Lamarcus Aldridge Trade Rumors: Bulls Must Avoid Including Joakim Noah in Deal

In the 2006 NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls selected Lamarcus Aldridge at No. 2 overall, but opted to trade the rights to him to the Portland Trail Blazers, in exchange for the rights to Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa.

The decision is still being rued in Chicago.

So it's no surprise that the Bulls are interested in acquiring Aldridge, per Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald. 

According to McGraw, the Trail Blazers want Luol Deng and Joakim Noah in exchange for Aldridge. As of now, the Bulls reportedly don't want to include Noah in the deal.

While including Deng in the deal would make sense for the Bulls, including Noah makes no sense.

Adding a skilled big man in Aldridge would certainly help the Bulls, especially offensively. They ranked 25th in the NBA in field-goal percentage in 2012-13. Aldridge averaged 21.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks last season. He shot 48 percent from the floor despite taking 753 of his 1,318 shot attempts (57 percent) from mid-range, per NBA.com. He also shot 81 percent from the free-throw line.

But adding Aldridge while dismissing Deng and Noah—two of Chicago's core players who were both All-Stars in the absence of Derrick Rose last season—wouldn't make the Bulls any better off.

Noah averaged 11.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.2 steals last season. Deng averaged 16.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals. Both were central parts of a strong Bulls defense guided by coach Tom Thibodeau. The Bulls allowed an average of 5.2 points more per 100 possessions with Noah off the floor, via 82games.com.

Aldridge is a fine player, but giving up Deng and Noah—particularly Noah—in exchange for the two-time All-Star would be an ill-advised decision.

Keep in mind, before Rose was injured in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, the Bulls—complete with Deng and Noah—were among the favorites to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy. So getting rid of Deng and Noah before Rose returns to action in 2013-14 seems to be disregarding this important fact.

It may be tempting for Chicago to overpay for Aldridge, but the Bulls must resist this temptation.