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There are rumors going around that it is possible Tyrus Thomas and Jerome James of the Chicago Bulls could be traded to the New York Knicks for Al Harrington.
From a standpoint of preparation for the future, I can see how this works out for the Bulls. They can participate in the free agency market next season while retaining their core of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, John Salmons, and Luol Deng, and still end up being a playoff contender this season with Harrington as an added weapon.
Now I generally do not like jump the gun and discuss ramifications of potential trades, but this one involves some decently big names in fantasy basketball.Uh, that would be Thomas and Harrington, just in case you owned Jerome James  . So I thought it would be alright to paint the scenario for their owners, and for the owners of players who may be affected by this potential transaction.
Does the System make the Fantasy Stud?
 Al Harrington (Photo: Nick Laham/Getty Images, Dec. 19, 2008) - Although this move will get us to see Al Harrington move into a starting position and actually see more minutes on the floor, I project it to hurt his fantasy value - slightly. He has already been moderately disappointing, from a fantasy perspective, since he moved to the bench, at least in terms of per-game consistency. A starter's role may improve things for him on that end.
Yes, the Bulls are looking for a scorer; but they were looking for a low-post scorer. Remember their pre-season interest in Carlos Boozer? And a low-post scorer, Harrington is not. Yes they will look to him to score, and indeed he will. The issue I have with his situation is his departure from the "Mike D'Antoni System". Harrington was encouraged by D'Antoni to take open shots from beyond the arc at will. His fantasy stock rose ever since he began to flourish in the system.
I am not sure how open Bulls coach, Vinny del Negro, will be to let Al have his way - which is basically hanging out in the perimeter and spotting up for open jumpers or driving to the hoop. Harrington is a finesse big man and has been playing as such for several years now. How well his skill set can be utilized by his new coach is a big question mark.
Will he be able to average 20 PPG? Possible, but not likely from the get go. 18-ish is what I see him doing at the start as he adjusts.
Will Harrington still be able to average last season's 2.0 3PPG? I doubt it. One and a half treys per night average seems more realistic.
Will he be unhappy and throw a tantrum like he did when he wanted to be traded away from Golden State? Dear God, I sure hope not. He's done it before, so it is in his personality to possibly do so. His history volatility and immaturity is a minor yet realistic cause for concern.
I do believe he will still be a viable player. Let's put it this way. He will be better than Shawn Marion was when he left Phoenix. But no, Al won't be as good as he was in the 2008-09 season.
Other Knicks:
This means more shots and minutes for Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler. They will only be limited by their youth and their respective learning curves.
Jordan Hill - Ouch! Playing behind Thomas will not be pretty as far his development for the future is concerned.
Chris Duhon - Yeah, he will still suck. Both in real-life basketball and in fantasy. Shouldn't the Knicks go for Andre Miller now that he's ended up as a bust in Portland? Oh now I remember, his big contract takes away from the Knicks' "LeBron Budget".
Nate Robinson - This move will see Nate get out of the doghouse as his offense will be needed by the Knicks. Badly. That's a 13 PPG difference between Harrington and Thomas that someone has to fill. No, it will not be filled by Jerome James.
How does a defensive player fit into an offense-oriented system?
Even though Mike D'Antoni is impressed with Tyrus Thomas, I do not see him being the fantasy force he was towards the end of last season. The Bulls defense was anchored on him and Joakim Noah. His hustle will still be there, that won't change. Will he and center, David Lee, be tasked to do all the "dirty work"?
He was able to average 6.4 RPG, 1.2 SPG, and 1.8 BPG in only 27:30 minutes a game for the Bulls last season. That's likely the amount of time he will see on the floor in New York, so we at least know that time will not be a major factor.
I can see him potentially averaging similar numbers. In the end, the upside people were expecting from him coming into this season will likely be curtailed.
A lock on the low block
I had worries that Tyrus Thomas' return to action would slow down Joakim Noah's rise to fantasy stardom. This transaction allays those concerns completely. Expect Noah to continue his explosion in rebounds and well pretty much everything across the board. Harrington will not be there to provide much help defense and yes, Luol Deng will probably average more rebounds per game than Al.
Chicago will lean on Noah occasionally, to be that low-post scoring threat once in awhile. That would be sweet.
Other Bulls:
Harrington can and may eat up anywhere from 1-2 PPG from the Bulls' main scorers: Rose, Salmons and Deng.
Taj Gibson - Yes you are the Bulls' future alternative to Thomas. But the operative word is future and we're not likely going to see you develop much fantasy relevance playing behind Harrington. Sorry.
Brad Miller - He's already fallen off the face of the fantasy map. His scoring off the bench will be needed even less with Harrington in Chicago. He will be just a pure Noah-reliever from this point forward.
Ok, this is already way too long to discuss something that may not actually even transpire. I guess missing blogging for a week can do that to a fantasyhead.
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