Chicago Bulls Rumors: New Derrick Rose Contract Will Silence Dwight Howard Buzz

The Chicago Bulls would have the best 1-2 punch since Shaq and Kobe if they were able to pair up Dwight Howard with Derrick Rose, but the contract that Rose has coming his way is going to make it impossible for the Bulls to make a play for the league's best big man.

CBS Sports said the Bulls were pursuing Howard in June. Now that Rose can earn up 30 percent of the cap and the Bulls are intent on getting him inked to a blockbuster deal first and foremost, they are going to have a tough time surrounding him with talent, much less a dominant center like Howard.

If the Bulls are able to pull in a potentially amnestied Brandon Roy, they should consider it a home run. While bringing in Howard and making the Bulls the most feared team in the East was worth exploring, it's hard to fathom how they could make way for Superman to enter the building.

Still, ESPN's Nick Friedell considers it a possibility. Oddly enough, the financial barriers are not what Friedell sites as the reasoning behind his pessimism that Howard could end up in Chicago.

Assuming they put together a package deal that left Rose in place, he believes Magic GM Otis Smith's unwillingness to part with Howard and the fact that the Bulls are in the East would put the brakes on this trade.

Still, it seems as though the Magic would take the bait if the right deal came along.

The last thing they want is for their superstar to slip into free agency and leave their franchise as burned as LeBron left Cleveland with the "Decision" nonsense.

Expect Howard to be on the move, but don't expect him to join Rose in Chicago.