Rumorpress (TechN9ne) says: I say Prz makes $6.3M and Outlaw makes $4M, while Kirk only makes $10M. So this deal would actually make it harder to sign Gordon, which is about the only potential upside I see to trading Hinrich right now. Especially trading him for an injury-prone clod an another tweener forward. The fact that TechN9ne, who always comes across as a Bulls mouthpiece to me, suggests the Bulls didn’t laugh and hang up on Kevin Pritchard scares the fuck out of me. And yeah, trading Gordon for those guys is similarly stupid. I also don’t see why the Blazers would think Gordon is sensible for them when they’re starting out a similar sort of player (Jerryd Bayless) on a rookie contract, they’ve got Roy, and they’ve got Rudy Fernandez. I thought Gordon made some sense for them several months ago when they just had Roy, but if I were the Blazers I’d go with the two very cheap high potential guys over the one expensive guy. I can see why Hinrich would be a better fit for them since he’s a better facilitator than Gordon, but I don’t see any reason for us to take back Joe Palooka making $7M+ in 2010 and still not solve the Gordon issue either. So I think the rumored deal on the table is pretty much a non-starter. As it stands, I don’t see why they’d want Gordon and I don’t want back what they’re offering for Hinrich. On the other hand, I do see some potential for a deal. I could see things work out this way. As a Bulls fan, the inducement for me to get rid of Hinrich is to sign up Gordon. Thus, there needs to be less salary coming back. Second, there needs to be no 2010 salary coming back, so we open up space there. Check out Portland’s salaries an we see there could be some options. If the Blazers would have some interest in Nocioni there are a lot of things I’d be interested in. How about something like Kirk + Noc +Simmons = $19.7M outgoing salary for Raef (expiring contract) + Channing Frye (tall, can shoot) + Sergio Rodriguez (interesting backup PG) = $16.7M outgoing salary. That clears the decks for us in 2010, gives us a couple of pieces to think about until then, and gives us an additional $3M in salary space this year before we hit the luxury tax in order to deal with Gordon. I think, provided we get serious with Gordon (and get some assurance that he’d sign within that range if we finally make an a comparable offer to what we made last year) this is a good deal for the Bulls. 1- Rose, Sergio 2- Gordon, Hughes 3- Deng, Thabo 4- Gooden, Thomas 5- Noah, LaFrentz, Gray Yes, we’re rebuilding, but the core pieces would be in place and the rest of the guys are short-termers. That’s the reality of the situation whether we make a trade to reflect it or not. I also think that’s a very good trade for the Blazers. Kirk and Noc aren’t bad players, and they seem to be nearly ideal fits for the (many) pieces they already have in place.
According to this: http://sportstwo.com/NBASalaries.php?#jump_CHI The bulls have about $7.8M available under the LT. A 6 year contract starting at $8M with 12% raises is a ~$65M deal. Is this something the Bulls would do? Would Gordon? No LT involved, and some decent headroom next season. At $9M with 12% raises, the contract is 6/$73M. There's ONE year of paying the LT on about $1M, plus missing out on the skim from the other teams' paying the LT. You could tack on the LT penalties to the $73M and justify the contract. Or you could tack those onto Hinrich's and/or Nocioni's deals (as well) to be realistic about it.
10.5% raises, starting at $9M is a $70.3M contract. Starting at $8M, it's a 6/$62.5M contract. It's a couple $million difference over 6 years, hardly worth the squabble. My questions still stand
Well, the Bulls have already offered 6/$59M. I think both he and the Bulls are playing chicken. Neither one of them, I think, can really afford to walk away. Gordon's taking a big risk if he signs the QO. The Bulls are taking a big risk if he signs the QO. If I'm Gordon, I'd be unhappy with 6/$59M because it's scaled down from the Bulls' offer last summer. That's a slap in the face, especially when the Bulls publicly justified that offer as being a low deal in the first place. I think it's human nature to have trouble swallowing that when he knows the Bulls could pay him 5/$52M or 6/$62M or something marginal like that and allow everyone to look like a winner. On the other hand, if Gordon looks around, he ought to expect to get jerked around big time if he signs the QO (and they'd be sensible to limit his minutes beyond merit and "play for the future" late in the year), which will potentially hurt his value next season. So if I'm Gordon, I'm inclined to sign the Bulls deal even though I think they're being turds. So I think he should "swerve" in the game of chicken. But there's no need to swerve yet, that's why it's chicken. But if I'm the Bulls, I hold the line at 6/$59M because even though they can probably pull a deal to get under the LT if they offer Ben more than that, it's not a certain thing. And the LT will cost them something like $7M. And other things being equal, it's good to get a player for less money. On the other hand, I think it's very likely that Gordon on the QO will be a season long distraction (not necessarily b/c Gordon acts poorly, just because) and he'll end up walking with no compensation to me. And I think it's exceedingly likely I can pull a deal to get under the LT. And even if they lock him in at a cut rate, it'll simply breed animosity later (Horace, Scottie, MJ, etc) that's not worth a couple hundred K a year. So if I'm the Bulls, my thinking is I should also "swerve" in the game of chicken. But again, there's no urgency to do so now. Maybe Gordon will first. So both sides speed up and we see who chickens out first.
They seem to be running out of time. And Gordon's statements seem to both indicate he's not going to be a Bull and that under any circumstances he would remain a Bull would be poisonous. There's a 3rd scenario, which is the Bulls simply let him walk. If all they want is to save money, they should rescind their offer to him and not have to bother with getting some big expiring contract back.
Especially with the Gordon situation in flux, I think the player to acquire on Portland is Martell Webster. He's a big shooting guard with a strong shooting touch from outside that's developing into an effective player. He's never going to reach his full potential on a team with Roy unless he becomes a starter at small forward, which is a stretch, which is a stretch considering his size and skills are better served at shooting guard. That being said, I'm not sure what Portland intends to do at the SF if they trade Outlaw. Is Batum coming over this year? Is he ready? Really, Portland has a ton of players on their roster who could help us. You've mentioned LaFrentz as an expiring, and Frye won't have a chance to thrive on that team either. Yes, Rodriguez could be a good player to have on our roster. And I like Outlaw and Webster. Bayless looks like he could be a very good Gordon replacement, but I don't expect we have any way to get him. You know, MikeDC, your suggested trade would set us up well for the 2010 plan, but wow, look at the roster it gives Portland: Hinrich, Bayless Roy, Fernandez Outlaw, Nocioni Aldridge, Diogu Oden, Pryzbilla Damn, that is a hell of a talented and deep team, with a highly skilled starting five and some great offensive punch off the bench along with Pryzbilla as a defensive anchor. If Oden is really play, I don't see any way this team doesn't win a championship.
Webster does start for Portland at the SF position. He has played SF for the majority of his minutes the last 2 years and will continue to see minutes there. And if that trade went through, I see Nocioni starting with Outlaw off the bench. Outlaw plays better on the 2nd unit as he feels more comfortable being the #1 option.
I guess I don't really care about Webster because to me the deal would be premised on bringing Gordon back. And if we did that, I don't know that we've got any room for Webster. For that matter, I guess I just can't be that high on him when the Blazers don't seem to be (with them signing up SGs left and right). I'd guess if they like him, they probably like him as a 3 too. But I don't really know much about Webster or what the Blazers want in general. But I do agree they look really stacked after that trade. Which makes me a bit jealous of what might have been if we'd played our cards a bit better.
