A few days ago I had a conversation with NQTC reader Black Rob.  I sent him a link to a story about the Raptors trading Jason Kapono to the 76ers for Reggie Evans, a power forward.  I remarked “Does that qualify as news” after I sent the link.  He laughed because we both knew that it was a minor meaningless trade that no one gave a shit about.  Until now that is.  A Bleacher Report story is speculating that the deal may have meant a lot more than I originally thought:

This deal wasn’t anything major, which is probably why nobody either noticed or cared that it took place on the day of Game Three of the Magic-Lakers Championship series. But the domino effect that might happen could be something everyone notices.

Let me state again, for emphasis, what the Raptors did yesterday: They traded for a power forward.

This comes within a handful of days of the Raptors’ franchise player, Chris Bosh, saying he would join Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter on the list of Toronto’s former franchise players after the 2009-10 season.

There have been rumors since before the trade deadline this spring that there are nearly a dozen teams interested in the young superstar, but this specific trade brings one rumored exchange into focus.

The Chicago Bulls are looking at losing guard Ben Gordon either in free agency or, more likely, in a sign-and-trade deal this summer.

Gordon’s name was linked to rumors about Bosh before last season, and his playoff performances against the Boston Celtics certainly raised his profile as an elite scorer in the league.

So is this move a precursor to a bigger deal with Toronto?  Logically it makes sense for both teams, working under the assumption that Bosh will be fleeing Toronto the second the 2010 summer hits.  The report further speculates on who the Bulls might send in a package for Bosh:

The Bulls have a lot of options that might look good to Toronto. They have two first round draft picks in this summer’s NBA draft and have a couple of young bigs in Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas that might be part of a package with a signed-and-traded Gordon.

The trade that would make the most sense in my mind would be Tyrus, Gordon and the #16 pick for Bosh.  That would leave us with a starting lineup of Rose, Salmons/Kirk, Deng, Bosh and Noah with Miller and Salmons/Kirk coming off the bench.  I know some of you would rather see Noah go and keep Tyrus, but I think it would be important to keep Bosh at his natural position of PF.  If Noah were gone, he would have to start at the 5 with TT at the 4.

Wait wait wait!  Don’t pinch me yet…..okay now I’m ready to wake up.  It was a nice dream though, wasn’t it?

Well there goes some of that great momentum the Bulls were riding going into the playoffs.  With the Bulls loss last night and the 76ers big OT win against Cleveland (which fielded a D-League team, *cough* bullshit *cough*), the Bulls have secured the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference.  Instead of facing the Magic, they will now be playing the defending champion Celtics.

And you know what?  I’m happy about it.  I don’t share Zoner’s reasoning for it, mostly because I think we have a legitimate shot to push the Celtics to 7 and even score an upset.  I felt that way before the recent news that KG will probably not be available for the series and maybe the entire playoffs.  While the Magic are a bit hobbled right now, the Celtics are old and tired and I think we match up well against them.  Our guards aren’t going to cover anyone, that is a fact.  Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Paul Pierce will run amok on offense.  But so would Rafer Alston and whoever the magic are tossing out there at the 2 these days.  So either way our backcourt gets burned.  The difference is, the Magic have Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu to spread the Bulls defense.  Even if the Celtics have KG, who is a formidable force on the defensive end, offensively he can be contained by the Bulls frontcourt.  Howard, Lewis and Turkoglu on the other hand, would kill Noah, Tyrus and Miller.

Also keep in mind that we played a Garnett-less Celtics on March 17th at the United Center and won.  Their inability to defend without Garnett was exposed, as the Bulls racked up 127 points and outscored the C’s in fastbreak points 17-6.

Thus I am feeling really good about us facing the Celtics right now.  It’s too bad we crapped the bed at home last night, but maybe it will work out for the best.  Are you ready for 40 games in 40 nights?