The Chicago Bulls allowed Omer Asik to sign with the Houston Rockets last offseason, which increased the odds of the team signing Taj Gibson to an extension. Sources say the most likely outcome for the Bulls will be to sign Gibson to an extension and eventually using the amnesty clause on Carlos Boozer in the future. Gibson is already 27, as he entered the NBA at a relatively old age. Read more: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8513967/nba-contract-extension-chances-class-2009
I love me some Taj Gibson, but I've always liked him more as a backup than starter. He'll be 28 when he becomes a FA, which is the same age as Boozer when we signed him. Taj is on the ups and Boozer on the downs, but it's useful to compare their careers up to that point. Boozer was waaaayyyy ahead. Maybe his defense will season like KG's (a fine wine), but if he's the starting PF and Boozer gets cut we're not any closer to a championship IMO. Of course the wildcard in all this is Mirotic, and I have no opinion on that since I've never seen him play. But at the very least it sounds like he'll need at least one year to adjust to the NBA since he's apparently weak and doesn't have a clear cut position (at least on defense).
This is also somewhat off-topic, but I think James Harden is overrated. He actually reminds me a lot of Boozer. He's a role player who's in a uniquely good situation that plays to his strengths and hides his weaknesses which makes him look more like a marquee player than he actually is. If you stick him on the Kings his shortcomings are more apparent and people wouldn't be getting a stiffy for him like they are now.
The simple exercise of listing PFs in the league you'd rather have as a starter puts Taj into perspective. He's not a starter on half the teams, at least. And for one season, maybe you'd want a guy like Elton Brand to start (worked for Philly). The same exercise for backup PF and Taj is elite. The best things about Taj are that he's got a very good BBall IQ, he hustles, he's not a bonehead off the court, he is a terrific energy guy, he's missed just 5 games in 3 seasons, he's cheap, and he cost us only the 29th pick in the draft. Compared to Tyrus, who is the opposite of all those things, except he was an energy guy, too. He cost us the #2 pick and LaMarcus Aldridge.
Forget these numbers, they're just for illustration. Suppose he's 16th best PF in the league. As a starter, meh. There are 15 better. As a reserve, he's the 16th best PF in the league, better than half the teams' starters. And likely better than most teams' reserves.
