Marc Stein and Chad Ford of ESPN caught onto this rumored 3 way trade between Portland, Chicago and Utah that's been floating for about 72 hours. Strong buzz on both sides of this one.
Here's their report...
Another major multi-team trade might be looming in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers,Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls having discussed a deal that would be headlined by Carlos Boozer and Kirk Hinrich, according to NBA front-office sources.
Sources stressed to ESPN.com that no deal was imminent Thursday and that both Portland and Utah are still evaluating multiple trade scenarios. But two sources with knowledge of the three-team proposal confirmed that there have been substantive talks regarding a trade that would land Boozer in Chicago, Hinrich in Portland and Tyrus Thomas in Utah.
Almost immediately after that published, Awoj wrote on twitter...
Bulls haven't had a "single conversation" about a 3-way deal Blazers and "have nothing going" with Utah about Boozer, Bulls source tells Y!.
Multiple NBA GM's fear Boozer's high-demands for an extension, especially with 2010 cap projections. CHI has never wanted to be a tax team.
This deal could potentially help explain why Portland is reportedly considering an offer sheet for Paul Millsap. Theoretically, Utah prefers Millsap to Boozer and would need to move Boozer to be able to pay Millsap. Knowing this and seeing Chicago as a potential destination for Boozer, Portland makes its Millsap offer to force through a trade for a player it has been rumored for 18 months that they might have targeted: Kirk Hinrich. You might have heard of him. I believe he's been discussed on this website in the past. I think.
Please note that as of this posting the Blazers still have not made an offer to Paul Millsap. Also note that this trade doesn't make a ton of sense for Chicago and Tyrus Thomas would probably be the death of Jerry Sloan.
Update: Sam Smith who writes on Bulls.com tweets...
Lots of bulls boozer/bulls rumors. nothing going on
-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)