Trade for Carlos Boozer?

He is undergoing knee surgery, and has been out pretty much all year. It has been said that the Jazz may just choose to go with Millsap instead of Boozer. Boozer's already stated he will opt out.

What would you trade for him? Rose is obviously not up for discussion, and Gordon can't be traded, and would be as close to not being up for discussion as possible anyhow (but if push came to shove, you trade Gordon for Boozer, but they wouldn't be getting a whole lot else back if that were the case).

Back in the summer, the Jazz reportedly agreed to a deal with Deng, which they would pay him in a sign and trade, which set the value of the contract that the Bulls ended up signing him to. (Why the Bulls did this, I don't know, Jazz didn't have capspace). So there is obviously interest in Deng here.

Here would be my proposed trade:

Bulls Trade: Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, and 2009 First Round Pick, Top 3 Protected (Unprotected if need be to get the trade done)

Jazz Trade: Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirileinko, and Matt Harpring

We rid them of two of their bad contracts, Kirileinko and Harpring. They then just have to lockup Millsap and Okur this summer.

We get two players, in Kirileinko and Boozer who can contribute to win now. Our problem is that we lose Larry Hughes' very valuable 2010 expiring contract in this trade...but one reason why Utah would be enticed by such a trade. Once they take care of business with their 2009 free agents, they can swing a trade using Hughes' contract at trade deadline 2010 to get a key piece for their team.

For us, it is mission complete. We officially have our big three in place, Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, and Carlos Boozer. It becoems just a matter of putting the right role players around them.

Instantly, we look like:

PG-Derrick Rose/Kirk Hinrich
SG-Ben Gordon/Kirk Hinrich/Thabo Sefolosha
SF-Andrei Kirileinko/Andrei Nocioni/Thabo Sefolosha
PF-Carlos Boozer/Tyrus Thomas/Andres Nocioni
C- Aaron Gray/Tyrus Thomas

This is a team that might be able to do some damage come playoff time, and hold their own against the elites of the East. Going forward, we can use our MLE in 2009, while everyone is too scared to use it, to complete our front court. Rasheed Wallace would be perfect for this. We would have an insta-title contender on our hands, with a Rose/Gordon/Kirilienko/Boozer/Wallace starting 5.

 

I like the idea, but I dont think theyre willing to trade boozer, even through the whole opting out thing. And why cant we trade Gordon? You dont think he would waive his TR to be sent to the Jazz?

 

Gordon has a no trade clause. So he has to approve all trades. As stated in the CBA, if Gordon is traded, the team that acquires him does not acquire his Larry Bird Rights. Therefore, the team that lands him would only be able to sign him for the MLE or whatever capspace they have, which would be nil when you add up all the free agent amounts that the Jazz will have. Therefore, the Jazz would be a horrible situation for Gordon financially. The Bulls remain Gordon's best option, as they are the only team that will have his Larry Bird rights.

Now is the best time to trade if your the Bulls imo. Derrick Rose is assumed off limits, just as Lebron is. But we also have a built in excuse for not trading our 2nd best player (well best player still..but 2nd best piece).

 

As much as I hate Gordon, I can't think of a trade that would bring in a just as good 3pt threat or scoring option as him, let alone someone that plays better defense and makes better decisions (meaning doesnt need the ball in their hands to score). I think we should go after a big man that can run the floor decently and someone else to help spread the floor at SF (if we're going to be trading Deng).

Also, if we trade Drew, we're gonna have to bring in a decent banger at PF because Tyrus isnt going to cut it by himself, or Noce for all that matter. I would draw up a trade but I cant figure out who would help us really besides Kaman. I guess the Jazz trade is gonna have to do for right now lol. Damn you Pax for not giving us a better trade situation (or win situation for that matter).

EDIT:
Oh and I know about Gordon's trade clause, I was just asking you dont think he would accept a trade to the Jazz (but you answered that question already lol)

 

I'd say no to this. First, you can't take the risk of trading that much on a guy with a bum knee. How are folks feeling about Gilbert Arenas these days? Second, with a player that "important", we only want him if he wants to be here. Why not trade Hinrich and someone else for expirings and then make him an offer as a FA.

 

We'd have to trade both Kirk Hinrich and Larry Hughes for expiring contracts (that is if we want to retain Gordon), which will be really, really, difficult.

This is the Bulls big problem. The easiest route to capspace is by letting Gordon walk. But which one of these big name free agents would want to go to the Bulls without Gordon there, and only Derrick Rose? You then run the risk of only being able to sign a lesser player than Gordon, and even if you do sign a good free agent like Boozer, while letting Gordon walk, how much does our team actually imrpove?

I think it would be much easier to make a pre-emptive trade like the one I posted and then use the bird rights to easily retain him.

 

What up folk? Although I came up with a deal (which allows them to keep Deng and Noah) that would give them capspace to resign Gordon....say I go a different route. How about a deal along the lines of Mike Miller for Gordon? Miller can hit the three...can play SF and rebound....and Gordon might OK that deal since in Minnesota he will get to pretty much take all the shots he wants. Only problem is Minnesota will probably want more, since Gordon walk after this year (so an extension would be in order) and Miller is valuable since he's a player that can help and gives 9mil in capspace for 2010.

 

Again, I don't see Gordon approving that trade. Unless the Bulls were to just severely reduce Gordon's minutes, which it seems too late in the season for this scenario, given Hinrich's injury, that Gordon would accept a trade.

Besides that, even if the Bulls do bench Gordon when Hinrich comes back, Gordon has clearly already shown his value, and team's would see through the Bulls move of benching Gordon (and it would probably be perceived as a dick move by the Bulls, making letting Gordon walk to get capspace being completely counter-intuitive, because the Bulls will gain the reputaiton of screwing hardworking players over if it comes to contract negotations).

 

Why would we go for Carlos Boozer?

He's a good player but

1. He wants a "raise".....Do you think old uncle Jerry will cough up the money?
2. He is injured regularly. In fact, Jazz fans are getting sick of his injuries and want to go with Paul Milsap over Boozer. Not only do they see Milsap as being "productive" but he isn't a big, tall and muscular injury.

 

I like this idea, mostly because Deng is the first guy I'd like to move. As much as I harp on BG, at least he has shown he can excel in a specific role, sixth man. All Deng has shown is that he can be a good third banana in the right situation and the bulls don't have that situation anymore. He can't create for himself and he isn't a tremendous defender of athletic perimeter players. So if we are deadset on keeping BG, the bulls have to get guys who can defend the perimeter. Hinrich and Thabo can do that and create as much if not more offense than Deng, and AK and TT can create the matchup problems if there are any other slow small forwards left to worry about. I'd do this even to just move Boozer on for other expring deals. Can you imagine a trapping running team of Rose, Hinrich, Thabo, TT, AK with BG, Noah and Noc coming in behind them? That team would excel at moving the ball and could score 110 per night and run other teams out of the gym. Matchup Gray occaisionally and that would be a really fun team to watch. Maybe add Amare or Joe Johnson in a year and a half? Tell me that's not a potential contender...

 

Add in 20 from BG, 10 from Noc and 5 from Noah and that gets you to 112. Just to reiterate: Not starting BG doesn't mean not playing him... You could start BG, but then they'd be giving up 115 a night...

 

They also don't play at a pace fast enough to score 110, do they?

 

Right, because Hinrich is the one known for not being able to pass and/or not passing enough. I wonder what would happen if he got double teamed. Wait, I know, they wouldn't double team him because then he'd be forced to pass, right?