No deal likely

The Arlington Heights Daily Herald had this today, throwing it out there that the most promising trade partner for the Chicago Bulls in their quest to get rid of Larry Hughes is the Washington Wizards.

Etan Thomas and Mike James -- who both come off the books in the summer of 2010 -- were the pieces named that the Wizards would ship to Chicago, and the money matches up with Thomas making 6,860,000 this year, 7,350,000 next season, and James making 6,049,400 this year and 6,466,600 next. Hughes is making 12,827,676 this year, and 13,655,268 next year.

But from what I'm hearing this deal isn't likely. For a few reasons. With the Bulls now in talks for Amare Stoudemire, they'll likely have to throw more in than Tyrus Thomas and Nocioni. And secondly, the Wizards are looking to free up salary cap space, not take on another big contract.

The Wizards are steadily taking calls from around the league, and while most of the offers are for Butler or Jamison, Washington wants to hang on to them, although no one is untouchable. It looks rather unlikely that the Wizards will pull off a deal before the Feb. 19 trade deadline from what I'm hearing. The summer will likely be the time that they make a move. By then, they'll know exactly what draft pick they hold and will have a bit more flexibility.