The Bulls are burning up the phone lines trying to trade 23-year old power forward Tyrus Thomas who has appeared to worn out his welcome in Chicago. Thomas has played in 27 games (3 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 23.2 minutes, 8.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.6 blocked shots per game. His season started late due to injury and he has been in and out of Vinny Del Negro’s Dog House all year long. The Bulls are trying to add either Kirk Hinrich or John Salmons to any deal including Thomas and that might be a hard sell.

Derrick Rose is the first All-Star for the Chicago Bulls since Michael Jordan, but now it looks like the star point guard could miss out on his first All-Star game and his chance at defending his Skills Competition Title.  Early in the first quarter in last night’s game against the Orlando Magic, the explosive Rose drove hard to the hoop and took it up strong against the beast that is Dwight Howard.  While airborne, the 6-3 190 pound Rose was bumped hard by the 6-11 265 pound Howard and went down hard on his lower right back/hip.  Rose laid there for a while in obvious pain, clutching his hand to the point of impact.  He hobbled off the court with help from the trainer, and did not return to action.  He was taken to the locker room for X-rays, which fortunately were negative and showed no structural damage.  He was then taken to the hospital for a precautionary MRI, and results are still pending.  The Bulls were crushed after Rose left, losing 107-87.  I am optimistic that Rose will be okay, but at the very least he will have to deal with some pain and severe stiffness for a few days.  Hopefully things are not worse, especially since the Bulls have been without center and rebounding machine Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis).  It wasn’t all bad news for Rose last night though, as it was announced before the game that Rose was 1 of 27 players selected to be a part of the USA National Team pool, which will eventually be made into the 12 man roster for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich has not been the player he once was, and he is a big reason why the Bulls have been inconsistent this season.  Hinrich has played in 42 games (21 starts) this season, and is averaging 10.0 points, 4.5 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.0 steals.  Now those aren’t terrible numbers, but other than last season where he was limited to 51 games (thumb), they are all career lows.  Also consider the fact that he is shooting a dismal 37.7% (career-low) from the field and is hitting only 34.9% of his threes (career-low).  Hinrich is still a very good wing defender, but at only 6’3″ and 190 pounds, he is undersized.  It looks like the Bulls are looking to trade Hinrich, who is making over $9 million this year and for the next two seasons.  I’m not sure what the Bulls can expect to get back for Hinrich, but trading him will help free up some more cap space for the big 2010 free agency class that includes superstars like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh.

The Chicago Bulls have signed 25-year old power forward Chris Richard to a 10-day contract. He one played one year in the NBA (2007-08). That year he played in 52 games (3 starts) for the T-Wolves in which he averaged 10.7 minutes, 1.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He will give the Bulls another big body off the bench until Joakim Noah is ready to return to action after the All Star break.

The Bulls have decided to shut down starting center Joakim Noah as he has a case of plantar fasciitis. Noah has played in 46 games (all starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 32.7 minutes, 11.2 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. This was a smart move for the Bulls because Noah is probably the 2nd best player on the Bulls behind Derrick Rose and they can’t afford to lose him for longer if they keep playing him. Brad Miller will take over in the middle for the Bulls. He has played in 47 games (10 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 21.1 minutes, 7.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Look for Miller to replace what Noah does on offense but the Bulls’ will suffer in both rebounding and defense until Noah returns to action.

Veteran center Brad Miller is not getting much playing time this season with Joakim Noah stepping up. Miller has played in 45 games (10 starts) for the Bulls this season and he is averaging 20.8 minutes, 7.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. A lot of trade rumors have come up with Miller involved in them. But, unless the Bulls can make the team better for the rest of the year it just doesn’t make sense to trade Miller.

The Chicago Bulls seem like a whole new ball club after some very impressive performances on their recent 7-game road trip against some strong competition in the Western Conference.  They dropped the first two to the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers, but went on to win the next five games against the Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the New Orleans Hornets to finish the road trip at 5-2 and bringing their season record to 23-22.  That is good enough for the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference at the moment, but it is only 1.5 games back of the 5th spot which is currently held by the Toronto Raptors.  If the Bulls continue their winning ways, they will definitely get that 5th seed come playoff time, and possibly even better.  Derrick Rose has been playing great, and he has been getting great support from his role players, but head coach Vinny Del Negro deserves a lot of credit.  After rumors were swirling that Del Negro would be fired only a few weeks ago, he has gotten this young Bulls team to play great.  Analyst and Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley agrees, saying “Vinny has done a good job,” and that he thinks the Bulls disrespected him for not backing him up amongst the firing rumors.  He has turned the Bulls into a dangerous team.