When the Amare Stoudemire trade rumors surfaced Friday, I decided not to address them. Namely because it wasn’t so much the Bulls were in the mix as it was Bulls fans frothing at the mouth about it. Also, it was Friday, and my brain tends to not function at a high level. (Though, it doesn’t work quite well on Monday mornings either.)

But as the weekend hit, and Amare himself knows he might be out of Phoenix and you realize the Bulls do have the parts to pull this off — young talent up front, expiring contracts –it seems like this could be a reality.

The question then becomes: Is anyone besides Derrick Rose off limits to the Suns? Is Derrick + Amare worth it so much that any combination of Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng or Kirk Hinrich are OK to part with? Sort of. Blog-A-Bull has the answer:

And while he’s not a perfect player, I think Amare is the caliber of player that’s worth pairing with Derrick Rose at the expense of everyone not named Derrick Rose. Not that all the non-Rose Bulls should all be packaged together, but I wouldn’t hold off on anyone as a starting point. Again, it’s more what the Suns could want. For instance I’d discuss Deng, but the Suns might not want a long-term contract even though Deng is the best young (non-Rose) player the Bulls have.

What makes the most sense is having the ‘young forward’ be Tyrus Thomas. As much as I value not only Thomas’ potential but his current production, he seems the best piece from both teams’ standpoints. For a team that needs defense and already has Shaq clogging up the middle, Tyrus could do real damage. He’s already a plus defender and has all-nba type talent on that end, but for Amare I’d be fine watching that blossom for some other team. (and reportedly the Suns are ‘most intrigued’ by Thomas.)

As long as you keep one of the two big guys up front — Thomas or Noah — to pair with Amare, I think this makes sense. Though a pairing of Thomas and Amare is ridiculous on the athleticism side, it looks like the Suns want Thomas.

But how does this change the landscape of the team, of the season? The Bulls played pretty good on their recent long road trip, and the pairing of Noah and Thomas played as well as they’ve ever played together. Do you break them up in the midst of such a stretch for a superstar like Amare, one that had microfracture surgery a few seasons ago?

It’s probably worth it. The Bulls finally get a legit big man down low since they parted with Elton Brand and it’s Amare Stoudemire and Derrick Rose on the same team.

This eclipses the combination of players the Bulls currently have; it makes them better. This is something I can get behind.