<div class="quote_poster">Shard Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">San Antonio got a steal with Marcus Williams in the 2nd round. Dude has skills, reppin Sea-Town.</div> When doesnt San Antonio get a steal in the draft? lol. They got 2 this year, with Splitter at the end of the first round, should fill in as their starting 5 I would assume.
<div class="quote_poster">GatorsowntheNCAA Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well after drafting Noah, I'm officially on the Bulls bandwagon! If you would take me of course. </div> Welcome aboard, bro. <div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Looks like the Raptors got your boy, M. They traded next year's 2nd rounder for Printezis.</div> That's great dude, you must be stoked for the future ahead.
Personally, I hated the Noah pick. He may be a Scott Skiles type of guy, and he might develop into a solid player, but what will he bring to us? All I can see of him is an energy guy that comes in and does the little things, like defense and rebounding, that's all. I don't foresee him being much more than a 8/8 type of guy. Most of his points are going to come from cleaning the glass and getting easy buckets. Unless he adds some type of offensive game to his arsenal, I don't know if he was worth the 9th pick. I do however, like his athletic ability and ball handling for his size, but that's it. I would have much rather taken Spencer Hawes with the pick. Noah was the safe pick, but Hawes in my opinion, was the better pick. He could have come in and given us that back to the basket scorer we ever so desperately needed. Thankfully, they made up for this and drafted Aaron Gray in the 2nd round, whom might not end up as good as Hawes, but is still a good pick, and I think could be one of the steals in this draft.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I think that's a dumb pick. They made this exact same pick last year when they drafted Tyrus Thomas over Lamarcus Aldridge. And when they signed Ben Wallace.</div> Agreed. I said the same thing last year when they took Thomas over Aldridge, and I'm saying it again, what a stupid pick! Paxon is one of the worst drafters in the NBA. The Bulls had a player who fit their team needs to a tee in Spencer Hawes just fall into their lap. Not only that, but Hawes was the best talent available. And they pass on him for a poor man's Tyrus Thomas? I don't get it at all. It makes about as much sense as Minnesota drafting Corey Brewer. On the positive, Aaron Gray was a huge steal.
<div class="quote_poster">Voodoo Child Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Paxon is one of the worst drafters in the NBA.</div> So, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Chris Duhon were bad picks?
<div class="quote_poster">Ed! Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">So, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Chris Duhon were bad picks?</div> Well Paxson was also fortunate enough to have 6 lottery draft picks since 2003. So I wouldnt think to highly of him. A Monkey could make a good team outta that.
<div class="quote_poster">The Walrus Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well Paxson was also fortunate enough to have 6 lottery draft picks since 2003. So I wouldnt think to highly of him. A Monkey could make a good team outta that.</div> Uh, what? The Bulls selected Kirk Hinrich at #7, Mario Austin at #36, Matt Bonner at #45 (traded) and some other dude later on. 2004 NBA Draft was the strongest for Paxson who had an excellent Draft. Bulls drafted Ben Gordon at #3, traded a future first rounder and their #31 pick Jackson Vroman for Luol Deng who was drafted at #7 by Phoenix. Then to top it off he got Chris Duhon with a steal at #38. Tyrus Thomas was alright, but he's still too raw to make a final judgment right now and the lengthy guard Thabo Sefolosha trade was better for the team's overall defense in the coming years. This year was pretty good IMO as well, though I still would've prefered Hawes over Noah I'm not disappointed with the outcome.
<div class="quote_poster">The Walrus Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well Paxson was also fortunate enough to have 6 lottery draft picks since 2003. So I wouldnt think to highly of him. A Monkey could make a good team outta that.</div> and Paxson has missed out on the playoffs how many times since he took over? Compare that to constantly bad teams who have had lottery picks and what they have done. Paxson has made good moves, good trades and good picks.
I don't think he's a terrible drafter by any means, but as a casual follower of the Bulls, I find it frustrating how he's brought in redundant players for the past two years. He's had two great chances to bring in that low post player the team has really needed and he's opted for talented players that just seem to bring more of the same. And this may have been his last shot, since its unlikely the Bulls will be in the lottery for a while and they won't have the cap space as the rookie contracts begin to expire.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I don't think he's a terrible drafter by any means, but as a casual follower of the Bulls, I find it frustrating how he's brought in redundant players for the past two years. He's had two great chances to bring in that low post player the team has really needed and he's opted for talented players that just seem to bring more of the same.</div> I agree. Low post scoring was a glaring need and we already lost PJ Brown, who was probably the best option (and even he wasn't anything special) and thus far have done nothing to fix that need, and now we draft yet another defensive minded player when we have zero need for one.
<div class="quote_poster">Voodoo Child Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Agreed. I said the same thing last year when they took Thomas over Aldridge, and I'm saying it again, what a stupid pick! Paxon is one of the worst drafters in the NBA. The Bulls had a player who fit their team needs to a tee in Spencer Hawes just fall into their lap. Not only that, but Hawes was the best talent available. And they pass on him for a poor man's Tyrus Thomas? I don't get it at all. It makes about as much sense as Minnesota drafting Corey Brewer. On the positive, Aaron Gray was a huge steal.</div> Agree, it was dumb enough passing on Aldridge last year but passing Hawes this year even though you already have two great athletic scrappy/defensive bigs in Wallace and Thomas is completely idiotic. If you want a hustle guy and don't think Wallace and Thomas are enough theres always scrappy, athletic bigs in the second round too. Over the last two years they've had two chances to get big, offensively skilled big men which is clearly their biggest need but they just keep on stock piling these guys who have no offensive game. I'm assuming that they won't be sniffing a lotto pick again for the foreseeable future either unless they trade someone else to the Knicks for future picks. Their young players are all due big extensions soon so they won't have much cap flexibility, looks like their dream of acquiring a good post presence on offense is gone for at least the next 5 seasons or so (barring a huge trade, though Paxon seems to be extremely hesitant to give up any of his talent). Outside of that pick they had a good draft though. Gray is a nice pick at 49, he can be a nice role player in the NBA and adding two bigs in this draft gives them some depth and size in the frontcourt that they lacked before. I'm not nearly as high on him as Shape and VC are but he's a decent player and can rebound and has some offensive ability. It seems like no one else likes Jameson Curry except me but I think he'll be a solid 8th/9th man and spark plug off the bench (which good at pick 51).
The only two players Pax has left to sign from his youth core are Deng and Gordon. Nocioni isn't asking for much as far as we know from what the Tribune has reported and I still don't see Gordon here in the future, so we're doing fine within cap space.
<div class="quote_poster">M Two One Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The only two players Pax has left to sign from his youth core are Deng and Gordon. Nocioni isn't asking for much as far as we know from what the Tribune has reported and I still don't see Gordon here in the future, so we're doing fine within cap space.</div> As of now they're sitting on around 49-50 mils of total team salary (estimated rookie contract costs onto that). Add on Nocioni who I can't see signing for anything less than the MLE, which adds on about 5.5 mils bringing the Bulls up to around 55 million of total salary. Last year the cap was set at 53.1 mils so that will go up a few million and the Bulls will have a little bit of room this season but after this coming season then Deng and Gordon's new contracts kick in. I'm assuming Deng can top 10 mils a year easy. I'd bet that he'll end up getting 12-13 mils a year. I have no idea how much Gordon will make, I just don't get the hype surrounding him. I probably wouldn't pay him more than 9 mils a year (which is quite generous compared to what he'll probably end up getting). Lets just say that those guys do end up being signed at those prices, that means in 08 if the cap goes up a few mils again (lets just say it goes up 3 mils a year bringing it to 59 million by 2008) the new contracts cause the total salary to increase about 12 million (the combined difference from their rookie contracts to their second contracts), plus all the other players' contracts will increase marginally every year so you can add another 5 mils or so there. Its a raw estimate but I just can't see the Bulls being under the cap or even very close to it in 08. To be honest its hard for me to believe that they'll re-sign Nocioni in the same offseason where they're going to have to sign extensions for Deng and Gordon, plus they drafted a nice wing player in Sefolosha last year.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Nocioni is likely to re-sign with the Bulls. Gordon may ask for 11 million per year average (which is far too much) and in such I believe the Bulls will likely trade him and Chris Duhon. Sefolosha is being used as a guard specifically and is being trained to focus on the 1 and 2 due to his skills and mindset. I assume he'd do fine at the small forward as well, but right now they need a player like Nocioni who is definitely one of the two best defenders on the team and is far and away most adaptable by ten fold.
<div class="quote_poster">M Two One Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The Chicago Tribune reported that Nocioni is likely to re-sign with the Bulls. Gordon may ask for 11 million per year average (which is far too much) and in such I believe the Bulls will likely trade him and Chris Duhon. Sefolosha is being used as a guard specifically and is being trained to focus on the 1 and 2 due to his skills and mindset. I assume he'd do fine at the small forward as well, but right now they need a player like Nocioni who is definitely one of the two best defenders on the team and is far and away most adaptable by ten fold.</div> Agree, Gordon will ask for a ton of money and hes just not worth it for a tweener who only does one thing well (score). The smart move would definitely be to move him instead of paying him big money.
<div class="quote_poster">Run BJM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Agree, Gordon will ask for a ton of money and hes just not worth it for a tweener who only does one thing well (score). The smart move would definitely be to move him instead of paying him big money.</div> Yeah, we all love our players here in Chicago, but Gordon's numbers can be replicated by other players like Deng and a healthy Nocioni can also replace those numbers with more playing time. Note that he averaged 18 PPG at one point with less playing time before his injury occured and his overall play deminished because of the injury. This causes his statistics to drop as well. When he's back healthy, damn, look out. I'm just hoping they can trade Gordon and Duhon for an inside scoring presence that can at least nearly replicate Gordon's scoring numbers and help with other things like blocking. We will also need to sign a backup guard for Sefolosha because he would obviously be starting in place of Gordon.
Trading Gordon and Du leaves a bit of a gap at the guard positions. Keep Du, Trade Gordon and someone else.
