he had thumb surgery and was shut down for the year shortly after the PeeOn incident. He has limited salary protection for next year, I believe it’s around $250k to waive him by the end of training camp, after which he’d get his full minimum salary ($750k…sham’s site is down so I can’t get the exact number)

there’s still the issue of him whining about it. He was already dropping some hints of unhappiness a week into his tenure.

Not that it really matters if he does whine…as long as he doesn’t have the same ‘influence’ as Wallace.

although I think Gordon can create his own shot…it’s just usually a jump shot.

But say they replace Deng with FTA machine Corey Magette? I’m not really happy about that switch in terms of value. (not to mention it’s just hard to move Deng for value at all). If it’s swapping Gordon for Gilbert Arenas…well sure. I think again it’s a problem when defining ‘different’ and ‘better’. A 2 or 3 who can create shots and get to the line better than Gordon or Deng isn’t that easy to find.

making 13 million seem to find the court no matter who is coaching. At least Hughes is injury prone.

Getting to the line wasn’t a major reason for the team stinking up the joint. It’d be nice, but there’s a reason it’s the fourth factor. A Corey Maggette wouldn’t have fundamentally made a difference. It’s well behind guys who give a crap on defense, guys who can make a layup, and guys whose favorite shot isn’t a midrange jumper.

as long as you have the personnel for it. If this was Hardaway-Richmond-Mullins with Don Nelson as coach (or Nash-Barbosa-Bell/D’Antoni) small ball keeps you interesting and competitive. It hasn’t won any championships, though (but we’re talking about just being relevant / relatively competitive at this point).

Anyway, with the Bulls, especially after Skiles lost control, the Bulls stopped being the scrappy team that could, and small ball became just another crappy lineup thrown out there.

but fanshots could be the new home for such OT comments, if you so desired.

Have you ever noticed this… ? It’s like everyone else can play aggressive defense except for him.

to see him moved either. Keep him Pax!!

that whoever we are left with will realize how much losing sucks, how much not getting to the playoff sucks, and how much having individual reputations tarnished more than sucks. And that they need to keep that in mind in October and not figure it out next April when it is too late to do anything about it. More than just a couple people need to care next year. What has made the Bulls watchable for me prior to this year is that they put out effort and seemed to care during most games, win or lose. I’d much rather they’d win of course, but even losing while trying is watchable. This season was hardly watchable.

overall I agree, but the one thing that you didn’t address is the organization’s chemistry with their players. After this season, I think it’s more than reasonable to have some serious questions about whether John Paxson needs to change his approach with the players.

Does that roster win 50 games.

Won 50 or more games this year. The Bulls aren’t even in the same discussion of the talent level they posess.

Deng can’t be traded before the draft. And has base-year contract issues once he does sign. I read that somewhere.

Also I think you consider Noc/Thabo/Deng way too similar. I agree that if Noc gets dealt you make Thabo the backup 3.

(assuming he doesn’t opt-out of his contract)

They need guards. Bulls have guards.

I hate Duke as much as anyone outside of Chapel Hill, but Coach K had All Star players like Grant Hill, Elton Brand, and Carlos Boozer as well. Christian Laettner and Shane Battier have been good role players. Producing the likes of Laettner, Hill, Brand, Maggette, Battier, Boozer, and Deng amongst others is nothing to scoff at. The only school I can think of that has come close to matching that kind of talent over the course of the last 20 years is North Carolina. Most of their NBA value, though, came through in the mid 90’s with Stackhouse/Wallace followed by Carter/Jamison.

Deng is a restricted free agent. So you have to convince the Clippers to pay him, and Deng to accept playing for the Clippers.

although my ‘Free Rasho’ sign looked out of place when Aaron Gray was eating his lunch on the last game of the year.

are much better dribblers than Hinrich which grants them superior ball handling skills to navigate the paint. Kirk has a crossover dribble that is very good, but he only uses it on the wing to set up a jump shot.

I don’t know why Hinrich doesn’t take it to the cup more often. Might it be a lack of confidence?

so the SBN techies will find it.

like an ant farm?

that we have been a joke this year but below the Knicks? Are you kidding me? How are the Knicks not the prime example of how not to run a franchise?

After 9 years in the league.

Oh, for the non-newbs around here, my sn is now my Bleed-Cubbie-Blue name, since I can’t have a different name for each blog. So, really, I’m daaaaaaaBulls, now cubbiebear.

On hughes, I think he can do some things well, and can be expertly utilized, but should never earn a starting spot. Since I think we’re stuck with Hughes, Gordon or Kirk have to go. Too much money to dole out to two positions.

a deal works just as well, and you wouldn’t have to worry about Hughes poisoning the waters, or ::gulp:: actually getting playing time.

(unless those extra years were for someone actually productive)

There’s bound to be some team dumb enough to take him on for added depth. I could see him going to Boston because they’ve realized how bad Ray Allen’s ankles really are, and basically he would just be asked to defend.

Obviously this is a dream scenario where we get their 1st round pick, he destroys the team by shooting 40 3’s a game, they lose 70 games, and we get another lottery pick.

If he ever wants to be taken seriously by anyone other than Red, Gray should be able to play 25 minutes a game without looking like he ran the Chicago Marathon with a Gortex jacket on.

Cause I gotta get me some of that.

Gray is a rapidly improving 7 foot Rookie

and I really can’t agree with you.

If you had said, “rapidly expanding 7 foot wookie”, well, now, that’s another story…