Thomas for Harrington Trade Talks
December 4, 2009
Mark Strotman gives his opinion on the recent Thomas for Harrington trade talks taking place between the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks. This is the first real discussions we have heard of a trade so far in this young season and it seems like a good fit for both parties.
Thomas is currently recovering from a broken forearm that has kept him out of the lineup for the last five weeks. Thomas has been getting better each year and at 23, still has plenty of room to grow. His high energy, athletic game could surely improve if he was put into a higher tempo offense. With the Bulls he is undersized to play in their half-court style, and would be a better player with the more uptempo Knicks.
Harrington would give the Bulls some instant offense, something they desperately need since they are 28th in scoring at just 91.4 ppg. Plus there is the added bonus of Harrington’s contract expiring after this season. This would let Bulls general manager John Paxson clear cap room to go after one of the coveted free agents this summer. With Harrington’s contract going off the books after the season, more cap space will be available for the Bulls to go after those free agents. Letting go of Thomas would save the Bulls approximately $13 million.
The Knicks will still have plenty of cap space for this year’s free agent class, even taking on Thomas. Thomas will be added to a young core that includes Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, and rookies Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas, giving the team a solid base to show any prospective free-agent (LeBron James) that the team has players around them that will help them win.
I’d like to see Harrington playing along the defensive minded Joakim Noah in the Bulls frontcourt and I think he’d definitely change the way this team looks. The Bulls already have Noah and now Taj Gibson to fill the same kind of role that Thomas does on the floor, so he’s pretty expendable.
You know who is not expendable if you want to beat the NBA point spreads? Handicapper Steve Merril, who has hit 65% over his last 77 NBA picks dating back to last year.
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