I think Dwight Howard is the most valuable player in the league, but if I'm Chicago I don't think I'm willing to give up that much for him. Sounds silly, but I think Gibson is a deal breaker.
That does sound silly. If anybody should be a deal breaker, it should be Deng, who is the 2nd best player on the Bulls right now and one of the best wing defenders in the league.
Poor wording on my part. What I meant was that I understand that you need to give to get, and if I'm Chicago I'd be willing to part with Noah and Deng to land D12 (though I'm not sure Orlando would/should take that), but I don't think I'd be willing to part with Taj Gibson as well.
Partly, because I think Chicago may be bidding against themselves, as I think they're the only team that could persuade Orlando to trade D12 before the trade break.
Hm, perhaps. I'm of the opinion that Chicago shouldn't mess with a good thing anyway. They've been playing so well and they actually have room for improvement if they keep their roster as-is. So given that I'd say they're giving up too much by making the trade in the first place.
I think I disagree with you on both points.
I'm of the opinion that the Bulls are what they are, and I don't see how they could improve all that much. Out of the current roster, who do you see making a jump?
And while I'm a big believer in chemistry, I don't see how Howard could negatively effect what they've got. What I think makes him so valuable is that he's an easy plug in, 7 foot freak of an athlete who can score 20+ a night without having to draw plays for him.
I guess what I'd say in response that in a season like this, with so little time to come together, it would be really hard for any team that shakes up their roster so completely would be able to seriously compete for a title.
If Chicago is to make a big move like that to get Dwight, I think they should go for it in the off-season via a sign-and-trade, rather than ruin their chances to compete this year. If they suffer another disappointing defeat to the Heat (or some other team) as they did last season, it would make sense to shake things up.
As things stand, the Bulls have one of the top records in the league and they have a deep and well-integrated roster that just needs to get healthy at the right time to have a really good shot at winning it all.