Does Cedric Simmons deserve any minutes?
by gillrowdy on May 31, 2008 5:30 PM CDT
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PrintCedric Simmons, the former #15 overall pick in 2006, is a 6'9" 235lb. PF and seems to be the forgotten man on the Bulls roster. He played in just 7 games last year for the Bulls after being included in the trade last February that brought Shannon Brown, Larry Hughes, and Drew Gooden from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, and Adrian Griffin(to Seattle). He is signed for one more year, with a team option after that. Having played so sparingly, its difficult to evaluate what kind of player he could be, or what value he would bring in a trade. I think most of us will agree that he hasn't lived up to the expectations of a #15 pick, and his trade value has fallen considerably.
Allow me to limit this discussion to the current roster and upcoming draft picks; as painful as that may be to some of you. Draft pick #1 would be Derrick Rose; and #39 would be the best player available, but plays most of the season overseas or in the D-League. Noah(20.7mins per game last season), Gooden(30.8 mpg), and Thomas(18mpg) obviously deserve the bulk of the minutes at the PF and C positions. Aaron Gray averaged 10 minutes in 61 games last season, and will probably average even more this season. Deng and Nocioni also have played PF, but I would suggest Simmons get more of that time this year to determine his impact and future with the Bulls, or improve his trade value to another team. IF Noah, Gooden, and Thomas all get 28mpg that only leaves12 mpg at PF and C positions. What are your thoughts as to minutes per game at PF and C, using this roster as a model? Would the Bulls be severely outplayed at these positions by nearly every other team? Would giving Cedric Simmons minutes cause the Bulls to miss the playoffs?
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If Collins is coach
The minutes will probably be more heavily weighted towards Gooden if Collins is coach. No they wont be outplayed by every other team, the three were in fact average-above average for the season, based on PER. And, unless Cedric Simmons plays 30 minutes a game for some reason, he wont have much an effect good or bad. So in conclusion, Simmons is probably the last thing we should think about as Bulls fans.
The Bulls were surprisingly effective at PF last year
but Joe Smith had a lot to do with that. Check out these PER stats by position from 82games.com:
http://www.82games.com/0708/0708CHI5.HTM
Yes.
If Gray gets minutes, Cedric should take those minutes from him like some little kid’s lunch. He could be a bigger Ben Wallace type down the line. The Bulls should not discard this guy without having some idea of what type of player he is. I liked him coming out of college.
by messwiththebull on May 31, 2008 6:15 PM CDT reply actions
let them fight it out
from my standing they’re equal in terms of what they should ‘get’. If one has a better camp/preseason, roll with it. Keep in mind they’re two expiring contracts as well…so they could be moved before then.
by your friendly BullsBlogger on May 31, 2008 10:10 PM CDT up reply actions
Probably not
If Simmons couldn’t get playing time with the Cavs who were are in desperate need of quality players, I get a feeling that he’s not all that good. Honestly, Gray isn’t that bad of a fourth option to have; I’d rather the Bulls develop him.
its true he wasn't playing behind world beaters
but I think he only played 1 year of college ball. But the project label will wear off probably this year and it remains to be seen what his new label will be. As a side note, I read he had been working with some of the draft hopefuls along with Aaron Gray at one of those conditioning/prep camps in Las Vegas.
Not getting minutes behind the likes of Ilgauskas, Verajao, and Gooden is nothing to scoff at
The Cavs had a strong front court situation before they acquired the Corpse. Their biggest weakness has been in the backcourt and lack of an idea on how to design an offensive set from their head coach.
We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look.
Ronald Reagan
How was he supposed to crack the Cavs frontcourt rotation?
Z, Gooden, Varejao was pretty set and worked quite well. Their biggest weakness was a lack of reliable shooters around James, not poor frontcourt play.
Rusty Longley v 2.0
by Ozzie Montana on Jun 2, 2008 4:53 PM CDT up reply actions
With a new coach coming in,
let’s presume some minimal level of non-attachment and non-bias to the roster. I’m not so naive as to think many coaches don’t have tendencies toward veterans, but I do think that this is going to be as good of a situation as any for guys to earn minutes during training camp and pre-season. On the other hand, I’m really hoping Pax finds some way to streamline the roster a little so we don’t go through another season of trying to find minutes for too many guys. Maybe the team will turn it around and be so unbelievably good this season that there will be plenty of garbage minutes to go around? ;)
I’m kind of OK with the reality of the NBA that every team is going to have benchwarmers, and that due to trades, situations, team playing styles, etc., that not everyone exactly gets a fair chance to “make it.” There making a heck of a lot of money, and overseas isn’t a bad option these days either.
Here's to the most exciting offseason in a VERY long time!
Yes
We pay him he should get some garbage time. You never know until you actually put a man in a game on how good is he hopefully Phil Collins : ) puts him out there a little bit.
As far as him being effective as Gray thats impossible last year I though Aaron was great I think for where he was drafted he was very effecient. Maybe one day he shall become posessed by the spirit of Luc Longley.♠♥♦♣As far as him being effective as Gray thats impossible last year I though Aaron was great I think for where he was drafted he was very effecient. Maybe one day he shall become posessed by the spirit of Luc Longley.♠♥♦♣
I will make up my mind
about Gray when I see him come back after the summer in shape or not. He was getting out of shape towards the end of the season (he admits it himself) and since he was borderline to begin with that is a bad sign. If he comes back after obviously working hard over the summer I’d be fine with him on the bench. If he shows up out of shape he just ate his way out of the team. Its up to him.
They need to show him
the true life story of Michael Sweetney – maybe it will persuade him to pay a little better attention to the diet next season.
Here's to the most exciting offseason in a VERY long time!
I agree.
He’s got a big body (ala Luc Longley) and if he refines his post moves he’ll be an absolute monster comin off the bench. I’m not givin up on Gray.
I was impressed by Gray last season
and thought he did well for a mid-late 2nd round pick. But he did seem to put on weight during the season, and that last game where he scored 19pts and grabbed 21 rebs was a hoot. Seeing him drag himself down the court just in time to receive a pass trying to get over 20pts, it was plain to see his conditioning needed a lot of work. Still, he wont be effective in all games/situations, and in those 20 or so games he doesn’t play is where I see Simmons getting 10-12 minutes. I hope thats enough to at least determine if he has value as an end of the bench guy, or make use of his expiring contract(he is due $2.671mil if the team picks up his option in 2009-2010 season).
Simmons deserves a lot of minutes.
Playing for the Iowa Energy of the D-League.
I would like to see Tyrus getting fewer minutes as a PF and more minutes as a SF. If this is the case, then there could be minutes for Simmons behind Gooden.
Streamline the roster
this squad is too loaded with talent at every position to give anybody extra burn. If Simmons shows promise in practice, he’ll play. If not, he won’t. Noah, Thomas, Gooden, & Grey get burn because they put in. Sounds to me like old Cedric ain’t working hard enough. Maybe that’s why he’s bounced around.
Gray works hard?
I know that’s what he screamed to Boylan during a game, but the locker full of cinnabon says otherwise.
management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments!
by your friendly BullsBlogger on Jun 2, 2008 3:58 PM CDT up reply actions
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