How to rebuild the Bulls...

In case you haven't noticed, D-Rose is out. Again. For the year. Again. Simply heartbreaking...

Anyways, I've decided to look forward...by trading away everyone!!!

So, here's my fake trade (I put this in the NBA trade machine on ESPN and this trade does work):

Chicago gets:
- Ben Gordon (1 year left on his contract; $13m total left on the deal)
- Quincy Pondexter (5 yr; $15m)
- Ed Davis (1 yr; $3m)
- Trade exemptions of $4.1 million and $3.2 million
- two first round picks (Memphis and Charlotte)
- two second round picks (Memphis and Golden State)

Memphis gets:
- Luol Deng (1 yr; $14m)
- Kirk Hinrich (1 yr; $4m) 

Charlotte gets:
- Carlos Boozer (2 yr; $32m)
- Tayshaun Prince (2 yr; $15m)
- Trade exemption of $5.0 million

Golden State gets:
- Ramon Sessions (1 yr; $5m)


Now, here's why each team would do this deal (in order of easiest to explain to hardest):

Golden State: Golden State gives up a future second round pick for Ramon Sessions (using a trade exemption to get him). This allows the Warriors to get an actual backup point guard on their team. Right now, they only have Toney Douglas. Upgrading to Sessions is also a low-risk venture as a second round pick in the NBA is usually pretty easy to acquire and Sessions only has one year left on his deal just in case it doesn't work out in Oakland.

Memphis: To me, this one is pretty easy. You have a team in Memphis that has high expectations for this year. However, they're stuck relying on the decaying corpses of Mike Miller and Tayshaun Prince. An upgrade to Luol Deng, an all-star, at small forward would be a major achievement for them. And grabbing Kirk Hinrich as a 15-20 minute a night guy off the bench for one year is a pretty good deal for them as well. Now, they'd have to give up a first round pick (likely between pick number 20 and 25), a second round pick, and young players in Ed Davis and Quincy Pondexter. Pondexter is a bit of a tough loss because he's a serviceable 15 minute a night guy making $2.5 million a year for the next five years. Pretty cheap really. But where I think Memphis gets really excited, is the prospects of getting Prince's $7.7m salary for next year off their books. Getting rid of Prince's deal would open up money for the Grizz next summer in case they want to (a) extend Zach Randolph and let Deng go, (b) let Randolph go and extend Deng, or (c) extend both Randolph and Deng.

Charlotte: I know some people will disagree with me, but this team is a scoring 4-man away from competing for that 7 or 8 seed in the East. Now, Charlotte isn't exactly a hub for free agents. So, to get good, they need to either (a) overpay guys or (b) trade for players. This is why I think a trade for Boozer makes a lot of sense. Boozer is under contract through next season and played college ball in North Carolina at Duke. Carlos is the type of guy you can convince to stay and play in Charlotte if the Bobcats Hornets start to show some promise. Charlotte may have to overpay Boozer to an extension to get him to stay past next year, but it would be worth it. The guy can still score and presents a threat offensively -- something Charlotte doesn't currently have much of. Now, to get him, the Bobcats Hornets would have to give up a first round pick in the future (the Bulls already have one of their first rounders, so that part could get tricky) and they'd have to take on Prince and his contract. However, I don't think having Tayshaun Prince on this team would be the worst thing. He's a veteran leader with a ring and was on the 2008 Olympic team (so was Boozer). So, even though Prince wouldn't really expect to play much in Charlotte, he could still provide some nice leadership. And don't rule out what this team could do with that $5m trade exemption to replace Sessions (to make the cap numbers work, they'd need to trade Sessions). Charlotte has a $13m expiring deal in Ben Gordon, a player that never plays. They need to use that deal to improve this team and grabbing Boozer can do just that.

Chicago: This one is harder to explain. Why would Chicago trade three of their top 7 players? Well, because D-Rose is out again for the year and this team is paying the luxury tax (currently estimated to be $7.5m the Bulls would have to pay). Ed Davis is a young player that some stat heads really like. And Quincy Pondexter is a serviceable player making just $2.5m over the next 5 years. Bringing back Ben Gordon to where he had his most success could be a good deal. If Gordon can return to 80% of his old self, he may be a viable option for the Bulls to grab as a cheap veteran next summer as his contract expires. But, most importantly, the Bulls just need to blow this team up and start over. Getting two first round picks and two second round picks? That's a nice haul. Plus, you can package those picks to move up in the draft this summer and try to rebuild by grabbing some young player there. And adding cap space has to be the #1 priority at this point. There are multiple players who could be had via trade (Kevin Love) and the Bulls need to have cap space to make those deals. I'd fully expect the Bulls to trade Mike Dunleavy at some point as well because he signed a 2-year, $7 million deal. The Bulls wont want Dunleavy's contract on their books come this summer.