Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune figures this may be a huge week for the Chicago Bulls.  Smith writes that the team's future may be dictated not necessarily by what they do, but what other teams do as well.

Smith writes that this is the last week for teams to offer contract extensions to players in the 2002 draft class. So far, Houston's Yao Ming and Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire have been re-signed. Those not re-signed can become restricted free agents after the season. Though teams can match offers, the fear of having to pay a luxury tax or big salaries could put several players on the market before the deadline.

For the Bulls, that could mean a chance to reclaim some of the size lost in dealing Eddy Curry. Reports out of New York have had Curry unable to guard a director's chair coach Larry Brown was using. Tyson Chandler, now the Bulls' highest-paid player, doesn't look quite as confident or assured without Curry around to get the ball in the post and absorb the media scrutiny. Perhaps no one has rooted more than him for a long White Sox run to divert attention.

Meanwhile, no team may be better equipped than the Bulls to make a deal now. They'll be well under the salary cap after the season and have two first-round draft picks--their own and the Knicks'--one of which figures to be in the lottery.

Can anyone say Nene? The Bulls long have eyed the underutilized, physical, 6-foot-11-inch, 265-pound power forward. He almost certainly won't get an extension with the Nuggets. Especially with the agent for Carmelo Anthony telling a Denver newspaper it's "a no-brainer" Anthony will ask for a maximum extension starting at $12 million annually.

It's hard to believe the Nuggets could turn down a possible lottery pick and maybe some cash and an expiring contract like Eric Piatkowski's thrown in for a player they can't afford and could lose for nothing.