http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ston-rockets-omer-asik-mike-dunleavy/4381387/ How about Hinrich, Dunleavy and Nazr (need his consent, give him the vacated Pete Meyers job next year if he wants it) for Asik. Bulls still stay under the tax number it looks like for this season. Would the Bulls still be able to offer more than MLE for Mirotic though? Certainly helps the TANK. Would let Thibs know we still love him, the Bulls would be set at the 4/5 for a while with Mirotic/Gibson/Noah/Asik. Asik wants to start though. Twin towers baby! Wonder what Houston would be willing to give up? Late 1st isn't that enticing.
On the cap question, from what I can see, if Mirotic wants $7-$8mil, a Dunleavy-Asik swap would be a serious problem. I loved watching Asik play defense, but I'd only pursue him if the Bulls can trade Noah (my favorite player) for a stud wing player. It's crystal clear that Asik has no interest in being a backup and that's understandable.
Stud wing you could trade for? I can't even think of a player who fits that description. Maybe Cleveland will trade Deng.
I don't think it helps the tank. Asik is a really good backup C and if we're going to win games by playing defense, he's just what the Dr. Thibs ordered. Something to consider is that the Bulls probably could have gotten Dion Waiters in the deal for Deng. DJ+Waiters in the back court would not be bad at all.
Really? Where are you seeing this? They came away with three second rounders. The Bull's initial offer was a first rounder and a young productive player. I'm guessing they originally wanted Waiters and Cleveland's first rounder.
I saw the rumor for weeks leading up to the trade. http://bullsbythehorns.com/talking-points-bulls-trade-luol-deng-dion-waiters/ http://www.blogabull.com/2013/11/27/5152808/chicago-bulls-trade-rumors-dion-waiters-luol-deng
Other rumors I've seen since the Deng trade: Kirk to Warriors. Noah for cap space or any deal too good to pass up.
If we are to tank and to appease Mike for taking a pay cut to play for a 'winning team,' we could trade him to a contender. That being said, I would like to keep him and have him on the bench for next season.
There's no way to thread this needle. Dunleavy is the perfect role player for this team. He plays differently than all of the other players on the roster and he's on a solid contract. And because of that, you can't keep him if you want to break into the lottery. There is no viable path forward for this team besides somehow signing Lebron, which is never, never, going to happen, or Anthony, which is never, never going to happen and still might not be a viable path.
I agree about the clear path and there isn't one. Was there one if Bulls had to pay say 50 million over 4 years for Deng? Was there really one with Rose-Deng-Noah? I was willing to give it a shot, but I was nervous about how Deng is going to be the next 3-4 years. And if Rose doesn't come back as a stud the Bulls are totally screwed (either way i guess).
I think there was a path with Mirotic, improved play from Butler and maybe Snell. I acknowledge that it was slim and expensive. I feel like that's not our problem, though. I don't demand that ownership pays the tax, only that they spend up to it and make the tough decisions, like the Spurs or OKC, to manage their financial limitations. The Bulls had the opportunity to trade Deng to Sacramento before the 2012 draft for the number 5 pick. Barnes was on the board; so was Lilliard, Drummond, Henson and Lamb. They could have traded Deng and drafted any of those guys to retool the roster under the tax. Instead, they held on to him and then let him go for nothing. I can't help feeling like the view of the Deng trade as a shrewd money-saver is myopic. The only reason it saved them money is because they put there own damn selves in a crappy financial situation.
Yah, but they were thinking they were title contenders. I probably would have been mad if they traded Deng in 2012. Not in hindsight of course. There is nothing shrewd about the Deng trade IMO. Its a plain as day salary dump. The whole Mirotic thing has taken over the organization, IMO. I think the Bulls org thinks that the MLE won't be enough, and Mirotic is GarPax's baby (like Krause and Kukoc) and they are not about to not be able to bring him over. Combine that with the massive $$$$ savings and the Rose injury and its a sad move but its one we expect GarPax to make. I'm bummed as hell to see Deng go. IF Mirotic is a top 5 level talent you have to get him over here, and if you can TANK and get a top 10 pick, along with the Charlotte pick and not have to pay Deng 13-14 mil a year for 4-5 years, well, I'm not outraged, but they have to execute on the TANK and Mirotic call. Having Jimmy Butler on the roster helps, since he's a natural 3 and a top notch defender. Who knows if he can handle the Deng minute load. I always thought that the Bulls had two builds around Derrick Rose. We're onto the second one with the first one not going as well as we thought, mostly because of Rose's knee. Rose/top 10 pick/top 15 pick/Butler/Gibson/Noah/Mirotic and whatever trades / pickups that can be made will have to be the second. If anything, what painted them into the corner was the lust for Mirotic.
The Bulls aren't going to seriously contend this season, so I want them to contend next season. Their ability to do this will likely not be affected much by their 2014 draft choice(s), but it could be affected by Dunleavy. For this reason, I don't trade Dunleavy unless it improves the team for next season. With this criteria, if Dunleavy gets traded, I'm almost certain to be pissed off.
I think its a tall order to expect the Bulls to be a contender next season at this point. Rose will have 2 years of rust. There is no 2nd star. Best case we have Mirotic, maybe the 8th pick in this draft and maybe the 15th pick in this draft. Its going to be a year or two until any of those guys evolve into a real difference maker. Unless GarPax pulls off some kind of trade, but I don't really think that's going to happen.
Oh hell, if I want to think up reasons why my favorite teams have little chance to win a title, other than the Blackhawks, it's an easy task. The Bulls pretty much have to be in a "win now" or at least "win soon" mode. A couple of the key supporting pieces to the "Rose Dynasty," namely Noah and Gibson, will be 29 next season. IMO, the Bulls organization must look at 2014-15 as a contention season.
If this is the case, they have to make a fairly substantial trade or Mirotic has to be a bona fide stud out of the gate, yes? Or, how else do you see that possibly happening?
There was a rumor a couple of seasons ago that the Bulls and Celtics were going to exchange Deng and Boozer for Pierce and Garnett. Sure, the two guys we were getting back were old, but they actually both had PER higher than the guys we were giving up, and Thibs had coached them in Boston and they were outstanding two-way players. The league sources at the time were saying that the Bulls management weren't satisfied or sure that the team quite had enough to beat the Heat. The tradeoff was surely a chance at a championship now vs. continuity. The continuity route meant we'd have to get lucky somehow: Jimmy turned into a Paul George kind of star, we score a surprise in the draft, a too good to be true deal like us giving up Deng falls in our favor, etc. I'll play these. It's a perfect way to describe the Bulls' strategy and philosophy. transplant, I would not be shocked at this point to see Noah and Gibson both traded at the deadline. It would not shock me if they were traded in salary dump type trades, as well. For SST: you might look at the Spurs recent history of paying the luxury tax. They've paid the tax 5 times in the past 10 seasons. http://www.shamsports.com/2013/07/complete-history-of-luxury-tax-payments.html A cynic (me!) might point out that it's FA season in baseball. What better time to maximize NBA team profits?
Let's be real. If I could come up with some bulletproof plan that would get the Bulls to the 2014-15 EC Finals I wouldn't be fooling around with writing about this shit. Derrick Rose needs to come back for real. If he doesn't, we can all tear up our tickets. Either Tony Snell or an acquisition needs to be all that and a slice of cheese at SG. Jimmy Butler needs to be almost as good as Deng. Gibson needs to continue his development as a post scorer. Mirotic needs to get signed and needs to be the real deal. For once in our lives, injuries have to fall in the favor of the Bulls. OK, it's not a great plan, but it's the best I've got.
Is Noah really already 29? If the Bulls don't get Melo or Anthony -- which again, they're not going to get -- you have to move him, don't you? It looks to me like a full rebuild might be on the horizon.
