I think if Tyrus Thomas is going to have a breakout year, he's going to have to do it in a different uniform. It just seems there's too much doubt and negative energy in Chicago for him to have a breakout year. A lot of times a change of scenery can do wonders for a player. Jermaine O'Neal didn't become a force until he left Portland, Tyson Chandler didn't become the player he is now until he got to New Orleans, and the list goes on and on.
^^Totally agree, put him on a different team and he could really be a solid player. I love his weak side defense and hustle. I think he could be good somewhere without the pressure there seems to be on him in chicago
I don't love Tyrus' hustle much at all. I think he'll play out the string here and leave. Really, the main issue I see is the "The team can’t trade Tyrus, they’ve been trying to trade him for the past two seasons and haven’t found any takers." I’m sure the team could trade Tyrus if they sought a reasonable price. The reality of the situation is the Bulls would be embarrassed by taking a low price for him, and thus would rather get nothing than get a pick in the mid 20s. Especially if Tyrus then goes on to become a productive player somewhere else. On the other hand, if the Bulls simply wait him out, let him leave for nothing, then even if he does well, it can be said that just the fact of the Bulls letting him go was something that “set him straight” or somesuch. Put it another way 1. Bulls trade Tyrus, they get and unknown pick, likely to be about 20 and an relatively useless expiring. Pick 20 in most drafts could yield a good player if you’re a really good drafter. It could yield Taj Gibson if you don’t know what you’re doing and want to flex your new job muscles by letting your old mentor call in a favor and draft one of his kids. The Bulls get generally (and rightfully) ridiculed for trading away the #2 pick in the draft for what amounts to the #20 pick. 2. The Bulls don’t trade Tyrus, he walks at the end of an unproductive year, and everyone forgets about it in the midst of using our cap space to acquire Elton Brand from the Sixers and creating an exciting and up and coming contender. Come on, this is straight out of CYA Management 101.
If all we can get for Tyrus is a 20-something pick, then I think we're probably better off keeping him since the two years of production we'll get out of him is probably worth more than taking a chance on a marginal NBA talent. The only way I think Tyrus would 'break out' in the way people use the term is if he gets traded to a very bad team without any established heirarchy, in which case his production wouldn't be very meaningful. Under most circumstances I see Tyrus progressing for another 2-3 years until he reaches a Kenyon Martin-like level of play, where he would be good enough to give you some competitive advantage, but not so good that you couldn't replace him. I think the chances of him continually being on teams where he's the best PF are small, so he'll likely spend the bulk of his career as a bench player.
Still just 22, still time to grow into an effective player. Though don't see it with VDN as the head coach.
Well, he's an RFA next year, and if we're going to sign any FAs, we'd probably have to renounce our rights to Tyrus to get it done. So for all intents and purposes, I'm pretty sure this is his last year here unless the cap goes down and/or Salmons doesn't opt out, and we're pretty much stuck without any FA options.
If Salmons has any kind of good year, he's opting out. He's a lot more likely to get a multiyear deal with all the money that's going to be thrown around next summer than he is the year after that when he'll be 33 and everybody will be capped out.
He's 29 now, 30 in December. So if he opts out, he'll be 30 next summer. If he doesn't, he'll be 31 the following summer, not 33. I don't think it's a foregone conclusion either way. Factors in favor of opting out * If he really does great this year * Lots of teams with cap room next year. * Younger. Factors against opting out * If he doesn't play really well, and instead reverts to the form he's had most of his career. * If he gets hurt * If the cap goes down by a lot and it turns out many teams don't have cap space. Basically a lot of factors that are pretty much out of everyone's control.
