Rumor time!

From Boers and Bernstein on 670 The Score, though I’m not sure which one said it. (Transcription comes from Da Bullz.)

Try this on for size, as something that is percolating. And as of now, this is all I can tell you. I’m not going to tell you this is a done deal, or that it’s even close, but as far as something that is out there as a possibility. Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas, and at least one pick to the Toronto Raptors for Chris Bosh.

Yes, yes, yes, 1,000 times yes. Of course, the odds are likely slim on this happening, but unlike other people, I don’t see this as highway robbery; the Bulls aren’t pulling the o’l switcheroo on Toronto. Bosh is likely not coming back to the team next year; he’ll walk in free agency. So Toronto would be wise to try and get some value for him now, instead of getting nothing for him later.

That’s the reason the Bulls can afford to offer a package like this — which, really, isn’t that horrible — and the Raptors may bite; it may be the best they can get for Bosh.

Further, the Raptors are the worst defensive team in the league. Jose Calderon is perhaps their worst defender. Adding Kirk Hinrich helps some in that department. (Though, I suppose losing Bosh negates that.)

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Mark Madsen, step aside. There’s a new NBA domain name buyer in town. His name is Chris Bosh. The details, from Henry Abbott:

Some jerk beat Chris Bosh to registering the domain www.chrisbosh.com. So Bosh went after the cybersquatter. All sorts of legal wrangling later, Bosh has won damages, his domain … and a zillion other domains the same guy had been squatting.

Boom baby. Yes, it’s true: Bosh is now in possession of nearly 800 domain names, including such hits as  ericpiatkowski.com, booutlaw.com, jjredick.org and c–kblocks.com (hehe). There’s also a ton of big-name players on the list (PDF warning), such as stevenash.com, carmeloanthony.com, in addition to NBA prospects from overseas, and various other domain names like mixedmartianarts.com.

Bosh is being a reverse Robin Hood, by stealing from the domain squatter and giving to the rich. If any of these players want the domain with their name on it, Bosh is handing them over free of charge.

Is this the Internet equivalent of running into a burning building to save little Sally’s dog? I think so.

Before the draft, there was word the Bulls were in talks with Portland to shop Kirk Hinrich. There’s also been some chatter out of Utah that they’re looking to dump the last year of Carlos Boozer’s contract. So, what we have here is a fuzing of both these talks.

From Chad Ford and Marc Stein:

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.

If this goes through — remember, it’s all speculative and preliminary at this point — it does a few things for the Bulls. First, it dumps Kirk Hinrich off the books. Hinrich is a solid guard, but with Derrick Rose running the show for what should be several years to come, he’s a movable piece. Second, it brings another expiring contract onto the payroll, which frees up even more salary for the Bulls heading into the summer of 2010 and its free agent class. With the salary cap shrinking, the Bulls need all the money they can get.

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LeBron James may go to New York when he becomes a free agent. Or he may not. This is, annoyingly, one of those debates that will not disappear (think Favre here folks) until the actual event occurs. But because sports are all about speculation, well, we chat and prognosticate about it ad nauseum until the moment arrives.

However, James — according to Chris Broussard may have hinted (quite) strongly in his/Cleveland’s recent courtship of free agent Trevor Ariza that he’s already got his decision made.

The Cleveland Cavaliers got some bad news followed by some potentially terrific news on Sunday. In a last-ditch effort to recruit Trevor Ariza away from the Houston Rockets, LeBron James told Ariza he would remain with the Cavaliers past 2010, according to a person close to Ariza.

“Trevor asked LeBron if he would be in Cleveland after next season,” the source said. “And LeBron said, ‘I’ll be there. Of course, I’ll be there.’”

Now, there are a couple schools of thought here. One, LeBron could be saying, “Why, yes, Trevor Ariza! If only you’ll join me in Cleveland will I remain a Cavalier past 2010,” in the hopes that such a statement would lure the suddenly-popular-thanks-to-the-Lakers-title swingman to Cleveland. Um, but, in case you missed the number of times you’ve already read the words “Trevor Ariza” you would know that, well, he’s just not that important.

The other notion is that Bron really will stay in Cleveland. I find this to be very much and entirely likely — just like some famous guy who wore No. 23 in Chicago, James wants to build a dynasty in his own city and to become the worldwide-cult leader guy who brought Cleveland back from the depths of sports hell and into NBA prominence. Or something.

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Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Bosh are developing a rather unlikely, albeit amusing, rivalry these days. You see, Shaq is so large that he can do what he wants in the paint. Sometimes, this involves pushing off. Other times it involves sitting there for more than three seconds.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care: he’s Shaq. He defines the phrase Veteran NBA Big Man and therefore can do whatever he wants. But Bosh doesn’t feel the same way, and he called Shaq out. Shaq’s response? Fairly typical.

“I heard what Chris Bosh said, and that’s strong words coming from the RuPaul of big men,” O’Neal said. “I’m going to do the same thing (in their next meeting) I did before - make him quit. Make ‘em quit and complain. It’s what I do.”

Oh, Diesel. Don’t fool yourself. NONE of us can quit you. At least as long as you’re acting like the Shaq of old, throwing up 40 points and then tweeting about it. Or just misspelling “manana.” Both work quite well.

Which reminds me, why don’t they just throw down on Twitter? Sure, it’s fun to see quotes in the print media, but nothing is as “cool” or “hip” as a TweetWar. Am I right? Maybe not. But I can go ahead and tell you that I’m vastly more intrigued by the Carles v. Xzibit war that’s raging via social media than I am by Bosh and Shaq, if only because they can’t immediately reply to each other in 140-character phrases.

So, gentlemen, if you don’t mind, let’s go ahead and rev up this rivalry a little bit and take it to the Internetz.

With a night under our belts to step back and assess the Bulls-Kings-Trailblazers deal, here’s a few things to keep in mind from the Bulls’ perspective:

1) Bye-bye, Amar’e. For as good as the idea of Amar’e Stoudemire in the Bulls’ front court sounds right now, it’s likely not going to happen by the trade deadline at 4 p.m. EST today. It’s not so much that Brad Miller is going to shore up the Bulls’ issues up front. He won’t; he is serviceable, not dominant. It’s that the Bulls appear to be setting themselves up for the free agent market in 2010.

2) Hello Chris Bosh? Tuesday, the Bulls were rumored to be in the mix for the services of Chris Bosh, which one commenter noted made more sense than Amar’e, as the Raptor scores more points, grabs more rebounds (well, Shaq sort of hurts Amar’e there) and arguably plays better defense. Like Amar’e, it’s unlikely the Bulls are going to swing a trade for Bosh before the deadline. However, Bosh is a free agent come the summer of 2010. And, according to ESPN’s Chad Ford, the Bulls are still looking to trade Kirk Hinirch before the deadline, perhaps to the Timberwolves for a player or two who will put the Bulls further under the salary cap. Add that to Andres Nocioni’s silly high contract being gone, the possibility of John Salmons deciding to opt out of his contract, and the Bulls would be committed to a maximum of $25 million in payroll come the end of next season, or possibly less, depending on Salmons’ decision. Either way, they may just have enough cash with which to woo Bosh. Ford also notes a source has indicated to him Chicago is Bosh’s first choice come the summer of 2010.

Patience, people.

The Amare Stoudemire rumor mill has been churning for weeks, culminating in a bevy of speculation surrounding the All-Star Game in Phoenix. The most frequently proposed — and discussed — deal is some permutation of Amare to Chicago for Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden and a first round pick.

Now there’s a new wrinkle though, according to the Sun-Times, and it involves the fantastic phrase “three way” and would send Chris Bosh to Chicago instead of Stoudemire.

The rumored swap would send Stoudemire to Toronto and land the Phoenix Suns a package of players and draft picks from the Bulls, likely to include Drew Gooden and his expiring $7.2 million contract, Tyrus Thomas and a first-round pick.

Gar Forman, the Bulls’ director of player personnel who’s expected to become general manager once John Paxson gives up day-to-day duties, reportedly has taken the lead in the talks with the Suns.

So, yeah, first of all, it stinks to be John Paxson, huh? Guy’s already lost his job to a dude named “Gar.” (That’s a guaranteed first sign that you’re performing poorly at the work place. Tried and true.)

This seems like a fairly logical next step in the Phoenix-Chicago talks; after all, Bryan Colangelo is the guy who drafted Amare in Phoenix, and he certainly seems to have dreams of turning Toronto into a team that plays in a similar fashion to the run-and-gun offense.

But what doesn’t make sense is that there seems to be little included from Toronto’s side (aside from Bosh, obvs) to allow themselves to weasle into this deal. Does Chicago really value CB4 that much more than Amare? It’s possible. Bosh is a better defender and is roughly a year and a half younger (which just seems weird). But the Amare and Derrick Rose combination is one that just seems straight up disgusting.