Will Bulls offseason improve team?

JFizzleRaider · Sep 24, 2008

Above all else in the post-Michael Jordan era for the Chicago Bulls, it's been interesting.

From the disastrous attempt at transformation from president Jerry Krause that began with the hiring of Tim Floyd as coach amid the salvos fired between Krause and former coach Phil Jackson, through Krause's firing and the resurrection designed by his replacement John Paxson, they're still in a state of flux.

In other words, all eyes now are transfixed on Paxson, entering his sixth season as executive vice president of basketball operations — and metaphorically speaking, we'll find out after all these years if he's really a point guard capable of doing whatever it takes to make a team win.

Or, just a sweet shooter in a point guard's clothing.

Going into this season, there are three big stories twisting in the wind.

# The Bulls are going with an unproven coach in rookie Vinny Del Negro.

# Did they make the right decision taking Derrick Rose with the No. 1 overall pick instead of Michael Beasley when they so badly need low-post scoring?

# What are they going to do with Ben Gordon and/or Kirk Hinrich?

Ultimately, it will be about how they recover from being one of the top young teams in the East to falling apart last season, firing abrasive coach Scott Skiles and completely losing the identity of being a young team predicated on tough defense that scored in bunches while in search of a low-post scorer.

NBA offseason

News

* Abdur-Rahim retires with knee woes
* Dixon returns to Wizards as free agent
* Celtics' Miles suspended 10 games
* Wolves' Jefferson sprains knee
* Point guard re-signs with Cavs

Analysis

* Rosen: Answering your NBA questions
* Kahn: Ranking the top 10 SGs
* Rosen: Which youth will be served?

And that's up to Del Negro, 42, a 12-year NBA vet who comes to Chicago after two years in the front office of the Phoenix Suns, last year as director of player personnel after a season as assistant general manager. Other than that, he did have three years as a color analyst for the Suns. The good news is Paxson showed the foresight of including high-level veteran assistants Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff, who bring more than 50 years of NBA experience to the bench.

So that should help Del Negro with the details. The problem is there are a lot of details, and let's begin with what they're going to do in the backcourt. It seems evident that Paxson was adamant about leaving Hinrich as the starting point guard and bringing Rose along slowly but allowing him to earn time as it is merited. That's all well and good for now.

That leaves us with what will happen with Gordon, which is their quandary du jour.

Like Hinrich, he slipped precipitously last year after snubbing his nose at a robust five-year, $50-million extension. Now he's got to decide between the $6.4 million qualifying offer or a long-term deal that will certainly not be worth any more than the previously offered $10 million a year — if that — to a 6-foot-1 shooting guard. Gordon has been contending that he'll be traded, but nobody else is going to pay him any more than that either. So unless there is a package deal or multi-team scenario, he isn't going anywhere.

That leaves Del Negro with Hinrich and probably the erratic Larry Hughes as his starting guards, with Gordon, Rose and long-armed defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha in the backcourt.

But they still don't have a low-post scoring presence, which is why the critics are still wondering why they didn't take a natural scorer in Beasley, even though he is undersized to play the post in the NBA. Just look at how easily Carmelo Anthony scores in the post, and they're comparable in size (although the more physically mature Anthony is a lot stouter at this point).

The reasoning is of course they do have a lot of talent up front, although nobody is a legit low-post scorer. Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni are very talented in a lot of ways, but both score primarily from the perimeter. Drew Gooden, at 6-foot-10, 250 pounds, is the closest they've got in the post, but he's more of a mid-range shooter and offensive rebounder.

Nobody is quite sure what to make out of Tyrus Thomas other than he is incredibly athletic, able to pick dimes off the backboard on a single bound and has an uncanny knack of rubbing people the wrong way whenever he opens his mouth.

Will Derrick Rose be able to make an immediate impact for the Bulls? (Fernando Medina / Getty Images)

And the questions are still there for Joakim Noah, although it is quite apparent he is a tireless worker and rebounder who will do all the cleaning up on the boards and on the floor. He, too, has found a sock stuffed in his mouth by the organization on occasion.

On paper, that's five very talented and young bodies Paxson has put together up front. It is impressive in many ways. And yet, unless they can get Gooden or Noah to discover a go-to move, there's still nobody who they can dump the ball into so they can work inside out, get a crunch-time bucket, or draw a foul. Sure, Deng is quick and has great touch, but he's still too skinny and will get knocked around inside — he's much better at mid-range or filling the lane on the break. Nocioni is much stronger but is still a perimeter player.

That leaves us wondering what Del Negro and staff will do with all of this. In fact, they're probably wondering the same thing with training camp beginning next week.

Will Gordon be there to see how the backcourt all fits together; not ignoring the minor detail that nobody has said much about Rose's knee? You know, the one that prematurely ended summer league for the 19-year-old in the first week?

Ultimately, it ends up in Paxson's lap. He suffered through the indignities of owner Jerry Reinsdorf's dalliances with Mike D'Antoni and flirtation with Doug Collins in the coaching search that dragged on far too long before the Del Negro hiring. And it may take until the first of the year before we find out if Del Negro knows what he's doing and if the group they have fits together any better than it did last season when Skiles rubbed everybody raw until he was fired, sending everything straight downhill from there.

Soon enough, we'll find out if Paxson is guiding the franchise on the right track ... or if he's just launching 3-pointers with the hope that they'll drop. So far, that's exactly the type of team they've turned out to be.
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SOURCE: Foxsports http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8599082/Will-Bulls'-changes-be-for-the-better?

Personally I think they will be worse than last year.... Thoughts?

JUNIOR MINT · Sep 24, 2008

I think they'll be the same as last year, winning about 33 or so games

Moo2K4 · Sep 24, 2008

I can't see them improving. Overall, they didn't do a whole lot to improve the roster, aside from getting Rose. The Ben Gordon situation is ridiculous. They really need to find a way to keep him for the long term or just trade him away. They've really handled that situation poorly. Signing Vinny was not the greatest coaching move in the world in my book. There were much better candidates out there - Avery Johnson, Rick Carlisle, Mike D'Antoni, Marc Jackson to name a few - and to settle on VDR was not good. In my book, it was just a way for Reinsdorf to save some cash. But then again, after that, he went and overpaid Luol Deng, so who knows. All in all, the offseason has been a disaster in my book. We signed a rookie coach, we still have a glut of guards and no real good post presence, in my book they messed up the first pick (should have taken Beasley), and then they still haven't extended their best player. If they win 35 games next year, I think you can call that a success and take another trip to the lottery.

JE · Sep 24, 2008

They'll improve a little, but not enough to make the playoffs.

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Will Bulls offseason improve team?

JFizzleRaider Yeast Lords Global Moderator

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