Written by Dave Pustilnik | 18 February 2010

Okay...let's break all of this nonsense down.  It looks like Salmons is for sure going to the Bucks.  Kind of weird on Y! Sports' part to report a potential trade involving a player who has already been announced as being traded elsewhere (see my last post), but we'll give them a break.  Who the Bulls are getting in return is still unclear.  Original reports said that we were getting Francisco Elson and Kurt Thomas.  This is a good trade.  The fact that the Bulls managed to find a suitor for Salmons who was willing to give back expiring contracts is a coup in itself.  If these were the players we got back, Kurt Thomas would likely be bought out to save a little cash. Now reports are saying that it could be Hakeem Warrick and Joe Alexander, who is also expiring, instead of Kurt Thomas and Francisco Elson.  K.C. Johnson reports it's now more likely going to be Warrick and Alexander.  That makes the trade that much more desirable.  Joe Alexander is a young unproven talent who won't even crack the Bulls rotation, nor will they give him a chance to.  On the other hand, Hakeem Warrick is a quality big man who can score in the post and shoot the mid-range jumper.  His minutes have been down lately, so I'm not sure whether he's fallen out of favor with Scott Skiles or he's hurt or what.  But the Bulls could definitely use a player like that, for both his abilities and for depth.  Whether the Bulls go for Warrick or Kurt Thomas likely hinges on Tyrus Thomas's trade status.  Right now, it looks like the Bulls and the Knicks are both willing to get a deal done involving Tyrus for Al Harrington.  That is a huge upgrade for the Bulls, as Harrington can light it up and do everything Tyrus can't.  And yes, Harrington is expiring as well.  Why the Knicks want to trade Harrington for Tyrus Thomas, I cannot tell you.  But if the Bulls get Harrington, they really have no use for Warrick.  Harrington and Warrick are the same height, but Harrington is bigger and more versatile.  He will own Warrick's minutes.  And I don't think Warrick will enjoy playing behind both Deng, Harrington, and Warrick, who are all the same size.  So if the Tyrus for Harrington deal gets done, I'm thinking the Bulls take Kurt Thomas's contract and just buy him out, even though Warrick is a much better player.  I guess the Bulls don't see it that way, since K.C. is saying that they want Warrick and Alexander now.  I don't know if this now means we're not getting Al Harrington for Tyrus or what, but I thought that was the deal the Bulls liked the best for Tyrus.  Or maybe they just want 3 talented 6'9" tweeners to all share minutes?  Don't know how smart that idea is.  Whatever...don't care...we got Salmons for expirings and they're all gone after this season, so let's talk about the cap. With Salmons gone, you might be asking how that effects our cap situation.  Well with Salmons contract off the books, the Bulls will have $35 million on the books at the end of this season.  The salary cap is estimated to be about $52 million next season.  It's a soft cap, but you can only go above the cap to re-sign your own free agents.  Which means, that leaves the Bulls with about $17 million to spend on a max free agent before the cap.  Max free agents cost about $15.75 million.  Which is why the media is reporting that the Bulls are now under the cap enough to sign a total max guy.  I'm hopeful that they will do just that this offseason...Chris Bosh...I'm looking at you.