Woj: Melo should stay in NY, Bulls are more interested in avoid tax than winning

If I were the Bulls I'd go after Melo and tell Mirotic to keep pimpin' in Spain another year.

bullsger, your timing is impeccable because I was thinking about this exact scenario last night. Melo is a flawed player but he makes a lot of sense for the Bulls. He's pouty but we've got a strong culture and demanding coach. He's not quite a franchise guy but we have another alpha dog to spare with him. He's a bit of a chucker but we've needed a second shot creator since Ben Gordon left. He also won't have a lot of pressure on him since Derrick is still top dog around here. But we're desperate enough for that second scorer that he can still be a savior.

Basketball wise is there a better fit for Melo than Chicago?

And that brings us to Mirotic. He clearly has a good thing going in Spain. Young guy, best basketball player on the best team on the continent. MVP. Real Madrid looks like they're willing to pony up some cash to keep him too. And I'm sure he's pounding some nice mediterranean tail.

It doesn't sound like he's willing to come here for a discount, and I personally don't think he's good enough to put us over the top. Right now I project him to be a Ryan Anderson/Rashard Lewis hybrid. That's nice, but probably not any better than having Boozer or Deng around. And definitely not better than Carmelo. Ideally I think you want Mirotic to be your Kukoc and not your Pippen.

So I'd go for Carmelo.

 

My understanding is that if we're under the cap then we no longer have the MLE. Just the Cap Space and minimum exceptions.

If that's the case then our options look like this:

1). Use Cap Space to sign Melo AND Mirotic to market contracts. Highly unlikely unless we nuke the entire team for rubble.

2). Use Cap Space on Melo and get Mirotic to come over on a teensy-weensy below market deal. Highly unlikely since Mr. Mirotic is the Crown Prince of European Basketball and pounding lots of mediterranean tail.

3). Sign Mirotic to MLE type money or more and forego the Melo signing since we don't have enough money.

4). Sign Melo to a market deal and wait one more year for Mirotic since we can't give him enough money.

I'm assuming only 3 or 4 are realistic, and I personally think #4 is a long shot too....but you know, it's fun to speculate.

 

Good point Denny. I forgot about about the S & T possibility, and I believe you're right.

That'd be the best case.

Probably puts us right at the tax line, but a Rose/Melo/Noah + whatever's left from the S & T + rookies and vet mins is probably in the mix for a chip. Especially when you mix in the Thibideau factor.

At the end of the day, I think the Bulls would pay for that, albeit with finite patience if things don't crack up the way we hope.