Q&A with LaMarcus Aldridge - chicagobulls.com <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/aldridge_060614.html</div>
LaMarcus seems like a very genuine person. I think he would fit in on any team. If we could get him with the #2 pick I'd be happy. He plays with Bosh so he has some skill. I hope that we will draft him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The NBA draft is just nine days away, and it?s hard to imagine there could be more uncertainty among the top picks. Consider the working scenario: ?With the No. 1 pick, Toronto is expected to either select Italy?s Andrea Bargnani or trade the pick to a team that?s after Gonzaga?s Adam Morrison. ?The Bulls at No. 2 are trying to decide between LSU forward Tyrus Thomas and Washington guard Brandon Roy. ?Some believe Connecticut?s Rudy Gay could go as high as No. 3 to Charlotte. There are reports Atlanta is ready to take Duke?s Shelden Williams at No. 5. Texas center LaMarcus Aldridge is still in the mix somewhere, as well. Whether this year?s crop of players turns out to be good or bad, there seems to be no consensus among the executives involved. The Bulls are in an enviable position because the top players all want to end up here. That?s not meant as speculation. Anyone would prefer to join a team that?s been in the playoffs instead of one that faces an uncertain period of rebuilding. Knowing that, don?t be surprised if the Bulls try to create one last competitive workout to help make up their minds. If they invited Thomas, Roy, Aldridge and Morrison to come back on the same day, would any of those players say no? Thomas figures to be back at the Berto Center for sure, since he cut his workout short Thursday because of an upset stomach. The Bulls may be undecided on their pick, but their motivation is clear. General manager John Paxson knows the team will be dealing with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade for the next dozen years or so in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls don?t have one of those spectacular athletes on their roster, and this is probably their best chance to find one. That could point to Thomas, but Roy was no slouch during testing at the NBA?s predraft camp. His vertical jump was measured at 40? inches, the same as Gay. I speculated last week that if a report about Thomas? jumping reach was correct, it could mean he had a vertical of 50 inches. No such luck. Thomas? leap was measured at 39? inches, still excellent for someone his size.</div> Source
Did you see Ronnie Brewer ranked #2 in overall athletes after David Noel... He's amazing... to bad he might get moved up so we can't pick him at 16. Brewer: No step vert. - 35.0 Max vert. jump - 41.0 Bench Press (1850 - 19 (Didn't know he was that strong among the top) Agility Drill - 11.32 3/4 Court Sprint - 3.14 Score - 289.3022 Rank - 2 BKS- Do you still want Aldridge at #2 even though he didn't great at the combine?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SP23:</div><div class="quote_post">Did you see Ronnie Brewer ranked #2 in overall athletes after David Noel... He's amazing... to bad he might get moved up so we can't pick him at 16. Brewer: No step vert. - 35.0 Max vert. jump - 41.0 Bench Press (1850 - 19 (Didn't know he was that strong among the top) Agility Drill - 11.32 3/4 Court Sprint - 3.14 Score - 289.3022 Rank - 2 BKS- Do you still want Aldridge at #2 even though he didn't great at the combine?</div> I do. Although, he struggled with his strength drills at the combine he knows that is an area he needs to work on, he noted it himself in his interview with the Bulls. I don't read to much into combine workouts, because one workout to me cannot change the things this guy has done at the college level over the last two years.
To Best Kept Secret, re: Songaila Player Option. We'll see how his foot has healed. I understand it's healed excellently and Darius as usual is training hard. My impression was that the Bulls loved Darius. No, he's not a 6'10" skywalker who'll take over a game, but he's an excellent passer and shooter, plays very good defense and can be very hard to keep on the bench. Is he expendable? Yes. But I don't think he and his agent would want a trade unless he could get 2 or 3 more years. He will not opt out of his contract and there is no way the Bulls would expect him to unless they sign and trade him to a longer term deal, or unless a team like Boston or San Antonio or New Orleans has been watching him since he was injured, and playing very nicely at the time, and needs a 6'9" shooter who has very few weaknesses in his game to (1) push or replace the likes of Brian Scalabrine and others in Boston (they actually will have several roster spots), (2) bump Nesterovic, bench Horry or generally add great versatility to a strong roster with tepid depth in Texas, or (3) become the 6th or 7th option in New Orleans. I personally doubt if Scott Skiles would want to part with Darius after the year he gave them, but the bottom line, Darius will and should get a 3-year deal for around 3 mill. a year with a team option 4th year. Go back and look at his stats and efficiency for minutes played and more importantly the coach's comments throughout the year about Darius. Unless his foot injury is unusual and his progress is being overstated, he is high quality goods. On the other hand, I am very happy for Nocioni getting the playing time and I have picked the Bulls and the Cavaliers to replace the Pistons and Heat over the next 5 years. I love what I saw in Chicago back in Feb. and Mar. and hope to see it continue with Songaila.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">A team source informed DraftExpress.com that the Chicago Bulls were blown away by Saer Sene's "athleticism, upside and speed" at a workout he recently conducted at the Berto Center. According to the source, Sene "blew the roof off the workout" and is now considered a legitimate option for the Bulls at #16. Recent talk has the Phoenix Suns potentially packaging both of their picks (#21+#27) into the teens to draft him.</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TDoug:</div><div class="quote_post">To Best Kept Secret, re: Songaila Player Option. We'll see how his foot has healed. I understand it's healed excellently and Darius as usual is training hard. My impression was that the Bulls loved Darius. No, he's not a 6'10" skywalker who'll take over a game, but he's an excellent passer and shooter, plays very good defense and can be very hard to keep on the bench. Is he expendable? Yes. But I don't think he and his agent would want a trade unless he could get 2 or 3 more years. He will not opt out of his contract and there is no way the Bulls would expect him to unless they sign and trade him to a longer term deal, or unless a team like Boston or San Antonio or New Orleans has been watching him since he was injured, and playing very nicely at the time, and needs a 6'9" shooter who has very few weaknesses in his game to (1) push or replace the likes of Brian Scalabrine and others in Boston (they actually will have several roster spots), (2) bump Nesterovic, bench Horry or generally add great versatility to a strong roster with tepid depth in Texas, or (3) become the 6th or 7th option in New Orleans. I personally doubt if Scott Skiles would want to part with Darius after the year he gave them, but the bottom line, Darius will and should get a 3-year deal for around 3 mill. a year with a team option 4th year. Go back and look at his stats and efficiency for minutes played and more importantly the coach's comments throughout the year about Darius. Unless his foot injury is unusual and his progress is being overstated, he is high quality goods. On the other hand, I am very happy for Nocioni getting the playing time and I have picked the Bulls and the Cavaliers to replace the Pistons and Heat over the next 5 years. I love what I saw in Chicago back in Feb. and Mar. and hope to see it continue with Songaila.</div> Here is the article stating Songaila is expected to opt out... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Darius Songaila: The 6-8 forward holds an option for $2.4 million next season, which Paxson believes Songaila will opt out of and become a free agent. As long as the market does not get too crazy, Paxson will bring Songaila back at what likely will be more than $5 million a season.</div> Source This is not an opinion I'm stating. I'm telling what is being reported.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> This was “Complication Day” at the Berto Center. The Bulls have been debating the merits of draft prospects Tyrus Thomas, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Monday provided a chance to see if Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison or Connecticut’s Rudy Gay should be added to the mix. Morrison and Gay went head to head for the benefit of the Bulls’ brain trust, with Memphis swingman Rodney Carney also in the workout. None of those three players makes perfect sense, necessarily, for the Bulls. Morrison and Gay are considered small forwards, and the Bulls already have Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni at that position. Carney is being projected as a late lottery pick, which doesn’t fit with the Bulls’ two first-round picks at Nos. 2 and 16. But anything is still possible for the June 28 NBA draft, and the Bulls were eager to see Morrison, college basketball’s leading scorer last season, up close. Asked what he’s trying to show teams in the predraft workouts, Morrison went straight to the athletic angle. “Just that I’m a little more athletic than people give me credit for and I can move a little better than people give me credit for,” said the 6-foot-8 native of Spokane, Wash. “I think there’s a deal that I’m real slow and unathletic. I’m not the fastest guy, but I’m not like a trogg out there or whatever.” This is just a guess, but by “trogg,” Morrison may have been referring to a subterranean video game creature. Morrison worked out against Gay in Portland last week, and that confrontation got plenty of play on the Internet because an Oregonian reporter watched through some blinds and wrote that Gay fared well. Morrison refused to bill Monday’s exercise as a rematch. “I think the media makes too big a rivalry of these things,” he said. “If you watch our workout, we slap each other on the butt and tell each other ‘good job,’ because we both know how hard this process is on somebody. We want each other to do well.” As most of the basketball world knows by now, Morrison suffers from Type 1 diabetes but keeps it under control by checking his blood sugar frequently and eating three meals at regular times. The ailment isn’t expected to scare away any teams, and Morrison could go as high as the top pick, which currently is controlled by Toronto. The common perception of Gay in college was that he’s a great athlete but a little casual in his approach. He often was invisible down the stretch of close games. NBA executives will try to determine whether Gay lacks an aggressive personality or if his modest stats are the byproduct of playing for a talented Connecticut squad. The 6-8 Baltimore native averaged 15.2 points and 4.4 rebounds last season. An interesting comparison might be Vince Carter, who averaged 15.6 points during his final year at North Carolina. “I don’t think I did as well in college as I could have, because we had a lot of great players and were pretty balanced,” Gay said. “I led the team in scoring, a team that was No. 1 in the country most of the season. I think I did good in college, but I think I could do a lot better in the NBA.”</div> Morrison, Gay Show Bulls Their Game
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Following his workout with the Bulls on Friday, former Illinois forward James Augustine answered a few questions from the media, then felt light-headed, placed his hands on his knees and politely excused himself. Maybe something is catching at the Berto Center. That makes two days in a row a draft prospect has taken ill. Tyrus Thomas cut his workout short because of an upset stomach Thursday. Or maybe the process of trying out for the NBA has just taken a toll on Augustine. The workout with the Bulls, which also included former Illini guard Dee Brown, was Augustine?s 11th. He spent last week at the four-day Orlando predraft camp. ?I feel all right,? said Augustine, who resumed his news conference after getting a drink. ?I feel like I?m just kind of wearing down a little bit. But this is the time when you?ve got to fight through it.? Brown, a 5-foot-10 guard, and Augustine, a 6-10 forward, are both projected as possible late first-round picks in the June 28 NBA draft. Brown felt confident enough to skip the Orlando camp, but neither is likely to land with the Bulls at the 16th pick. ?I have no idea about any chances of going anywhere,? Augustine said. ?We?ll just have to wait until draft day.? Brown completed his 11th workout for an NBA team and said he?s off to visit the Los Angeles Clippers, Seattle and Golden State, beginning on Sunday. ?I?m enjoying life right now because I wake up every day and I get to play basketball,? Brown said. The obvious question with Brown, which wasn?t definitively answered during his senior year at Illinois, is whether he?s equipped to play point guard in the NBA. When the Illini rolled to the NCAA title game in 2004, he played off the ball. ?I feel like I?ve been the underdog all my career,? Brown said. ?Some people say, ?He?s small.? I just go in, lay it on the line and play hard. ?The biggest compliment I?ve heard since I?ve been working out is, ?You try not to do too much. You just stay solid.? I just go out there and be me.? With the predraft workouts increasing, the Bulls have shifted into top-secret mode. They are announcing the high-profile prospects ? Washington guard Brandon Roy is in today, while Gonzaga?s Adam Morrison and Connecticut?s Rudy Gay are set to square off Monday ? but won?t disclose the identity of any other players at those workouts. The Bulls are also holding interviews outside the front entrance of the Berto Center and won?t allow media members into the gym. Before the Orlando draft camp, interviews took place in the gym and all prospects were made available.</div> Illini Duo Workout
Weird about the players falling ill. And just a quick note on next years draft I guess the #1 pick is as good as the Bulls with Thomas firing Larry Brown and appointing himself...that guy needs to be committed and never be let out again. Anyway when is the draft. With NBA over and NFL still in its off-season sports is boring.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting I-Miss-MJ:</div><div class="quote_post"> Anyway when is the draft. With NBA over and NFL still in its off-season sports is boring.</div> The draft is this Wednesday. For the exact time days, minutes, seconds check the www.nbadraft.net time clock.
nBA baller, after reading a couple of articles on Saer Sene, he looks awesome and if the Bulls were that thrilled about him, he would be a great 16 pick, unless somehow Ronnie Brewer is still available. You can never have too many big guys and at 7'0. NBADraft.net compared him to Samuel Dalembert which would totally be legit at 16, but Yahoo DJ Mbenga wasn't as high on him. I still would rather the Bulls trade Deng and picks for Pierce and 7. Last year I remember the rumor I think it was 7 (deng) and Chandler for Pierce, but that didn't come true...
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">With Tyrus not having a position at this point, you said that that?s not a bad thing. Why is that not necessarily a bad thing? ?Because the game is not necessarily being played that way right now. Versatility is a very valuable trait to have as a player. Miami won the championship and deserved it in a more traditional fashion with a strong low post player and a great perimeter player. But the way the game is going, and the way that kids are being brought up and taught the game, you don?t have as much of a traditional post up, grind it out game. There is more movement and athleticism and slashing. Thomas is a versatile player, and really, at 19, it?s hard to define how his body is going to end up being and where he?s going to be able to play. I think that the one good thing about the way we?ve played is that Scott will throw any kind of line-up out there. We would like to get more versatile, but at the same time, I think LaMarcus Aldridge could be a versatile four and five. There is versatility at the top of the draft, it?s not just Tyrus.? What are your thoughts on Aldridge? Watching Texas, he didn?t always seem to be the main guy in their offense, in part because they had a lot of other guys who shot the ball a lot. Do you think he can be a successful low post scorer in the NBA? ?First of all, he is going to be a successful player in the NBA. I don?t think his strength right now is the low post game because he doesn?t have the base yet to hold that position. But I think that LaMarcus worked very hard to get post position. [Texas] did not have your prototypical point guard, especially for the college game, which is a pass first point guard. Daniel Gibson is more of a scorer. The more I watch LaMarcus, the more I?m convinced that he did work hard for position and maybe he didn?t get as many touches as he could have in that system or in that offense. On the other hand, you can?t disqualify that there were games where he wasn?t as aggressive as he should have been. But again, we?re talking about a 20-year old kid who is learning the game. That?s always what we try to keep in perspective. Ultimately, they are going to be at our level. We?ve been lucky in the last few years with our draft picks. Kirk was a four-year senior and he knew what he was getting into when he stepped on the floor. Ben had played three years and you can throw Luol into the mix, too, but even then, it took them some time. I don?t think anyone has the illusion that it?s not going to take these guys some time to adapt and adjust to the NBA game. There?s going to be a learning process for all these kids; we just try to look at what the long-term is going to be and what the bumps in the road will be like before they get there.? With Chicago fans expecting more now than just the first round of the playoffs, do you weigh the long-term versus short-term any differently now? Are you maybe a little more focused on the short-term? ?I would say so. First of all, I think that most of the kids in this draft are going to be able to contribute for teams right away. Whether they are going to be starters is another story. For us, I don?t necessarily want to get that much younger, but there are no guarantees in the free agent market that we?re going to be able to find something that we can get for a good price and all of those things. Being young in the East is not necessarily a bad thing. We?re in a great situation. We?re the only team in the lottery that made the playoffs last year. We have a lot of things we have to address; we have to address our size and our length. That?s a given. Can we address everything this summer? In a perfect world, yes, but that may not happen. But we?re going to keep banging away at it.? There?s been a lot of talk lately about how if Brandon Roy comes in, obviously you?re going to trade Ben Gordon. ?I?ll put this to bed. Unless a blockbuster deal comes up, I?m not trading Ben Gordon. I think that he is extremely valuable. You never say never; I understand that in this business. No one has presented anything to me that I would remotely consider for Ben. I think that Ben is going to be a better player this year than he was last year. The kid works at his game, he?s got pride, and I expect that he?s going to come back ready to go. Whatever position we draft, in my mind does not affect Ben Gordon. He?s going to come in and do what he has to do to compete. So I don?t see that as an issue at all.? So if Roy is your guy, would you be looking at a three guard rotation? ?If that were the case, we?d have to be. I?ve said all along, we would like a guard that is bigger and able to take some of the defensive pressure off Kirk. But can we assume that even a four-year senior like Brandon Roy can come in and guard the Vince Carters of the world right out of the block? Probably not. There?s an adjustment for those guys, too. There?s no immediate answer for anything, but we would like a guard to take some of the defensive pressure off Kirk in certain situations so he doesn?t have to guard the big twos all the time, plus someone to also handle the ball and playmake so that when he?s out on the floor with Ben, he can get us into offense and Ben, when he comes off screens, can do his scoring. Even though Roy is a four-year guy and could be really ready to step in and make a contribution, that may not happen on day one.?</div> Source Ben Gordon staying long term? Good things to say about Aldridge? I love John Paxson.
Nice Q and A with Paxson... He said good things like BKS mentioned that I like, BG staying and good things about Aldridge.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting I-Miss-MJ:</div><div class="quote_post">Is it known who the Raptors are likely to take with the #1 pick?</div> People/Reports said that Andrea Bargnani was a favorite, but then LaMarcus Aldridge had a workout with them and they liked how he did and now it's up for grabs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">[IMGR]http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/basketball/nba/specials/draft/2006/06/22/raptors.pick.ap/p1.aldridge.jpg[/IMGR]Texas forward LaMarcus Aldridge has impressed the Toronto Raptors to the point where they are rethinking who they might take with the first pick in next week's NBA draft. General manager Bryan Colangelo said Wednesday that Aldridge's recent workout in Toronto complicated things. "We like what we see. There is tremendous talent at the top of this draft. LaMarcus Aldridge came in and if anything confused us a little bit more the other day. You are hoping for one of these guys to come in and stumble," Colangelo said. Colangelo has been enamored with Italian forward Andrea Bargnani. A day after winning the top pick in the draft lottery, Colangelo dispatched coach Sam Mitchell and senior adviser Wayne Embry to Italy to scout Bargnani. Even team owner Larry Tanenbaum has scouted Bargnani, a 7-footer who plays for Benetton Treviso. They are even close to hiring Benetton GM Maurizio Gherardini as Toronto's new assistant GM, Colangelo said. But Colangelo says they haven't made up their mind on who they will take. He said they're open to trading the pick but haven't heard any acceptable offers.</div> Source
