The Bulls have released 25-year old power forward Chris Richard and 25-year old small forward Rob Kurz. Richard played in 18 games (0 starts) for the Bulls last season and he averaged 12.4 minutes, 2.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He has now played in 70 games (3 starts) in his two years in the NBA and he has averaged 11.1 minutes, 1.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Kurz did not get into any games last season. He played in 40 games (5 starts) as a rookie with the Warriors in 2008-09 in which he averaged 11.1 minutes, 3.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. If the Bulls want either of these guys to round out the bench they will be able to sign them late in the off-season.

The Chicago Bulls are hot on the trail of LeBron James but if they don’t get him they still will reload. The Bulls have a huge need at shooting guard and only three big time free agents play that position. Dwyane Wade isn’t coming to Chicago. That leaves Ray Allen and Joe Johnson as possible fits and I would like either of them on the Bulls who had no real outside shooting last season. Power forward is another need despite Taj Gibson looking solid as a rookie. Myself I think that Dirk Nowitzki would be a perfect fit for the Bulls because of his all-around game. Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer and David Lee would also likely be in the conversation at power forward if Nowitzki re-signs with the Mavericks. Regardless of who the Bulls’ sign or trade for I think they are a team on the rise.

The Bulls have picked 20-year old power forward Kevin Seraphin with the 17th overall pick of the NBA Draft out of France. He will likely be traded to the Wizards on July 8th along with Kirk Hinrich. Seraphin played in 97 games (47 starts) in France and he averaged 7.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Bulls would have certainly picked a better player then Seraphin if they had kept the pick.

UPDATE: (7/8/2010) – Seraphin is officially a Washington Wizard.

Although a trade of this kind can’t be officially announced until July 8th it appears as though the Bulls have traded Kirk Hinrich and the #17 overall pick to the Washington Wizards for a future 2nd round pick. Hinrich played 7 years for the Bulls appearing in 514 games (433 starts) in which he averaged 34.0 minutes, 13.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. This trade looks very lopsided in the Wizards’ favor but it opens up enough cap space for the Bulls that they could sign to max contract players.

UPDATE: The Wizards have sent the rights to 25-year old power forward Vladimir Veremeenko to the Bulls to complete this trade. He was a 2006 draft pick of the Wizards who is currently playing in Russia.

The biggest need for the Chicago Bulls heading into tomorrow night’s NBA Draft is shooting guard. Kirk Hinrich is much better as a #3 guard than a starting shooting guard. Most experts have the Bulls selecting SG James Anderson of Oklahoma State. But the Bulls could possibly sell the pick with the idea that they would have more bucks to spend in free agency. I think that would be a bad move for the Bulls who should probably pick Anderson or the best player available. The Bulls only pick in the draft as of now is #17 overall.

The Bulls have signed Tom Thibodeau to a 3-year deal to be the new head coach. His contract will be worth $6.5 million bucks. He was the associate head coach of the Boston Celtics. This won’t be officially announced until the NBA Finals is over but it’s a done deal. Thibodeau runs the defense for the Celtics which has been a impressive unit this year. It’s not a reach to expect the Bulls to improve on defense next season. Thibodeau was pursued by a few teams so this looks like a solid hire for the Bulls.

The second the Bulls were knocked out of the playoffs all the talk was about them getting their hands on LeBron James. They have a decent small forward themselves and I think they might be a better team if they kept Deng and went after D-Wade instead. Deng played in 70 games (69 starts) for the Bulls last season and he averaged 37.9 minutes, 17.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. He has now played in 403 games (357 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 34.2 minutes, 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. A lot of things that fans forget is that Deng is only 25 years old so he has a lot of basketball still in front of him.