Some Bulls' fans pine for Carmelo Anthony. That's a longshot. Some have their eye on the Pacers' 6-5 SG, Lance Stephenson. Stephenson was a 2nd round choice by the Pacers in the 2010 draft. He did virtually nothing his first two seasons and has only come into his own this season. He will be a free agent this summer. Stephenson has consistently gotten better. This season, he's averaging 14.2 ppg with a TS% of .566 and a PER of 15.9. If he could be added to the Bulls roster, Jimmy Butler could move to SF, which some claim is his more natural position. If the Bulls were to amnesty Boozer and add both Mirotic and Stephenson, would that be enough to add to a returning DRose?
I think it's also worth noting that Mirotic has had a slew of bad games lately that has me worried. Out of his last ten, maybe seven or eight have been subpar from what you'd look for in an alpha prosepct. It's looked to me like he had raised his game to the next level and now I'm no longer sure. I'm not crazy about Stephenson either.
http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/10401936/carmelo-anthony-worth-risk-chicago-bulls?ex_cid=espnapi_public/print?id=10401936
Bump. I would move Butler to 3 and sign Lance to 4 years at 10-11 M per year in a heartbeat. I think its our best and most realistic plan for 2014. We keep Taj bring over the Euro Hero and God willing have a healthy Rose playing up to form. I would roll with that. Thank God games won or lost determines championship potential not sports writer manufactured player stat mumbo jumbo.
Exactly. But I wouldn't close the door on getting a superstar if possible. Stephenson isn't (yet) in the elite class of players, IMO.
Bump. There was some discussion of Stephenson on a more current thread, but it probably belongs here. I've been thinking about it and I don't think the Bulls should spend big free agent money on Stephenson. He just seems to me to be too much like Butler...a rim attacker, not a shooter. Toss in the return of DRose, who also is a rim attacker and sub-par shooter, and you very probably would have the worst shooting point and wings in the NBA. Unfortunately, I don't have a better wing player on whom to spend. And if Mirotic is coming over, I definitely do not want Boozer on the roster. Color me concerned.
You would have been satisfied with Rose, Lu, and Jimmy. Same situation. In fact, Stephenson shoots .491 and only gets to the line 2.6 times a game (not indicative of a rim attacker). Lu shot .452 and got to the line 5.4 times per game. Lu's TS% .536, eFG% .476. Stephenson's .564 and .538. Stephenson also makes .342 from 3pt on 3.1 per game - 1/4 his shots from there. Stephenson's PER of 15.1 seems to indicate he's an average player, but one who has a solid defender reputation. If we want championships, we need him to put up a PER well over 20.
Ray Allen / Paul Pierce on 2 short term contracts? OK those guys are really old. Rodney Stuckey? Nick Young? Evan Turner? Oy vey. I echo a bit about Lance on a long term deal, but there are not a lot of options. I would be in favor of starting Dunleavy at the 3 with Rose, Lance, Gibson and Noah and bring Butler off the bench for heavy reserve minutes.
Part of the problem is that just about every Bulls outside shooter whose first name isn't initials has disappointed. Deng had a couple seasons over 33% from the arc and many expected him to, at minimum, maintain that...he was at 27% before the trade. Butler hit 38% of his 3s last season, but has fallen right off the table this season. There was a lot of talk about Rose using his extended ACL absence to make a quantum leap with his 3-point shooting, but this was seldom in evidence during his abbreviated 2013-14 season. Snell was supposed to be a sharpshooter, but 32% a sharpshooter ain't. Though Hinrich's 3-point% is climbing its way back to his usual 37%-38% level, early in the season his shooting was awful. Even MDJ, who was lighting it up for a while there, has become very damned ordinary from distance. What the hell!
Jimmy "JB" Butler? The good news is you've finally come around to seeing that we can use outside shooting and scoring and that the lineup was always problematic. If it were up to me, it'd be DJ starting and Jimmer 6th or 7th man, given the sorry state of the roster. As predicted, Kirk fighting to keep his PER over 10. Barely. Dunleavy's not all that great either. Check out Boozer's DWS!!!
So I guess Hinrich is pretty much out of contention for the Maurice Podolov Player Efficiency Trophy?
Oh gosh, I've been so very backward and ignorant...gimme a break. I thought the Bulls already had the shooting. As I said, it was there and then it wasn't. I never denied that shooting or scoring was important. The Bulls have exceeded expectations this season because of defense and rebounding. Should I crow about that? Ah shit. Glad it's up to Thibodeau in that case. Hinrich's played very well for the past couple months.
"Well" is 5 PER points less than the average player. I guess it's relative. He plays better than I do, but I'm over 50 years old. But seriously, "I'll play these" vs. "we need shooting and scoring from the wings" is a 180. I'm not sure I'd guard Kirk much at all on defense, and I would ISO against him with my PG if he's got any offensive ability. WEAK chain in the link, along with Boozer and MDJ. But Thibs gets 2nd best defense out of those guys, statistically, so it must not be so bad to have offensive minded players after all. On paper.
