The Chicago Bulls haven't given up on the season despite losing Derrick Rose and trading Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers and as the trading deadline gets closer in February, more and more deals will come up in rumors even if they are crazy, including names like Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer going for players like Jimmer Fredette, Evan Turner or Danny Granger.
Those Bulls moves would be about money more than anything anyway, as Boozer's contract will be up after next season and that was one reason the Bulls opted to trade Deng, as he is set to be an unrestricted free agent and should get a nice amount of money in a deal in the offseason. The Bulls really wanted to keep Deng, but they couldn't agree on money with him and instead pulled off the deal for Andrew Bynum and then cut him to help save money.
According to ESPN.com, the New Orleans Pelicans are looking at trading Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans and the Chicago Bulls could be a destination. While Rose out, the Bulls still have a chance to make the playoffs in the east, as they are currently in fifth position despite being 20-20 and after making a little run to the second round last season, they could be looking at doing that again. The team is not tanking or imploding despite trading Deng and Noah has said that the Bulls are going out every night looking to win despite the fact that some fans want the team to tank to get into the lottery.
According to ESPN.com, Noah spoke about those fans with reporters and said that "real fans want wins" and that the team will always play hard no matter the circumstances or their record. The east is wide open behind the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers and while the Bulls may not be ready to win a championship, they easily could make it into the second round again in the east with the way some of these teams have played this season. Noah has been very good for the Bulls this season with Rose and he had 26 points and 19 rebounds with six assists while playing nearly 50 minutes in an overtime win against the Orlando Magic and now he has the Bulls in fifth place and just one game back of the fourth seed in the east.
The NBA trade deadline is coming up and names like Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Jimmer Fredette, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young and Danny Granger have all been mentioned as players that could move. Omer Asik used to be on the Bulls and he is another prime candidate that could get traded this season at the deadline and it comes after he reportedly requested a trade and also had one nearly go with the Rockets and the Boston Celtics.
