Imagine: Kobe Bryant has been traded to Chicago for Tyrus Thomas, Ben Gordon, Andres Nocioni, Joakim Noah, 1st Rd. Pick (Wondering where Deng is? We never stood a chance) If this trade did get through, do you think we would have been any better than we are now? I think we would be a MUCH better team. Gordon is playing at such a high level of basketball, and then the FO would HAVE to trade LO/Nocioni away for expiring contracts, and make a run for Brand. Our 2008-09 Roster would have looked like: PG Derek Fisher SG Ben Gordon SF Andres Nocioni PF Lamar Odom C Andrew Bynum 6th Men (we are going to be DEEP) Ariza, Thomas, Farmar, Noah *nbadraft.net has Chicago at the 10th pick, and they say that OJ Mayo will be available. Here lies the problem as we are set at the PG position, so forget about Rose and Bayless, and we don't need Mayo as we have Gordon. We can trade the pick to Atlanta for Josh Smith, and then trade off Nocioni for a quality back up center. With our 2nd Rounder (if we even have that) we can pick up Mbah a Moute from UCLA, there's something I like about his game, and he's a 2nd round sleeper IMO. Play Thomas as a SF and Noah as a backup PF. PG Derek Fisher SG Ben Gordon SF Josh Smith PF Elton Brand or JO C Andrew Bynum 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th Men (we are going to be deep, so Jackson could close his eyes, point, and say "you, get in there") Ariza, Thomas, backup center*, Jordan Farmar We potentially can have the above roster, but those many changes is very unlikely, but VERY competitive. Truly a team for the future, but do you think this team could qualify right away? Share your thoughts!
If the Bulls acquired Kobe Bryant they would make the playoffs and the pick would be a lot lower in next year's draft. Hard to say we'd be better if we made this deal. We'd have a lot of depth, but a lot more inconsistency. It would really depend on how fast all these new players could gel and learn the Triangle offense.
Do you know how good you have to be to make the playoffs in the west? The Western Conference 8th seed is Portland, with a 18-13 record. If the playoffs started today, Utah and Houston would not even be in. Even if we get Gordon and Deng, we are still pretty much a .500 team, so we will be near the end of the standings for our conference. The Western Conference is extremely strong and competitive, the New Jersey Nets, 8th seed in the East, is 14-16. In the West, they would come nowhere close to making the playoffs
