The trade market has been busy leading up to the draft tonight, but the Bulls seemingly are content to stand pat with their two first-round picks (Nos. 16 and 26).
The Portland Trail Blazers traded the 24th and 56th picks Wednesday to the Dallas Mavericks for the 22nd. Portland, rumored to still have interest in trading for Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich, could use the pick to package with a player to move up into the lottery. Beyond some talk late last week that they tried to deal for the New Jersey Nets' No. 11 pick, the Bulls' trade buzz has quieted of late.
That could change by the time commissioner David Stern is standing at the podium in New York next to slam-dunk No. 1 pick Blake Griffin, who will be wearing a Los Angeles Clippers cap.
Beyond Griffin, the 6-10 forward from Oklahoma, being selected first overall, anything is possible. Particularly for the Bulls , who are considering some of the same players the five teams picking before them have on their draft boards.
''When we analyze the draft, there's probably eight or so players we feel there's no way they get down into the area we're at,'' Bulls general manager Gar Forman said. ''After that, teams are looking for a lot of the same guys.''
Even if the Bulls have plans to trade Hinrich or Tyrus Thomas tonight or later this summer, Forman said such deals wouldn't affect the team's draft.
''They could tie together,'' he said, speaking of hypothetical deals. ''But, at this point, I don't think there is a trade that would affect what we're doing at 16 or 26.
''We'll take the best available player that fits into our system and what we're trying to accomplish, regardless of position.''
Should the Bulls decide to go big at No. 16, they will pick from whoever is left among Wake Forest's James Johnson, North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair, Ohio State's B.J. Mullens or Louisville's Earl Clark.
Those players could be gone because the Indiana Pacers (No. 13), Phoenix Suns (No. 14) and Detroit Pistons (No. 15) also have interest in getting bigger.
''One of the things we've talked about in the past is a low-post scorer,'' Forman said. ''But when you get that deep in the draft, I'm not sure you can pinpoint a specific need and meet it. If we can, we'd go ahead and address it.
''The same player at 10 may be there at 20. There's no way to know how it will break. At the same time, we're still looking at players that maybe we feel won't get to 16. So would it be worthwhile for us to move up and try to get somebody higher?''
That would be the case should the Bulls choose to go with a guard, the premium position in this draft. Ten of the first 13 picks could be guards, including two -- Louisville's Terrence Williams and Duke's Gerald Henderson -- the Bulls would grab should either fall to 16.
''We like our young core, we really do,'' Forman said. ''We like the direction we're headed. At the same time, each and every day, whether it's via trade, the draft or free agency, we're always trying to get better. Derrick Rose is obviously going to be a centerpiece [at] point guard for years to come. We still may take a point guard if we feel the best player available at 16 is a point guard.''
