I'm thinking there's some misreporting going on there. That deal is a dream for the Bulls. That would be a major, ballsy move by Gar. If Howard won't commit to an extension then you face the real possibility of giving Howard's (formerly occupied by Deng-Boozer-Asik) cap number to two guys like Gerald Wallace and Eric Gordon, unless you think you can sign-and-trade (still viable under the new CBA?) Howard to LA for Gasol and someone else. You can sign and trade, but Howard would still have to leave the 30 million behind in that scenario. He doesn't get to use his Bird rights and also do a sign and trade. And while that deal would work this offseason, after next year teams like the Lakers won't be able to acquire sign and trade players because of being so far above the luxury tax. The "losing 30 million" thing is quite overblown. It's just the extra year that he loses, not AAV. At age 26, Howard would be hitting his next free agent year a year younger, which would set him up for a better contract. I think it favors him more than hurts him