Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports that the Bobcats have acquired Tyrus Thomas.

The Charlotte Bobcats have reached an agreement in principle to acquire Chicago Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas for Acie Law, Flip Murray and a future first-round pick, sources said.

Law and Murray have expiring deals, so the prize for the Bulls is the Bobcats’ pick, which will probably be in the late teens or 20s for the next couple of seasons.

For Charlotte, this is a low-risk move with some nice upside. Boris Diaw hasn’t been great at power forward, and Thomas should have plenty of opportunity to prove himself along the Bobcats’ front line. It will be interesting to see how his personality meshes with Larry Brown’s. Thomas has the talent to be a very good power forward, so if he can keep his head on straight, the Bobcats may very well re-sign him.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

I’ve been reliably assured that Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas, back at last from a forearm injury, remains highly available.

No trade partner has emerged for the enigmatic former No. 4 overall pick, but moving Thomas before the deadline is still Chicago’s intention.

The Bulls drafted Taj Gibson at least partly because they saw him as an ideal replacement for Thomas and they like the progress Gibson is making as a starter.

One look at the Bulls’ salary cap situation explains why the Bulls are so willing to move the talented Thomas. They are currently projected to have about $13 million in cap space without him on the books. Thomas will be a restricted free agent next summer, so to have the cap space to sign a big name free agent, the Bulls have to move either Thomas or John Salmons before the trade deadline for expiring deals, or waive the rights to Thomas altogether.

It’s possible that Salmons will opt out of the final year of his deal, but the Bulls probably don’t want to take that chance. They’d like to get some sort of asset for one or both of the players. The Bulls could also free up the necessary cap space by trading Kirk Hinrich, but the team has been reluctant since he’s such a versatile guard and good defender.

What constitutes a “breakout” season? To me, it’s a talented player who has been in the league at least one year who is about to see a big increase in minutes. Here is a list of 10 players (in no particular order) who I think will have career seasons in 2009-10.

1. Tyrus Thomas, Bulls
The 23 year-old is entering his fourth season and will probably be the Bulls’ starter at power forward. He averaged 10.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in 27.5 minutes last season, and an increase in minutes would enhance those numbers. Now that he has an effective mid-range jump shot, he can use that and his athleticism to get to the basket.

2. Anthony Randolph, Warriors
Randolph is a popular breakout pick this season after a great summer league and flashes of brilliance in his rookie year. He only played about 18 minutes per game last season, and is playing almost 28 minutes in the preseason, starting every game in which he’s appeared. Don Nelson may not start him during the regular season since he’s been battling some injuries, but expect him to get plenty of run this year.

3. Anthony Morrow, Warriors
Let’s stay in Oakland, shall we? Not to read too much into preseason stats, but through eight games, the second-year Morrow is averaging 22.0 points on 58% shooting (52% from 3PT). He’s going to come off the bench, but that might not last for long if Stephen Jackson eventually gets traded. Morrow is one of the league’s best shooters, nailing almost 47% of his threes a year ago.

4. Aaron Brooks, Rockets
With Yao Ming out and Tracy McGrady hobbled, the Rockets don’t have a whole lot of offensive options and Brooks is one of the best shooters the team has. He averaged 11.2 points in 25 minutes per game last season. If he gets 32-35 minutes per game, he should average somewhere in the 14-16 ppg range.

5. Louis Williams, 76ers
He’s a very different player than Andre Miller, the guy he’s being asked to replace. He isn’t going to drop a lot of dimes, but the guy can score, and if he gets starter’s minutes his averages are going to jump. In the preseason, he’s averaging 14.9 ppg in 27 minutes of PT.

6. Courtney Lee / Chris Douglas-Roberts, Nets
I’m listing them both because it’s not clear which will be the Nets’ starting shooting guard on opening day. It may not matter because the other might be the starting small forward. In the preseason, CDM and Lee are averaging 18.5 ppg and 17.0 ppg, respectively. While Devin Harris and Brook Lopez are likely to lead the Nets in scoring, Lee and Douglas-Roberts could both average 12-14 ppg.

7. J.R. Smith, Nuggets
Smith has already had a breakout year (in his first season with the Nuggets), but the departure of Dahntay Jones gives Smith the chance to start. George Karl started Jones last season because of his commitment to defense, so it’s just as likely that he finds another defensive-oriented off guard to fill that vacated role. Smith has the talent to start, but can he keep his head on straight and play enough defense to keep Karl happy? (By the way, he’s suspended for the first seven games.)

8. Channing Frye, Suns
After a nice rookie season (12p/6r) in New York, Frye wasn’t as good in his second season and landed in Portland where he didn’t get much run. Now he’s the starting center in Phoenix and is averaging 12.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in 26.8 minutes of playing time. The Suns are awfully thin on the front line, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Frye ends up playing 30-35 minutes a game.

9. Julian Wright, Hornets
While he isn’t shooting particularly well (41%) in the preseason, it appears that Byron Scott has finally given up on Peja Stojakovic and is ready to hand over the keys to Wright, who has started all six preseason games in which he has appeared. He’s a great athlete and versatile player, but the big mystery with Wright is his three-point shooting. He hit 10-24 attempts in his rookie season, but just 2-21 in his second year. The Hornets need shooters for Chris Paul to pass to, so if Wright doesn’t start knocking down shots, Scott might go back to Peja.

10. Hakim Warrick, Bucks
Warrick is leading the Bucks in preseason scoring with 14.4 ppg. He’ll battle with Luc Mbah a Moute, Carlos Delfino, Ersan Ilyasova and Joe Alexander for minutes. Scott Skiles will likely start Mbah a Moute at one forward spot because he’s a great defender, but the other is up for grabs. Regardless, Warrick should get plenty of minutes and is on a one-year contract, so he’s very motivated.

Tyrus Thomas not happy about coming off the bench. “I don’t think it should even be questionable from what I contributed to this team last season and what I did throughout camp, but like I said, he [Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro] is the guy that makes the decisions.” Del Negro gave the start to rookie Taj Gibson, who has started much of the preseason and has played pretty well, averaging 12.3 points and 5.9 rebounds. Del Negro said not to read too much into it, so keep Thomas on your list of breakout candidates.

Al Jefferson is out indefinitely with Achilles tendinitis. Coupled with Kevin Love’s hand surgery and the T-Wolves’ front line is not off to a very good start. Jefferson has been going in the second round of fantasy drafts, but expect him to fall into the fourth or fifth depending on what kind of news comes out of Minnesota. It’s starting to look like Big Al is injury-prone.

LaMarcus Aldridge pledges to get an extension signed by Oct. 31. Aldridge’s camp seems to think he’s a max contract player, but the Blazers don’t agree and aren’t willing to do a deal just to get him signed. It’s going to be interesting to see what he eventually signs for. I pegged his value at $13-$14 million per season, but with the projected drop in next year’s salary cap, I wouldn’t be surprised if he signed a deal that averaged a bit less.

Stephen Jackson plans to keep his cool tonight against Kobe. “I’m going to be me, but I guarantee I won’t feed into the nonsense. If it came down to a real fight, I know what would happen. I’m just going to leave that alone, go out and play basketball and try to help my team win.”

All in all, I think I did a pretty good job. Of the 12 players that signed a contract last summer, I correctly predicted the range for seven and was within $1.5 million for the other five. Granted, I underestimated what the Lakers would give Vujacic, but I find him so annoying that I have a tough time objectively determining his worth. (Though it should be noted that he didn’t do anything this season to justify $5.0 million per season.)

This year, I’m going to list the top names from the class of ’06 to try to determine what kind of extension they’ll get if their current teams choose to lock them up this summer instead of letting them hit restricted free agency in 2010. (I’ll tackle the restricted free agents of the class of ’05 in my free agency preview, which will run on 6/29.)

Due to the economy and the unwillingness of most owners to spend, the summer of 2009 promises to be tougher for free agents than years past, so we may see a few players stubbornness get the best of them. One executive predicted a “nuclear winter” of sorts, so at the very least, it will be interesting.

So here are the top players from the class of ’06 and my best estimate of the kind of money they’ll command. I’ll list their age, Player Efficiency Rating (PER), along with a few comparables.

Brandon Roy, G, Blazers
Age: 24
PER: 24.08
Comparables: Kobe Bryant ($23.0 M), Dwyane Wade ($15.8 M)
The Blazers hit a home run with Roy. In his third season, he averaged 22.6 points, 5.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. Moreover, he did it efficiently, shooting a stellar 48% from the field, 38% from long range and 82% from the line. Simply stated, he is one of the league’s best all-around players. I’d be shocked if the Blazers didn’t offer him a max contract, though he may elect to sign a shorter three- or four-year deal (like LeBron and Wade did) to give him more flexibility in the future. (Just to throw a little salt in the wounds, the Bobcats, Bulls, Hawks and Celtics all had a shot at Roy on the night of the draft and passed.)
Value: $14.5 M – $15.5 M per year, depending on the salary cap

LaMarcus Aldridge, PF, Blazers
Age: 23
PER: 19.13
Comparables: Antawn Jamison ($13.4 M), David West ($9.0 M), Amare Stoudemire ($17.0 M)
The Blazers hit another home run with Aldridge. In his third season, the smooth shooting power forward averaged 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 48% from the floor. I seriously doubt Portland will be able to get him to sign a West-type deal. He’s going to command more than that, though it’s pretty clear that he’s not a “franchise” player, so he probably won’t get a max contract.
Value: $13.0 M – $14.0 M per year

Rajon Rondo, PG, Celtics
Age: 23
PER: 18.90
Comparables: Jameer Nelson ($7.7 M), Chauncey Billups ($12.0 M), Jose Calderon ($8.0 M), Devin Harris ($8.8 M)
It’s going to be interesting to see if Rondo and the Celtics will be able to come to terms on an extension this summer. He’s a great guard, and has improved in his biggest area of weakness (shooting), but he has a reputation for being a pain in the ass. The C’s can argue that Rondo thrived playing alongside three All-Stars, while Rondo’s camp can point to his playoff stats — 16.9 ppg, 9.8 apg, 9.7 rpg — as proof of what he can do as one of the main cogs in the offense. I think he’ll get a little more than Harris but not as much as Billups.
Value: $9.0 M – $10.0 M per year

Rudy Gay, SF, Grizzlies
Age: 22
PER: 15.38
Comparables: Tayshaun Prince ($10.8 M), Richard Jefferson ($14.7 M), Corey Maggette ($9.6 M), Luol Deng ($11.9 M)
Gay’s value is a little tough to pin down. He posted good numbers on a bad team, but wasn’t terribly efficient in his play, as evidenced by his just-above-average PER. He can score (18.9 ppg) and his rebounding (5.5 rpg) is decent, but he’s not a playmaker (1.7 apg, 0.7 A/TO ratio). I wouldn’t be surprised if he and the Grizzlies find themselves miles apart when they sit down at the negotiation table. I think he’s more valuable than Maggette, but doesn’t have the reputation of Deng. However, both of those contracts seem quite high at this point, so I’d estimate Gay’s value at or below Maggette’s.
Value: $8.0 M – $9.0 M per year

Andrea Bargnani, FC, Raptors
Age: 23
PER: 14.66
Comparables: Tim Thomas ($6.5 M), Nenad Krstic ($5.4 M)
After a pretty disastrous sophomore season (39% from the field), Bargnani bounced back and posted decent offensive numbers in 2008-09. He averaged 15.4 points and shot almost 41% from long range. His rebounding (5.3) is pretty bad for a seven-footer, and has a reputation of being a mediocre to poor defender. Both areas should improve as he gets stronger, but he’s a long way from becoming the next Dirk Nowitzki. Like Thomas, I think the Raptors will wait to see how Bargnani develops in his fourth season before committing to a long term deal. Even then, he’ll probably just sign a three-year deal so that he can sign another contract at 27, when he (hopefully) reaches his potential.
Value: $7.0 M – $8.0 M per season

Ronnie Brewer, SG, Jazz
Age: 24
PER: 16.19
Comparables: Jamal Crawford ($9.8 M), Delonte West ($4.4 M), Tayshaun Prince ($10.8 M), Shane Battier ($7.1 M)
Brewer is known more for his defense, but he’s a capable scorer (13.7 ppg, 51% FG%), who gets his points on layups and putbacks. His three point shot is still shaky (26%), but it’s improving, and he only takes about one per game. He’s an athlete with a 6’11″ wingspan, and the Jazz need his defense if they hope to get past Kobe and Co. in the postseason anytime soon. He’s not the stopper that Prince or Battier is, but he’s better offensively than Battier, at least from a scoring standpoint.
Value: $6.0 M – $7.0 M per year

Tyrus Thomas, F, Bulls
Age: 22
PER: 15.95
Comparables: Al Harrington ($10.0 M), Jason Maxiell ($5.0 M)
Thomas is an athletic freak who has improved his skill set in his first three seasons. He now has a pretty dependable shot out to about 18-feet, and he’s a terrific shot blocker on the other end of the court. His third-year averages of 10.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in 27.5 minutes are pretty solid, but his field goal percentage (45%) is low for a forward. This is mostly due to a lack of finishing ability, which is surprising considering his overall athleticism. I think the Bulls are going to want to see how he develops for another season before signing him to an extension, as I’m guessing that the franchise and his camp are miles apart on his true value.
Value: $6.0 M – $7.0 M per year

On the heels of what many are labeling the greatest first round NBA series of all-time, there’s already been a lot of talk about how good the recently exited Chicago Bulls can be next year. And with good reason: Derrick Rose is already on his way to becoming one of the game’s best point guards, Ben Gordon (despite the fact that he plays worse defense than the 2008 Detroit Lions) is a lights-out scorer, and Joakim Noah can do it all from a defensive and rebounding perspective.

But perhaps the most intriguing player in this year’s Celtics-Bulls classis series was Tyrus Thomas. His play was a bit of a revelation in the series, as he consistently knocked down the 18-foot jump shot NBA 4s need to make, and his athleticism continues to be off the charts. He’s got the potential to be an all-star.

There is a saying in the NFL that it takes three years to truly evaluate a draft class, and to a lesser extent this is true in the NBA as well. Since Thomas and Boston’s stud PG Rajon Rondo are both from the 2006 NBA Draft class, how about we take a look at who the top 10 picks were, and who the revised top 5 should be?

2006 Draft (the actual top 10)

1. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors

2. LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers

3. Adam Morrison, Charlotte Bobcats

4. Tyrus Thomas, Chicago Bulls

5. Shelden Williams, Atlanta Hawks

6. Brandon Roy, Portland Trail Blazers

7. Randy Foye, Minnesota Timberwolves

8. Rudy Gay, Memphis Grizzlies

9. Patrick O’Bryant, Golden State Warriors

10. Saer Sene, Seattle SuperSonics

2006 Draft (the should-have-been top 5)

1. Brandon Roy

2. Rajon Rondo

3. LaMarcus Aldridge

4. Rudy Gay

5. Tyrus Thomas

The ’06 class has hardly set the world on fire in its first three years, with its only redeeming value being that they’ve featured second-round gems like Utah’s Paul Millsap, Cleveland’s Daniel Gibson and Boston’s Leon Powe. But in terms of potential star power, don’t stick a fork in 2006 yet – all 5 of my revised top picks could end up as all-stars.

If the teams could do it over, who do you think they’d take?

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Bulls are talking about a deal that would allow them to land Chris Bosh.

The Amare Stoudemire trade talk still has the Bulls among the teams most involved, but a new scenario making the rounds has the Bulls taking part in a three-team deal that would bring Toronto Raptors star Chris Bosh to Chicago.

The rumored swap would send Stoudemire to Toronto and land the Phoenix Suns a package of players and draft picks from the Bulls, likely to include Drew Gooden and his expiring $7.2 million contract, Tyrus Thomas and a first-round pick.

Maybe I’m wrong, but this just sounds like wishful thinking by Brian Hanley, the writer of the article. He doesn’t even say that he has a source — he just calls it a “rumored swap,” which means he might have read about it on some fan blog somewhere. (Not this one, of course.)

The Raptors have said all along that they don’t want to move Bosh and with the recent actions by the Suns indicating that they may in fact keep Stoudemire, I don’t really see how this deal goes down. Besides, if you’re the Suns, wouldn’t you rather do a straight up Bosh-for-Amare swap than to do a three-team deal and trade for Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden and a few other pieces? Bosh’s trade value is higher than Stoudemire’s because he’s two years younger, hasn’t had microfracture surgery and has a reputation for being a solid defender.

If I were a Bulls fan, I wouldn’t hold my breath. This just sounds too good to be true.

2/18 Update: Toronto GM Brian Colangelo says there is “no truth” to the trade rumor.