Rudy Fernandez unhappy in Portland

Therefore, for Fernandez to have paid part of his buyout out of his own pocket just to have accepted the rookie scale would imply that he expected his second contract to make it all worthwhile. He must have figured that he would build his stock sufficiently over those four seasons that the big pay day would come, and make it all worthwhile. Yet now that Turkoglu's possibly being brought in, all he can see forthcoming is a big drop in his minutes, and, by association, his payday. And he's annoyed.

I can see his point. But if he wants minutes, the Bulls can oblige him.

If Ben Gordon walks - and it looks increasingly like he will - the Bulls' in-house options to replace him at shooting guard are Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons. (DeMarcus Nelson and Anthony Roberson don't count.) Both are good players, but starting either of them at two guard presents a problem; neither of them are two guards.

Hinrich can defend shooting guards well, and has done for many years. However, he has point guard instincts, permanently orange palms from all that dribbling, not much offense inside the arc, and inefficient scoring production.

Meanwhile, Salmons has a far more complete offensive skillset, and his 6'7 stature is an asset at the two guard spot. Unfortunately, he is also somewhat slow for the position, and as he starts to kick 30's door down, he's not going to get any quicker. His isolation-heavy offensive game may be best suited to a sixth man role, where 30 minutes a night are readily available behind Luol Deng and whoever starts at shooting guard. (Which, hopefully, is still Ben Gordon. If you've not done so already, hold a vigil. Or start a whip-round to raise the money to keep him.)

Enter Fernandez. He is more athletic than both of them, an equal if not superior outside shooter, and an equal passer. Fernandez does not have an expansive offensive game at the moment outside of his shooting, passing and finishing in transition, and his defense needs work, but his style of plays fits a high tempo Bulls attack, and he'd make a fine compliment to Derrick Rose with his playmaking ability, size and shot. He's also highly marketable, which owners like.

As for what to trade for get him, Hinrich seems like the logical starting point, a man often before linked to the Blazers. However, Hinrich stands to earn more than 8 times what Fernandez does this season, making matching salaries hard. It also doesn't help that Portland has no bad contracts - their worst contract relative to production is probably Martell Webster, who will also be redundant if Portland signs Turkoglu. However, that's kind of it - while Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw's contracts are aptly sized, they're also expiring, and both players are key contributors on a good team. So they're not merely salary filler.

Nevertheless, despite the specifics of any trade involving some work and out-the-box thinking (giggidy?), there does appear to be another Hinrich-to-Portland opportunity on the horizon. We can't get the unguaranteed contracts any more, but we could get a player of need for a surplus player of our own. And Portland could do the same.

It's one to explore.