Last week, I wrote that if Amare Stoudemire is indeed available, the Bulls would be wise to show interest. And according to Yahoo! Sports, they’ve done just that. But so have the Heat, Sixers and Nets. The Arizona Republic adds the Cavs, Warriors and Wolves as other teams that have shown interest.

In short, a lot of teams want Stoudemire. And for good reason. But I can’t see Stoudemire agreeing to re-sign with any of them outside of the Heat, Cavs, Bulls and maybe the Nets, so those destinations might be more in play than the others.

And beyond that, I’m not sure the Bulls are going to be able to offer the best package, or even a package the Suns would agree to. They want salary-cap relief, young talent and draft picks for him and are looking at small forwards.

Stoudemire would be a good fit for the Bulls, but at the expense of Luol Deng, their most consistent offensive player this season? And what if the Bulls trade for Stoudemire and he ends up not re-signing with them for whatever reason?

Losing Deng and Stoudemire in a few months time would be a crushing blow to the Bulls.

Bottom line: if the Bulls are currently in the mix for Stoudemire’s services, they should continue to be in the mix for his services. But if they have to part with Deng or perhaps Joakim Noah, I’m not sure the addition of Stoudemire is worth it.

Here was the Bulls’ plan heading into the season: let Ben Gordon walk, hope the offense holds without him, backdoor their way into the playoffs, then go for broke in the free-agent market this summer.

It made sense. And I agreed with it. This was pretty much a holding-pattern year before the Bulls’ plane was taken over by a Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade or maybe even LeBron James and landed in the East’s upper crust.

But what has happened now is this: the Bulls are, as of today, very much on the outside looking in for the playoffs. John Hollinger Playoff Odds projects them to finish the year 30-52. This is not good. This is very bad.

The Bulls’ selling points to free agents this summer are as such: 1) Big market 2) Derrick Rose 3) A good enough team.

But if they continue at their current rate — and really, their offense is probably a lost cause at this point — why would any big-name guy want to come to Chicago? Hollinger ($) writes:

The Bulls let Gordon walk and failed to bolster the bench this past summer because Chicago will have enough cap space to pursue a maximum-salaried free agent in the summer of 2010. In the best case, perhaps that player would be Chicago native Dwyane Wade.

That all depends, however, on the Bulls’ playing well enough to persuade a superstar that he could put them over the top. I’m not sure the likes of Wade or Chris Bosh can see much difference between their current teammates and Chicago’s roster, Rose’s presence notwithstanding, and they have to harbor some doubt as to whether Chicago’s notoriously dithering brass can put the necessary pieces around them in the future. Del Negro is said to be on thin ice given the slow start, but there’s no guarantee Chicago’s next choice will be any better.

This is all true. But the optimist in me would like to believe that if the Bulls can end the season on a respectable level, a corps of Rose, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah and perhaps a new, competent coach would be enough of a selling point.

I hope, at least.

Watch the last play of the Bulls game from last evening, then let’s discuss:

OK, yes, there was some contact here. But it’s initiated by LeBron James’ arms/elbow, which doesn’t constitute a defensive foul. Joakim Noah went straight up. He doesn’t lean in at all to body James. He doesn’t reach in or hack him. And there’s certainly nothing I see here that shows Luol Deng fouling LBJ.

Further, it looks as if LeBron isn’t even trying to score; he’s simply looking to draw contact so he gets to the line.

I think it was a great non-call by the officials. And it shows that, every once in awhile, they don’t always give stars better treatment.

If you did not watch the Bulls game last night, here are four observations:

• Brandon Jennings looks like he weighs 150 pounds, but he’s a hell of a rookie point guard.
• Brad Miller quickly flashed one of these after he hit a three. It was hilarious.
• Jannero Pargo had one of those games the Bulls were hoping he would when they signed him back into the NBA: instant offense off the bench.
• It was an awful, awful first half for the Bulls. It was an ugly game all around. But they dug deep for a nice comeback 83-81 win.

Yet, these four points are small potatoes to the show Luol Deng put on last night at the United Center. He went for — get this — 24 points and a career-high 20 boards. It’s the first time a Bulls player hit the 20-20 mark since Marcus Fizer went off for 30 and 20 back in 2004. This is not the line of a small forward. This is the line of Dwight Howard.

Now yes: this was against the Bucks. And yes: it’s not like Luol Deng was some unstoppable force the Bucks could only hope to contain. But what was striking about his performance last evening is that he looks like a basketball player again. He hit some jumpers, got to the line 11 times, and even knocked Andrew Bogut out of the way as he popped in a lay-up. He looked strong. Looked determined. Looked confident. And he was on the boards like crazy.

On a night when John Salmons was terrible — this is becoming a theme so far this season — it’s nice to know what a healthy Deng can bring to the table.

This was a game the Bulls were supposed to win. Without Deng, that likely doesn’t happen.

The Bulls take on the Spurs this evening in their season opener. Three things to keep on eye on tonight, and as the season progress.

1) The play of John Salmons and Luol Deng.

With Ben Gordon gone, the Bulls need scoring. Salmons provided it last year for the Bulls; can he do it again this year? Expect some regression, but it’s likely Salmons still drops around 14-17 a game. Deng will be interesting to watch as well. Can he return to form? Will he show off the potential he had a few years back, when many thought he was the next breakout star in the league?

Let’s hope. Because if Salmons and Deng fail to produce, the Bulls are in trouble on the offensive end.

2) Tyrus Thomas vs. Taj Gibson.

Tyrus Thomas will start at power forward tonight for the Bulls. Good. He’s in a contract year, is hungry, and if the Bulls are looking to trade him before the deadline, there’s no reason to stick him on the bench where he may pout. But you wonder what happens going forward here: if the rookie Gibson outshines Thomas when he gets out on the floor, will there be a battle for playing time? Will Gibson suddenly become the Bulls’ best trade bait? The job is Thomas’ for now, but don’t be surprised if Gibson gives him a run for his money.

3) The maturation of Vinny Del Negro and Derrick Rose.

Both were rookies last year. Del Negro as a head coach, Rose as a point guard. Del Negro took a lot of guff for questionable lineups during last season, but he got the monkey off his back in the playoffs, as the Bulls went toe-to-toe with the defending champion Celtics. Del Negro is far from an elite coach, but if he can improve with experience, the Bulls will be all the better.

For all the praise heaped upon Rose last year, he’s still got plenty to improve: his defense, his shooting, his vocal leadership.

If he can improve on all those things, it’s not a stretch to say Rose may leap into the top point guards in the league conversation — Derron Williams/Chris Paul/ Steve Nash — in the next year or two.

John Hollinger’s NBA team previews are out — do you people realize preseason games start Thursday? — and they are a wealth of knowledge. If I was still in school and “Concepts in the 2009-2010 NBA Season” was one of my electives, I’d at least get a B- in the class from reading them. At least.

Anyway, because the Bulls are in the NBA, Hollinger has a nice little rundown of last season, what’s happened since, and what to expect this season. It’s Insider, but here’s a small snippet:

We should see a healthy improvement from Rose to borderline All-Star caliber performance and an uptick in his defense, too (which, amid all the Rookie of the Year hype, was absolutely shambolic last season); a comeback from Deng to near his peak numbers; and a fairly strong dip in Salmons’ output from last year’s career highs.

Overall, those two pluses and one minus nearly offset the loss of Gordon.

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As a result, even though this team’s future — between Rose and the cap space — is as bright as anyone’s, their 2009-10 season isn’t likely to produce any more glory than the one before it.

Yup, yet another man saying the Bulls are destined for a season just like last’s. If you remember, Basketball-Prospectus’ Win Shares had the Bulls at 39 wins for the season, which squeaks them into the playoffs in the eighth spot. But Hollinger? He’s got the Bulls at 38 wins, just outside the playoffs in ninth place in the East. It’s going to be a close race between the last couple teams trying to get into the playoffs between the Bulls, Pistons and 76ers (and the Knicks?), so that one-win difference could very likely mean the difference between making the playoffs or watching the postseason from home.

A second straight season making the playoffs would be huge for morale, but not essential as this team heads into the 2010 free agency class.

The Bulls news of the day is that Luol Deng, after a year full of injuries and ugly play, is going to be out the rest of the season. From K.C. Johnson:

General manager John Paxson said Thursday that Luol Deng will sit for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the NBA playoffs if the Bulls qualify. If the Bulls make the playoffs and engineer a first-round upset, Deng is almost certain to miss all subsequent games as well with the stress fracture in his right tibia. Deng has been sidelined since Feb. 28.

In other words, Deng’s done. And it really doesn’t matter. At all.

Say Deng came back from injury. Are they really that much better? Do they really make a deep playoff push with him, but not without? Is a semi-injured, hesitant Deng going to be such a boon to the Bulls’ chances that he alters the course of the 2009 Bulls postseason forever?

The answer, of course, is no. The Bulls are mediocre team without Deng. They’re a mediocre team with him. They might win a playoff series, but if they do, it’ll be because Tyrus Thomas keeps playing surprisingly well, and John Salmons and Ben Gordon keep hitting shots, and Derrick Rose runs the team efficiently, and so on. Deng would have been a nice addition, but is he the difference between a first-round Bulls exit and an Eastern Conference championship? Uh, no.

Which is why I am officially in “meh” mode here. Get well soon, Luol. Or take your time. Whatever, dude.