Chicago Bulls Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Waive Rasual Butler

March 23rd, 2012 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have waived Rasual Butler, the team announced in a press release. By releasing him today, the Raptors allow Butler to sign elsewhere and be eligible for the playoffs.

Butler, who signed with Toronto in December for the veteran's minimum, has played in 34 games for the club, averaging just 3.2 points and 1.9 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game. The 31-year-old has a career-low .308 FG% (.273 3PT%) and has played just two minutes in March for the Raptors, his sixth NBA team.

The Raptors, who have also traded Leandro Barbosa and waived Anthony Carter this month, will reduce their roster to just 12 players after parting ways with Butler, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they added a player or two for the season's final few weeks.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link) first reported that the Raptors had agreed to waive Butler.

Central Notes: Irving, Bucks, Lucas

March 22nd, 2012 at 8:56pm CST by Ryan Raroque

There are several significant storylines to follow in the Central Division as it relates to the standings. The first place Bulls are hanging onto a three game lead over the Heat, and both are on a three-game winning streak. While it may not be likely that the Pacers overtake Chicago for top of the division, Indiana sits just two games behind the Magic for a chance at third place and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Bucks, who are currently on a league-best six-game winning streak, are one game behind the Knicks for the eighth and final playoff spot. Beyond that, here are some other things we've heard from the Central:

This article from Cleveland.com highlights Kyrie Irving's impressive performance in the fourth quarter in a recent loss to Atlanta, and follows up with a few miscellaneous Cavaliers notes.
Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel writes about Scott Skiles approach to the Bucks' remaining season schedule.
Although Derrick Rose has been battling injuries throughout the season, the Bulls have managed an 11-4 record without him. An instrumental part of that success can be credited to the emergence of John Lucas III as a solid contributor. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune digs deeper into Lucas' journey up to this point in the season.
The Pistons completed last week's road trip with a disappointing 1-4 record, two losses which included coming up short to the Clippers in overtime and Ben Gordon missing a potential game winner in Denver. David Mayo of MLive.com writes more about Detroit's inability to finish games, as well as some thoughts from head coach Lawrence Frank.
Tayshaun Prince is determined to turn things around in Detroit, writes Chris Tomasson of FS Florida.

Thunder, Heat Frontrunners For Derek Fisher

March 20th, 2012 at 3:42pm CST by Luke Adams

3:42pm: Fisher is in "advanced negotiations" to sign with the Thunder after he clears waivers, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Oklahoma City has the advantage over Miami because the Thunder have more financial flexibility and can offer Fisher a larger role, says Stein.

3:03pm: Sources close to Fisher expect him to sign with the Thunder if he clears waivers, according to Sam Amick of SI.com (Twitter link).

12:48pm: The Spurs are still expecting to sign Mills and don't plan to talk to Fisher, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

12:08pm: The Celtics and Bulls aren't interested in Fisher, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports (via Twitter). Berger adds that Fisher is expected to discuss "ideas and concepts" with the Spurs, Heat, and Thunder.

8:05am: The Thunder and Heat have emerged as the favorites to sign Derek Fisher, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Fisher, who was bought out by the Rockets, is expected to clear waivers tomorrow.

The Spurs are also believed to have some interest in Fisher, but San Antonio is still hopeful about completing a deal with Patrick Mills. Stein adds that signing with Chicago is something that "strongly interests" Fisher, but the Bulls are focused on signing a big man, possibly Ronny Turiaf.

According to Stein, there are a couple factors that could work in the Thunder's favor in the race for Fisher: The veteran point guard now shares an agent with Kevin Durant, and Oklahoma City has a good chance to face Fisher's old team in the Western Conference playoffs. Unlike the Heat, however, the Thunder don't have an open roster spot, so they'd need to waive someone to clear room for Fisher.

Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports that the Rockets allowed Fisher's agent to speak to "about six teams" during buyout negotiations to gauge interest. Knowing there were contending teams interested in bringing him aboard, the 37-year-old felt comfortable giving up the final year of his contract (Twitter links).

Odds & Ends: Blazers, Bulls, Hornets, Lakers

March 19th, 2012 at 10:36pm CST by Zachary Links

With the Bulls' 85-59 victory over the Magic this evening, Tom Thibodeau reached 100 victories and hit that mark in the least time of any coach in NBA history. Here's more on Chicago and the rest of the league..

Blazers interim GM Chad Buchanan originally wanted the Nets 2012 first-round pick sans protection in the Gerald Wallace deal but compromised in the end for top-three protection, tweets Ben Golliver of BlazersEdge.com.
Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com spoke to a number of Bulls players and people around the team about the prospect of picking up a free agent. The general feeling around the club is that while they would gladly welcome a new acquisition, they don't feel as though they need one to win.
David Aldridge of NBA.com takes a look back at the deadline deals that went down and also the ones that didn't. Aldridge opines that the Hornets, Wolves, and Hawks all should have made moves rather than stand pat.
Most of the big names in this summer's free agent class are veterans on the downslope of their career, writes Sam Amico of FOXSportsOhio.com.
The Celtics, Suns, and Pacers will all be flush with cash this summer, writes Larry Coon for ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd). Teams with limited cap flexibility going forward include the Bulls, Heat, and Lakers.

Latest On Derek Fisher

March 19th, 2012 at 7:12pm CST by Luke Adams

After Derek Fisher and the Rockets reached an agreement on a buyout this weekend, Fisher's business manager Jamie Mior released a statement explaining the decision:

"After much discussion and expressing their desire to welcome Derek to their team this season as well as the 2012-2013 season, the Houston Rockets and Derek have negotiated a buyout. Derek's desire to win a sixth championship is what drives him and will continue to drive him as he moves forward. We thank the Houston Rockets front office for their interest, time and their absolute professionalism. There will be no further comment at this time."

While we wait to see if Fisher clears waivers this Wednesday, rumors about which teams are interested in signing him have already surfaced. Let's round up a few of them….

ESPN.com's John Hollinger (via Twitter) notes that Fisher declining his $3.4MM option for next year means that the Rockets were essentially paid $200K to acquire a first-round pick.
The Blazers aren't interested in Fisher, tweets Mike Tokito of The Oregonian.
The Rockets' buyout of Fisher paid him for the rest of this season, but he opted out of all $3.4MM next year, a person with knowledge of the deal told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, the Thunder are deciding whether to make a formal bid for Fisher.
The Clippers aren't interested, says Stein.
Fisher has strong interest in joining the Bulls or Heat, according to Stein, but it's unclear to what extent that interest is reciprocated.
Stein adds that the Spurs have some interest, since their signing of Patrick Mills is being held up — according to Stein, the Blazers have yet to renounce Mills' rights, which is odd, since the team tweeted on Saturday that it was done.
Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld (via Twitter) cautions that there's no guarantee Fisher will play for another club this year. The veteran is weighing the option of re-joining the Lakers in a coaching or front office capacity, tweets Kyler. Fisher, of course, can't re-sign with the Lakers as a player this season.

Teams With Open Roster Spots

March 19th, 2012 at 12:22pm CST by Luke Adams

After the flurry of trades, signings, and releases around the league in the last week, it's gotten challenging to keep track which clubs still have the flexibility to make roster moves. To make things a little easier, here's our list of teams who currently have fewer than the maximum 15 players on their rosters, and could add a player without releasing anyone:

76ers: 14
Bulls: 14. When Mike James' second 10-day contract expires, the Bulls will have two open roster spots. They also reportedly have some interest in Leon Powe.
Clippers: 14. The Clips are still deciding whether to sign Bobby Simmons for the rest of the season with their final roster spot.
Grizzlies: 13. Memphis is looking at Gilbert Arenas for one of its openings.
Heat: 14. Miami could fill its final roster spot with a player who is bought out of his contract this week.
Hornets: 13. 14th man Jeff Foote just had his 10-day contract expire.
Jazz: 14
Kings: 14
Lakers: 14
Pacers: 14
Pistons: 14
Raptors: 13
Rockets: 14. Houston will open up a second roster spot when Derek Fisher clears waivers.
Spurs: 13. San Antonio is expecting to add Patrick Mills with one of its open roster spots. Even if the Spurs finalize Mills' deal, they'll still have a pair of open spots after Eric Dawson's second 10-day deal expires.
Suns: 13
Warriors: 13
Wizards: 14. 14th man Edwin Ubiles is on a 10-day contract.

Note: The Nets currently have 15 players on their roster, but will open up a spot when Jerry Smith's 10-day contract expires.

Central Notes: Nocioni, Pistons, Kaman, Walton

March 17th, 2012 at 6:39pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls are the class of the Central Division and the league, topping the NBA with a 36-10 mark heading into tonight's game with the Sixers. Here's what's happening with a couple of other teams in the division trying to build toward what Chicago has now:

Don't expect to see Andres Nocioni back with the Bulls as the team would add a shooting guard or a big man if they were to make an addition, tweets Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald. The Sixers released the forward this morning.
According to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, the Pistons were not in the running for Patrick Mills, who is close to joining the Spurs (Twitter link). That contradicts an earlier report from Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
Langlois also looks at the patient approach of Pistons GM Joe Dumars and passes along that Detroit may look to sign Chris Kaman, a Michigan native, as a free agent in the offseason.
New Cav Luke Walton, acquired this week in the Ramon Sessions deal, said he and Lakers coach Mike Brown "weren't on the same page" in L.A., according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Nonetheless, Walton was still caught off guard by the trade. Cleveland coach Byron Scott is complimentary of Walton's skills and basketball IQ, but isn't sure what his role will be, Amico writes.

Kyler On Rockets, Gasol, Pacers, Blazers, Smith

March 15th, 2012 at 8:26am CST by Luke Adams

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.

Warriors Leaning Toward Keeping Jackson

March 14th, 2012 at 9:57pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

Kyler On Smith, Magic, Bulls

March 14th, 2012 at 6:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld passed along a few goodies on Twitter, so let's take a look (all Twitter links, of course):

The Magic are one of multiple teams trying to get the Hawks to change their minds about keeping Josh Smith, even though it's a long shot. One potential scenario would have the Magic sending Jason Richardson to the Wolves and Ryan Anderson to the Hawks while Michael Beasley would go to Atlanta. Ownership would be reluctant to do that deal because they believe Smith is worth twice that price. David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets that no such talks between the Magic and Hawks have taken place.
The rumored three-team trade involving the Lakers, Wolves and Blazers is just one of the options the Wolves have.
The Bulls are eyeing Courtney Lee, and would look to Raja Bell as a fallback.
Kyler is much more confident about the Mavs' chances of landing Deron Williams now that Dwight Howard is close to committing to the Magic for next season.