3 team deal. Pels get Evans (S&T...$4 years $44mil) plus the draft rights to center Jeff Withey. Kings get guard Greivis Vasquez and a future second-round pick. Portland gets center Robin Lopez. Source: Yahoo! Sports
I saw. My hopes were dashed the minute the Bulls painted themselves in the corner by choosing to use the MMLE on Dunleavy.
They're here to hold out the carrot on the stick to sucker fans into thinking they're doing "whatever it takes" to win.
We improved the team by losing Belinelli (the Spurs seem to like him fine!) and Nate, and adding a draft pick that seems like a bit of a project and Dunleavy Jr. Really? Improved? I mean, we got taller. Dunleavy is taller than Belinelli with nate standing on his shoulders.
I'm fine replacing Belli with Dunleavy. I take this to mean the Bulls are confident in what Butler will be able to bring as starting SG and thus see Dunleavy as a better fit. I have some reservations about the front office's ability to pull off certain types of moves, but trust their scouting. Ultimately we're talking about trading one 8th man for another. Unless either guy drastically exceeds their expectations these decisions usually don't mean a whole lot in the big scheme of things.
On a scale of 1-10, Kirk is a 2, and Dunleavy is a 4. Belinelli is like a 6.5. Higher the number is better. At this point, Dunleavy is probably our 2nd best guard. I consider Butler a SF.
Its hard to see how the Bulls are really loading up here to make a title run next season. Maybe Wade takes another big step back next year..... that's the best chance the Bulls have... but we still don't know who is going to ring chase down there. You find a way to keep Nate (and Omer) if you are wanting to win the NBA title against other teams that are loading up for bear.
I've read some people who are high on Belinelli, but no one I've read is higher on him that you. Obviously, you're entitled to your opinion. Dunleavy's played some SG, but he's primarily been a SF. It's OK for you to consider Butler a SF. However, in 2013-14, he's going to be defending SGs most of the time.
The Bulls don't have an answer for Lebron James. No one else does either. As long as James is in his prime and healthy, everyone else is a longshot. This said, in the playoffs, it's your top 7 or 8 players that make the difference. I consider the Bulls top 8 of Rose, Butler, Deng, Boozer, Noah, Gibson, Hinrich and Dunleavy to be very strong. They need to stay healthy.
I considered Ben Wallace to be "strong" during his prime. A team full of guys with hiss skill set would outright suck.
I disagree with this. James is a great player, but unless he has a supporting cast of other top level all-stars, he can't win titles, IMO. Or, at least, we have not seen it yet. James and Wade manipulated the salary cap system IMO by talking lower salaries on purpose and built a superteam. This defeats the competitive balance of the NBA, IMO. If Wade, Bosh and James didn't form a superteam and stayed on their respective teams a couple seasons ago, the Bulls with Rose are the top team in the East. All water under the bridge of course. Making sure that impact players like Nate and Omer, both of would which serve big needs on the current Bulls team, remain Bulls is essential in either case. Hinrich is a garbage player at this point. Gibson took a big step back last year. Dunlevey is just a ham n' egger. None of those three matter and are replacement level guys. Hindsight is of course 20/20 but its pretty clear that the money going to Hinrich, Dunlevey and Gibson would be better off going to Omer, Nate and whoever else.
