Lorenzen Wright, a 13 year NBA veteran, was found dead in Memphis.

The Memphis native had been listed as a missing person by his family on July 22. Reports haven’t listed Wright’s death as a homicide, but his body was found in the woods. Also, investigators and health officials have not said what could have caused the death.

Wright played at Memphis University and was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers with the seventh pick in 1996. After three seasons with Los Angeles, he played for the Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

His last stint in the NBA was with the Cavaliers in the 08-09 season.

It is never pleasant to hear someone has past away. Homicide (although it is not confirmed) is extremely sad and not wished upon anyone. Bullshome.com offers condolences and expresses a moment of silence for Lorenzen Wright.

Rosters are starting to take shape, especially for the Chicago Bulls. They traded away Tyrus Thomas, John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich for expiring contracts that are now off the books and future draft picks. The Bulls are starting to build the roster and our only six days into the free agent signing period.

Boozer and Korver are officially signed. Yesterday, the Bulls signed 7 ft center Omer Asik from Turkey. Asik was originally drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in 2008, but was immediately traded to the Bulls. He has been developing for the past two years in Euroleague play. Chicago needs a big man who can defend a Dwight Howard or a Pau Gasol. Asik looks long and lengthy but is a great shot blocker. Maybe he will defend with intimidation as his best aspect; that’s what Ben Wallace did. Scouts seem to think he has solid NBA skills.

“Center seems to be his natural position as he loves playing with his back to the basket possessing a good assortment of moves to get his shot off … He is a tenacious rebounder going for the offensive boards as well as wiping the defensive glass.”

This isn’t saying he will dominate, but he will add depth off the bench. The Bulls have been a team that relies on six to seven players, maybe Tom Thibodeau’s run as head coach will bring in a new era called use the bench.

In other NBA news:

Golden State gets forward David Lee
New York gets forward Anthony Randolph,forward Kelenna Azubuike, forward Ronny Turiaf and a 2010 second-round pick.

Golden State wins the trade. Lee is a great rebounder and can put up 20 to 25 points any night. He is perfect for the run and gun tempo of the Don Nelson’s Warriors. New York got three so-so players. The second round pick will more than likely lead to the same type of player. Randolph is a solid player with upside but he isn’t going to develop into an all-star. He will be a great sixth man or a contributing role player. Warriors get an all-star and the Knicks get three similar players who will not amount to much.

Miami resigned forward Udonis Haslem.

Haslem has been a blue collar player for the Heat since 2002, it only seems right to bring him back to attempt to win another championship. He is a big man who can step out and hit a jumper, rebound and defend in the low post. Heat owner Pat Riley would have been a fool not to bring him back.

Dallas gets center Tyson Chandler and center Alexis Ajinca
Charlotte gets center Erick Dampier, forward Eduardo Najera, guard Matt Carroll and cash considerations.

Dallas wins this trade. Chandler is not offensively gifted but can rebound and block shots on a much higher level than Erick Dampier can. Oh, Dampier can’t shoot a penny in the ocean, Chandler is better in this category too.

Najera is on his last legs and Carroll isn’t an NBA talent. Dallas drops some salary to pick up players they could use, while Charlotte picks up veteran players who will not fit their system.

Derek Fisher stays with the Lakers.

Great move. Fisher kept the Lakers in the playoffs throughout every series. He is tough and the heart of the team.

Most of everything is rumors and hasn’t been set in contract yet.

The Atlanta Hawks are going to send Chris Childress to the Suns. The Suns are also going after Hedu Turkoglu. Childress has played over seas for the past few years, and has become a great player.

Al Jefferson will be a Denver Nugget.

J.J. Redick has been offered a deal from the Bulls but Orlando can keep him if they match the 3 year deal worth $20 million because he is a restricted free agent.

“Big Z”, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, will probably join the Miami Heat. He will follow LeBron, no dobut about it. They play well together and respect each other. They want to win a ring for each other.

Cavaliers have put an offer on the table for Kyle Lowry, but the Redick situation falls on Lowry as well. The Rockets have reportedly matched the contract.

I have no idea why, but the Timberwolves are going after Luke Ridnour. They have seven point guards and are trying to get another, no clue why.

Friends of mine on Facebook wrote update status stating they were not doing anything except watching ESPN to see who was going to what team.  Chris Bosh, one of three big names in the free agency market, tweeted he was also watching ESPN to see what moves were going to happen.  Then he tweeted he was going to Chicago to here their pitch,  I got excited.

Anyway, four players were signed during the first day of the open market.  All of them were over paid.  David Stern must have been handing out winning scratch off lottery tickets to these players because they’re not worth the contracts they graciously accepted.

One of these over paid players was in the Bulls Home top ten countdown of free agent options for the Chicago Bulls.  Fortunately,  he was tied for the 10th spot.  Rudy Gay, #10A, resigned with the Memphis Grizzlies for a five year deal worth $80 million.  Gay is extremely athletic and has the potential to be an all-star, but he is not worth this much money.  Memphis paid him as a franchise player,  too bad he isn’t.  He is a great number two or three option, but not the center of a winning team.

Rudy Gay

The other three deals are mind boggling.  Darko Milicic was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves for $20 million throughout four years.  The Toronto Raptors spent $34 million on Amir Johnson for five years and the Milwaukee Bucks gave Drew Gooden a five year deal for $32 million.

These teams locked up role players to say the least.  Johnson has tons of ability, but does this mean give him a big contract on potential? I understand the Raptors will lose Bosh, but Johnson isn’t the answer.  His contract will probably be the worst of the summer.

Drew Gooden

Gooden is the typical NBA journeyman.  He will fit in well with the Bucks because they have nothing in the paint except Andrew Bogut.  Gooden will rebound and play average defense.  But he is not worth $6 million a year.  Plus,  as his career has shown, he will be traded by December.  He has been with eight different teams in eight seasons, not counting his return trips to Orlando and Cleveland.

Milicic is the biggest bust in draft history, well, besides Kwame Brown.  He was selected second in the 2003 draft that included Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.  Milicic has been the ultimate let down.  In his seven year career, he averages 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds a game.

Other deals locked up but not official include John Salmons resigning with the Bucks and Joe Johnson is staying with the Atlanta Hawks for a max contract.

I asked the question to you,  who would be a better for the Bulls, Kerr or Paxson.  Kerr dominated Paxson, getting 36 of the 52 votes.  I wonder if Kerr would beat Gar Forman, like he did Paxson. 

Steve Kerr was a back up point guard for the Bulls in the mid-to late 90′s and helped win a few championships with his sniper three point shooting.  Paxson did the same thing in the early 90′s. 

He did make some questionable trades like Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal, but he made up for it by getting a second round draf pick, Sasha Pavlovic who is a solid back up player, $500,000 and a soon to retire Ben Wallace when he traded O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

This season, he made room in the team’s payroll to sign one of the big name free agents this summer. Paxson traded away a bad character guy in Tyrus Thomas to the Charlotte Bobcats  for two expiring contracts and a future first round pick.  He then traded John Salmons and a couple of second round picks for two expiring contracts.

I put Lebron James as the number two option for the Chicago Bulls during free agency.  As I re-think the situation, maybe he should move up a little bit to four  or even five, behind the combo deal of David Lee, Brad and Mike Miller at three, Dwyane Wade at four and Ray Allen at five.

He has all the ability in the world individually, but can’t help his team win.

The writers at Bleacher Report agree with me.

What if Lebron James is Joe Johnson, just a better athlete.  All season both of these players put up great numbers and helped there team get to the playoffs in great positions.  Lebron helped the Cavaliers get the number one seed and Johnson helped Atlanta get a three seed. Lebron did better because he is a better athlete, but they both crack under pressure in the playoffs.

James might get signed to the Bulls and get them a championship in a year and then they get to the finals a few years and then struggle.  The Bulls don’t need a drama queen, they need a blue collar athlete.

One, besides putting up video game numbers and winning two consecutive MVP awards, he hasn’t won when his team needed him too.  The Cleveland Cavaliers have only been to the finals once.  This post season,  he choked against the Boston Celtics just like the rest of his team.  If he is supposed to be the leader of the team,  he has to get his game together too.  I know what your saying,  he led them the entire season.  Well, the season didn’t end for the Cavaliers until Boston beat them in the playoffs,  when James didn’t show up.  How does Cleveland post the best record in the NBA for two seasons and then get upset in the playoffs?  Lebron can’t handle the pressure at the brightest stage.

Two, because he would hurt the development of Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose.  For all the praise he gets, we forget James is a selfish player.  Every play he has to have the ball.  Most of his points are off shots he created himself, not assisted by a teammate.  Yes, players who can develop their own shot are better than ones who can’t but not if it looks like one player is playing against five.  This is more than half of the Cavalier’s offensive sets in more than 80% of their games.

Lebron was in the top ten in assists,  again because he has to control everything.  This would be great for the Bulls, if Rose didn’t need the ball.  Rose is a point guard who has been trained to control tempo and position his team to score.  How is he going to be able to do that, when he doesn’t get the ball.  Maybe, Lebron would learn how to play with a pure point guard, instead of him having to be in complete control.  Wishful thinking,  I think it will be difficult for James to get past his ego.

In addition to point two,  James will always have to be the guy.  It is Lebron and his Cavaliers.  If he came to Chicago it would be Lebron and the Bulls.  It wouldn’t be considered the big three or Rose and James the dynamic duo.  He would suck the life out of the team concept the Bulls have built.  Every team likes and needs to have stars, but teams win championships.  Why hasn’t James won one yet.  Most say because he didn’t have a team around him, but, when they were in the process of winning the most games in the regular season, he supposedly did.  He is selfish and doesn’t know how to play with guys.

Three, James is a physical specimen created to dominate a basketball court.  No one can deny Jame’s God given athletic ability and is arguably the best player in the game.  I think Kobe is because of his killer instinct and clutch performances; Lebron doesn’t have that yet.  Jame’s video game numbers would help any team, especially the Bulls.  They have one consistent scorer, Derrick Rose.  James is also a solid defensive player.  He has made countless highlights when he comes out of no where to block a lay up from behind.  Tom Thibodeau would love to have an all around tool like Lebron on the court,  it would make his job easy, real easy.

Lebron is the number two option because he is bigger than the NBA.  Jordan was bigger than the league, but he was on another level than Lebron.  I’ll get into that another day.

I don’t know if James will work well with the character guys the Bulls have on their roster.  On the other hand,  he is the best athlete in the NBA and probably any other league, so,  he is always wanted on a team, including the Chicago Bulls.  Signing Lebron would work out in the win department and the Bulls would become an elite team, but Cleveland has been an elite team in the east since Lebron arrived in 2003.  What did they do?

Michigan State’s Head Coach Tom Izzo was interviewing and looking at his options for a job in the NBA.  He had discussions with the Chicago Bulls but nothing happened.

Then came news of the Cleveland Cavaliers pursuing Izzo in attempts to keep their superstar Lebron James.  As of yesterday,  he declined the offer stating he is going to be a lifer at MSU.

Good.  If Chicago can’t have him, then Cleveland can’t either.  Without a coach of Lebron’s liking, I have a great feeling he is gone.  James has to be sick of not winning a championship and only getting to the finals on one occasion.

Without Izzo, John Calipari or Phil Jackson, I don’t think there is anyway James stays.  Maybe, Chicago can have James now.

This is when the plea for the Bulls roster comes up.  James has a perfect opportunity to come to Chicago and win some championships.  We have all heard the story about the young nucleus consisting of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.  Plus, the Bulls will give him whatever contract he wants.

The hiring of Boston Celtic’s assistant coach Tom Thibodeau as next seasons head coach should entice him to come as well.  the Bulls have a defensive mastermind on the sideline, who has had his team ranked in the top ten in defense for a decade and a half  The Celtics would not have won the championship in 2008 if Thibodeau didn’t run the group in the fashion he did.

Anyway,  I’m glad Izzo is staying put.  He has created a college basketball dynasty, which is incredibly hard to do.  Although,  he has the opportunity to win more championships in the NCAA, it would have been interesting to see if he could have changed the stereotype of college coaches failing in the NBA.

It won’t be Izzo,  maybe another college coach will step up to the challenge.

Steve Kerr at a press conference

What if, he only did this for a year and decided he wanted an office job in the NBA once again?  Honestly,  he won’t jump back into it in the 2010-2011 season, because most guys like a break, but maybe he would want to come back the following year.  This  happens all the time in every sport.

Chicago could be a destination for him to go to.  Lets think about it.  John Paxson has been stuck in a rut for the last few years.  The Bulls finish the regular season right around .500, or, for the last two seasons, exactly at the average level with 41-41 records.

He has been the GM since 2003 and has only been past the first round once.  The only way he has got players who fans or management want to stay on the team is via draft.  He can’t make a deal to bring in players who will take the team to the next level.  If he fails to bring in Dwyane Wade, Lebron James or Chris Bosh during free agency, he needs to be fired.

There isn’t a single reason why they shouldn’t want to play in Chicago.  Money for their big contracts, Chicago has it.  Solid basketball players to play with,  Chicago has them in Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and possibly Kirk Hinrich.  Plus, who knows what other role players will be coming off of the bench next year.  Hopefully, someone who can shoot the ball. Only Paxson and the front office will.

Plus, the other teams with money to spend are not appealing.  New York has been in a tailspin for the past ten years.   There is nobody to help the big named free agents get an eighth seed, let alone an NBA championship.  Miami, has Wade, but if he leaves, nothing.  The Los Angeles Clippers seem to have some kind of lineup, but they always seem to do and always tank.

The New Jersey Nets are awkwardly enough the second best place to go besides Chicago.  They just hired Avery Johnson, great move, and have two solid players in Devin Harris and Brook Lopez. After them,  anyone can tell why they were the worst team in the league this past season.

Steve Kerr’s resume in Phoenix is impressive.  The Suns were just in the western conference finals, although some people had them being eliminated in the first round by the Portland Trailblazers.  Brandon Roy’s injury might of had something to do with the Sun’s dominance, but they won it sure handily.

Kerr did make a bad trade, sending Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal.  To his defense, their problem the previous year was they didn’t have a big man.  Kerr made an executive decision to make a change, Shaq simply couldn’t play with the run and gun Suns.

He made up for his blemish by trading him away to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ben Wallace, who will retire and be free money, Sasha Pavlovic, who can hit the trey, a draft pick and cash.  He got more than enough value out of the decaying O’Neal.

Kerr would be a good general manager for the Bulls.  I think Paxson deserves a final chance, but if he fails to make this roster look spectacular on paper, then fire him and pursue Steve Kerr.

Now Izzo’s name is being brought up in Cleveland for the Cavaliers job.

Izzo is scheduled to meet with MSU to discuss if he is leaving for another job or going to stay a Spartan.  He has been at MSU since 1983.

Like I said last week,  this is just human nature.  He has conquered everything he can in at MSU.  Sure, he said he wasn’t leaving till he won another NCAA championship, but a lot of people say one thing and do another.  I’m not saying Izzo is untrustworthy, but when it comes to media, coaches try to sway them to an idea that will cause less of a stir.

Izzo leaving MSU would be the headline of the 2010-2011 NCAA hoop season.

Cleveland would like to hire Izzo in attempt to keep Lebron James of course.  Owner Dan Gilbert said James has nothing to do with the firing of Mike James and the hiring of their next coach.  I’m not buying it Gilbert.

Lebron James is the Cleveland Cavaliers, without him, it’s back to the toilet bowl.

As a member of the Utah Jazz, Boozer has put up stellar numbers and has helped lead his team to impressive runs in the playoffs including the western conference finals in 2007.  I wish I could add more to his playoff depth, but the Jazz have run into a dominate team with arguable the best player in the league the last three seasons; Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Boozer is an inside presence the Bulls need.  Chicago lacks a dominant low post presence who can put up 18-to-20 points a game.  Boozer who averages 17 ppg for his career, has only scored 15 points or less twice in his eight year NBA career; those were his first two years in the league while a member of the Lebron-less and rookie Lebron Cavaliers.

He also knows how to play defense, so Noah or Gibson won’t have to do play low post defense by themselves.  He isn’t much of a shot blocker averaging 0.5 a game during his career, but he is an excellent help defender and reads passing lanes to pick passes off.

Boozer is also a strong re-bounder.  He is relatively small, 6’9 and 266 pounds, compared to some opponents but he knows how to gain position and box out.  This season he averaged 11 rebounds a game and averages 10 rpg for his career.

At 28, Boozer is just entering his prime.  He has had some injuries to his knee and has pulled a hamstring.  After coming back from these injuries he has put up his best numbers.

Boozer and Utah’s point guard Deron Williams have been called the new Karl Malone and John Stockton several times during the past three seasons.  There is no reason Boozer would not play well with Derrick Rose.

He would get double teamed meaning someone would be open.  Boozer is an above average passer for a big man.  He averages 2.5 a game in his career, including three a game this season.

This might be a small factor, but it could play an important role; Boozer has spent six seasons in the high altitude Utah air.  Boozer’s lungs are prepared for endurance making him a go at the end of a game instead of winded or exhausted.

Boozer would also be a great candidate for leadership.  He is a main leader of the Jazz with the help of Williams.  Boozer would mentor Noah and Gibson.  They’re playing great, but there is always room to grow.

Most of this post has been Boozer hype.  There isn’t really much to down grade. He can score, defend and rebound.  He has been injured, but bounces back.  He is small for a power forward, but he knows how to use his size well.

They’re two reason he isn’t higher in the list: the Bulls need a shooter primarily or they should go after someone who would mean more to the Bulls than Boozer.

Option number six will be tomorrow.