If that's where we're at, then what should they do Denny Crane, blow it up? I'd rather have Durant too, but if you have a MVP level player, a secondary star and a solid supporting cast, you have a legit shot.
OKC has other problems though. Scott Brooks is awful and he has the support of his superstars so he isn't going anywhere. They need more rebounding along their front line and they're not getting that from Serge Ibaka and their bigs just don't seem to be involved like they should be. That team's whole is less than the sum of it's parts, regardless of how great those parts are. I tell you: I'd like to see how Noah, Gibson, Melo, Butler and Rose matched up in that series.
I wouldn't have stopped with trading Deng. In Rose and a top 5 draft puck, we might have our Westbrook and Durant. It remains to be seen if we can get Melo, who is pretty close to Durant. Draft picks don't get to choose where they go. Melo does get to choose.
All-NBA 1st team DPOY centers don't grow on trees, nor do coach of the year caliber coaches, and both would have likely had to go for a shot at lotto gold. I personally don't like those odds, given that the talent you would have to give up is all-NBA legit talent, not Hinrich / Nocioni / Skiles nonsense, but I know you're not alone in that thought. Blowing up a really good defensive core in its prime with all-nba talent on it is just too bitter a pill for me to swallow. If Rose doesn't come back to all-NBA form soon though, and the Bulls strike out yet again in FA, you might have a point. I'll play these (where 'these' are an nba 1st team center, a coach of the year caliber coach, a still young, former MVP, solid role players and perhaps a good to great free agent) versus hoping and praying that we hit the lotto.
Thibs is under contract. He managed with Lu being traded . As much as we all love Noah, Kendrick Perkins and Robin Lopez are plenty good enough to advance in the playoffs, certainly WCF contenders. When haven't the Bulls struck out in free agency? Here comes the next Ron Mercer.
One would think that there is a difference between an all-nba team, DPOY center and Robin Lopez, but I understand what you're saying. Noah is just flat out better than Robin Lopez at this point. You're right about FA. My hopes are not up regarding Melo. Perhaps a Hayward / Lowry / Stephenson. I'd like to see how healthy Rose / (Stephenson or Lowry or Hayward) / Jimmy / Taj / Noah would do before blowing it up.
Seem that movie before. Expect the worst. Lowry, Jimmy, taj, Noah, and Kirk and Dunleavy. Contenders?
Where did Rose go? If Rose is done, the Bulls are screwed. If the Bulls feel that Rose is done, they should blow it up. But, you just advocated that a Rose / Lotto pick pairing is the reason to tank, right?
Well put. I'm glad the Bulls chose not to tank, and their record and internal improvement is proof enough for me that it was the right decision. You can say that they didn't go anywhere in the playoffs and would've been better off with the same roster plus a draft pick, but that completely ignores organizational dynamics. The same starting conditions can produce very different outcomes because people respond to their environment. Does the team focus around Noah and allow him to be DPOY and soft MVP candidate if the games don't mean anything? Does the tension between Thibs and management continue to subside if they've completely stripped the team of NBA talent? Does Taj develop his offensive game to the point where can put up a 26 PER playing big minutes in a playoff series? What does Carmelo think of a dysfunctional franchise that's toiling in the lottery? Obviously these are hypotheticals, but my own work experience tells me that most groups are dysfunctional and it's unusual to get one that clicks.....and it seems like we have that. At least to some degree. And enough talent to get to 48 wins, even though there was no real chance of contention.
Nate Robinson carrying us to the 2nd round speaks to organizational dynamics. We won a lot of games, but not so much when it counted.
In the Bulls 4 victories over the Nets in last season's playoffs, Robinson scored 11, 7, 34 and 12 points. The truth is that he carried the Bulls to one victory over the Nets. He wasn't particularly good in the other 3 wins.
In that 34 point game, the Bulls were down by 14. Robinson scored 23 points in Q4, one point shy of MJ's all-time points in a playoff quarter for the Bulls. If the Bulls lost that game, at home, the Nets would have had to win 2 out of 3 remaining games, 2 home games. He scored 20, 18, and 17 in the games you omitted.
You sir claimed Robinson carried the Bulls to victory over the Nets in the 2012-13 playoffs. The 3 games you say I "omitted" were losses. What possible relevance can performances in losing efforts have to the issue of whether a player carried a team to victory in a best of 7 series? Again, he had one great game in a winning effort in that series and carried the team that one game...no argument. Still, it was only one great performance in the Bulls 4 wins over the Nets.
They most certainly wouldn't have won without him . You can't be serious. When we played and lost to the Heat, LeBron guarded him.
Not talking about the Heat. There's a HUGE difference between "carrying a team to victory" and "they wouldn't have won the series without him." There are several players without whom the Bulls would not have beaten the Nets.
Nate was our leading scorer in the series. We would not have won without him, period. He did not get much help from anyone on the team this year. I'm not saying we would win with just 1 player on the court.
What are you two arguing about? Neither of you think there's much difference between August in and Robinson, do you? I think the takeaway is two fold. First, the Bulls absolutely need to sign a migitar, lightening quick, scoring, backup point guard. And secondly, while they absolutely need a player who fits that profile, the shouldn't pay that much because it seems that those players are easier to find than you'd expect.
Yeah, the Bulls have gotten a lot of points out of sub-6foot minimum salary guards. I suspect they'll have one on the roster next season, but I'm not sure he will be the primary PG backup. I think Thibodeau will want better size if he can get it.
