The risk aversion, the lack of imagination, the desire for profit above all else, it’s enough to make a fan think of just giving up and moving on.

everyone just needs to relax. Did the draft go as well as it could have? Probably not. But the average marginal value of any one player over another at the 26 pick is so small that the probable long-term benefit is de minimis. And dare I say that James Johnson is not a ‘risk averse’ pick (nor was Tyrus Thomas, for that matter).

As far as Gibson goes, I think everyone here is massively underselling him. He may be a little ‘lean’ and old, yes, but he’s a legit 6’10" with a 7’4" wingspan and a 9’1" standing reach. He put up 14 ppg, grabbed 9 rpg, and blocked 3 shots per game against respectable competition in the Pac-10. And he did it while shooting 60% from the field, and not in Tyrus Thomas dunks-over-everyone-every-time fashion; he’s got a polished inside game, and he can contribute immediately. He’s got a great attitude, he can run the floor and he can seriously elevate to finish at the rim. Plus he’s likely now our best offensive rebounder, given that Tyrus has decided to stop doing that.

I’m a BC guy, and Taj Gibson is the ONLY reason we didn’t make it past USC in the tournament this year.

We have no idea what this all means…if it means the Bulls will live in mediocraty for years to come, than it was a horrible, horrible draft. But that would have been true even if the Bulls drafted Blair…heck, even if they drafted nearly anyone short of Blake Griffin. Standing still and relying solely on draft picks rarely works! Unless of course you are the Spurs who drafted all of their big three, including Ginobli in the 2nd round, and who coincidently took Blair in the 2nd last night. And even the Spurs who have drafted well in the past made a big trade for RJ.

If the Bulls resign BG and make a big trade (including BG in that trade or not) I call our draft a success because we have versatile players who should be solid backups. If we fail on eiither of those fronts,we have failed to move forward.

Either go for 2010 or try to win now. If the goal is to aim for 2010, let BG go, trade away Hinrich, and actually try to save cap room. If the goal is to win now, use the massive financial advantage this franchise has and trade for players who are on the block for financial reasons. Apparently the goal is to just drift along, win 40-45 games every year, and make a ton of money.

resign Gordon, than all of this blather is irrelevant. If they don’t, then my Bulls tattoo begins to burn.

you must be going to trade some forwards.

Johnsons 3/4 court sprint, was 3.23, same as johnny flynn, an .02 slower than jrue holiday. not bad for a 6’8 260lb guy.

I really think the Bulls have had A LOT of trade talks behind the scenes and have not let out secrets. With the drafting of 2 forwards that are projected to be role players, it seems to me that they feel they have a realistic shot at landing a proven all-star via trade.

I firmly believe a deal with the principals being Deng, Thomas & 2010 1st rounder for Bosh could have been talked about by Toronto and Chicago. If something like that were to go down, the Bulls just need to resign Gordon and call it a day for 09/10 season. The two draft picks fit in real well with a Rose/Gordon/Salmons/Bosh/Noah starting lineup (Hinrich/guard in trade/Johnson/Gibson/Miller bench). We’d be competitive that’s for sure.

“Others saw the Bulls trying to rectify the 2006 draft in which they took LaMarcus Aldridge with the second overall pick and traded him to Portland for Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa.”

Didn’t work out very well.

This is a message to Thomas to either produce, regularly, or be gone. And some insurance. He’s going to get expensive soon. Rookie contract is about up. Play well or they have to trade him.

It’s not like Karly Malone was on the board when #16 came around. They also need guys who can run with Rose.

I know that not many people love these picks, but at the very least they increase the number of talented players on the court. Is anyone clamoring for Linton Johnson III to return or more of Aaron Gray? I’m not confident about Deng’s rehab – you would think after five months of doing nothing he would be further along than “running and getting up shots.” As it stands, Johnson appears to bring an inside outside presence with the ability to finish on the break. These skills will help this team. Assuming that Deng is healthy, Salmons will be playing more 2 guard in a rotation with Kirk or BG. There will be minutes available at the 3. I don’t like that Gibson is so thin, but he’s a spot player at the 4/5 anyway and there are not a lot of big post presences that will worry me over 82 games.

In a perfect world, Deng and Kirk would be on their way out. Short of that, at least we have some options to talk trades in the event that Amare or Bosh get on the market (though I think if the team actually believed in TT and didn’t quit on him in the playoffs, he still could have been the answer at the four).

outperforming at the nba level takes something extra…i thought d. wade had it and should have gone higher in draft, same with b. roy…this year i think one guy who might have it is w. ellington…many teams will probably wonder why they passed on the guy, bulls included…
our draft is a major disappointment…we got better with salmons and miller cuz we sorely needed some front line scoring w/ some efficiency and ability to also make assists…d.gooden fell way short. Miller is a stop gap fading fast, and i doubt either draft choice fills the bill…we should be working hard talking to the jazz about boozer, cuz he would make the rest of our front line look better, and a dual sign and trade with gordon going to utah i think would be attractive to jazz.
if we lose gordon or if salmons has to play lots of small forward cuz deng does not come back strong, we could use another shooting guard, more than second rate forwards, hence we missed the boat not taking ellington.

which is the situation with BG and everybody else for that matter.

So they’re going to do a sign and trade with Orlando for Turkoglo and we give them four forwards to replace him and wish ’em luck!