NBA Rumors: The Chicago Bulls Are Better Off Without Carmelo Anthony

The Carmelo Anthony saga is nearing its inevitable end at a rapid pace. As the trade deadline approaches Denver will be forced to trade their superstar, in order to get some value, rather than being left with nothing like Cleveland with LeBron James.

The current rumour is that there are four major options left for 'Melo. New Jersey, New York, Chicago and, of course, Denver. But is this a realistic assessment, or do the Bulls have too much to lose in a trade for Anthony?

For Carmelo, Chicago fits all his prerequisites. Chicago can offer him good money, but they are already an outside contender, who would become one of the strongest teams in the east with the addition of him. If he really wants to win a title, Chicago is a better shot than New York, whatever their current win/loss records may indicate.

From Chicago's perspective, though, Anthony is hopefully considered too much of a risk to take a gamble on. In order to secure his services, they would have to trade one of their young "Big Three" players, likely Joakim Noah.

While Noah is not the calibre of player Anthony is yet, he fits into the Bulls system perfectly and has proved time and time again to be invaluable. The east is the conference of the big man, and losing Noah for Anthony would put the Bulls at a disadvantage against teams like the Magic, the Celtics or the Knicks.

Noah is also yet to clock serious time on court with both Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer, which means that the best is by far yet to come for him as a player.

Carmelo, on the other hand, is somewhat an unknown quantity. He may be the best pure shooter in the league, but he is also undisciplined and, by being at the center of the current media frenzy, has shown that he may care about Carmelo before the Team.

And focusing on Carmelo's strongest point, his shooting, is this something that the Bulls really need to make them contenders? There is no doubting Anthony raises the level of any team he is on, but Derrick Rose has proved this season to be an excellent scorer and creator of offence.

If the Bulls were to look to trade for any player, it should be a player who is a tight defender rather than an explosive scorer with poor defence skills they would get with Carmelo Anthony.

Despite being 'Melo's choice, The Knicks may actually be the best destination for a player like Anthony. The Bulls have such a good up-and-coming team that now is the time to consolidate the team rather than getting rid of functional pieces of the puzzle on a gamble.