The Bulls seemed poised to make a playoff run this spring when they finished the regular season tied with the Spurs for the best record in the NBA. Derrick Rose, who had missed 27 games over the course of the season, was finally healthy when the team drew a Sixers team that had collapsed in the second half of the season. What ensued continues to give the entire city of Chicago nightmares as the Bulls faithful remains hopeful Rose can regain the form that netted him MVP during the 2010/2011 season. Let's catch up on the latest news and headlines out of Chicago as the franchise's future going forward remains unclear…
Let's check out some odds and ends from around the Association as we prepare for a pair of second-round playoff games in Boston and Oklahoma City….
- Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com reports that the following players have been named to the U.S. select team, which will scrimmage against the Olympic roster this July: Klay Thompson, Jeremy Lin, Paul George, Gordon Hayward, Kawhi Leonard, DeJuan Blair, Ryan Anderson, Taj Gibson and Derrick Favors. We'd previously heard that Kyrie Irving, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and DeMar DeRozan would be part of the squad.
- With the Clippers and Spurs preparing to face off in round two, Caron Butler tells reporters, including Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News, that he very nearly signed with the Spurs in December (Twitter link).
- The Heat announced today that Chris Bosh has a strained abdominal muscle and will be out indefinitely (Twitter link). Bosh's comments to the media today indicated that he's not expecting to return during the Pacers series (Twitter link).
- Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler would like to become a bigger offensive threat for the Knicks next season, as Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com writes.
In a new column, Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times addresses several major questions the Bulls will face this offseason:
- Despite his on-court regression in his second season, the Bulls are expected to match all offers on restricted free-agent center Omer Asik.
- Chicago will likely not pick up their options on all three of C.J. Watson, Ronnie Brewer, and Kyle Korver, because they want to clear cap space to re-sign Taj Gibson after next season.
- Hayes speculates that John Lucas III may develop into more of a three-point specialist than a backup point guard, which will likely make him cheaper to retain.
In his NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler reported that Dwight Howard is highly unlikely to change his mind again, but that the Magic seem to have a deal they'd do with the Nets if Howard waffles once more. You can follow all of today's Howard updates here, and check out the rest of Kyler's morning notes below:
- The Rockets are discussing more than half their roster in trades, having offered around Terrence Williams, Jonny Flynn, Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger, Patrick Patterson, Luis Scola, Hasheem Thabeet and Courtney Lee. According to Kyler, Houston would trade any combination of those players to acquire Chris Kaman.
- The Bulls want Lee, but aren't likely to meet the Rockets' asking price, which would mean parting with Taj Gibson or Omer Asik. The Pacers and Timberwolves are also eyeing Lee.
- Houston has a standing offer out to the Lakers for Pau Gasol, but it doesn't include Kyle Lowry, so nothing is expected to happen there.
- If the Blazers' three-team deal with the Timberwolves and Lakers involving Jamal Crawford falls through, Portland may have a backup trade in place with the Pacers.
- The Magic won't be able to make a move for Josh Smith, which isn't a surprise. One league source tells Kyler the Hawks want an All-Star frontcourt player in exchange for Smith, so a deal is very unlikely.
9:57pm: Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group says four or five teams have called the Warriors about Jackson, but no offers have been compelling enough to force a move. If the team doesn't make a trade, they're likely to pick up a player to fill out the roster after the deadline.
1:37pm: Shortly after the Warriors completed the five-player deal that brought Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson to Golden State, reports indicated the team would like to trade Jackson elsewhere before the deadline. However, according to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Warriors are now "leaning toward keeping" S-Jax.
As Sam Amick of SI.com wrote today, flipping Jackson would be difficult not only because of his $10MM+ cap figure for next season, but also because he still hasn't passed a physical with the Warriors. The team would have a very small window to deal him before tomorrow's deadline.
According to Simmons, the Warriors could consider buying out Jackson, but such a move is unlikely, since Mark Jackson would like a chance to coach him and Golden State is lacking active players.