NBA Trade Rumors: Hold the Mayo, Chicago Bulls Closing in on Courtney Lee Deal?

"Chicago has been looking to add a shooting guard, and the buzz now is that they are going to get that done, and the name being tossed around is Courtney Lee from the Houston Rockets right now," NBA analyst Ric Bucher said on ESPN. "But one way or another, sources say that they are going to add a key piece to their run."

Chicago has been working the phones trying hard to secure a shooting guard for the stretch run. 

While they've been going with a committee approach through the season with Keith Bogans, Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver, they are last in the NBA in points scored by the shooting guard position. 

Part of the problem has been that while they can either get the offense without defense from Korver, the defense from Brewer without offense, or something less than average in both with Bogans, they don't really have a shooting guard who can both shoot and guard.

Courtney Lee would fit the bill as he's a decent shooter, shooting 38.2 percent from behind the arc.

According to ESPN's John Hollinger, "We pretty much know the story with Lee after just two seasons. He's a good defender but not a dominating one. He'll hit open shots but won't create that many. In short, he's a near-perfect role-playing wing..."

Which is exactly what the Bulls are looking for—a role-playing wing.

They aren't looking for someone who will take the ball out of Derrick Rose's hands.

Chicago is looking for someone who can compliment Rose in the backcourt and take some of the offensive pressure off their MVP candidate—without being a detriment on the defensive end. 

Furthermore, the Bulls would be able to obtain Lee without having to give up anybody on the current roster.They gained this flexibility in trading away James Johnson to the Raptors for the Heat's first-round pick for this year. That pick may be part of the deal involving Lee. 

The Rockets are asking for Omer Asik, but the Bulls are reluctant to part with the promising seven-foot Turkish rookie. They are pushing for the Rockets to take only draft picks. 

The Rockets, meanwhile, are engaged in Shane Battier-for-Hasheem Thabeet conversations.This could actually help the Bulls as the salary disparity between the two would be alleviated with the offloading of Courtney Lee's salary without having to take a player in return. 

There are also reports that the Bulls earlier offered Korver and picks to Memphis in return for OJ Mayo—a former lottery pick who has since fallen out of favor—but were turned down.It is unclear whether the conversations are still ongoing, but it does appear that the Grizzlies are asking for more than the Bulls are willing to part with.

*UPDATE* K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune is reporting that, "t's unclear which team tried to expand CLee talks, but one variation became Asik/Bogans for Brad Miller/C Lee. Bulls want to keep Asik."