NBA Trade Rumors: Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers talked Joakim Noah for LaMarcus Aldridge trade
By Josh Hill
There are plenty of NBA trade rumors floating around at the moment right now, but one of the more interesting trade rumors happens to be one that is actually no longer on the table. While the latest rumor with Chicago Bulls is that they aren’t looking to shop forward Luol Deng in a trade, they were apparently already engaged at one point in trade talks involving another core player.
According to Ric Bucher, the Bulls were in trade talks last summer with the Portland Trial Blazers with the idea of swapping center Joakim Noah for LaMarcus Aldridge.
"Who initiated them and how close they were to being consummated isn’t clear, but a deal sending Aldridge to Chicago for Joakim Noah was discussed, several sources said."
Obviously, the trade never happened but it’s interesting to hear that the Bulls were willing to move one of the faces of their franchise as far back as last summer. There have been rumblings of rebuilding, most notably from a report that Derrick Rose is not keen on the idea, but moving Noah would have been perhaps the biggest move the Bulls have made in the last decade.
The Blazers are counting their Christmas blessings that they didn’t pull the trigger on the Noah-Aldridge trade since their big man is now one of the brightest stars in the NBA and one of the anchors on a Portland team that looks to be headed for a deep postseason run.