Daily Herald: Deal or no deal?

Less than two weeks remain until the Feb. 19 NBA trade deadline, and Bulls general manager John Paxson is working hard to find sensible deals.

He's already admitted one goal: Finding a new home for unused guard Larry Hughes. Beyond that, the Bulls will have some tough choices to make, mainly: Should they clear enough salary-cap room to shop during the celebrated 2010 free-agent summer?

The counter-argument is don't bother with 2010, because so many teams will have cap room to spend, they'll inevitably end up either empty-handed or paying way too much for someone.

Also consider that the two top big-man targets, Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire and Toronto's Chris Bosh, are likely to be dealt before hitting free agency. Some reports have the Suns ready to trade Stoudemire now.

With so many possibilities, let's examine some of the Bulls' choice for making a deal:

Option 1: Goodbye, Larry

Option 2: Make a bold move now - Bosh is likely to stay put for another year, but Stoudemire could be on the move soon.

Option 3: Clear salaries

Option 4: Change the chemistry

Option 5: Go for the risk, reward