The Chicago Bulls might not be on Dwight Howard's list of teams he'd accept a trade to, but vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said the team hasn't given up on the idea of adding a player like the Orlando Magic star.

Howard's agent, Dan Fegan, has formal permission from the Magic to discuss trade proposals with the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein.

The Bulls appear to be a longshot, but Paxson, speaking in general terms, said they will monitor the situation.

"We don't want to talk about other teams' players but obviously there are situations out there that you know that you have to look at," Paxson said Wednesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "The other part of it is you hope those types of players want to come here. Sometimes, at least what you hear from agents, it doesn't have anything to do with basketball. It has more to do with marketing and whatnot. Those are the things you don't have under control when an agent gets involved and doesn't even want to talk to you. All you do is keep trying, and we certainly will."

The Bulls, who play the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, are 1-1 but very easily could have been 0-2 if not for the late-game heroics of Derrick Rose against the Lakers on Christmas Day. Following their 88-87 victory over the Lakers, the Bulls lost to the Golden State Warriors the next night.

"We want to be considered a championship-level team," Paxson said. "The one thing that we know and we think about everyday is that a team like the Miami Heat aren't going anywhere. They're going to be around for a long time. We have to continue to try and find ways to compete not only with them but the other teams that are good. But we know they are going to set the standard here especially in the Eastern Conference. We've seen it in the first two games they've played here."

---

Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson joined "Waddle & Silvy" to discuss the start of the season, Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard.