The Chicago Bulls are at the center of trade talks because of the interest in Jimmy Butler, but he may not be the only one traded.
Despite the denials, it is the worst kept secret that the Chicago Bulls would want to trade Derrick Rose and his massive contract signed after he won the MVP award. Rose has since been injured and never completed a season. He has also not returned to his MVP form.
This is why the Bulls would be better off shopping him that Butler, but not too many would take the risk on him with that steep price tag, until now, as reported by Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
"League sources in Italy say the Bulls are actively open to moving guard Derrick Rose and that seems to be the first choice rather than shopping Butler," Kyler wrote. "But it was said a few times that the name being talked about most among teams and scouts in Italy was not Butler, but rather Rose and there is a sense that a team that misses on a starting-caliber point guard in free agency may turn to the Bulls."
There are a handful teams looking for a starting point guard but the free agent market is rather thin. Mike Conley is the best of the pack but the Memphis Grizzlies are determined to keep him. Rajon Rondo, Brandon Jennings and Jeremy Lin are the only other options that could be worthy of starter's minutes.
Both New York teams, the Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, would be the most fervent suitors for point guards, dangling the bright lights of the Big Apple as a lure. At least one of them is likely to strike out and since both teams do not have first round picks, they might be stuck.
The Nets in particular has long been linked to Rose and it was often suggested that they would have traded Joe Johnson's expiring contract for Rose before the trade deadline, as outlined in Hardwood Paroxysm.
That trade did not take place perhaps because the Nets believed they could sign someone in free agency. But when they strike out, both teams from the Big Apple could revisit this trade option rather than wind up with empty cap space.