NBA Draft 2010: Bulls may deal 17th pick in NBA Draft

With the 17th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls...

Will probably try not to use the 17th pick in the draft. That’s my sense for now, because if they don’t have the 17th pick, that means they probably traded it—and a player or two—for additional salary cap space to make a run at two top free agents.

This draft coming Thursday is going to be unusual, since, at least the Bulls at No. 17 and Miami at No. 18, are the most likely among others to try to move picks to keep from having to add that guaranteed first round salary and try to use the pick to get a team to also take one of their players to make themselves more attractive to free agents.

So if the Bulls use the pick, it might be a disappointment, though there’s also the possibility they could pick for another team with a deal to be completed later after a sign-and-trade.

It’s also most likely to be a spot in the draft where the Bulls hope someone falls through the cracks to them, as there are maybe 10 or 12 certain picks and a few guys who could slide, perhaps Cole Aldrich, Al-Farouq Aminu, Patrick Patterson or Xavier Henry. I’d take Henry if he did slide, though indications I’ve gotten lately is he’ll definitely be in the top 15.

So who do I think the Bulls will draft Thursday?

As we close in on the draft, lots of stuff is being floated, some of it real, some of it fake. Here are a few things I've heard that make sense.

I've been told that the Los Angeles Clippers could trade their No. 8 pick to Chicago for Luol Deng and the Bulls' 17th pick. I haven't gotten confirmation on this from a team official, but this trade is feasible because I know the Clippers aren't enamored with any of the guys they can get with the eighth pick. Also, their biggest position of need is small forward. Adding Deng would give them a starting five of Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Deng, Blake Griffin and Chris Kaman. That's pretty formidable. While this eats up most of the Clippers' cap space, they realize they weren't going to get one of the top-flight free agents anyway, certainly not if Donald Sterling refuses to sell the club.

For the Bulls, this would be an even greater move because they'd clear even more cap space by removing Deng's $10.3 million salary. When adding the $2.1 million they'd have to pay the eighth pick and subtracting the $1.3 million for their 17th pick, the Bulls would still be nearly $30 million under the cap. That's nearly enough to offer both LeBron James and Chris Bosh maximum contracts. To form a nucleus that would include James, Bosh, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, you'd think James and Bosh might be willing to give up $1 or $2 million.

Honestly, this deal sounds too good to be true for the Bulls (and yet it makes sense for the Clippers too). We'll see.