Bulls trading for Monta Ellis? Highly unlikely

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AUBURN HILLS, MICH.A recent piece by San Jose Mercury News columnist Tim Kawakami suggested that the Golden State Warriors should look into trading high-scoring shooting guard Monta Ellis to the Bulls for center Joakim Noah.

This idea, which has been at least considered by the Bulls front office in the past, according to sources, is extremely unlikely to occur.

Before the Bulls acquisition of shooting guard Rip Hamilton, there was certainly a void on the perimeter, but although the Bulls struggled to score during Tuesday nights dramatic come-from-behind 76-74 win over the Hawksa game Hamilton sat out with a groin injury, but still the lowest-scoring total for a team through three quarters in the NBAs shot-clock eraand Noah wasnt much of a factor because of foul trouble, a move like this shouldnt even be an option for management.

True, Noah has struggled to score early this season, with the exception of his 19-point effort in the Bulls win over the Clippers, but sacrificing his energy, defense, rebounding, size and intangibles wouldnt make much sense, especially given the fact that Ellis would make Hamilton redundant, let alone take the ball out of Derrick Roses hands at least some of the time.

At 5-1, the Bulls are sitting pretty, so even with backup point guard C.J. Watson currently out with a sprained left elbow, Hamilton nursing a groin injury and scoring still being a concern, theres no reason to push the panic button anytime soon and even consider dealing away Noahor young reserve big men Omer Asik and Taj Gibson, and especially not small forward Luol Deng, clearly the teams second-best player.

Chicagos frontcourt remains a strength, so to decimate it on an impulse to add more scoring punch wouldnt make sense and given that Ellis has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons recentlynot that the allegations, so far unfounded, will be proved to be trueits doubtful that the Bulls, an organization that places a high emphasis on character, will want to add a player under such scrutiny to their mix.

But as fans, what do you think? Should the Bulls, a championship contender already, take a risk that could potentially put them over the hump?

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