OK i just read an espn report intel report that says unless they complete another deal, we're gettin alexander and warrick
Alexander appears to be terrible. Warrick appears to be pretty darn solid. Sort of Salmons as a tweener forward instead of a tweener G/F. I would have liked Warrick and Kurt Thomas ideally, since we're hurting up front, but I think this is a very solid move that also gets us the cap room we need for the summer. Well done.
Pretty easy to tear down, no? Nets and Clips did just fine in that regard, too. The last two times the Bulls have gotten to the same place, they royally screwed it up. Same owner. Pax was on board for the last disaster. I'd be a lot more confident in his ability to build back up if we had someone like D'Antoni. You know...a coach who would attract players. p.s. I'm also not too keen on us strengthing the two teams right behind us.
If the past is any indicator, the cap space will be used on someone just like Ben Wallace. Yeesh. It's more likely we don't sign anyone and use the cap space to extend Rose and Noah.
Barry Rozner of the Daily Herald has this take on the Bulls' moves: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=360352 Bulls' good day could have been much better By Barry Rozner | Daily Herald Columnist Published: 2/19/2010 12:01 AM Just like their pursuit of Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol over the last few years, the Bulls fell short Thursday of making something big happen. One of the most important NBA trade deadlines in history came and went without the Bulls accomplishing their main goal, which was clearing enough cap space for two max contracts. Their best chance of attracting LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh was by having enough room to attract two of the big three free agents, but because they didn't move Kirk Hinrich, they'll have room enough for only one big contract and some spare parts. That sounds a lot like Atlanta's Joe Johnson, and that's not a bad thing, but nothing like what it would have meant to get Johnson and one of the other three, or two of the big three. And if two of those three wind up together somewhere in the East, then Derrick Rose and Johnson won't be enough to overcome that and reach the NBA Finals, which is what this exercise is all about. On the other hand, the Knicks did exactly what the Bulls wanted to do, which was clear $30 million for the upcoming Summer of LeBron, and enough cap space for two max-contract free agents. So, yeah, the Bulls had a good day, just not a great day. They got rid of John Salmons and his $6 million for next year. And they finally admitted - albeit two years late - that Tyrus Thomas was a bust, and got a pick in return from Charlotte. Go ahead and pat John Paxson on the back if you feel the need, but remember that Thomas was essentially the second pick in the draft four years ago, and whatever pick they wind up with won't be anywhere near where they began with Thomas. As he did with Hinrich, Ben Gordon and so many others, Paxson waited at least a year too long to deal Thomas and failed to maximize the asset and value. In fact, so far the best thing Paxson has done is get lucky - something new for the Bulls - with a ping-pong ball that turned into Derrick Rose. Now he needs to get lucky in free agency. That would also be something new for the Bulls.
Mike McGraw's take is similar: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=360351 With two big trades, Bulls look ahead to future By Mike McGraw | Daily Herald Staff Published: 2/19/2010 12:01 AM The buzzword for the Bulls once Thursday's NBA trade deadline struck was "flexibility." By sending John Salmons to Milwaukee, they assured themselves of having around $20 million to spend on free agents this summer. Pretty good, but not the kind of flexibility that would cause every NBA contender to sweat this summer. The Bulls needed to unload Kirk Hinrich or Luol Deng to create enough room to sign two top-level free agents and that didn't happen. Listening to general manager Gar Forman speak Thursday at the Berto Center, they didn't want it to happen. "We didn't want to gut the nucleus of our team," Forman said. "Our goal is still to win this year and get as high a seed as we can. We know our fans want us to be a playoff team." We're free to speculate on whether the Bulls (27-26) would have jumped at the chance to trade Hinrich for, say, three expiring contracts from the Lakers. No team was ready to take on the two years and $17 million remaining on Hinrich's contract, so he's staying. "We didn't want to lose Kirk Hinrich," Forman said. "He is a real glue guy for us. He's a leader. When Kirk plays, we have success. I think we're 1-8 (actually 1-6) when he doesn't play this year. What Forman said has merit. The Bulls have gone 17-9 since Dec. 26 and looking at the upcoming schedule, it's not far-fetched to imagine this team being 10 games above .500 before mid-April. Officially, the Bulls made two moves. Salmons goes to the Bucks for power forward Hakim Warrick and small forward Joe Alexander. Tyrus Thomas was sent to Charlotte for guards Flip Murray and Acie Law, along with a conditional first-round draft pick. Asked about Thomas' well-publicized problems this season, including a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team on Feb. 6, Forman stuck to the numbers. There was a good chance Thomas, the No. 4 pick in the 2006 draft, wouldn't be back next season, so they got something for him while they could. "The reality of it was his cap hold this summer was going to be so large that it was going to be a problem for us as far as trying to attract free agents," Forman said. "So there was a likelihood he wasn't going to be able to remain with us. "We feel fortunate that we were able to get a first-round pick and get a piece in Flip Murray, who is a proven NBA player who can help make up for the loss of John Salmons." Warrick, 27, fits into Thomas' role as an athletic power forward. The fifth-year pro from Syracuse has been a better scorer than Thomas (12.7 points for Memphis in 2006-07), but is not nearly as good with rebounds and blocked shots. Murray, 30, is not as tall as Salmons, but typically fills the scoring role off the bench. The Bulls will be his eighth team in eight NBA seasons. Alexander and Law don't figure to play as much. Alexander was the No. 8 pick in the 2008 draft, but was hurt at the start of the season and played most recently for the D-League's Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The Bulls expect Warrick and Alexander to be available to play Friday at Minnesota, but they aren't sure about Murray and Law. Because these trades brought the roster to 16 players, forward Chris Richard was released. Forman said the Bulls kicked around several ideas but were never close to doing anything else. It's possible they tried to get involved in a three-way trade with Houston and Sacramento to bring Tracy McGrady to the Bulls. But that would have meant Hinrich and probably center Brad Miller departing. "We feel good today because we kept the nucleus intact, our starting lineup intact and yet gained the type of flexibility we wanted to gain to make the next step in that process this summer," Forman said. The free-agent targets are well known. The approximate pecking order figures to be LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer. Flexibility won't convince a top-level free agent to join the Bulls, but the chance to play with Derrick Rose might.
I love the revisionist history that happens here... I'm curious, if Krause had been able to sign Grant Hill and McGrady and Hill sat out most of the next four years and McGrady never got out of the first round for the bulls, would that have been a screwup too?
You can't anticipate a debilitating injury to a FA signee. You could anticipate further decline from Ben Wallace: Rebounds 12.2 -> 11.3 -> 10.7 signs with the Bulls Points 9.7 -> 7.3 -> 6.4 signs with Bulls Blocks 3.0 -> 2.4 -> 2.2 -> signs with Bulls But hindsight is 20-20
Hill broke his ankle during the season before he signed the deal. Everybody knew his ankle was bad when he signed the deal.
Grant Hill played 74 games for Detroit the season they traded him to Orlando. He averaged 25.8 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 5.2 APG. The 25.8 PPG was the best of his career.
