All of a sudden, were reading more NBA columnists talking about the Bulls being a player in the Dwight Howard trade derby. Sam Smith mentioned some possibilities in his Monday column on Bulls.com, and Yahoo! Writer Adrian Wojnarowski suggested the Bulls might have the best combination of trade assets to make a potential deal for Howard. My colleague at CSNChicago.com, Aggrey Sam, also wrote a column on the topic.
Howard has made it clear he wants to play in a major market, preferably in a warm-weather city. That would seem to suggest hell wind up with the Lakers in a deal for Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, maybe another player and draft picks. The Bulls could trump that with an offer of Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, the rights to European prospect Nikola Mirotic, and Charlottes future No. 1 draft choice, which could wind up being in the Top 10 in a couple years. If the Magic ask for even more, you could add Taj Gibson, especially if Tayshaun Prince comes on board.
Granted, Orlando would prefer to trade Howard to a Western Conference team if theyre eventually forced to make a deal. They dont want to have to face him three or four times during the regular season and then possibly again in an early round of the playoffs. But, Howard is a friend of Derrick Rose after their time together in China touring for Adidas. And, maybe the thought of teaming up with the 23 year old league M.V.P. would convince Superman he could take on Chicago winters.
Making a trade for Howard is probably an even bigger longshot than the Bulls discussions about Carmelo Anthony last season, but its certainly not beyond the realm of possibilities. Keep an eye on whats going on in Orlando. This could get a lot more interesting in the upcoming days. And, if the Bulls are able to add Jamal Crawford through a sign and trade, then sign one of the veteran free agent wing players I mentioned, theyll have an even better arsenal of trade assets to make a run at the most dominant big man in the game.
What do you think? Please post your comments in the section below, or hit me on Twitter @MarkSchanowski. Training camp starts at the Berto Center on Friday and I cant wait for all the trades and free agent signings to start!