Building on it

Some team is going to offer him a huge contract for the simple reason that he's a 7-footer.  Hell, Jerome James got a 30 million dollar contract, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone offers Przybilla a contract in the 40-50 million range.  Pax would have to be a fool to offer him anything close to that kind of money.

Pax fired back at Tim Thomas and confirmed the Bull Standard for players.  This means that any free agent or possible draft pick needs to be analyzed based on his work habits.  This team needs three things - veteran leadership (they miss antonio davis more than curry because he was tough and kept all the players in line) a low post scorer that can defend (I agree that Chandler is better coming from the weak side as a power forward on defence) and a defensive shooting guard that can shoot - I do not think deng has long enough range to be a shooting guard and is not quick enough to guard the 2 guard. This suggests the following:

Draft route - Alderich is supposedly a gym rat would be good in the low post but perhaps strong enough to defend.  Tyrus Thomas  has potential but does anyone know his work habits? Scottie Pippen has endorsed Ronnie Brewer (more as a point forward)but his shot is wierd.  I like Shelden Williams but not with our first pick.

Free agent route - Is Nazr a hard worker? Does anyone know his work habit?  If okay, I would target him. Al Harington is not big enough to play the 4 and we have enough at the 3.  Drew Gooden is endorsed by Captain Kirk. I would target him too.  I am not aware of any guards that are free agents.  Likely we will sign antonio davis for minimum now that he has been released.

Trade - Obvious - Kevin Garnet fills leadership and low post and hard working needs but at what price?  I would be interested in what 2 guards will be available.

the bulls just add a marginally priced free agent this summer and both draft picks and staying far enough under the cap to make a max contract offer to PP, Dirk, or Rashard next summer without giving anything away in a trade this summer... is there some sort of financial problem with this? Do we have to resign to many of our own players next summer or something?

I would not wait because there are no guarantees that the free agents would sign with us.  

The only way to get a star with the right attitude for the Bulls is via trade.  KG is off table.  Ben Maller mentioned bosch but why would Toronto trade him.  Jason Richardson may be interesting but its tough to pay a guard with a max contract that is not the equivalent of MJ.  Drew Goodin will help but he is not a star.

Separately, my draft list based on work ethic, team needs, and talent is as follows (based on what I have read which may or may not be true)  - Aldrige, Tyler of LSU, Noach of Florida, Sheldon Williams, and Ronnie Brewer.  

Here's a list of the contracts signed last year by Big Men. You can decide for yourself what  Mohammed, Harrington, Gooden or Pryzbilla will cost. To my mind a trade for a big guard is far more likely than signing a Free Agent Big man.
I couldn't find out what Chandler actually signed for but I had 6 Years $63 Mil down from last Summer.

Player         New Team      05-06   Multi - Year
Tyson Chandler    Chicago     9.3    $63.0 Mil 6 Years
Zy Ilgauskas  Cleveland     9.2    $55.0 Mil 5 Years
Sl Dalembert Phila      8.0    $53.6 Mil 6 Years
Kwame Brown    Lakers     7.5    $24.8 Mil 3 Years
Eddy Curry    New York 7.4    ????
Antoine Walker    Miami     7.0    $43.0 Mil 5 Years
Stromile Swift    Houston     5.0    $22.4 Mil 4 Years
Udonis Haslem    Miami     5.0    $33.0 Mil 5 Years
Jerome James    N Y     5.0    $29.0 Mil 5 Years
Don  Marshall   Cleve     4.8    $20.0 Mil 4 Years
Dan Gadzuric    Milw     4.8    $36.0 Mil  6 Years
Zaza Pachulia    Atl     4.0    $16.0 Mil 4 Years
Otha Harrington    Chic     3.5    One Year
Vlad Radmanovic    Sea     3.2    Signed qualifying offer
Zeljko Rebraca    Clips     3.0    9.0 Mil 3 Years
Robert Horry    San An     3.0    $10.0 Mil 3 Years
Steven Hunter    Phila     2.8    $15.0 Mil 5 Years
Brn Scalabrine    Boston     2.6    $8.7 Mil 3 Years
D  Songailia    Chicago     2.2    $4.6 Mil 2 Years
DeSagana Diop    Dallas     2.0    $6.48 Mil 3 Years
Dikembe Mutombo    Houston     2.0    $4.2 Mil 2 Years
Mark Madsen    Minn     2.0    $12.1 Mil 5 Years
Jake Voskul    Charl     1.9    One Year
Fabrico Umberto    San An     1.9    $7.3 Mil 3 Years
Malik Allen    Chicago     1.7    One Year
Michael Ruffin    Wash     1.7    $3.5 Mil 2 Years
Alan Henderson    Cleve     1.1    One Year
Mikki Moore    Seattle     1.0    One Year

Jason Richardson - expensive
Michael Pietrus - Budget buy

Joe Johnson - doubt he is available
Paul Pierce - doubt he is available

Ray Allen - not young enough

Correy Maggette - injury prone?

Josh Howard - doubt he is available

Who did I leave out that is realistic?

He's not looking like much now but was regarded as highly as Josh Howard before Howard took his minutes (which might tell the whole story).

Here's this summer's FA crop which should act as a nice follow-up to OldeBull's comment.  

The 2006 NBA Free Agent Class
Player   Option  Year   Player  Option  Year   Player  Option  Year
Aaron McKie   player   '06   Frank Williams   team   '06   Michael Finley   player   '06
Al Harrington     '06   Fred Hoiberg     '06   Michael Olowokandi     '06
Alvin Williams   player   '06   Fred Jones     '06   Mike Dunleavy     '06
Amare Stoudemire     '06   George Lynch     '06   Mike James   player   '06
Andre Emmett     '06   Jackson Vroman     '06   Nazr Mohammed     '06
Anfernee Hardaway     '06   Jacque Vaughn   team   '06   Nene     '06
Antonio Burks     '06   James Posey   player   '06   Nick Van Exel     '06
Antonio Davis     '06   Jared Jeffries     '06   Nikoloz Tskitishvili   team   '06
Ben Wallace     '06   Jarron Collins     '06   Pape Sow   team   '06
Bernard Robinson     '06   Jason Collier     '06   Paul Shirley     '06
Bonzi Wells   team   '06   Jason Hart   player   '06   Predrag Stojakovic   player   '06
Bostjan Nachbar   team   '06   Jason Terry     '06   Rasual Butler     '06
Caron Butler     '06   Jim Jackson     '06   Raul Lopez     '06
Casey Jacobsen   team   '06   Jiri Welsch     '06   Reggie Miller     '06
Chris Webber   player   '06   Joel Przybilla     '06   Robert Traylor   team   '06
Chris Wilcox     '06   John Salmons     '06   Ron Mercer   player   '06
Chucky Atkins     '06   Juan Dixon   team   '06   Ronald Dupree     '06
Clarence Weatherspoon     '06   Jumaine Jones     '06   Ruben Patterson   player   '06
Clifford Robinson   team   '06   Justin Reed   team   '06   Sam Cassell     '06
Curtis Borchardt     '06   Kareem Rush   team   '06   Scot Pollard     '06
Dajuan Wagner   team   '06   Kelvin Cato     '06   Shawn Bradley   player   '06
Dan Dickau   team   '06   Lamond Murray     '06   Speedy Claxton     '06
David Wesley     '06   Lindsey Hunter     '06   Stanislav Medvedenko     '06
DeShawn Stevenson   player   '06   Loren Woods     '06   Tamar Slay   team   '06
DJ Mbenga     '06   Lorenzen Wright     '06   Tayshaun Prince   team   '06
Doug Christie     '06   Lucious Harris     '06   Tim Thomas     '06
Drew Gooden     '06   Mamadou N'diaye     '06   Trevor Ariza     '06
Eddie Gill     '06   Mario Kasun     '06   Vlade Divac     '06
Eric Piatkowski     '06   Matt Harpring     '06   Voshon Lenard     '06
Eric Williams   player   '06   Melvin Ely     '06   Yao Ming     '06
Francisco Elson     '06    

...not entirely accurate with players like Miller on there (was that Dwight Gooden that I spotted in there too?), but it's something.

Although Nene is a big question mark because of his injury.  

http://www.realcavsfans.com/showthread.php?t=3139

The one thing we don't want to do is overpay for mediocre players.  Pax doesn't want to copy Krause a few years ago, signing guys like Ron Mercer and Eddie Robinson to huge contracts after failing to land Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady.  This year, there aren't any free agents on the market on the level of Hill and McGrady.  The best free agent on the market (Al Harrington) is a guy who couldn't crack the starting lineup of the Pacers for years.  Why would we give him a 5 year, $60 million contract?  Unless we can trade for Garnett (and remember, about 25 teams will be calling the T-Wolves this summer), there isn't going to be a savior available for us.  In that case, we might as well just hold on to our draft picks and cap room.  We're probably a decent rotation player or two away from being a solid playoff team for years to come (albeit not a title contender with the current roster), so we're better off saving that cap room for another year or two if necessary.

I think signing Harrington at ~8 mil is a good deal.  

You get a 25-yr old 6'10" SF, 19ppg scorer w/a post-up game who can also play PF.  

Yeah he's not a rebounder and mainly a SF, but at this point I think having Al Harrington playing in a PF/SF rotation is a quantum leap over Malik Allen, O Harrington, Songaila or Sweetney.  This also takes the pressure off our big man high lotto pick.

With roughly 18 mil in cap space we can still sign a guy like Nazr and have space to add other veterans.

Then this allows us to draft a big guard with our second pick.  It really doesn't matter if the guard lacks a consistent jumper, what we need is length, athleticism, slashing ability and defense.

We have to take advantage of this FA because there is less competition.  Next year there will be more teams in the market.  

If Al Harrington doesn't work out, he is a very tradeable asset you could put in any deal.  Plus if Luol is traded then he takes over the SF spot full-time.  He is a versatile asset.

If you're going to do a sign-and-trade for a superstar, you want to have enough assets to compete once you get him.

We have four major needs this offseason:

1.  Players with a post-up game
2.  Big men
3.  Big guard who can defend / attack the basket
4.  Appreciating assets

Al Harrington gives us #1, .5 of #2 since he mainly plays SF, #4, and allows us to draft #3.

He brings us closer to having that critical mass of talented players to be a contender.

I wonder, after reading that realcavs message board, how many other people think their team will have a chance at the premier free agents this off season.

I remember my hopes being crushed when we signed Mercer and Robinson instead of Hill and McGrady. You could see the car crash coming.

Realistically, does the stigma of a post-MJ Bulls team still remain?

Or will a free agent come here for less than a max contract for the chance to revive a franchise that has serious growing pains. I agree that not many of the FA's are worth max money.

Who wants the headache of MJ looking down from the luxury suites and the banners screaming from the rafters?

It's alot of pressure for someone to take, and not many of the hoopsters today can handle it.

one word...nene....why isnt it mentioned more on this thread.  Sure hes had some injuries.  the guy is really young though and he can score and is a big body who can also defend.  He has a huge upside and a lot of potential....plus the nuggets probably wont be able to resign him. they need cap room for next year (melo).  

I beginning to think that Garnett will push for a trade and be available. The question is what would the Wolves want from the Bulls.

I expect they would require us to also take one of their bad contracts (Blount or Jaric) and would want in return the Knicks Draft pick, Chandler, and 2 more players from (Deng, Duhon, Nocioni and Gordon.)

Let's make it Garnett & Jaric for Chandler, Deng, Duhon and the #1

Would you make that trade?

Including Deng doesn't look that appealing to me either Matt but if you look at the Wolves situation they need to offer their fans something in exchange for Garnett. "We're not getting a superstar back but look at the good young (future star)players we have now"  

I think Chandler would almost have to be included and if we are taking back a PG(Jaric) in the trade then Gordon or Duhon goes to the Wolves. We can't trade both draft picks because we traded our 05 pick. We could trade the 07 Chi/NY pick.
If you said no to Deng would you give them Nocioni then.

Garnett & Jaric for Chandler, Duhon, Nocioni & the #1 Pick??

 

I don't think we should do it if we have to give up Deng AND Chandler.  It is like a punch to the nuts.  We would end up in a Minny-like state of torpor.

If we have to give up Deng, then I'd only do it if we could still manage the cap to sign Al Harrington for the 3 spot.  

If we have to give up Chandler, then we'd better sign Nene / Nazr, etc.

The other problem has to do w/KG-- he has never shown much of a post game, whether it is because of the crappy players around him who can't pass him the ball in the post or what not.  Bottom line is that he isn't a go-to guy because he is more of a jump shooter.  That is bad.  

Priority #1:  We need low-post scorers.  

This is also why I think we take Aldridge w/that high pick over anyone else.

I'm also hesitant to give up that 2007 NYK #1...especially since it seems the consensus is that it will be a superstar potential-laden draft.

The more I think about KG, the less I want the Bulls to trade for him.

Moving one of our core guys plus a pick would be all I'd be willing to give up for KG, but in the NBA GM's tend to overvalue talent, and Minnesota wouldn't settle for that scenario. (And from what I read KG isn't clamoring to leave Minnesota, making it easier for McHale to drive up the asking price.)

The Bulls have some cap room, and as was mentioned before, we have a few guys looking at extensions and raises in the next few years, so discretion (I like the "slowhand" reference, too) by Pax is imperative.

IMHO...in a perfect world signing Nazr and Harrington would best, but we're likely to get only one of those guys, and I don't think Harrington rates a max contract. So dump some dead weight (Othella, Sweetney--although he still has trade value--Pike, Pargo--even though he will win one game a year for us, and has that "30-point-where-the-hell-did-this-come-from game" and yes, Schnesher--although he is good for 6 fouls a game against Shaq) go for Nazr (he's not unlike Antonio Davis) and keep the picks for a big man and big guard.

Gordon, Chandler, Duhon, Sweetney (it takes a lot of players to get close to Garnett's salary) and the two picks from the Curry trade for KG and one of the undesirable Minnesota contracts (of which there are a lot).  For those concerned about KG's salary, keep in mind we would be paying him only about $6 million more than we paid Tim Thomas this year.

Starting lineup:

Hinrich
Bulls pick (Roy, Foye, or Brewer)
Deng
KG
Free Agent Center (Mohammad?)

Not bad at all.