This thread is basically your own take on what would be a perfect off-season for the Chicago Bulls organization. Free agency, draft, trades, etc. it’s a prediction on what the Bulls could realistically do to improve their roster. Here are some resources to help everyone with their mock off season. <font size=""3"">Bulls Current Roster</font> ESPN Trade Machine- Make sure your trades work out money wise (keep it realistic) 2007 NBA Free Agents DraftExpress- Learn more about the Bulls draftee options I think this is the summer that will ultimately decided what kind of roster we are going to have during the next three to four years. Three of the four members of our “core” are up for extensions (Nocioni, Deng, and Gordon). In the case of Gordon and Deng we have until the summer of 2008 to resign them, and if we fail to they become restricted free agents. Meanwhile, Nocioni will become a restricted free agent this summer. As far as my ideal off season goes a couple of things need to happen. NBA Draft We have three picks in this years draft, the ninth overall pick in the first round, as well as the 19th/21st pick in the second round. As far as the first round I think we should wait until draft night to decide if we are going to use the pick, or trade it. What we will likely be hoping for is that one of the three second tier big men prospects (Wright, Yi, or Horford) somehow slips down to the ninth spot. Should none of them be on the board, I think we would be better served trading out of the spot for a veteran big man or a couple late first round picks. I am not high at all on Spencer Hawes. So my ideal scenario if none of the big men fall would be… 1. Package the pick along with a guy like Chris Duhon in order to get a big man who has fallen out of favor with his current team and could be obtained at a cheap price. A guy like Zach Randolph would be a nice pick up considering his situation in Portland right now. He really has no future with that team if they draft Greg Oden. Maybe even try to get Chris Wilcox from Seattle. 2. Stick with the pick and take the best available player, even if it’s a smaller guard. I think with the uncertainty surrounding the Ben Gordon situation and how that will play out (will he get an extension?) it wouldn’t hurt having an insurance policy. A guy like Mike Conley Jr. if he is still on the board. If we do work out an extension with Gordon we could then package Conley and a couple guys to Portland who is said to be trying hard to acquire him to play along side Oden. As far as the second round goes I’m looking at a guy like Glen Davis to be one of our main targets. He is a big guy, proven winner, and a former teammate of current Bull Tyrus Thomas. Adding him to the roster can only help improve our interior game. Free Agency I don’t expect us to make much noise in free agency this summer (possibly through a trade). We have our own guys to worry about this year, and that’s our first priority we have to get the Andres Nocioni situation worked out, because the longer it drags out the worse its going to be for us financially. In the first several weeks of free agency teams tend to target the bigger names and ignore the second tier level of free agents. If we can lock him up before other teams start looking at the second tier group we will get him at a bargain price, compared to the latter. I would love to see us go after Dee Brown, the local kid has shown he can run an NBA offense when he has been called upon. He is a player who can be a great spark for us off the bench in terms of scoring which is something we really need. Although, he is a shorter guard, should we trade Chris Duhon in some type of draft day deal, he would be a nice player to replace Chris. Not to mention he has stated on his web site that he would love to be a Bull (take it for what its worth). <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Q: Dee... I was wondering, what is your favorite sport other than basketball? And also, if you could play on any other team other than the jazz, who would they be and why? // Kade wagner - Riverton, Utah Dee: I love football and if I could play for another team it would be the bulls no doubt </div> http://www.deebrown11.com/questions/ Trade Scenarios 1. We need to work out some type of trade for a big man, but at the same time I am not willing to part with Luol Deng for anyone at this point. The hot rumor right now is that we are going to make a strong run for Nick Collison who played with Kirk at Kansas and went to two Final Fours. However, he is not by any means going to be our answer to an inside post presence. A nice addition none the less though. 2. I don’t think we have the pieces to put together a trade for KG any more. Only thing I think that would interest the Wolves from our roster would be Tyrus Thomas and the number nine pick. With Brown’s expiring contract off the table I doubt we can piece together an offer good enough to acquire Kevin. Possibly if throw in Gordon? Ideal (Realistic) Starting Roster Next Season PG- Kirk Hinrich SG- Ben Gordon (with contract extension) SF- Luol Deng (with contract extension) PF- Zach Randolph (character issues aside the mans a player) C- Ben Wallace Bench: Tyrus Thomas, Nick Collison, Thabo Sefolosha, Andres Nocioni, Dee Brown, Glen Davis
How exactly do we acquire Zach and keep Nocioni? They're going to want a SF, and Deng isn't leaving, therefore Noc is the odd man out, which I'm sure Portland would be glad to have. It'll be extremely difficult to match contracts I believe with Portland to get Randolph, even if we sign&trade Noc for 7-8 mill since he's BYC. I'm split on whether we should get Randolph. While he could likely be our answer offensively, he's somewhat of a liability on defense, and somewhat of a black hole. Also, he has some serious character issues. I imagine he may clash with Skiles. But I'd be willing to trade character for talent, as we're somewhat pressed for options here. Trading someone like Noc we aren't losing THAT much relatively (i've heard rumors Noc + fillers for Z-Bo or something to that effect), we win talentwise in the trade but again there are a lot of questions about Zach. I say we don't waste our time on Collison, he's nothing extraordinary, I mean he's good and all but would cost something we could use in a trade for a real post scorer. There is one problem trading Noc and/or Ben G for an inside guy, it does leave a void behind Deng and at SG, and we can't draft hoping that Noc will accept a sign&trade to a team that can give us an inside scorer in return. We're really in a bind here, but we should really push to get Amare, if PHX is really looking to move him or Marion. That rumored three-way trade with Minny and PHX might be nice if you replace Wallace/Deng/Sefolosha (see Rumor Mill) with Ben G/Noc/Fillers. Should we really look at Glen Davis? He might be a steal I guess, but we've had little success with fat, short PF's, and if we use him in our rotation (if we do trade for Zach), we'll be the shortest front court in the L. I have faith Pax will make the right move, though.
<div class="quote_poster">Ed! Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">How exactly do we acquire Zach and keep Nocioni? They're going to want a SF, and Deng isn't leaving, therefore Noc is the odd man out, which I'm sure Portland would be glad to have. It'll be extremely difficult to match contracts I believe with Portland to get Randolph, even if we sign&trade Noc for 7-8 mill since he's BYC. </div> I was actually hoping that we could package the ninth pick and Duhon, or another player who we can afford to get rid of. Realistically we probably would have to include Nocioni, but Portland wants to get a second pick in the lottery and have no need to hang on to Randolph if they draft Oden. So I think if Conley is still on the board it would be something they would look at. This is just me throwing ideas out there... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I say we don't waste our time on Collison, he's nothing extraordinary, I mean he's good and all but would cost something we could use in a trade for a real post scorer.</div> He is nothing special, but he averages a near double double and has a small contract. Not to mention his connection to Hinrich. If PJ retires/leaves we could use Collison to pick up some of the slack. Its a no risk, high reward situation, depending on what we have to give up.
<div class="quote_poster">Blur Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I was actually hoping that we could package the ninth pick and Duhon, or another player who we can afford to get rid of. Realistically we probably would have to include Nocioni, but Portland wants to get a second pick in the lottery and have no need to hang on to Randolph if they draft Oden. So I think if Conley is still on the board it would be something they would look at. This is just me throwing ideas out there...</div> I'm sure Portland will get more flattering offers than Duhon/VK/9 or whatever though. Noc will be hard to part with, I love his intensity and everything, but we have enough wings, I'd be willing to use him to get us Z-Bo.
I'm not willing to part with Nocioni. The man is the most energic player we have and the most adaptable by far. He's one of the best if not the best in the league at taking charges, which has actually been a source to our franchise winning a lot of games. The guys on TNT brought that statistic up one evening a while back. My issue is if he will be able to play the same way after his current injury because it keeps coming back. Also remember that he will be considered an injured player on the roster for most of the off-season. This means that all we can do for the next few months (or until Nocioni is considered to be at full health after his recover period) is either let him go for nothing or re-sign him and trade him at a later date if even possible because you cannot trade injured players at any point. Not sure how things will work out with a trade then. I'm more in the interest of trading Ben Gordon because while he is a good shooter, he takes many bad shots at times and then it totally drains him mentally and he's off the rest of the game. He's terrible at handling the ball and has cost us so many turnovers in key situations where we needed to make an impact to get back into a game or keep our lead. He tries too much out of his range of effort and then ends up falling on his ass and losing the ball. The only way I'd be willing to keep him is if he doesn't want too much money and undoubtably he will want a pretty big pay off so it doesn't help his cause. I like the idea of bringing in Collison, Blur, good call. He could replace what Brown has done for this team and possibly even more. Also as all cases have shown, when you bring in two players that have played together long before and are very familiar with each other they will be more productive. Just take a look at Toronto's Spanish duo. Then they also brought in Italian star Bargnani to help all three players settle in quite comfortably. In the long-run that was an excellent bit of decision making for the Raptors. As for Zach Randolph, I've never cared for the player. He has issues and doesn't work that hard on the defensive end. That is a priority with Skiles as you know. However, I won't put that Pax wouldn't go for him if given the right opportunity, but I don't think he's one of the guys on his list right now in order to produce for us inside. We always have to look back at the J.R. Smith trade for examples on how this team wants to build the current roster.
Honestly I dont think it would be a bad idea to sign Zach. The deal I would propose is; A straight up sign and trade with BG Both teams would be happy Portland would get an explosive 2 guard to go along with an outstanding PG. and with Roy being 6'6 he would guard the 2 guard while BG would only guard the PG's. you get another winner and team player that hasnt touched his prime yet. Chicago would get a great inside scorer who also hasnt seen his best yet. the bulls get physically tougher ( wallace randolph noch hinrich). they become balanced. Hinrich Thabo Deng Randolph Wallace duhon noch ty barret griffin victor then we would only need to sign some solid freeagents. with all of of our contracts that are up this summer. And if they want more they can have griffin or victor in the deal what do you guys think?
Now I like that straight up deal involving Gordon because we don't lose any defensive players. I also like the idea of starting Thabo because he's on the rise. He needs to desperately improve his free throw shooting though. Other then that I wouldn't be mad with a deal like this.
I wouldn't mind starting Thabo in that situation but realistically Duhon would start in the beginning.
I doubt Paxson will trade Gordon. Gordon a great player and shouldnt b traded and if Paxson didnt want Gordon he wouldnt have drafted Sefolosha 2 be our tall defensive shooting guard.
<div class="quote_poster">taurus515th Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I doubt Paxson will trade Gordon. Gordon a great player and shouldnt b traded and if Paxson didnt want Gordon he wouldnt have drafted Sefolosha 2 be our tall defensive shooting guard.</div> but your trading a great player for another and neither has hit their prime yet. both teams will have become better so the deal is a good deal. we trade 20 points(perimiter) and get 20 points (interior). we dont lose in that deal. Logically; why wouldnt Pax bite on that deal?
<div class="quote_poster">michiganave17 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">but your drafting a great player for another and neither has hit their prime yet. both teams will have become better so the deal is a good deal. we trade 20 points(perimiter) and get 20 points (interior). we dont lose in that deal. Logically; why wouldnt Pax bite on that deal?</div> Only thing stopping Pax is the fact Z-Bo has some major disciplinary issues. I do think however it's worth a gamble if Gordon/Deng/Hinrich aren't involved. I think a lot of Gordon's problems can be solved, or at least hidden behind having a nice post scorer. Even if Zach isn't the best passer, and I do believe he's better post passer than Eddy was, but just the spacing on the floor will help Gordon shoot better and will hide his lackluster ballhandling. If you go back and watch the old Bulls games from 2 seasons ago when we had Eddy, the floor was spaced so much better and it would just be so beneficial for our outside shooters to have that again. If we do get a post scorer, look for our perimeter players' shooting percentage to go up drastically.
An article written by Sam Smith today really makes it seem unlikely that we will even pursue Randolph. Randolph has some extreme baggage.... ?1995. Thirty days in juvenile detention for shoplifting. ?High school years: Thirty days of house arrest for battery. ?Thirty days in juvenile detention for receiving stolen property, a gun. ?2002. Underage drinking arrest in Marion, Ind., his hometown. ?2003. Team suspension by the Trail Blazers for sucker-punching teammate Ruben Patterson in practice and breaking his eye socket. ?2003. Arrested in Portland for driving under the influence of intoxicants and marijuana. ?2004. Accused by police of lying in an investigation of his brother shooting three men in an Indiana nightclub. ?2006. Suspended by the Trail Blazers for making obscene gestures to fans after a game in Indiana. ?2006. Sued by a Portland woman for sexual assault, though prosecutors didn't file criminal charges. ?2007. Left a strip club without paying the bill while he was on bereavement leave from the team and missed three games after the death of his girlfriend's cousin. ?2007. Earlier this month, police were called to the parking lot of a strip club where Randolph and teammate Darius Miles were part of a gathering and a gunshot was fired.
yea i read that the other day and it really has me thinking may if he did 2 or 3things wrong but dang 11. To me, Paxson loves his guys 2 much I do not see him trading the core. Guys like Zach Randolph are available but I don’t see him trading Nocioni 2 get him. A trade of Duhon, Khryapa, 9th pick, 2nd rounder and a sign and trade of someone not Nocioni. If not then he won’t do the trade. This is what I see him doing our trying 2 do. Trading Khryapa/2nd rounder for Scola and trading our 9th pick/sign and trade Sweets for Collison. Now our team: PG-Hinrich 6’3 SG-Gordon 6’1 SF-Deng 6’9 PF-Collison 6’10 C-Wallace 6’9 Tyrus Thomas, Andres Nocioni, Luis Scola, Thabo Sefolosha, Chris Duhon, etc…… Paxson loves chemistry well what GM doesn’t. In this trade, we added length and athleticism along with post-skills and guys that can pass out of double teams which is all we need. Getting a 20/10 post-player is nice and all but any post-player that works hard, plays D, gives us points in the paint when needed and can pass out of double teams is all we need. Teams 2 me only beat us because they use zone defense a lot or either get Hinrich or Gordon into foul trouble in the first quarter not because they are that much better. We could have gone 2 the finals this year but what I just said stopped us as we all know zone defense with no post-player or Rip Hamilton just fell and they called fouls 2 put Hinrich or Gordon out the first quarter. Also I will add that we were not playing like we can play against Detroit. Other than winners, hard workers, and players with basketball talent, I also see another pattern Paxson tries 2 put together. Players that know each other b4 they joined the team or players that have something in common. Duhon and Deng both from Duke University. Deng and Gordon knew each other. Thomas, Brown, and Duhon both from Louisiana. Now if he adds Collison and Scola. Hinrich and Collison and Nocioni and Scola. That is to me why we have great chemistry in my opinion.
conley wont be on the board for 9thpick. i dont see why you trade ben gordon. imo hes the best player in a bulls uniform. hes obviously the most clutch. he just has to workon consistency, and he will be one of the best players of his generation.
i think BG might come off the bench next season. Both Hinrich and Sefolosha will be great starting and i think will shut down the other teams guards and will only frustrate them. If Hinrich can guard SG who are taller then him then im sure Sefolosha could do even better at guarding SG's. i will change my offseason alittle bit by not having Duhon on the team. i love Du but if Sefolosha develops their is no need for Duhon and now our payroll 4 next season will be under 58 if my offseason happens. so this is what the roster looks like from my offseason prediction. PG-Hinrich 6?3 - hopefully now Hinrich wont get n2 much foul trouble SG-Sefolosha 6?7 SF-Deng 6?9 PF-Collison 6?10 C-Wallace 6?9 -Gordon, Thomas, Nocioni, Scola, Griffin, Brown etc.....
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">So, would the Bulls package Hinrich and a salary equalizer for Randolph? Heck, would Pax and Scott Skiles even consider the Zach Attack? Would they compromise their need for high character and low maintenance to acquire a power forward who, um, grieved the death of his girlfriend's cousin by escaping to a strip joint on bereavement leave? That's what Randolph did in March. In his troubled career, he also has been suspended for flipping off fans in Indiana, arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants and marijuana and suspended for hitting a teammate. If he isn't the ultimate Jail Blazer, he's in the police lineup. And yet, he also was the only NBA player to average at least 23 points and 10 boards in the regular season. In this crazy league, you always have options. The idea is to keep all doors open and realize that out of the blue, or Lakers purple, the closest thing to MJ since MJ might demand a trade. Be flexible, Pax, not stubborn.</div> Read More...
<div class="quote_poster">Blur Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Read More...</div> I dont know man sometimes sticking with what you ve got is better. I say if we cant find the right fit just keep the team as is. we will find the right guy eventually.
i 4 some reason c Paxson getting Randolph. If he didnt im sure he would have denied the rumor by now like hes done with other rumors that were not true. Also, if Paxson and Skiles are so into the good guys im sure they would forgive Randolph like Christians should do. To me, other than the braking Patterson's eye socket and sticking up his middle finger who knows how true the other things hes done is true. Dale Davis spoke some words about how the police look into getting black athletes in trouble a lot of time you never know how true this could be 4 Randolph. To me, if Randolph gets away from Miles i think things would be better for him. You never pass up on a 20/10 post-player unless u already have one or cant afford it. Paxson might trade for Randolph as long as the trade doesnt involve Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, Nocioni, Sefolosha, Thomas, Wallace, and Griffin. this is a nice roster tho PG-Hinrich 6'3 SG-Sefolosha 6'7 SF-Deng 6'9 PF-Randolph 6'9 C-Wallace 6'9 -Gordon, Nocioni, Thomas, Brown, Griffin i know this sounds crazy but sometimes i can c people on certain teams b4 they happen and i do c Randolph n a Bulls uniform for some strange reason. With Randolph, teams wont be looking as much 2 try and imtimidate us and we wont get that Chicago Bulls are soft image from other teams.
