NBA Rumors: Boozer to Bulls?

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jul 10, 2009 2:20PM

The Bulls front office seems to have an infatuation for Dukies, having drafted the likes of Elton Brand, Jay Williams, Chris Duhon and Luol Deng in the past few years. And they were supposedly trying to move up in this year's draft in order to land the Blue Devils' Gerald Henderson.

So perhaps it's not surprising that when a former Blue Devil is involved in trade rumors, that the Bulls would be part of the gossip. The latest rumors have the Bulls landing Carlos Boozer from Utah in part of a three-team trade that would send Kirk Hinrich to Portland -- a rumor we've heard repeatedly over the past year -- and Tyrus Thomas to Utah. While nothing appears imminent, "substantive talks" have taken place according to NBA front-office sources.

While we'd love to see Boozer in a Bulls uniform banging away on the blocks, we have some concerns about the Bulls giving up Hinrich in such a deal. They've already lost Ben Gordon to the Pistons as a free agent, so losing Hinrich would further deplete their backcourt. Sure, "Captain Kirk" was demoted to the bench last year but having a competent guard to run the second team helped contribute the Bulls success last season. And Jannero Pargo isn't the type of player who could replace Hinrich's role. WIth an overabundance of front court players after drafting two power forwards last month, a Boozer trade would likely mean additional moves to balance out their roster before training camp begins.