyone in the same division. That would be silly of them. Also, Chicago isn't stupid. They watch Piston games just like we do. They probably realize just like most of us do that Detroit is now handcuffed as a franchise for the next few years because of signing Smith. Why would they want to help us out with that? They have a division rival that has pretty much screwed themselves for years. They aren't going to do anything to help the Pistons.

As far as what Chicago would want for him? I think it would be alot more than Detroit's garbage I'm afraid. The guy is a borderline all star. They can afford to wait until the end of the season and see what happens. The East is too bad for them to tank, they will make the playoffs with or without him.

[DocRI]

If they are looking to amnesty Boozer just for cap space why in the world would they trade Deng for Smith and no longer have any cap space this summer? Do you know how the CBA works at all?

You're actually right on this, sc; I didn't realize just how far over the cap the Bulls are (and wow, does that make their situation look so much worse!). Letting Deng and all their other expirings walk just gets them back around the salary cap, so amnestying Boozer won't even give them enough cap space for a realistic run at Melo. If they actually want to take a shot at that, they've gotta dump Gibson. Smith, CV & Stuck for Deng, Gibson and Dunleavy would put them far enough under the cap that they could take a shot at Melo after amnestying Boozer, but I doubt they'd push that far all-in on a very uncertain chance at Melo (plus, I doubt we would do ~$17M in expirings for Gibson & Dunleavy without the Deng-for-Smith swap on top of it).

So, trying to turn this optimistic again, does that actually help our chances here? If there's no realistic way for the Bulls to get enough cap space for a Melo run, is Smith the best return they could hope to get for Deng? I still say nobody is gonna give them young assets for a half-year rental of Deng, so between Smith and nothing, might they prefer Smith? Especially if we sweeten the pot slightly? I'd throw in any young prospect we've got other than KCP (and no, Drummond isn't a prospect anymore; I'm talking Singler, Mitchell, Siva, etc.). Yes, it's a reach, but I really think the Bulls are over a barrel if they think they're gonna get good return for Deng.

[DocRI]

Sorry, I was only being a smartass because people need to realize that NO ONE is going to trade for Josh Smith, NO ONE.
No one wanted him when he was a free agent. Why would anyone want to trade for him now?
On top of that, Chicago isn't going to deal Deng to anyone in the same division. That would be silly of them. Also, Chicago isn't stupid. They watch Piston games just like we do. They probably realize just like most of us do that Detroit is now handcuffed as a franchise for the next few years because of signing Smith. Why would they want to help us out with that? They have a division rival that has pretty much screwed themselves for years. They aren't going to do anything to help the Pistons.

As far as what Chicago would want for him? I think it would be alot more than Detroit's garbage I'm afraid. The guy is a borderline all star. They can afford to wait until the end of the season and see what happens. The East is too bad for them to tank, they will make the playoffs with or without him.

No sweat man, it's all good.

I don't wanna repeat myself, so please check my above response to sc. In short, politics makes strange bedfellows; as lousy as Smith's trade value is right now, I don't think anyone is going to trade the Bulls much of value for a half-year Deng rental, either. And honestly, as disgruntled as we all are with Smith, he's basically been a borderline All Star for most of his career himself (much like Deng). I know it's highly more likely that the Bulls just keep him, but if they're hell-bent on getting something, ANYTHING, for him before the deadline, well … Smith is at least "something."

[MotownMadness]

I think the Cavs just got Deng lol

[MotownMadness]

Cavs just trade Bynum and a pick for him.

[imagump1313]

I think the Cavs just got Deng lol

Wow! Looks like they did.

[imagump1313]

Bynum LOL! Now there is someone Chicago might give us for Smith.....

[dVs33]

Bynum LOL! Now there is someone Chicago might give us for Smith.....

Lets get it done!!

[engelbert321]

Chicago wants to clear up space and get picks/prospects

[DocRI]

Wow. That's really all I've got; just wow.

On a fun note, I wonder if I've got some kinda superpower! I'll have to propose another trade idea tomorrow and see if the principal player involved in the deal gets traded by the end of the night! I may actually control all player movement in the NBA!!!

But seriously, the Bulls took a HIGHLY protected first rounder and a couple of 2nds for Deng (assuming they'll cut Bynum, which I think they will)? Again, just … wow.