UPDATE: The Chicago Bulls have been in contact with the agent of Tracy McGrady on a constant these past few days. McGrady is still interested in joining the Bulls and they Bulls would like to add him also. Let's see what happens. The Bulls from what I've heard are actually looking for a player that could play multiple positions whether is PG, SG, or SF and the only player that fits that bill is T-Mac. The Bulls are exploring every option possible to fill out the roster. They also have there eyes on Moore and Thomas ( who is looking around for better deals). http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1198326&start=255
Fine. Whatever. It doesn't matter insofar as winning a title. The Bulls aren't winning a title this upcoming season.
Anyone we're going to sign is either going to have a lot of experience and no talent, or a smidgeon of talent and no experience. Nothing to get worked up about. That said, Malcom Thomas looks interesting.
I think the Bulls are "half pregnant" this season. They see themselves as a contender in the long-range view and I get this. Since they're not winning anything this season, it's not a bad time to take a chance on a young'n.
I think talking to McGrady makes sense believe it or not. Can play some point in limited minutes, scoring guard and SF. A couple of problems I see are, will he accept his role given, and can he guard the smaller, speedier pt guards with his age and injuries he has had. I prefer we play someone younger and give him experience this season(Teague), however, I have read that the Bulls want a veteran pt guard. That tells me they are moving Hinrich to SG once Rose is back and healthy.
Bulls were 17-6 in CJ's starts. .739 winning pct. San Antonio and the Bulls finished at 50-16 (.758). No other team had a .739 pct or better. Hard to argue with that. That's with Rose and Rip (starting back court) missing a large number of games and Deng injured and played hurt since before the all-star break. The best record the Bulls ever had with Hinrich was .597 (49-33). He had the benefit of a healthy Ben Gordon (21.4 PPG, 18.2 PER) and Deng (18.8 PPG, 18.7 PER). CJ only had Boozer and Noah healthy, and only Boozer is a scoring option of the two.
Denny, you posted the above in the wrong thread! Oh well, things aren't as fast-paced over here, so we can catch up. I'm willing to give McGrady a shot. Hell why not? He's gonna sabotage the team? I think not. He respects Thibs, and that's important. I was willing to do it last year, but I can't argue with what they did do. He and Rip might have some trouble getting along. But McGrady would be good insurance if Deng has to get that surgery after all.
Weird, apparently we'd like to sign TMac and Nate AND M. Thomas? No 10 day contracts? Rip must be on his way out the door.
FWIW, with the addition of Robinson at the vet min, I've got the Bulls at $73.8M for 13 players. If my numbers are right and they're still talking to players, it means one of two things: - They're going to trade someone, Hamilton is the most likely candidate, to open space. - Hinrich's first year salary isn't much more than $3.6M. With regard to the latter, looking back, K.C. Johnson said, "Hinrich is believed to have signed a two-year deal worth roughly $8 million." Some wiggle room there. If the Bulls can sign just one more vet min player, since they have no screaming positional need, they may want to make it a non-guaranteed deal. This way, if injuries create a temporary positional need, they'd be able to waive the 14th player and pick up a different-shaped puzzle piece.
Or maybe TMac just wants to be wanted and is trying to drum up some excitement, as he has in the past?
I've always thought the need for a backup SF has not gotten the attention it deserved. Rip and Belinelli can't play the position. If Luol's out that leaves........Jimmy Butler. I'm optimistic, but not that optimistic. We can't go into the season with one SF on our roster. I like TMac for this reason but wonder how he'll feel about being on the wrong end of a minutes crunch once Deng returns. His attitude doesn't seem like it'll take well to such a situation.
I always figured Radmanovich was behind Butler at SF. He's played everything from SG to PF. Tall, but soft as marshmallows. For the 13 they have now, here's kinda how I see them lining up (until Rose returns): PG: Hinrich/Robinson/Belinelli/Teague SG: Hamilton/Belinelli/Butler SF: Deng/Butler/Radmanovic PF: Boozer/Gibson/Radmanovic C: Noah/Boozer/Gibson/Nazr Looking at that, if you can sign another guy, the ideal would be someone who can play SF somewhat competently. Still, if that's the last contract you can sign and you make it guaranteed, you could be all kinds of sorry if the team's hanging tough, but suffers a couple injuries to the wrong position. Spending up to the far reaches of the apron as they are, if they're able to sign a 14th player and sign him to a guaranteed contract, as I understand the CBA, they're done...that's your team for the whole season...no ifs ands or buts. Makes me itchy.
I read that t mac to the bulls is not dead, but speculation is Hamilton would have to be moved first. Camps are still talking.
I dunno......going significant chunks of the season with Butler and Vlad as our only SFs makes me itchy. The Vlad signing to me looks like a solution to when we need a stretch big and when we want to sub offense/defense at the end of quarters. He can't defend any position to save his life so I can't see him as a regular rotation player. He's Scal+. I dunno what the Bulls feel about Luol's injury situation. I know Thibs said he'll be ready at the start of the season, but I'll be hesitant about Luol until I see him play. I certainly don't want to do a redo of the last half of the season watching him play with one hand. However, the Bulls moves look like they're confident in his ability to play. So I guess we'll see.
