The Chicago Bulls are heading into the offseason with a number of questions and a Carlos boozer trade could be on the horizon if the team wants to chase a Kevin Love trade or Carmelo Anthony as a free agent and some other targets for the Bulls in 2014 include Lance Stephenson, Zach Randolph, Luol Deng and Chris Bosh on the free agent market this summer.
Derrick Rose was out most of the year, but the Bulls still made the playoffs and played some great D all season and now they need offense to back that up. According to SI.com, the Bulls are expecting to make a big push for Anthony and he could leave the Knicks after the year they just had. Anthony led the team in scoring, but they started 3-13 after winning the division last year and they were a total mess and now the future is up in the air for Anthony.
Stephenson is likely not getting signed back by the Pacers and he could be an option if the team missed out on Melo. Randolph could be a stand-in for Kevin Love if that trade doesn't go down, while the Bulls would love to sign back Deng after trading him away to the Cavaliers. The two sides could not come to an agreement during the season, but things could chance now that Deng spent the rest of the year in Cleveland, though he will be a very attractive free agent for a number of teams and the Bulls will have competition for him.
The Bulls just spent their second straight season with Derrick Rose on the shelf with a long-term injury and this offseason the team is hoping to make an addition that would elevate the team and take pressure off of Rose. The Bulls expect him to be back and healthy for the first time in two years this season and to get a championship, the team needs a legitimate scoring threat, as they were one of the lowest scoring offensive teams in the league. It was evident against the Wizards in that series loss that the team is lacking on offense and that is one of the main reasons why they are interested in Love and signing Anthony away from the Knicks.
Anthony is coming off of a very solid year with the Knicks and one reason the Bulls feel like they have a chance to sign him is because of how terrible they were this season. Anthony led the team in scoring, but he did not have much support from anyone and the team missed the playoffs, meaning Melo was out of the postseason for the first time in his career. Melo is looking to start winning titles now that he is getting older and a team that regressed as much as the Knicks may not look like a favorable situation to him anymore.
Stephenson played in nearly 80 games in each of the last two seasons since playing in 42 in 2011-12 and from that season to the next he jumped from 10 minutes per game to 29 minutes and he averaged two points, to eight points and now he is in the double digits. Stephenson can create his own shot and is a dynamic player, but his mental issues and immaturity may keep him from becoming as great as he can be and that is one frustrating aspect of his time with the Pacers. The Pacers had a very rough stretch at the end of the season and part of that apparently was on Stephenson and now he likely will be on his way out of town after the season.
Stephenson has supreme talent and the Pacers know that he can take over games, but at times he can make some major mistakes, including when he called out LeBron James before Game 4 and that turned out terribly for the Pacers. Stephenson is heading into free agency this offseason and it's very likely that the Pacers will not re-sign him and that mostly has to do with money over their actual desire, as they have deals in place already with David West, Roy Hibbert and Paul George and there simply may not be room for Stephenson anymore.