Bill Simmons over at grantland.com wrote in a national column where he expressed what many of us have been saying on this blog and elsewhere for many years - the Bulls cheapness and lack of spending is inexcusable.
In his article, The Best Bargains in the NBA, Simmons goes through what he considers the best value contracts in the NBA. There are a number of Bulls mentions. Starting with the good - he notes Jimmy's improving play and calls him the type of rookie and contract you want going forward:
Jimmy "I'm Quietly Making Luol Deng Expendable for a Pau Gasol Trade This Summer" Butler (4 years, $7.6 million)
Now, I don't want Pau Gasol, and I'm not sure Jimmy is making Lu expendable, but its nice for a guy most of us like to get some pub.
The most glowing praise for a Bulls player goes to Noah, however, who he says has the 16th best contract in the NBA.
16. Joakim Noah (Bulls): 4 years, $50.5 million
Fresh off the semi-historic 20-20-10 game Thursday night! Put it this way: His 2013 cap figure ($11.05 million) is less than Nene, Bogut and Emeka Okafor; significantly less than Dwight Howard; just about the same as DeAndre Jordan and JaVale McGee; and slightly over $3 million more than Kendrick Perkins. He's a borderline steal. As an added bonus, he's just about clinched the 2013 Bill Laimbeer Award as my least favorite Boston opponent unless Dwyane Wade tries to maim a Celtic between now and June. Don't rule this out.
Based on the list provided, I actually rank Noah a bit higher. But to each his own. And you gotta love that Noah annoys the Sports Guy, Silly Boston fans.
However, the best part of the Simmons column, if you're Reggie Rose or an annoyed Bulls fan, has to be his takedown of the Bulls management. Its brutal. He starts, off in his discussion of Omer Asik (#11 best value contract in the NBA) with this -
Let's face it: Chicago blew it by not matching Houston's poison-pill offer for Asik ($5 million this season, $5 million next season, $14.9 million in Year 3), then inking Taj Gibson to a four-year, $38 million extension (kicking in next season).
He goes further (click on the link) until he reaches this conclusion:
The bigger point: If you're a big-market contender, you can't lose an asset for absolutely nothing. Just sell the team at that point. Why even own it? You're gonna sweat out the luxury tax every year when you're in Chicago, the third-biggest TV market in America and a city that could absolutely support two professional basketball teams? And yes, Asik is an asset. We didn't need to see him thrive in Houston to realize that Omer Asik was good at basketball. Throw in his age (26) and I think Chicago blew this one. Try not to bring this up to Reggie Rose.
Sell the team! We can only dream. With increasing pressure from Reggie Rose (who I still think should have kept his mouth shut, because his comments hurt D.Rose as much as they did the Bulls) and now Bill Simmons on the case, maybe the Bulls will start to operate like the most profitable franchise in the league, instead of the Memphis Grizzlies.... NAH!!!!
At the very least we can guess Paxson is not having a good day. I can take some solace in that. And just for the record, I agree with everything he says about the Bulls. His blatant Celtic homerism (KG has the 3rd best contract in the league... are you nuts!) not so much.