According to Bulls.com the team has officially made the decision that looked inevitable after last night's loss to the 76ers. Joakim Noah will sit out until after the All Star Break is over, and perhaps longer than that if needed.

The Bulls are going to miss Noah a ton, he is the key to their interior defense and the team's best rebounder, but his plantar facsiitis has gotten so bad that he was just a shell of himself the past two days. Give Noah credit for playing through the injury, but right now it is more important for him to rest up for the second half, and this should give him almost two full weeks off to rest his foot.

His projected return date is February 16th against the Knicks according to the team's injury report.

In his never ending quest to frustrate fans and coaches Tyrus Thomas is being suspended for tonight's game against the Miami Heat for what Bulls.com calls "conduct detrimental to the team". That could mean a number of things, but odds are him and Vinny aren't agreeing about playing time. Just a guess on my part, but seeing as Joakim Noah's injury hasn't exactly opened up a ton of playing time for Tyrus, it would seem that is a good guess.

This is just another example of why Tyrus is probably going to be traded in the next two weeks. The Bulls and Vinny are tired of his antics, and he clearly isn't interested all the time. If the Bulls can find a team to take Tyrus' expiring deal I'll bet they deal him without thinking twice. It's a shame considering how talented Tyrus is, and how much of a difference he makes when he is mentally engaged in the game, but a move is probably best for both sides.

With Derrick Rose hobbled with a sore hip and Joakim Noah out with his foot injury the Bulls could have limped out of the All Star break, but instead they started off about as well as one could ask. In the first night of a back to back with the New York Knicks the Bulls blew them out 118-85.

Rose started the game and dominated when he was in, his 29 points led the Bulls and he scored them in just 27 minutes of play. His 14-18 effort from the floor was a product of both his aggressiveness and the Knicks poor defense. Derrick added six assists and three rebounds, just a fantastic night for him all around.

As a team the Bulls shot a stunning 60% from the floor, every player who got on the floor scored, and they scored 118 points despite only making five three pointers. It was just their night, and for some of these players it could not have come at a better time, because the trade rumors are about to start getting crazy.

The Bulls refused to lose all that they gained during their 5 game winning streak, and were able to end a difficult three game slide tonight by defeating the Miami Heat 95-91. The Bulls were led to victory by Luol Deng and Derrick Rose who combined for 49 points.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 for the Heat in a losing effort, while Jermaine O'Neal led the team with 24. Watching this game one has to wonder what incentive Wade has for staying in Miami after this season. His team is filled with guys who hardly pass as NBA players, and when Wade left the game it was downright ugly. No star player should have to play around players that bad.

The Bulls were able to take advantage of those bad players and dominate some key match-ups. Rafer Alston wasn't able to contain Derrick Rose, and Rose was routinely getting to the hoop, which meant he got to the free throw line a ton. His eight attempts matched Wade's free throws, perhaps Derrick is starting to get some "star calls" as well.

The big news today is the trade the Bulls made with the Bucks, and I will get to that in a moment. First though (even though it doesn't matter close to as much as the trade does) the Bulls did play tonight and did beat the Knicks for the second night in a row 115-109. Derrick Rose led the way again with 27 points, six assists, and four rebounds.

He wasn't the only guy to have a big night though, rookie Taj Gibson put up a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Brad Miller (subject to some trade speculation himself) scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double of his own. Luol Deng added 23 points of his own against a Knicks team that just isn't interested in playing any sort of defense.

The wins puts the Bulls above .500 at 27-26, good news that gets even better.