But, really, who would we want? I mean, really? On a side-note, was KP there because he was shopping?
Was he there? Probably had a face to face meeting with Paxson. Makes a lot of sense. Both Hinrich and Nocioni make sense in trades for the Blazers (and to a lesser extent Gordon [would veto] and Deng [can't see Paxson giving up this early on him]). Lafrentz and/or Pryzbrilla make a lot of sense for the Bulls.
I don't see anyone that would be worth it at this point that is on the Bulls' roster. Yes, Hinrich, Deng, and Gordon are nice players, but I'm not sure the Blazers would be willing to take on their caliber of contracts. I won't even mention the pipe dream of getting Rose without having to give up one of our big three...
Gordon would instantaneously bring the Blazers to the level of the Spurs/Hornets, and make them a top Western team, instead of a pack team. Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng? Probably not worth the price of admissioin.
Would he settle for a role off the bench? Even then, he'd have to play point guard next to Rudy. I just don't care for what he'd bring to the table.
Deng used to be of enormous interest to me, but that was season before last, when he was improving. Last season, he took a step backward. I was willing to give him a pass on that, as an anomaly. This year, he's taken a massive step back. It's a very concerning sign. He's still young, but now I'd look at him more as a reclamation project; I wouldn't want to trade for him as though he were a star. Not only would Paxson probably not want to deal him for "project" value, his salary is onerous if he doesn't bounce back. Outside of Derrick Rose, who won't be dealt, there's really no one on the Bulls who interests me. With Bayless finally getting minutes and starting to emerge, I want to get rid of Rodriguez without adding a second Steve Blake in Kirk Hinrich.
Gordon is a poor fit for this team. I think Deng would be a nice addition at starting SF until I saw how much he was making. Ouch.
I don't know why you would want to bring Gordon off the bench. He is a perfect fit next to Brandon Roy, who likes to handle the ball. Once you're in the half court, Gordon's fine handling the ball, although he has improved on the fast break a bit.
That exactly what a lot of people are saying about Jerryd Bayless here. Why pay so much for someone when we already have another player that can fit that mold?
The problem is that there is no gurantee that Bayless reaches Gordon's level. Odds are against it. Coming into tonight's game, Gordon was averaging 21.0 PPG on 58 TS%. The other players in the NBA doing that this year? Lebron James, Devin Harris, Chris Bosh, Danny Granger, Amare Stoudemire, and Kevin Martin. The guy is an elite scorer, and would make a great second option next to Brandon Roy (or maybe even take over as first option). The thing with Gordon, is that he is scoring at a higher efficiency than Roy right now, and slightly less volume...but Gordon has never played with good big men, Roy has two pretty good ones in Oden/Aldridge. So Gordon's play might exceed Roy's, scoring wise, on the Blazers (of course with Roy too to take pressure off Gordon). If I was the Blazers, going into this summers free agency, my top options would probably be the Utah big men, Boozer, then Millsap. But after that, Gordon. Hopefully Pritchard thinks otherwise, because the Bulls really need Gordon, and we don't need a team throwing big money at him. But Gordon/Roy/Aldridge/Oden is a pretty damn good core 4.
I don't really want any of the Bulls on this team (other than Rose, duh). Hinrich is OK, but I don't think he is a particularly big upgrade over Blake, and his contract is on the UGLY side @ ~9mil a year until 2011/12. Deng is a nice player, but it looks like he is slated to make 14,000,000 in 6 years. Gordon is going to want max $$ soon, and I don't think he would be worth it (and his d sucks). At this point I would rather keep Przy than get either of those guys for him.
Gordon's held the opposing shooting guard to 13.8 PER this year. His defense on shooting guards has been fine. His point guard sample size is bad (while his small forward is great) due to small sample size. But he has done a good job defending his position this year, given league average is 15. http://www.82games.com/0809/08CHI4.HTM#pstats Gordon's not the defensive liability he was in the past. He knows how to play smart defense thanks to Skiles (a defensive guru). Really, your defensive problem isn't the player, it's the system. Go buy off Thibodeau, and make him paid like a head coach in an assistant role.
Rose Deng everyone else on that barren of talent team How in the world were they the rising newcomer team just two years ago? its almost like they play flat-footed.
