A rehash of an on-going topic. Are we doing a good job acquiring top players via trade? Or would we be better off trying to get under the salary cap to sign free agent players outright? Or is it best to tank for a few years with under-talented players/fake injuries and build through the draft? In my opinion, the trades we've been making have been remarkable given what we've given up to get the "names" we've acquired. We're using our draft picks and existing players to acquire big name players via trade. While people talk about how big/bad Randolph's contract is, he's a soon-to-be 25 "24/10" big man, not even in his prime yet. On the open market, don't you think that he'd probably demand (and get) a max deal? So we traded the shell that once was Francis (an "untradeable contract"), a #7 overall lottery pick in Channing Frye, and 2nd round pick for a proven max-contract-type player and some reasonable spare parts in Dickau/Jones/Nichols. Niiice. Eddy Curry/Antonio Davis for Tim Thomas/#2 overall pick/#9 overall pick isn't bad at all. The Bulls got super-lucky w/ the #2 overall pick (albeit in a very weak draft class), but overall, considering we didn't sign Curry to a max contract, we got a great deal on him. In all, I don't think getting under the cap needs to be a priority, especially when our team owner doesn't seem to mind paying the luxury tax. We're getting excellent players via trade anyway. At the same time, we're doing a deft job finding some gems late in the draft (I bet Isiah would have said he'd have drafted Chandler if we kept our lottery pick). And... regarding free agency, we scored a major coup in signing Free Agent Randolph Morris, all without needing to be under the salary cap.