This makes a lot more sense.
The Chicago Bulls are not looking to trade Joakim Noah but are close to reaching an extension with him on his rookie deal, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. The two sides have been talking for weeks and are closing in on a deal that would keep Noah a Bull.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets are still telling anyone who asks that they are not moving Carmelo Anthony right now, the report adds. New GM Masai Ujiri and Anthony have yet to talk face-to-face.
That is in contrast to the report we passed along yesterday from ESPNChicago that the Bulls were talking about including Noah in a deal to bring in Carmelo Anthony. The new report says the Bulls are doing no such thing.
We said yesterday that it made no sense for Chicago to leak a rumor about including Noah, that it made little sense for them to really make that trade period because Noah is a better fit with Boozer and Rose than Melo.
It made sense for Noah’s people to leek it as negotiating leverage. It made sense for Denver to leak it as a way of letting Chicago (and others) know what the price tag would be for such a trade. It made sense for Melo’s people to say the Bulls were talking about it to see if they could generate momentum to get their man out of Denver. It made no sense for Chicago.
Did the Bulls discuss including Noah in any packages for Anthony? Well, define discuss. Because things that are fleetingly discussed by NBA front offices and even felt out a little through back channels would put the wild trade discussions in your fantasy league to shame. A lot of ideas are floated out there. But that is very different than seriously discussed, and few of those rumors ever rise to that level. This was likely one of them that never really got serious consideration.
The Bulls have a very good core in Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng and Noah. This is a roster that is going to win a lot of games. The Bulls are not going to be messing with that core before it even plays one game.