Cutting bait with Wallace right move, but what next?

HOUSTON -- In the aftermath of Thursday's departure of Ben Wallace, the most comical occurrence has been the number of people claiming that no one criticized the Wallace signing when it happened.

That is absolutely false. There may not have been a firestorm of anguish when the Bulls plucked Wallace away from the rival Detroit Pistons, but a number of analysts questioned the move.

Of course, few people expected Wallace to join the Bulls until general manager John Paxson and former coach Scott Skiles made the recruiting trip to suburban Detroit on July 1, 2006.

The scenario was presented in this paper before free agency began that summer: The Bulls had the cap room to outbid the Pistons for Wallace's services, but why would they? He'd turn 32 before putting on a Bulls uniform. He was an undersized center joining an already undersized lineup. Plus, the Bulls were already solid defensively. Spending an average of $15 million per year for Wallace was a very debatable move.

At the same time, he did pay dividends last season. Wallace averaged 10.7 rebounds, but more important, he stayed on the court. He didn't have the constant foul problems that plagued Tyson Chandler, and he helped the Bulls improve their enormous free-throw deficit from the previous season.

This year, Wallace's skills continued to fade, while the Bulls got even younger by adding rookies Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray to the mix. The Bulls are showing some optimistic trends for the future, but Wallace didn't fit anywhere on that blueprint. Needless to say, they don't figure to miss him on the court.

Now the question is whether the Bulls created another issue by trading Wallace for Cleveland's unwanted free-agent addition, guard Larry Hughes.

If the No. 1 reason for making the trade was to create playing time for Noah and Tyrus Thomas, then No. 2 was providing insurance in case the Bulls cannot re-sign Ben Gordon this summer.

The thing is, the Bulls can't simply choose between Gordon and Hughes. They have to assume Hughes, with two years and $26.5 million left on his contract, will not be very marketable this summer. So the Bulls have to either find time for four front-line guards or trade someone else.

Thabo Sefolosha probably won't go anywhere now that he's starting to blossom, and Kirk Hinrich is the best ballhandler of the four. The Bulls may explore sign-and-trade scenarios with Gordon this summer, perhaps trying to package him with Andres Nocioni.

But if the Bulls do trade Gordon, who would they get in return?

If it's a scoring big man they're looking for, Kevin Garnett and Pau Gasol are staying put. Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal should be available but is expensive and injury prone. The Clippers figure to pay big money to keep Elton Brand. There may be an outside chance the Lakers deal Lamar Odom, but there are no obvious targets.

Maybe the Bulls would try to find a playmaking guard? Or take short-term contracts to free cap room in 2010, when Chicago-area native Dwyane Wade can become a free agent?

Of course, there are also questions about whether the Bulls would have a late-game go-to guy or an explosive scorer without Gordon on the roster.

For now, the early trade returns are positive. The Bulls are remarkably faster and deeper with their current lineup. The future looks brighter, but questions remain.

mmcgraw@dailyherald.com