Next Year's Bulls. What's your plan?
by majoyenrac on Mar 9, 2009 12:56 PM CDT
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PrintOk, so the way we're set right now, presuming no trades will happen until at least next year's deadline (because let's say it, we're Chicago and we don't trade when we can trade), who would you like to see a Bull next year coming into the year?
I presume we won't be able to afford Ben Gordon....and while I think BG's our best player, I think the addition of Salmons has at least allowed us to weather that storm.
So presuming we have to get 2 #1 draftee, I guess we can presume whoever he is (Stephen Curry most likely as I think we'll nip into the playoffs for teh first one and then I don't know another SG who won't play much in year 1, maybe an international pick for the Thabo part), his cost will be between $1.5-2M to the cap. We may have one more 2nd rounder on the team at $800K, and before doing anything else and the loss of BG we'll have 67.4M....locked up (hopefully we can get under Jerome James's contract....but I don't think it's happening)
Who should we try to add to this team?
Rotation
Rose/Kirk/Curry
Salmons/Kirk/Curry
Deng/Salmons/Tim THomas
Thomas/Noah/Tim Thomas
Noah/Miller.
I think the following could be good, inexpensive free agents:
Chris Birdman Anderson....give us solid off the bench contributions, ensure that with Tyrus out we always have a shot blocker. I know he's had the drug issue, but the dude can play and is dirt cheap....might be a nice bargain. He's athletic, he's played well in basically every year he's been eligible to play, and if one of our bigs go down for any spell, his athleticism should allow him to step in and at least perform. I'd offer him 2 yrs $3M in the hopes of snatching him away, on play he's worth more than that, but given the checkered past, that might be a good offer.
Matt Barnes. He could give us some scoring punch at the 2/3 off the bench. He's played a bit better of late, but is still a bit inconsistent (hench a definite depth/bench guy), I'd prefer Andersen, but Barnes might help space the floor if Gordon's gone, in a surefire bench role.
Linas Kleiza.....he's picked a strange time to have a mediocre year and might lose his qualifying offer in the cheap land of the Nuggets, perhaps we can make an offer at him, so long as it's cheap. He has proven he can play really well in the past and he isn't very old....
Wally Szcerbiak. The pretty boy should come very cheap at or near veteran's minimum, and he might really help space the floor in the 2nd unit, he and Tim THomas could give some fits, so long as Rose is at the helm with them....
Anyone else you think?
I mean perhaps we use all the money and luck into Ben Gordon....I still think he's getting mroe than the just under I believe $8M we can offer him....
And frankly, while BG's been our best player, I think now might be the time to change some of the old regime...the nice thing with the guys above is that they can play and should be tradable and won't cost us a ton of money....
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Probably don't need another center but
I’d like Marcin Gortat. He’s coming off a rookie deal an was a 2nd rd pick in ’05 so shouldnt be too expensive.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gortama01.html
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
Forgot about him
Yeah I’ve liked the little I’ve seen from him, and like you said might be cheap…..but he might still stay in Orlando for Howard depth….I think Turk’s a goner, but too rich for our blood and our needs…
They still have Asik too
although who the hell knows when he’s gonna ever put on an NBA uniform.
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
No,
As you can see, I’m presuming whoever we draft will at best be a 3rd slot…
THis is predicated that we lose BG this summer….which I think is happening.
Our main success will lie on continued improvement of Rose, Tyrus Thomas, and Noah, and hopefully a return to form of Luol….
That and/or the trade that’ll happen in Feb next year….
We have to start thinking of guys who we can add in, and i htink the guys above are at least decent depth guys. Personally I’d rather see the Birdman play than Tim Thomas,etc….and I think he’s gettable.
I’m wondering who you’d add to our core team: Rose-Kirk-Luol-John Salmons-Tyrus-Noah-Miller—maybe Tim THomas (he’ll be on the books at least)….
O.K.
While I agree we will most likely lose BG over the summer I still think our first course of action (after firing VDN) should be to try and trade Kirk and keep BG. After that fails (and it probably alreday has) I would draft Chase Budinger and maybe sign somebody like Chris Anderson if we can get him on a one year cheap. Honestly though the whole thing is so full of hypotheticals that will all change in a month anyway.
"So long Noc, we hardly knew ya."
by Khalid El-Amin on Mar 9, 2009 1:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Actually scratch that...
We don’t need Chris Anderson. If we can trade Kirk and somehow keep BG we’ll need a backup PG for Rose.
I still say draft Budinger and try and package something with Salmons for a PG in return (if we can keep BG).
See what I mean, the hypotheticals are out of control. This thread is about a month too early :)
"So long Noc, we hardly knew ya."
by Khalid El-Amin on Mar 9, 2009 1:49 PM CDT up reply actions
I think Kirk's staying
At least through the deadline, where he might be packaged with Miller for a major deal player…
And wtih Salmons on board, maybe that’s ok….Kirk can play some 1-2, I think our biggest problems still are in the depth at the 4 slot even if BG leaves….
We don't need any FAs.
The rotation you posted is pretty much set, and I’d argue still not pared down enough (depending on the minutes distribution, of course; if Tim Thomas doesn’t play much, then we’ve got a pretty good 8-man rotation). Adding a FA, even one who’d be in a “bench role,” would stretch the minutes and create rotation problems.
If we can get someone ridiculously cheap, then fine. But none of the guys you listed are going to want to sit on the bench; if they’d want to do that, they’d probably just resign with their current teams or with a team that’s already in championship contention. If they don’t resign with their teams, it will be for one or more of these two reasons: (1) they can get PAID somewhere else (most likely above market, which definitely won’t be in Chicago with our tax situation); and/or (2) they can get PT somewhere else (again, which won’t really be here as we’ve already got a 9 man rotation).
If we add new impact players, it’ll be via trade, which I very much expect to happen. We have three sizeable expiring contracts (Brad, Tim, and Jerome), two of which are connected with players who can still play and help a team during a playoff push.
We still need
Trade component pieces, should we lose BG…and I think we can easily nab one or two of these guys for a nice pay increase over what they’re making now (sans Szcerbiak) and turn the $7-8M into 2 players who can play and give us more depth.
Also having 2 folks can make it easier to pull off a trade, as those guys can at least man a spot post trade should we lose a projected starter or two….
Finally, I think all these guys are viable options. Barnes is making the minimum right now as is Anderson, and Matt’s played ok, but not quite in the ooh let’s give him a solid contract level, and Anderson’s played very well, but still has the deserved stigma that might keep him in a lower salary bracket than his play merits….plus he’s on Denver, a team already fearing overpaying for non winning….Bulls can afford him, and like I said maybe we get him in a 2 year $6M deal…
I also fear FA signings at this point
The Bulls are starting to finally get free of the guard glut and the forward glut, and filled the rotation at center nicely – overall a good rotation with defined roles (especially if Deng sits out rest of season).
Any FA signed with any kind of NBA credentials will mean a “glut” at any position…. something we’ve had since Ben Corpse was traded away.
I think the best plan may be drafting well and keeping fingers crossed for a good development. And then later on trading for a good player, position-for-position to keep the glut situation to a minimum.
"Remember, I'm Italian".
My plan
1. Try to organize a mass dump of Hinrich, Deng, Thomas, and James before free agency starts. I seriously doubt this can be done, but I’d try it.
2. By getting $21M under the cap this way, we re-sign Gordon, make a run at Paul Millsap, and Josh Childress. Best case scenario we get them for $7M, $8M, $6M.
1- Rose
2- Gordon, Pick
3- Childress, Salmons
4- Millsap, Thomas
5- Miller, Noah
Going into 2010, we’ve got Miller, Thomas and potentially Salmons as expiring contracts that could get us back under the cap in summer 2010, or to trade before then.
In short, I’d be swinging for the fences.
Forgot about Childress...how's he been doing over in Greece?
And I assume in your dump you’re talking about Tim Thomas, not Tyrus. Right?
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
I don't see a need to rush things
Bosh said he wants to play in Chicago, and for me that’s enough to hold out to 2010, especially since that’s the plan already in place and we’d need to pull off extremely difficult trades to get ourselves anywhere under the cap in 2009.
I want Hinrich gone. I don’t know why Pax held onto him this year knowing that would cost him Gordon next year. And for cap and Derrick Rose purposes, Hinrich isn’t worth his contract. If we can get a low-1st/high 2nd along with expirings for him, I’m all for it.
Extend Tyrus long-term. Bring Asik aboard and give him a no-pressure year to develop, maybe in the NBDL. And then use our three top-35 picks (including the one we hopefully get for Hinrich) to fill out our roster.
PG Rose
SG Salmons – Draft Pick
SF Deng – Draft Pick
PF Tyrus – Draft Pick
C Noah – Miller – Asik
Try to sneak that team into the playoffs, go balls out for Bosh/Wade/Joe Johnson in 2010, extend Noah, and we’ll be in good shape for awhile.
No need to extend Ty Thomas this summer
The CBA will be up in 2011 and the leverage will be all on the owners. You can sign Thomas a lot cheaper after the new CBA is met. Plus it would be foolish to extend him right now since the Bulls are already so close to the luxury tax.
I was thinking that it would be better to extend him now because
we could probably sign him cheap. If we wait a year and he puts up 15 and 8, I’d think we’d end up paying him a lot more regardless of the CBA.
I'd much
rather have Millsap walk and not be a Bull than go after Childress and Millsap, and hold onto our assets for a possible salary clearing to get a real #1 high #2 man like a Bosh, etc….
I’m on the fence regarding BG….I love the offense and have been a big supporter of the BG over Luol for years, but the at times complete disregard for D from Ben is frustrating…..and I think I’d rather leave that $8M open maybe than have BG locked in for 6 years, unless we find a way to rid ourselves of Luol.
I think Kirk’s still nice in a trade with his declining salary and solid D….well rounded game….if we sign Ben, he’s ours through next year regardless and could cause issues in trades….and well Luol’s not helping his trade clause with the injury bug and lack of consistency this year (previously I hoped we’d be able to find a Deng trade partner, but this latest injury makes that seem dim).
The beauty of my idea would be we could still potentially go after Bosh in 2010 even after getting guys this year.
The ugly of my idea is I don’t know if we can dump all those guys.
That's why I think
It might be better to get guys who can play and who will be on the cheap, i.e. John Salmons-lite to pair with the expirings or to keep in case we rid ourselves of one of Tyrus or Noah in the big trade….
Paying for 2 BYC guys, both of whom I don’t think will be materially better than our guys (Millsap’s playing well, but how much of that has to do with team/situation? I don’t see Millsap as Boozer, and I think he’s aided a bit by the team…..he’ll be decent, but frankly I’d rather see Tyrus at the 4 than have Millsap and Tyrus in a solid battle for the same spot….Millsap’s still a bit short…..if Tyrus wasn’t coming on sure, but he is, and I think we should look at a backup/guy who’d fit in a trade….
Chidress is a taller SG with a bit more D, but isn’t in BG’s league offensively….while I propose we let BG walk, I think I’d rather keep the unquestionably cheaper Salmons as our main 2 and get some depth through the draft and at least one decent cheapie FA filler.
in 2k9 you could!!
but in real life…not so much. I think the bulls will heavily shop deng, hinrich, and try to find a sign and trade with gordon….i think they let kirk go which might be enough incentive for gordon to stay, and have salmons backup mainly deng. I think roberson might get a little burn at the pg position and if needed gordon could get some time there as well, with rose playing at least 36 minutes a game (that means for an entire quarter our offense is gonna be shoddy).
Ideally id like to send deng packing, maybe push the envelope with toronto and try to land bosh via trade (deng, noah 1st rounders and filler…..noah gives toronto much needed defense and rebounding while they maintain andrea on offense, deng gets to play on a team that utilizes offense sets and have alot more room in the middle to move without the ball since toronto has a more shooters orientated offense). This would then make things alot easier since rose and bosh become the focal point of the team, and everyone else really becomes alot easier to trade….
On Behalf of Sue, Wjb, majoyenrac, Bullshooter and all the other Hinrich fans...Ill keep the Hinrich Hope coming...There will be light!
There are no plans
Fire Vinny, get a real coach, then get a real roster. It doesn’t matter who plays if Del Negro is still the coach.
Confusion breeds success. If they don't know each other, opponents can't have strategy. GENIUS.
by Ozzie Montana on Mar 9, 2009 7:53 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
We need to Fire VDN
and try to move Deng and Hinrich. I would like to see someone like sports2 show some kind of scenario where we trade Hinrich and Deng to make room to resign Gordon. Then we move Salmons to the 3.
"I guess I can’t do anything if you’re just irrational, but to point it out and move on."
- fundamentallysound
Put me on the spot why don't ya
My guess is the Bulls need to come up with a $7M starting salary to retain Gordon. Based on the latest LT guess I’ve seen, the Bulls will have something like $1M in cap space. That’d mean we need to move about $6M more off the books.
I’m not totally sold on trading Deng, nor am I sure we can. But his injuries scare the hell out of me. And if we want to run a “system” something like what what Vinnie wants to run, even if we don’t keep Vinnie, Deng ain’t gonna work out well anyhow.
But yeah, let’s think.
The Suns (Nash) and Mavs (Stackhouse) have large non-guaranteed deals, but trading them for Deng and/or Kirk would put them over the tax. I could see the Suns letting Nash go if they can’t move Amare just to get under the tax, so I don’t see them making this sort of deal. I wouldn’t put it past Cuban to pay the tax this coming year, but I’m not going to assume it’s a given either. But something like Kirk for Stackhouse and Devean George would free up $5.8M in room, which combined with the million we have, probably gets us in range, if not comfort.
The Blazers still look like the most likely candidate, since they could send Outlaw and Blake’s NG deals for either Kirk or Deng. I’d guess they’d require Deng for that deal. That’d save plenty.
After watching the Thunder play with Westbrook and Durant, I don’t know that Gordon is a great fit for them, but Kirk might not be bad. They could absorb him with cap space.
Memphis… maybe the same.
I’d also see if I couldn’t offer Memphis a money saving deal or perhaps our late pick to take Jerome James. I believe insurance will cover 80% of his contract this year, so if we offered them $2M, they’d make money off of taking him, and that’d free up the needed $6M right there. After doing that, it wouldn’t be a necessity to trade Deng or Kirk, though I think I’d still try to do it.
I think that’s the move I’d look to make, and then try to figure out Kirk and Deng later. Right now the only teams I see being obviously good fits are the Blazers and Thunder. I guess Minnesota liked Kirk, so perhaps they could make an offer, but they won’t be under the cap by that much… only a couple million. So I don’t know how that’d help us re-sign Gordon.
by Sports2 on Mar 10, 2009 9:15 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I agree with that Mavs deal
I was thinking of a similar deal with them. They need depth at PG and a long term solution there since they gave up Harris for Kidd. Jose Juan Barea is pretty good, and a combo of him, Kirk and Jason terry would be nice in Dallas. Cuban has already talked about blowing up the team if it doesn’t go far in the playoffs this year. I would try to get Brandon Bass back in that deal and give them the Suns’/Nuggets’ pick that we got for Thabo. This years draft is supposedly very weak. And I like what Brandon Bass brings to the table. Getting him and Stack for Kirk and a high number one would be great.
There is also talk that agents are pushing their big FAs to sign deals this year instead of waiting for 2010. The cap is going to keep going down. So maybe Bosh makes a trade demand from Toronto. (Crossing fingers now).
Re-Sign Gordon, hire Avery Johnson, leverage our expiring contracts.
Chicago Bulls Blog and Forums. NBA Power Rankings.
I forgot, fire Vinny Del Negro.
But you probably could have figured that out as being part of the plan.
Chicago Bulls Blog and Forums. NBA Power Rankings.
I really don't get the Avery Johnson love at all
I mean did anybody watch his overcoaching in the finals against the Heat….he had the far superior TEAM, yet let D. Wade for 4 straight games run ramshot over the club……
Then he managed the next year to try to match up his team to Don Nelson’s Warriors club (inferior Warriors club mind you) and watched them pretty easily beat the Mavs…..
Folks get on Dirk for those series, but Avery was more to blame than Dirk in my mind, ft’s or not.
There’s a reason he was let go, and all the b.s. about look at his coaching record….it’s not like he was given a dysfunctional 33 win team known more for off the court madness and soap opera-ish issues….
I’m fine if VDN’s gone next year for a real candidate, but Avery? Not so sold….Jeff Van Gundy, sure.
I would say
you still have to take a look at him. It’s like saying Phil Jackson only goes to winning ball clubs as well for Pat Riley. Yeah the argument is there but they still win.
Now Avery hasn’t won a championship but he does have experience and has played in this league.
"I guess I can’t do anything if you’re just irrational, but to point it out and move on."
- fundamentallysound
How about we hire someone who has
coached in this league?
"The Zen philosopher Basho once wrote: 'A flute with no holes is not a flute, And a doughnut with no hole is a Danish.' He was a funny guy."
by Ugh It Live! on Mar 11, 2009 1:21 PM CDT up reply actions
Hold on there
I know this wasn’t your point, but you cannot compare Avery and Phil or Pat…
How many first time in coaches get a chance to coach a perennial 58-62 win team? Not many besides Avery Johnson.
That team was reallly really good when he got there and he helped administer their decline by orchestrating 2 atrocious playoff collapses and causing Cuban to panic and trade away the future to overpay for the aging Kidd…..
Avery is a “good coach” mostly because of the team he was given. He didn’t impress as a coach, despite that record, he didn’t help build or administer that team, and he was there to watch one of the ebst teams of recent years collapse twice…..
The players of that team were criticizing him for being unapproachable on top of that, and Avery catering his more qualified and better teams to the lesser teams matchups is the reason he’s at home right now.
I mean sure he can get another job and prove me wrong at some point, but maybe too can Vinny now that his feet are wet….
I’m just saying I think there are more experienced guys out there or other lesser experienced guys who deserve the next step before we bring in a guy who failed on an almost can’t fail situation.
by majoyenrac on Mar 11, 2009 2:19 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
He's a good coach.
He elevated the play of the Mavericks.
In the year where he coached a little portion of the season, the Mavs were the 4th best offensive team, 9th best defensive team.
The next year with Avery for the full year, they became the top offensive team. They slid a little defensively, but were still respectable for 11th best in the league. They went to the finals.
The next year, the Mavericks were the 2nd best offensive team in the league (7 seconds or less was now in full swing in Phoenix) and 5th best defensive team. That’s a legitimate championship contender, unfortunately they lost in the first round.
Avery was just unfortunate, in that he was given a soft superstar. I don’t see how you can blame the playoff failures on Avery. It was not micromanaging that led them to lose. It was their superstar playing like crap.
In the year they went to the finals, Dirk averaged 26.6 on 58.9 TS. That’s an MVP caliber player. In the finals, he averaged 22.8 PPG on 53.0 TS. That player, that Dirk was in the finals was not a superstar. that is a player scoring in volume, at a mediocre efficiency. That doesn’t win you games, just ask Al Jefferson.
Then the next regular season, they won 67 games. Dirk averaged 24.6 PPG on 60.5 TS. That looks like an MVP! In the playoffs, 19.7 PPG on 50.9 TS. That is Larry Hughes incarnate at the power forward position. That is horrible.
I just don’t see how you can blame Avery for Dirk playing like crap. There is no excuse for a superstar playing that badly. It’s not Avery’s fault that Dirk can be guarded by Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, both much smaller players.
Also, Avery has experience coaching small backcourts. He took a small starting backcourt to the finals in Harris/Terry. He managed to make the Mavericks a pretty darn good defensive team, even with that small backcourt, despite, outside of Diop, not really having that great of interior defenders.
He is a disciple of Popovich, and I think Popovich is probably the best coach in the NBA. Running the Bulls San Antonio style, would be imo, a good thing.
Chicago Bulls Blog and Forums. NBA Power Rankings.
4 game series
Avery also catered the team to Nelson ball, and did nothing to adjust for Wade after Wade blew up for 4 straight games.
As for the improved O and decreased D, ebb and flow, it’s not like they made a Skilesian jump from 30th in the league on D to what 8th or whatever…..
They had a damn good team, the most talented, deepest team to start with.
Dirk gets blamed an awful lot for being soft in the finals and against the Warriors…..strange how folks forget he was the best player on the court in that great Chris Paul first round series loss last year, or that Dirk was sensational against the Spurs in the year they finally went to the finals.
Riley outcoached Avery by adjusting to Dirk and Avery not making any changes…
Avery then overcoached by tailoring his team to adjust to the far inferior Warriors the next season….
Yes, Dirk was good in those series.
And that’s why they won the Spurs one. The rest of the team, by last offseason, was crap, as a result of the Kidd trade.
He was crappy in the Warriors/Heat series, and that’s why they lost.
Bottomline, if your superstar doesn’t produce, you aren’t going to win too many playoff series.
Chicago Bulls Blog and Forums. NBA Power Rankings.
Avery
Sucked in those series too. Dirk doesn’t guard Wade…..Avery didn’t adjust. switching Howard and Harris should have disrupted Wade a bit at least by the 3rd straight Wade game…..the Mavs didn’t adjust at all.
What lost the Warriors game most was that Avery decided to switch to small ball to counter Nelson, rather than have Nelson counter his team to try to stop the superior Mavs.
THe Mavs were pretty decent last year, just needed a jolt, they didn’t get it….
There's nothing he could've done in the Heat series
Wade was unstoppable and the refs where giving it to them anyways.
"I guess I can’t do anything if you’re just irrational, but to point it out and move on."
- fundamentallysound
Well he could have adj
Tried Harris and Howard to trap Wade and make the other guys beat him….
He didn’t adjust. Blaming that loss completely on Dirk is ridiculous. True Dirk missed a clutch FT and didn’t play great, but come on that team wasn’t a 1 trick pony (obviously as they won 67 games)….
Avery didn’t motivate those guys when they needed int he most, and he didn’t try to counter Wade at all. I think Harris and Howard could have controlled Wade a bit….
I don't see
how that would’ve made a difference. Avery has never placed the blame on Dirk but I watched the series and you can see the difference between a Dirk and a Wade. You could see that difference the last time we played the Heat.
After any series you can always go back and say we could of done this and we could of done that but that’s not fair because Miami was the better team.
I will agree with you on the series with Golden State. It was a huge mistake to try and play Nelly ball with GSW. But you can’t take away the fact that Avery Johnson has a winning record and has experience.
Look at Scott Skiles; when he left the Suns he left with a reputation and Paxson was the only one who gave him a chance and he showed that he is a good coach. He also showed the first couple of years that he had learned from his mstakes.
Funny thing is that some of the same mistakes that Avery made in matching up with the opponent VDN makes. And look they both had Del Harris on the bench. I think I’ve found the smoking gun :)
"I guess I can’t do anything if you’re just irrational, but to point it out and move on."
- fundamentallysound
Ha
The Del Harris connection is awfully interesting….good point.
I agree on comparing Wade and Dirk, most especially in that series and the current Wade of late. Dirk’s a very very good player, but let’s face it, he’s just not Wade, when Wade’s on his game.
I think though after 4 straight games of it being 1 on 5, they could have done something, I don’t think the Heat were the better team, ith ink they played better in a 6 game series and were definitely the best coached team.
But bygones are bygones.
kirk and luol out...keep ben
we have to try our best to resign ben and try our best to get rid of deng and kirk.
UPDATE: What's my plan?
Join a bowling league.
"So long Noc, we hardly knew ya."
by Khalid El-Amin on Mar 12, 2009 10:44 AM CDT reply actions
How about
Move to Milwaukee….it’s close and the Bucks will improve, while we continue to be more talented but flounder.
And if you are lucky, you can find free on-street parking within a few blocks of the
Bradley Center during a Bucks game (been there, done that).
Maybe we can (but probably not)?
by Granny Waiters on Mar 12, 2009 1:37 PM CDT up reply actions
I hate the Bradley Center.
The United Center is so much better. But I think food is cheaper at the Bradley Center…and tickets have been obviously cheaper.
They were selling these packages of Bucks tickets for $30 at the Sams Club in my hometown. You got 2 tickets to the game, in the lower 300 level in the middle, plus vouchers for soda/hotdogs, plus free parking voucher. They had both Bulls games on the list of games you could get tickets for, unfortunately I was already out of town for both dates.
That’s one of the good things about those teams like Milwaukee. Going to those games are so affordable. I think the problem though, is that the poor people still get locked out a lot of the time form going to a lot of games (honestly, a lot of the people really into basketball are obviously in poverty a lot of the time), and it becomes more lower middle class families buying the tickets, so you don’t really get that environment of big crowding, because a lot of the people who go to the games aren’t big fans, they’re just going to the game for their family to have a good time. Same thing at Brewers games.
But being able to buy affordable tickets/food is great, and one of the luxuries of being in an environment with the smaller market NBA teams.
Chicago Bulls Blog and Forums. NBA Power Rankings.
Yeah
I went to Marquette, and love Milwaukee (despite the smells at times)….
traveling through Milwaukee’s such a breeze in comparison to Chicago….
It’s a great place in the summertime because you can get around very easily and they have all the festivals, etc…
Minneapolis is pretty awesome.
[I say that having been there two days, once.]
"You remember the first time you picked up a basketball video game and you had no idea how to run plays, so you just gave the ball to your shooter and you ran around the court aimlessly until a defender was far enough away and then you jacked up a shot? THAT IS LARRY HUGHES!"
-Anonymous fan letter, heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com
I didnt get a chance to read what anybody else said but here's what i would have done 2 years ago and i still do it today.
The first thing i wanted to do a while ago was trade Deng for Artest. I dont care if Artest never played a single minute. The kings wanted to get rid of him and might have even thrown in a 1st round pick to get the Deng of last year.
So I still trade Deng-for mere salary dump if possible. I would have started thabo at SF or Andres and now I would simply play Salmons there (for now).
I would trade Hinrich…for mere salary dump as well but I am pretty sure there is a #1 pick and non-guaranteed contract coming our way if we move Kirk. he’s a good player, good looking, very marketable. Cuban easily gives is a #1 and Stack for Kirk.
Then I try let heck to move Gordon in an S and T and bring in at least a early second rounder, prefer a #1 pick. or just let him walk.
That leaves Rose, salmons, tyrus, Noah, Tim Thomas, Miller as our base until 2010.
we have enough cap to go after 2 free agents…even if we whiff on the big names. JJ and dirk would do just fine. Especially dirk.
People sleep on dirk but we can pick and roll with Rose all game and because of Dirks shooting we can play Tyrus at SF and be th ebiggest team in the league. It would be fantastic to get JJ and Dirk in 2010 if Wade and Lebron and Bosh dont want to come here.
Rose
JJ
Tyrus
Dirk
Miller/Noah
Sign a utilty big man like what Sheed will be at that point cuz he also has a post game and 3 point range-he would be our Horry.
JJ and Rose will take the big shots as Dirk tends to fade down the stretch.
But either way-i completely cleaning house.
deng plays soft and his body is brittle.
Gordon is a starter on an average team and a 6th man on a great team…he wants all star money. AMF!
Hinrich is redundant.
Tyrus has no post game and never will…and he wont ever be agreat 3 pt shooter either. he wants to be more of a SF and he defends Sf’s really well when matched on them. So play him there.
if we could keep Salmons even better.
Rose (6 rookie)
Salmons (7)
JJ (18 million)
Dirk (18 million)
Miller resign for mle)/Noah (4 rookie)
tyrus (around mle) off the bench
be tough to afford them all…which is another reason to have kept thabo. Salmons prolly has to go.
if choice is Dirk or JJ go with Dirk-keep salmons.
While I don't think all of this will happen
I would love Dirk on maybe a 3 year max deal after his current runs out. With his size and skill level (prim shooting) and his training/regimine, he should be able to go well into his 30’s. He’d be what 34 when that 3 year deal came up, at which point we can either try to keep him at a lower salary, or let him go. He’s a special talent…..and I think given the age, that might be a doable thing.
I personally would love to see Dirk with BEN GORDON and Rose and then 2 defensive aces at the 3 and 5…..Hey looks like we might have that with Tyrus and Noah….
Of course freeing our salaries will be tough if we wanted to keep those two….but in dreamland, it sounds great.
Last I remember too 34-35 isn’t always completely over the hill….I know it’s very in to act like 26 is old in the NBA, but really the prime has been closer to 29-32 over time, and MJ played great into his late 30’s and hell was pretty decent when he returned again for the Wiz (not MJ of old, but still an all star player easily)…
Dirk ain’t MJ, but Dirk does possess a skill that should age gracefully, especially with his size….
Hire Brian Shaw and install the Triangle
Trade Deng and BG for Bosh, Kaman and unprotected draft choices in 2010 with Toronto, LAC, and whomever.
Use Miller as player and big man coach.
Noah, Miller, Kaman
Bosh, TT, Noah
TT, Bosh, Salmons
Salmons, Kirk
Rose, Kirk
A lot of versatility and flexability. Good defense. Just perfect for the Triangle.
kirk is going to be traded before deng, but if toronto wanted deng and gordon i would do it in a heart beat.
I didn't mean that Deng and BG should be traded to Toronto only
but some combination of them and whomever to Toronto, LAC, and whomever for Bosh, Kaman, and draft picks (if possible). So at this point I’m “trusting in Pax.”
So Deng and BG to Toronto
Bosh to the Bulls
Somebody from Toronto to LAC
Somebody from the Bulls to LAC
Kaman to the Bulls
“This is not hard”
If Noah continues to be serious,
a Noah-Bosh front court with a couple quality 3-4 and 4-5 reserves would be fine,
I would have to be sold on why a Kaman-Bosh front court would be worth the extra salary over Noah-Bosh.
Maybe we can (but probably not)?
by Granny Waiters on Mar 15, 2009 8:42 AM CDT up reply actions
I don't understand running the triangle with Rose.
If we wanted to go that direction, I think Beasley would have been the pick.
Chicago Bulls Blog and Forums. NBA Power Rankings.
i think gordon is going to be here next year. and instead of curry in the draft i think we should pick up demar derozen from usc.
Cole Aldrich if we can't trade for Bosh/Amare.
I really do like Stephen Curry though. He seems set in a lottery position right now (7 on DX and 14 on NBAdraft). But I think he could fall to at least our first pick, maybe our second pick, when they start the combine process, and he gets knocked for his body.
But his skill is so smooth, that he is worth a flyer on a mid-first round pick imo.
Cole Aldrich is one of my favorites. He’s just a tough-nosed center, and he has decent athleticism and good skill around the basket. He will be out of our range though imo, so we’d have to trade up.
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