Dwight Howard Trade Rumors: Why Chicago Bulls Won't Make Deal for D12

Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose would be the best one-two punch in the NBA, but the Chicago Bulls won't make a trade this season to make that dream a reality. This potential deal goes against everything the Bulls normally do. The potential is so great, yet the risk is significant, and therein lies the problem.

While Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com offers this trade scenario:

" Howard for Noah, Taj Gibson, C.J. Watson picks and cash Trades get so complicated in the NBA that sometimes you can overthink them. By just trading Noah and Gibson, the Bulls may be able to swing a deal. They wouldn't want to include Watson, but another player would have to go to Orlando to make the salaries work. The Bulls' bench depth will allow Thibodeau to get by just fine without Watson to run his second unit. "

The Bulls would hesitate to pull the trigger.

First, the Bulls love Taj Gibson. He plays good to great defense, he's athletic and has a great attitude. He is most Bulls fans' favorite power forward on the team. His strengths further expose Carlos Boozer's defensive deficiencies. Gibson carries a good amount of value within the organization and abroad.

Joakim Noah is an active big man, who most would have to agree is better suited at power forward, but the Bulls still value him. Still, losing him for Howard is a much easier pill to swallow than Gibson.

Gibson could very well be the Bulls power forward of the future, as patience has to be wearing thin with Boozer's poor defense and inconsistent offense. Right now, Boozer is averaging 15 points and 8.4 rebounds. Those are solid numbers, but it's beneath the level a player with a max contract should generate, and the defense has been horrible again this year.

Another playoff exit may just mean Boozer will be amnestied this offseason. That would leave Gibson as the starter, or a void, if he was moved. The Bulls would have to fill that spot even with Howard roaming the middle.

Contrary to what Doolittle believes, parting with C.J. Watson also creates an issue. He is the only capable backup point guard for the Bulls.

Yes, I saw John Lucas III in relief of both Rose and Watson this year. The five points per game he's averaging in 18 minutes are nice, but he isn't a legitimate backup to a starter on a championship-caliber team.

If the Bulls part with Watson, they would need to find a backup.

Those are the tangible factors that could cause the Bulls to hesitate on a D12 deal. The intangible factors are even more of a hindrance.

The Bulls are, by nature, an ultra-conservative organization. They lucked out gaining the top pick in the 2008 draft to select Rose. Rose is single biggest reason the team is headed in the right direction. After missing the playoffs seven out of the last 10 years prior, the Bulls haven't missed the postseason since Rose arrived.

This was not because of a bold move; it was because of the luck of the lottery. The Bulls could have completed trades for Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and others in recent years, but have hesitated to show the aggressiveness necessary to pull off such deals.

They have routinely struck out on big-name free agents in every year possible. Overall, the organization has not made any major splash in regards to player acquisition.

Now they have a very good team, that may or may not be good enough to reach the finals (I still say they aren't), but because of their success, they hesitate to make big deals.

It's the "leave well enough alone" school of team management.

It's hard to blame the Bulls; they were 62-20 last year and they are 22-6 so far this season.

Why mess with a good thing?

To be great.

Is it OK to look back and say "Boy, those three or four years the Bulls made the Eastern Conference finals sure were great"? Or is it better to say, "The Bulls did everything in their power to build an elite team; it just didn't work out"?

Both of those are worst-case scenarios, but I could deal with the latter much more easily.

Still, that is not the Bulls' way. The only hope Bulls/Howard fans have of the two joining is through free agency—and we all know how the Bulls have fared on that front.

It's not impossible that the Bulls' free-agent fortunes could change, and if still available, Howard could join the Bulls that way; chances of that increase if Boozer is amnestied.

There are, of course, no guarantees in free agency. However, it is almost certain the Bulls will not trade for Howard; that's just not in their nature.