Bulls Looking To Deal Tyrus Thomas For Al Harrington?
It’s that time of year again, friends. Time to get the Tyrus Thomas trade rumors going.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, a potential deal being bandied about is Thomas and Jerome James to the Knicks for Al Harrington. A blockquote, then let’s discuss.
Thus far, Walsh has resisted parting with Harrington, but discussions are still active and the teams have explored different combinations in recent days that would ultimately deliver Thomas to the Knicks.
“Nothing is imminent, but both sides would like to figure out a way to do this,” one league executive briefed on the talks told Yahoo! Sports.
The Bulls believe Harrington’s ability to score coupled with a $10.2 million expiring contract make this a worthy exchange. Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has long been fond of Thomas, a 6-foot-9 forward whose nimbleness and athleticism makes him an intriguing fit for New York.
Thomas, 23, was the fourth pick in the 2006 NBA draft, and started to fulfill his promise with 10.9 points and 6.4 rebounds last season. Nevertheless, Chicago believes it has a worthy power forward successor on the cheap in rookie Taj Gibson, and jettisoning Thomas would also eliminate his approximate $13 million cap hold for the Bulls next summer.
Thomas’ agent, Brian Elfus, tried to negotiate a contract extension with Chicago, but talks never pushed past perfunctory.
If Donnie Walsh agrees to this deal, it instantly makes the Bulls better. Harrington is averaging 19.5 points and 6.2 boards per game, and he’s doing it rather efficiently: his PER of 19.27 ranks 13th in the league for power forwards. He’s scored over 40 points twice this season. Not too shabby. (I know he’s on the Knicks, which plays a fast pace under Mike D’Antoni, and his career average is 13.9 points a game which isn’t much better than Thomas, but still.) Put him in the frontcourt with Joakim Noah, and that’s not a bad one-two punch.
When the Bulls didn’t extend Thomas, it was clear they were taking a wait and see approach. But after a slow start and then the injury, it looks like they might have decided enough is enough, and are trying to get some value for him while they can. I like Thomas, but he’s still yet to fulfill his potential. How much longer do you wait?
This also benefits the Bulls in that it won’t handicap them in any way for the free-agency market this summer. Harrington is making $10 million a year, but his contract is expiring. If the Bulls end up not getting Chris Bosh, Harrington is a decent second option if he wants to return to Chicago after this year.
Nothing looks imminent here, but if the Bulls have the opportunity to pull the trigger on this, they should.
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