FRIDAY, 7:58am: The discussions between the Raptors and Bulls happened over a week ago, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, who says talks were initiated by the Bulls. Talks aren't currently active, but could be revisited by the Raps and could also expand to include Nate Robinson and John Lucas III.
Both Johnson and Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times suggest a deal is unlikely, since Toronto would be reluctant to take on Boozer's contract. According to Johnson, the Bulls are also not likely to amnesty Boozer this summer, assuming they hang on to him through February 21st.
THURSDAY, 5:09pm: The Bulls are looking into a potential trade with the Raptors that would send big man Carlos Boozer to Toronto in exchange for Andrea Bargnani, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. More pieces will need to be added to any prospective deal as Boozer makes $5MM more than Bargnani this season.
While the Bulls could seemingly save money with the deal, the Raptors do not have an expiring contract to send to Chicago, thus making financial flexibility less likely for the Bulls. Conversely, the addition of Boozer to the Toronto roster would likely put the Raptors well into the luxury tax for next season. If traded, neither player would be eligible to be amnestied by their new team as an amnesty candidate must be on his pre-lockout team under a pre-lockout contract.
Boozer, 31, would provide the Raptors with a strong post presence as he's averaged 15.7 PPG and 9.6 RPG in 45 appearances. Toronto originally had interest in acquiring Pau Gasol from the Lakers until the Spaniard injured his foot earlier this week.
Bargnani, 27, offers the Bulls perimeter shooting that the team believes it so desperately lacks. The former overall number one pick has averaged 15.9 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 22 games this season.
YES PLEASE!!!!!!!!
hell no. boozer we can amnesty
Meh… whatever gets Bargnani out of town
No. Keep Boozer and amnesty after next season to get cap for Love.
Best idea I have heard. I have always thought Kevin Love was a perfect fit for these Bulls. JMHO.
Scott
even amnesty boozer bulls wouldnt get below the cap enough to do anything
Deng comes off the books that same year. They’ll have max space come 2014
Love is a free agent in 2015.
bad trade. bulls need boozers size down low, bargnani is more of a 7 foot small forward. without a backup centeras insurance for noah, no way bulls make this trade.
Boozer for Barg doesn’t work. Toronto would have to add someone to make that trade happen. Unless they find a 3rd team to get the trade done, I don’t see it happening. A trade like this is just asking to pushing Derrick Rose to ask out of Chicago.
even if they did this trade it wouldnt affect drose at all
First you get rid of your entire bench to save money. Now you’re trading your best player around the paint for a $30M bust. A star player eventually won’t want to stick around a team that keeps getting rid of players because of $.
i disagree. boozer for barg wouldnt affect rose. i havent seen ayhting where it said they were going to trade their entire bench
Cap for love?????? He is not a free agent and the Bulls have nothing to trade the Wolves they would want that the Bulls would give up. Good pipe dream. Boozer is amnestied for sure if he doesn’t get traded. Gibson’s contract puts the Bulls at the hard cap next year with no money to fill out the roster. Mixed feelings on the trade, but they can amnesty Bargnani if it doesn’t work, in fact he makes less so he would cost the ownership less money.
you cant amnesty a player you acquire in a trade
BAD move.
Versatility. Gibson sides into Boozer’s post role, Bargnani offers a different look on the perimeter. Trade should help Bulls in long run.
This trade makes no sense at all for the Raps they would be getting a huge contract that they would be stuck with for a player that is older and on the downside of his career. Don’t get me wrong Boozer is still a good player but defiantly not a 15mil+ player more like 5-8 mil a year maybe. Raptors are far better of holding on to Bargnani with the players they have around him now at letting his trade value increase instead of getting rid of him at his lowest value.
Boozer only has 1 year left on his deal its not really a risk on the Raptors part to be honest and Bargnani isn’t going somehow net them a star player or anything either.
Bargnani has been fitting in well sine he has returned from injury with the addition of Gay taking pressure of him to score. I know that he is not going to get them a super star but a role player is better than a guy that will make 15.3mil next year and 16.8 in 14-15 season (see 2 years left on contract at insane price) stupid financial deal to make.
Interesting trade especially for the Bulls. I think Bargnani would help Rose a lot as he will free up the paint for Rose more so than Boozer can/does already. That said I don’t get why the Raptors would be willing to pick up this contract. They would have a very interesting roster but at the end of the day it would be a roster full of overpaid players. Lowery, Derozen, Gay, Boozer + however at the five. If they acquire Boozer they would have to trade Derozen I would think to free up more minutes for Ross as no one in that starting five can shoot. I would just zone that team all day.