Bulls Wheelin' and Deelin' for...cap space; Dwyane Wade to Chicago

But that's OK.

This was a good week for John Paxson. It wasn't exactly Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire, but it was close...OK, it wasn't even in the same ballpark.

But, let's be fair, Paxson did whatever he could and it was solid. The Bulls got busy shipping away Larry Hughes and Thabo Sefolosha for myriad contracts with some players on them and an even a first-rounder.

I couldn't be more happy with Sefolosha's departure. He seems like an affable and likeable guy, but basketball? Not so much. He's too passive, indecisive and had no real offensive game to speak of. Actually, Thabo was quite overrated as a defender.

He'd make the occasional play but not enough to warrant the title of "lock-down" defender. His best trait, sadly, was rebounding. (You thought I was going to say inbounding, didn't you?)

While the first-round pick will be the lower of Thunder's picks, it still gives the Bulls a bargaining chip in trade talks this summer (paired with Kirk Hinrich?). Who knows what will happen in these coming months.

And while this rookie class looks like the best in a decade--look at San Antonio's George Hill or Golden State's Anthony Randolph for heaven sake--the next draft is rather thin. But that would be the pick where the Bulls can take a project, I said it, or ship away in a package.

Meanwhile, the Bulls have loaded up on expiring contracts that will give them ample room to maneuver around in 2010. My feeling, and fear, is that this team won't land a superstar but simply a star like Joe Johnson instead of Dwyane Wade.

There's nothing wrong with that, but you had better have the parts to build guys like that.

• Future-schmuture. Here's the only reason why Bulls' fans should be concerned.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Bulls secure the eighth seed this season, get swept by Cleveland or Boston, Ben Gordon departs in the off-season and fans call for Paxson's head. Well, where did you think this was going?

That's the short-sighted view. Tim Thomas can score, Brad Miller can pass, John Salmons can kind of defend and the Bulls finally have some size.

And finally, fans will have a chance to watch Tyrus Thomas rack up 10 points, nine rebounds and four turnovers from trying to dribble between his legs or spin into a defender in a playoff game.

I'm sure Kevin Garnett is dreading the series-long challenge.