An NBA official confirmed Bulls GM John Paxson can not trade Tim Thomas back to the Knicks this season under collective-bargaining-agreement rules. Nor can Davis be traded back to Chicago. The Bulls will try to deal Thomas, but if they can't by February's deadline, they'll likely waive him and he'll be a free agent.

Thomas said his first choice is to play for Indiana and isn't sure he'd want a reunion with Brown, who has traded him twice. "If it was up to me, I pretty much don't know if I would want to come back and play for the Knicks," Thomas told New Jersey's Herald News.