Deng/Gordon for Allen is ridiculous, but Chicago is an intriguing trading partner. Danny's stated he isn't going to repeat the mistakes of the late 80's and hold onto the core of an aging roster for too long because of sentimental attachment, so I expect Allen to be moved for someone younger either next summer or before the deadline that season. People here seem to have little interest in Gordon, but he'd fit very well at the 2 guard position on this team, offensively speaking at least. He would fill in for Ray as a catch and shoot, spread the floor type of 3 point safety valve excellently, and would open up the floor for Pierce's slashing and midrange game very well. Obviously we lose something on defense, but Gordon should fit the team spectacularly on offense.
Chicago has two players with suitable contracts to make the trade work, and both would fill in interestingly as 6th men on this team. Nocioni would be the preferable player, as he can step into James Poseys' role from last year, and could likely improve on it. He has the size and ability to play either forward position, and enough outside game to stretch the floor as the 4 in our smallball lineup. He would be especially helpful now that we've decided to go small with our backups and resign both Tony and House. Additionally, getting Nocioni's contract off the books(a 6th man making over 8 million dollars on a rebuilding team makes no sense) and adding Allen's sets the Bulls up to have massive cap room in the summer of 2010. They would be looking at Rose and Hinrich in the backcourt, Deng on the wing, either Thomas or Noah underneath, and have enough cap room to max out either Amare or Chris Bosh.
Short of Nocioni, Larry Hughes could be workable, although I don't like this idea nearly as much now that we've decided to bring TA back. I understand the reasons people don't like him(injury prone, not exactly committed, "too many tatoos") but he'd be a good scorer to bring off the bench, a serviceable defender, and someone we could bring in as an emergency ballhandler if we needed to, as well as someone who gives us a big expiring contract next summer.
Again, now that we've brought back TA I don't love the idea of Larry Hughes, so I'm not going to bother defending that particular package, it's just the other contract that would be sensible in a trade. However, if we were to give Gordon closer to what he's looking for, we may be able to convince the Bulls to work out a sign and trade. Something along the lines of Gordon/Nocioni would be a very appealing package for Ray, either Baby or Powe, and maybe a future pick(if necessary) would be something Danny would have to at least give some serious consideration to.
