http://www.blogabull.com/2015/1/31/7956711/signing-pau-gasol-was-a-mistake Kevin Farragin at blogabull seems to think so. He points to Gasol as the reason Noah's had a regression and the hit to the defense as stats measures it. When we signed Gasol, I was asked if I liked the move. Of course I liked the move - we signed an All-Star. But given we were already deep at PF/C, I didn't see the need. We rid ourselves of Boozer, who wasn't popular but was still starting PF and backup C on teams that went to the ECF or otherwise overachieved. The defense was better, Noah was better, and so on. More to the question, I was asked if I'd rather have signed Lu over Gasol and I thought Lu might have been a better signing. We're seeing the benefit of Gasol and the underachieving result as a team. In reality, I thought the Bulls would have been better off waiting a year to bring Mirotic over, too. The team is certainly loaded at the PF/C positions, but weak at F and G once you get past Rose/Butler. Unless Thibs demanded this roster and got every player he wanted, you cannot blame him for the team's inconsistency. Inconsistency that's entirely based upon poor match ups this roster creates.
Signing the starting forward for the eastern all-star team a mistake? Really? Noah has had a problem playing because of his knee. The GS game we saw flashes of the old Noah. Yes we are loaded at the pf position. So a trade must be made no later than this summer.
The argument that Farragin makes is that Noah's game is hurt by him having to guard PFs full time he's paired with Gasol.
Gasol is absolutely loading the stat sheet. He has a 22.1 PER, highest on the team. Case closed. But seriously folks, part of the reason I don't think Gasol's signing was a mistake has been that Noah hasn't been right and might never be right again. I agree with Farrigan that the Noah-Gasol pairing hasn't meshed well and the Bulls' defense has suffered as a result.
I think signing Gasol may have been a mistake -- not from an opportunity lost perspective, because that's still a steal of a contract -- but from an on-court chemistry perspective. But if we weren't so in this thing, and we had a little distance, we'd probably say that you don't make any personnel evaluations when there is this kind of dissonance between your coaching staff and roster. Unless something changes dramatically for the better, I don't think we're going to have a read on this situation until mid way through next year.
Noah, the reigning all-NBA 1st team center and DPOY is dramatically less effective out of the lane guarding 4s than in his traditional role. You can't not play Gasol and he won't be happy taking a discount and being on the bench down the stretch of tight games when stops are essential. There is a case to be made that the Gasol signing is a net-negative for the team, given that you make Noah worse, don't play a high quality player like Gibson as many minutes and we won't even get started about Mirotic. The Gasol defense issues are real and will only get worse over time. Do you really want Pau Gasol at this stage of his career to be the best player on your team? What did the Grizzlies do when they were a Pau led team, and that was in his prime? Can you have a Thibs led team have Pau and the new, on again off again Rose as your leaders? The Bulls don't seem better on many nights than the depleted roster that was playing the last two seasons. Of course, we all know the regular season really doesn't matter that much. I'll reserve judgement until the playoffs are over. But I think there is a case to be made, as crazy as it seems.
Gasol is certainly accumulating statistics, that's for sure. He's the starter in the all-star game and he's on a bargain of a contract. There are plenty of players that accumulate stats on average to bad teams though. Who isn't producing so Gasol can get his? There are only so many touches, minutes, etc. Would Noah at the 5, Niko starting as stretch 4 and Taj getting heavy minutes off the bench be better? Perhaps, right?
Another question along these lines.... Would the Atlanta Hawks be a better team this season if they could swap Kyle Korver for Carmelo Anthony? Seems crazy, but perhaps no, right?
His expectation is to come in and contribute more than Carlos Boozer did, and he's doing that. He certainly isn't the big name free agent scoop. Top the list last off season was to get a star player to come, that didn't happen. So then they went with what they needed and upgraded the 4 spot. Pau is slow and causes Noah to play out of position, but they make up for it when they clog the lane.
