<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><h3>Chicago Bulls</h3> What Went Right:</p> • They kept the Red Bull in the freezer. After being wooed by the Grizzlies, restricted free agent forward Andres Nocioni decided to stay in the cold climes of the Windy City. The Bulls could ill afford to lose the 6-7 Argentinean's unique brand of energy, defense and shot-making. Plus, GM John Paxson got him at the reasonable price of $37.5 million over five years.</p> • They added no ordinary Joe. With his mid-level exception, Paxson lured 6-10 veteran power forward Joe Smith away from the Sixers. Smith isn't the big low-post scorer the Bulls needed, but he's a solid blue collar player who can take charges, rebound a little and hit the 10- to 15-footer. At age 32, he's also considerably younger than P.J. Brown, 38, who filled that role a year ago.</p> • Noah joined their stable. With the No. 9 pick in the Draft, Paxson continued his trend toward selecting players from NCAA championship programs by taking Florida forward Joakim Noah. The 6-11 Noah, who helped the Gators win two titles, likely would have been a top 3-4 pick had he come out after the '06 season. He gives the Bulls another elite young prospect, along with second-year forward Tyrus Thomas, to build on for the future.</p> What Went Wrong:</p> • They lost out on KG. Despite the hopes of so many Bulls fans, Paxson was unable to pull the trigger on bringing Garnett back to the city where he played some of his high school ball. KG would have been a perfect fit with his all-around skills and height, and his desire to win an NBA title would have stoked Chicago's fires. Instead, Garnett's move to Boston gives the Bulls one more contender to deal with in the East.</p> • Noah was a No-Go. Noah did not play in the team's summer league because of a slight tear in his rotator cuff. The Bulls have said he will be ready for training camp, but there has been speculation the injury might require surgery to heal fully. If Noah suffers a setback, he could fall behind in his development and miss out on a chance to contribute much this season.</p> GRADE: B</p> With his team right in the thick of the East title chase, Paxson was understandably reluctant to break up his core. But will he regret not rolling the dice on Garnett?</div></p> Link</p> Didn't most Bulls fans dub Garnett a career loser, who they wouldn't trade Tyrus, Gordon, or Deng for? Not so sure thats in spite of what Bulls fans wanted. </p>
We didn't get a big shooting guard either. I think the main problem we have is we're still a pretty limited team offensively, and adding Noah and Joe Smith doesn't really address that (although it addresses other issues).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MikeDC)</div><div class='quotemain'>We didn't get a big shooting guard either. I think the main problem we have is we're still a pretty limited team offensively, and adding Noah and Joe Smith doesn't really address that (although it addresses other issues).</div> </p> isn't Thabo a "big shooting guard"? (i wouldn't know)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (peg182)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MikeDC)</div><div class='quotemain'>We didn't get a big shooting guard either. I think the main problem we have is we're still a pretty limited team offensively, and adding Noah and Joe Smith doesn't really address that (although it addresses other issues).</div> </p> isn't Thabo a "big shooting guard"? (i wouldn't know)</div> Yes. Jack Haley is a post scoring option too. </p> Thabo looks like a defensive-minded player who's more of a 3 to me. I think he needs to bring more offense to the table and more consistency bringing the ball up to say he solves a problem for us.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticKing)</div><div class='quotemain'>Did they try to get Kobe?</div> </p> I'm thinking those were just rumors, Lakers never showed any signs of discussing Kobe in deals.</p> </p> As for the Bulls off-season, they didn't do much to improve their post scoring situation. I guess they feel comfortable with Tyrus Thomas and will let him develop by giving him start minutes at the 4. </p>
