Well Duhon has signed an offer sheet with the Raptors. Not up on espn.com yet, but Vinkanaddy provided me with this sound bite from espn radio. It came out of Chicago so is a believable source. <div align="center">ESPN Radio </div> Before I start let me just say for those of you who are casual fans, and do not know Duhon is a restricted free agent who?s early bird rights belong to the Bulls. Meaning they can choose to match an offer made to him, but I see positives, and negatives to this. Pros: We have an over loaded backcourt at the point guard spot. Should we let him go to the Raptors, and not match we would be a little less clogged up in the point guard department. Not to mention Pargo being a free agent that leaves us with Hinrich as our point guard once again. Everyone who reads my posts in this board knows I appreciate all the little things that Duhon did for us last season, but I would let him leave honestly. I like him he is a good defender and ball handler, but he is not a necessary for our team. With jay Williams healthy this season we could take a risk let Duhon walk, and resign Jay at the MLE. Then if Pargo leaves we have two capable point guards. As well as Frank Williams who we could probably resign for the minimum, because he is not getting many offers right now. Then if Jay did not perform to the level we expected. We could always draft Dee in this year?s draft (lol I know being hopeful there). Well if we do let Duhon go for Williams we would be taking a risk, but at the same time one with big rewards. While at the same time I can not help but think of the old saying ? give me the devil I know over the one I don?t? with Duhon we know what we can get, and were we stand. With Williams the line is not so clearly drawn out in the sand. However, should he be healthy a former second overall pick still young has a lot of potential. Cons: He is our most underrated defender by far there is not even an honorable mention for underrated defender. Duhon is that he did all the things for us last season that no one player on the Bulls could do. Hinrich is a good ball handler and good at distributing the ball, but at the same time Duhon averaged the most assists of any rookies in last years draft. Duhon also does not turn the ball over much, and makes the shots he is suppose to. He allows Hinrich to be a little freer to roam on offense. I don?t expect Hinrich to struggle however if we let Duhon walk. Another con of letting him go would be we would basically be inserting Gordon into the starting lineup. I feel that he will not truly appreciate the role unless he earns it. I know he is always been a hard worker, and never been a slacker, but I view Gordon as a player who does better when facing controversy and trying to prove himself through competition. Duhon gave him just that last year. Now with all that being said I believe we will match this offer, and Duhon will be the first of the three main free agents we have this summer to locked up for the future. Should we pay him all this money? No, because we will be starting Gordon in the future once he builds up his durability, and stamina so we will be paying him a lot of money to come off the bench. At the same time it is management?s fault for not making him the offer he deserved in the first place. It started out with a partial amount of our MLE and our full LLE going to Duhon which would probably have been like 3.5 million or a little more. Now it?s the full MLE, which I believe, starts at 5.4 in the first season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Best Kept Secret:</div><div class="quote_post">Well Duhon has signed an offer sheet with the Raptors. Not up on espn.com yet, but Vinkanaddy provided me with this sound bite from espn radio. It came out of Chicago so is a believable source. <div align="center">ESPN Radio </div> Before I start let me just say for those of you who are casual fans, and do not know Duhon is a restricted free agent who?s early bird rights belong to the Bulls. Meaning they can choose to match an offer made to him, but I see positives, and negatives to this. Pros: We have an over loaded backcourt at the point guard spot. Should we let him go to the Raptors, and not match we would be a little less clogged up in the point guard department. Not to mention Pargo being a free agent that leaves us with Hinrich as our point guard once again. Everyone who reads my posts in this board knows I appreciate all the little things that Duhon did for us last season, but I would let him leave honestly. I like him he is a good defender and ball handler, but he is not a necessary for our team. With jay Williams healthy this season we could take a risk let Duhon walk, and resign Jay at the MLE. Then if Pargo leaves we have two capable point guards. As well as Frank Williams who we could probably resign for the minimum, because he is not getting many offers right now. Then if Jay did not perform to the level we expected. We could always draft Dee in this year?s draft (lol I know being hopeful there). Well if we do let Duhon go for Williams we would be taking a risk, but at the same time one with big rewards. While at the same time I can not help but think of the old saying ? give me the devil I know over the one I don?t? with Duhon we know what we can get, and were we stand. With Williams the line is not so clearly drawn out in the sand. However, should he be healthy a former second overall pick still young has a lot of potential. Cons: He is our most underrated defender by far there is not even an honorable mention for underrated defender. Duhon is that he did all the things for us last season that no one player on the Bulls could do. Hinrich is a good ball handler and good at distributing the ball, but at the same time Duhon averaged the most assists of any rookies in last years draft. Duhon also does not turn the ball over much, and makes the shots he is suppose to. He allows Hinrich to be a little freer to roam on offense. I don?t expect Hinrich to struggle however if we let Duhon walk. Another con of letting him go would be we would basically be inserting Gordon into the starting lineup. I feel that he will not truly appreciate the role unless he earns it. I know he is always been a hard worker, and never been a slacker, but I view Gordon as a player who does better when facing controversy and trying to prove himself through competition. Duhon gave him just that last year. Now with all that being said I believe we will match this offer, and Duhon will be the first of the three main free agents we have this summer to locked up for the future. Should we pay him all this money? No, because we will be starting Gordon in the future once he builds up his durability, and stamina so we will be paying him a lot of money to come off the bench. At the same time it is management?s fault for not making him the offer he deserved in the first place. It started out with a partial amount of our MLE and our full LLE going to Duhon which would probably have been like 3.5 million or a little more. Now it?s the full MLE, which I believe, starts at 5.4 in the first season.</div> I love this for my Raps. We've got a showtime PG in Alston, a true point in Calderon and if this pans out a lock-down defender who also knows how to pass the rock. If Alston straightens up thats a pretty effective rotation of points and even if he doesnt Calderon and Duhon can split the minutes with Omar Cook being the 3rd stringer until Ukic comes over from Spain in 2 years.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 02civic:</div><div class="quote_post">I love this for my Raps. We've got a showtime PG in Alston, a true point in Calderon and if this pans out a lock-down defender who also knows how to pass the rock. If Alston straightens up thats a pretty effective rotation of points and even if he doesnt Calderon and Duhon can split the minutes with Omar Cook being the 3rd stringer until Ukic comes over from Spain in 2 years.</div> I got to admit that if the Bulls let him go you guys are getting a hell of a player. He was over looked by so many teams in the draft there were some rumors he would not be a Bull last season, but rather be sent over seas to play a few years there and develop. Thankfully for the Bulls they chose to keep him on the roster, and he really paid them back well. I think there is a lot of things he does well, and can provide a team with. I think he could even be a viable scoring option should he improve his ability to create off the dribble. I?m hoping if Paxson chooses to let him go he gets us some compensation is the form of a backup power forward or center. We will be in the market for both after this season with Davis? contract expiring.
Just a correction. The offer made by Paxson to Duhon was the LLE, at $1.67 million for two years. He did not want to cut into the MLE because that would mean they will have to give up the chance to sign amnesty victims, such as Michael Finley. The Raptors most likely offered Duhon the remainder of their MLE, which is around $3.5 million.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting VinKanaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">Just a correction. The offer made by Paxson to Duhon was the LLE, at $1.67 million for two years. He did not want to cut into the MLE because that would mean they will have to give up the chance to sign amnesty victims, such as Michael Finley. The Raptors most likely offered Duhon the remainder of their MLE, which is around $3.5 million.</div> Oh, interesting who did they spend the first half of their MLE on Sow? Well now that I see it is not the full MLE offer that Duhon signed I definitely feel Paxson will match this. Unless they can work out a sign and trade with Toronto, and get some pieces they like.
I'm with Best Kept Secret, i think we should just let him go and take a risk with Jay. For some reason i have a feeling he still can reach his potential. Also the fact we are very clogged up at the PG position.
But isnt Skiles are rugged, defender type coach? Plus can the bulls keep up with high scoring offenses if we dont get defensive pressure?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting I-Miss-MJ:</div><div class="quote_post">But isnt Skiles are rugged, defender type coach? Plus can the bulls keep up with high scoring offenses if we dont get defensive pressure?</div> Very true, but at the same time Jay is not exactly a slack on defense. At least he did not appear to be a lot of times his rookie season. Though Duhon is our most underrated defender I don?t feel that losing him would some how lower our ability to apply defensive pressure to the ball. We did sign Eddie Basden this summer a guy who won all defensive player of the year for the Charlotte 49ers, and is a player who can work his way into the lineup with his defense and size. Then we also have Andre Nocioni, Tyson Chandler, Kirk Hinrich, and even Antonio Davis who are solid defenders.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Best Kept Secret:</div><div class="quote_post">Oh, interesting who did they spend the first half of their MLE on Sow? Well now that I see it is not the full MLE offer that Duhon signed I definitely feel Paxson will match this. Unless they can work out a sign and trade with Toronto, and get some pieces they like.</div> No, Sow won't get anywhere close to half of the MLE. We spent the $1.5 million on Jose Calderon, the starting PG on the Spanish national team that beat the U.S in the FIBA tournament last year.
Man, i didnt know we gave him up that easly but we are giving a good defensive player even though i really got mad at him after that game 6 playoff game last year he really messed up but we are missing a defensive player after him leaving, but this should give gordon tha starting job RIGHT?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bulls1:</div><div class="quote_post">Man, i didnt know we gave him up that easly but we are giving a good defensive player even though i really got mad at him after that game 6 playoff game last year he really messed up but we are missing a defensive player after him leaving, but this should give gordon tha starting job RIGHT?</div> Did you read above? The Bulls are expected to match there are plenty of articles around the forum about it. Even in the Bulls board if you look under ?Bulls Free Agent News? it talks about how Paxson will take the full ten days to contemplate his choice, but right now he does expect to match the offer.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Best Kept Secret:</div><div class="quote_post">Did you read above? The Bulls are expected to match there are plenty of articles around the forum about it. Even in the Bulls board if you look under ?Bulls Free Agent News? it talks about how Paxson will take the full ten days to contemplate his choice, but right now he does expect to match the offer.</div> 7 days. Anyway, am I the only one who didn't understand a word bulls1 typed?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting VinKanaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">7 days. Anyway, am I the only one who didn't understand a word bulls1 typed? </div> I am assuming he was talking about Chris Duhon?s turnover in game six of the playoffs against the Wizards. Which resulted in a breakaway lay-up for Jared Jeffries, and led to our eventual lose, and elimination from the playoffs.
I love what Duhon brings as a point guard, and I feel he's underrated by fans...he's a HUGE reason why Chicago had arguably the best defensive backcourt in the NBA last season with him and Hinrich...
Hinrich is a good scorer and shooter and he didn't run the point all the time in Kansas. Having Duhon their definately allowed Kirk to score much more and since Duhon isn't a great scorer his playmaking helped out others tremendously. Duhon is a must have for the Bulls to repeate it's success.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ch3n:</div><div class="quote_post"> Duhon is a must have for the Bulls to repeate it's success.</div> Now a must have? Don?t know about that their are many other options like I said. Say they don?t match and Jay Williams wants to come back. We can use the remainder of our middle level exception to sign him if not long term at least for this season. There is also Pargo who is a great scorer not a good defender, but those two can hold it down this season, and they can be successful. If they can not hold it down Hinrich can move back to point guard, and Ben Gordon starts. That is a worst case scenario, and as you see that is still pretty good.
I believe Duhon is a must have, because he is a pass first player. Lets face it, Pargo is a scorer, I've seen him in 70+ games last year, he shoots before he passes and he shoots too much. His vision of the court is, I'm opened, let me shoot or I'm not opened, let me dribble until I am. Pargo passes out of a last resort. I can remember clearly him just standing next to a player with his hands out just begging for the ball. Sure you can keep him for occasional stretches where you need offense, but you need Duhon to keep the pace steady, pass, create and defend. The Bulls were 0-9 before they started Duhon, that was because Hinrich was their scorer, and it took too much out of him having to also pass and create. Now you may say, Ben was the scorer, but quite frankly, he didn't do anything until 4th quarter, and that was because Ben couldn't go for that long. Ben is a pure scorer and I recall hearing him state he was extremely worn out just playing the minutes he did. Not only that, but when Ben can't score, he can't really do anything. Duhon relieved the pressure on Kirk and that was the changing point in the season. I mean Duhon also developed quite a good stroke from the outside as the season progressed and his hustle plays just can't be matched. I mean with Eddy and his problems, hopefully that can be resolved but the Bulls need to stay intact with the lineup that worked last year. Pargo may be going to the Lakers, you never know. And with many of the teams in the East getting better it would stupid for the Bulls to not at the very least keep the strong lineup they had last year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ch3n:</div><div class="quote_post">I believe Duhon is a must have, because he is a pass first player. Lets face it, Pargo is a scorer, I've seen him in 70+ games last year, he shoots before he passes and he shoots too much. His vision of the court is, I'm opened, let me shoot or I'm not opened, let me dribble until I am. Pargo passes out of a last resort. I can remember clearly him just standing next to a player with his hands out just begging for the ball. Sure you can keep him for occasional stretches where you need offense, but you need Duhon to keep the pace steady, pass, create and defend.</div>I actually believe should we move Hinrich to point guard this season, and start Gordon he will perform a lot better. He started three games last season, and performed pretty bad, but at the same time I feel he was shell shocked at the whole experience. You have to take into account that endurance, and durability in long minutes was the only main problem he had. You know he has worked on that all off-season as much as he can and that will be less of a factor if not completely eliminated. I felt like if we put him into the role of a starter later in the season he would have performed better. It happened in the Washington series I know, but I recall he had the flu in a couple games of that series too. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ch3n:</div><div class="quote_post">The Bulls were 0-9 before they started Duhon, that was because Hinrich was their scorer, and it took too much out of him having to also pass and create. Now you may say, Ben was the scorer, but quite frankly, he didn't do anything until 4th quarter, and that was because Ben couldn't go for that long. Ben is a pure scorer and I recall hearing him state he was extremely worn out just playing the minutes he did. Not only that, but when Ben can't score, he can't really do anything. Duhon relieved the pressure on Kirk and that was the changing point in the season. I mean Duhon also developed quite a good stroke from the outside as the season progressed and his hustle plays just can't be matched.</div> I recall an article in which Ben Gordon stated he was a bit frustrated with his role on the team, and not playing longer minutes as the season came to the stretch run. I will try to find it, but you always got the feeling he was ready for a starter role last year. You are underrating his overall game when you say he does nothing when he can not score. He does what he can with the minutes he is given. He averaged 2.6 rebounds last season in 25 minutes of play (and that is rounding his actual 24.4 minutes). Translate that to rebounds per 48 minutes and he is average over 5 rebounds a game, and if you do the same for his assists he will be averaging roughly 4.5 a game. So he would be a pretty good overall player. He is also a extremely strong player although he is only 6?3? with the muscle he has he prevents bigger guards from simply posting him up, and taking him to the basket. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ch3n:</div><div class="quote_post">I mean with Eddy and his problems, hopefully that can be resolved but the Bulls need to stay intact with the lineup that worked last year. Pargo may be going to the Lakers, you never know. And with many of the teams in the East getting better it would stupid for the Bulls to not at the very least keep the strong lineup they had last year.</div>With all those things taken into account although I am sure his offer will be matched I disagree that he is a ?must have? to repeat our success. Despite making hustle plays and providing us with good ball handling he was a role player in the end of things if we bring back our main pieces Curry, Chandler, Deng (healthy), Hinrich, and Gordon we can repeat that success again.
Ben is damn good and hopefully he can improve, but even if he improves and we lose Duhon, there really isn't much of a bench. Losing Duhon means Kirk will take the point, his scoring will most likely go down. Ben will need to pace himself more and not go all out in the 4th like he did last season. Then you look at the bench and I just don't see anything. I just feel losing Duhon will ruin the balance of playmaking and scoring with the Bulls guards. BTW: you like Dee Brown? He lives 2 minutes away from me
