Sam:

As one of my correspondents wrote, this would be an ideal time for Noah to return with marijuana being legalized in Illinois. But, alas, probably not. How about Pau Gasol? There have been rumors about Taj Gibson, though more about that kind of reasonably paid (for the NBA) veteran with a strong work ethic and locker room attitude who would eagerly come off the bench and work with youngsters. Not that the Bulls are serious competitors, but they really aren't as far away as they seem. They were a 35-win team last season that won 22 games because of injuries first and then inertia later. They've pretty much got a legitimate starting five with Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, Otto Porter Jr. and Wendell Carter Jr. Perhaps Coby White before too long. Maybe Kris Dunn still? So they are not necessarily looking for starters. Yes, they would take Kawhi if he wanted to come for the $23 million available salary cap space. But it's also not like they are trying to jump from 22 wins. They would be if they were playing Wayne Selden, Rawle Alkins, Brandon Sampson and Timothy Luwawu-hyphen. But they are not. I'd be fine with Noah given his size and teammate friendly demeanor, though I get the sense he and Rose aren't high priorities.

There will be plenty of rumors once the bidding starts Sunday, and we've already heard a few like Darren Collison, Cory Joseph, and apparently anyone who ever played for the Pacers, Malcolm Brogdon, Patrick Beverley, Tyus Jones, Julius Randle, and many more to come. The problem the Bulls have is their salary cap amount of about $23 million after apparently getting approval to remove the $3 million for Omer Asik because of injury. The Bulls are not in the major bidding for the top free agents like Leonard, Jimmy Butler, the various injured Warriors and Kemba Walker (by the way, whoever thought the six foot, shoot first and defenseless point guard would be a $150 million player? So there's always hope.). Then comes the $20-some millions guys like D'Angelo Russell and perhaps Brogdon and Randle, though the latter probably is too small to team with Markkanen. The Bulls seemed to indicate their priority was to divide up the total and an exception among two or three players. So that could require having the market set, which means a player like, say, Collison may wait to see what Joseph gets. Then he says I'm better than him, so I should get 50 percent more. But they don't know now. If a player signs early, he guarantees a salary, but then maybe he prices himself too low. But if he waits, perhaps the chairs all are filled and he has to settle for less. It makes for so many unknowns that the Bulls could sign two players July 3. Or maybe no one until August. With almost 200 free agents, this could last awhile.