Dwight Howard Likely going to the Nets

[FirstTimer]

The Bulls need to do a couple of things right now in my opinion.

A) Trade Taj Gibson for a couple of players with no more than 2 years on their contract (preferably rookie contracts) and a draft pick.

B) If they pick-up Watson/Korver/Brewer's options, make sure they will all expire at the same time that the players in scenario "A" will expire.

C) DO NOT match the offer for Asik.

D) Have Deng get the surgery as soon as the Olympics end and he will miss most of the regular season.

E) Amnesty Boozer right now if this is their last year to do so. If not then amnesty him when all of those other contracts expire.

The Bulls wouldn't come close to making the playoffs next season.

In the summer of 2014, the Bulls would only have Rose, Noah, and Mirotic on contract.

Hopefully the draft pick for Taj, the 2013 pick for tanking the '13 season, the Charlotte pick, Jimmy Butler, and Marquis Teague will have panned out as well. Then the Bulls could perhaps re-sign Deng (or trade him by the end of his deal) and also sign a Even Turner/Paul George-caliber SG.

Yeah there are a ton of scenarios. Most of them pretty bleak. And all of the above assumes a relative status quo for every other team in the NBA. Teams like the Lakers, Celtics, Mavs, Spurs, etc are going to be competing with the Bulls to re-tool as well very soon..so they are going to have a ton of top flight competition for that idea and the players to make it happen.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

Brooklyn vs. Miami in a big 3 showdown would be fun to watch

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Yeah there are a ton of scenarios. Most of them pretty bleak.

Another way would be to trade Deng and/or Boozer next summer. The Bulls could get something VERY nice for Deng seeing as how he would be a good player with an expiring contract.

In the summer of 2014, Boozer becomes a player who only has 1 year left on his deal. There will surely be a team who will want Boozer's contract after that.

 

[FirstTimer]

Another way would be to trade Deng and/or Boozer next summer. The Bulls could get something VERY nice for Deng seeing as how he would be a good player with an expiring contract.

In the summer of 2014, Boozer becomes a player who only has 1 year left on his deal. There will surely be a team who will want Boozer's contract after that.

Maybe, depends on the free agent class and what other contracts other teams have..and how good is Boozer by that point? What other teams out there are re-tooling, what are they offering? Etc


Added this to an earlier response as well:
All of the above assumes a relative status quo for every other team in the NBA. Teams like the Lakers, Celtics, Mavs, Spurs, etc are going to be competing with the Bulls to re-tool as well very soon..so they are going to have a ton of top flight competition for that idea and the players to make it happen.

 

[NCChiFan]

The Bulls need to do a couple of things right now in my opinion.

A) Trade Taj Gibson for a couple of players with no more than 2 years on their contract (preferably rookie contracts) and a draft pick.

B) If they pick-up Watson/Korver/Brewer's options, make sure they will all expire at the same time that the players in scenario "A" will expire.

C) DO NOT match the offer for Asik.

D) Have Deng get the surgery as soon as the Olympics end and he will miss most of the regular season.

E) Amnesty Boozer right now if this is their last year to do so. If not then amnesty him when all of those other contracts expire.

The Bulls wouldn't come close to making the playoffs next season.

In the summer of 2014, the Bulls would only have Rose, Noah, and Mirotic on contract.

Hopefully the draft pick for Taj, the 2013 pick for tanking the '13 season, the Charlotte pick, Jimmy Butler, and Marquis Teague will have panned out as well. Then the Bulls could perhaps re-sign Deng (or trade him by the end of his deal) and also sign a Even Turner/Paul George-caliber SG.

I don't see the Bulls current management having the guts to do this.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Maybe, depends on the free agent class and what other contracts other teams have..and how good is Boozer by that point? What other teams out there are re-tooling, what are they offering? Etc


Added this to an earlier response as well:
All of the above assumes a relative status quo for every other team in the NBA. Teams like the Lakers, Celtics, Mavs, Spurs, etc are going to be competing with the Bulls to re-tool as well very soon..so they are going to have a ton of top flight competition for that idea and the players to make it happen.

The Celtics scare me. I won't worry about anybody else in that group you mentioned mostly because they aren't in our conference and they have aging problems anyway. I will wait and see what they do. I am more concerned with what the Bulls do.

'15 Bulls:

Rose (22M). Teague (3M).
('13CHIpick- 4M).
Paul George or Evan Turner (10M).
Mirotic (2M). (TAJpick- 2M).
Noah (15M). (CHARpick - 3M).

plus whoever the Bulls got back for Deng (expires '14) and Boozer (expires '15) in a trade - hopefully high draft picks and expiring contracts.

 

[FirstTimer]

The Celtics scare me. I won't worry about anybody else in that group you mentioned mostly because they aren't in our conference and they have aging problems anyway.

1. So what. A team from the Western Conference could still take away player the Bulls could sign and could prevent them from winning the title directly or otherwise.

2. Of course they have aging problems..that's the point. They will need be rebuilding/retooling at the same time

Focusing your scope on only the Bulls is narrow minded and unrealistic.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

1. So what. A team from the Western Conference could still take away player the Bulls could sign and could prevent them from winning the title directly or otherwise.

2. Of course they have aging problems..that's the point. They will need be rebuilding/retooling at the same time

Focusing your scope on only the Bulls is narrow minded and unrealistic.

You can't worry about teams becoming a threat before that even happens. Right now, they need to worry about making themselves better. That is the only thing that matters.

 

[FirstTimer]

You can't worry about teams becoming a threat before that even happens. Right now, they need to worry about making themselves better. That is the only thing that matters.

Yes you can. It;s one thing to simply layout a plan of how the Bulls can re-tool. It's another to lay out the plan and ignore the fact that some other pretty high profile and in some cases large market teams will be facing a re-tooling as well.

You've already said those teams will be facing aging issues..which would require them to rebuild/retool. If they are doing this at the same time as Chicago..which from rough/reasonable timelines you could reasonably argue they would be... they'd be a threat to the Bulls stockpiling any talent before the teams even hit the floor.

You're thinking/talking on the court for some god forsaken reason. I'm talking off the floor/player movement.

Try and pay attention.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

You kind of wonder if some of these old teams might want an expiring contract down the road(pending other decisions) so they could clear more cap, get some young FAs, and re-build or re-tool

i think these teams like the celtics,lakers,and spurs might be potential competition..but they might be potential customers as well

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Yes you can. It;s one thing to simply layout a plan of how the Bulls can re-tool. It's another to lay out the plan and ignore the fact that some other pretty high profile and in some cases large market teams will be facing a re-tooling as well.

You've already said those teams will be facing aging issues..which would require them to rebuild/retool. If they are doing this at the same time as Chicago..which from rough/reasonable timelines you could reasonably argue they would be... they'd be a threat to the Bulls stockpiling any talent before the teams even hit the floor.

You're thinking/talking on the court for some god forsaken reason. I'm talking off the floor/player movement.

Try and pay attention.

The Lakers aren't going to be a threat years from now. Bryant will be in the twilight of his career and it isn't realistic that they will get past OKC anyway.

Nowitzki on Dallas will be well-past his prime. If they have Deron (probably not) that would be another thing.

The Spurs make their big moves through the draft - mostly via scouting international players. Whatever they do will effect the Bulls least.

 

[FirstTimer]

You kind of wonder if some of these old teams might want an expiring contract down the road(pending other decisions) so they could clear more cap, get some young FAs, and re-build or re-tool

i think these teams like the celtics,lakers,and spurs might be potential competition..but they might be potential customers as well

Exactly. But I think ignoring the reality that they would/can be competition is kind of what got the Bulls fan base in the trouble it's been in. After Miami pulled off what they did the Bulls tried to narrow the focus and act as though Miami was this rare event and the Bulls will be fine "bench mob" "depth" and all the other BS that came out. Whatever. Miami wasn't this rare event.

Before Miami it was Boston, after Miami it was the Knicks, after the Knicks it was the Clippers(and nearly the Lakers), after the Clippers it was the Nets and on and on and on. Burying your head in the sand and ignoring where other teams are possibly heading and what they are aiming to do is pretty effing stupid. You can't view the Bulls re-tool through a prism of just them. You have to try and evaluate and take the entire league into account. To not do so is being willfully ignorant to reality.

The Lakers aren't going to be a threat years from now. Bryant will be in the twilight of his career and it isn't realistic that they will get past OKC anyway.





Nowitzki on Dallas will be well-past his prime. If they have Deron (probably not) that would be another thing.

You're thinking/talking on the court for some god forsaken reason. I'm talking off the floor/player movement.

Try and pay attention.

Again.

The Spurs make their big moves through the draft - mostly via scouting international players. Whatever they do will effect the Bulls least.

Maybe, and maybe not. Maybe the build with free agency. Who knows. The point is you have to at lest take it into account.

 

[JosMin]

The problem with our current roster is that we've placed a premium on chemistry and cohesion, which works great when your four best players aren't all getting over substantial injuries (it still blows my mind that Boozer played in all 66 games last year). The FOs biggest problem has been how bad they've overvalued Deng, Boozer and Noah.

With them all being under contract for at least two more seasons, GarPax really needs to take a look at how other teams are structuring their payroll, not in the immediate future, but for several years down the road. I'm not a fan of Joe Johnson, but I love how savvy that deal was for the Hawks. Take in a bunch of deals that will expire before Johnson's deal would have, while also snagging an extra draft pick. Not only will they gain flexibility along the way, but these assets could also be flipped in other deals.

The Bulls have an opportunity to start rebuilding now while maintaining a fairly capable roster. Others may disagree, but the Bulls have several assets that other teams may covet, such as --

**The rights to Nikola Mirotic
**The Bobcats first-rounder from the Tyrus Thomas trade
**Taj Gibson having one-year left on his rookie scale deal
**The amnesty clause is still available
**Watson's final year ($3.7 million) being a team option
**Brewer ($4.7 million) and Korver ($5 million) having expiring, non-guaranteed deals
**Two tradable assets in Deng and Noah

In theory, the Bulls would be able to shed $13.5 million in salary without using the clause. I'd imagine we won't match Asik's offer from Houston, so there goes another million, as well as Scalabrine and JLIII not coming back (two vet. min deals).

That roughly gets us to $3 million below the cap before any trades that could shed salary or the amnesty clause (Boozer would be the obvious choice). Here are two potential trades I've worked up --


Deng trade

Noah trade

So -- after these deals, our starting lineup would consist of Rose, Jackson, Leonard, Gibson and Perkins with Teague, Butler, Blair, Maynor, Cook, Hamilton coming off the bench. What's nice about these deals is that the Bulls would stay $3 million under the cap, as well as acquring $15 million in expiring deals for 2013, all of this kicking in before Rose's extension. We'd still need to acquire a backup center, which is an issue whether we'd go down this road or not.

On top of that, these trades make sense peronnel-wise on both sides. Either way, this is just one way to free up cap space in both the short and long-term, while maintaining our best player and giving us a chance to rebuild around HIM, not rebuilding around Rose plus Deng, Noah and Boozer.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

The Lakers aren't going to be a threat years from now. Bryant will be in the twilight of his career and it isn't realistic that they will get past OKC anyway.

Nowitzki on Dallas will be well-past his prime. If they have Deron (probably not) that would be another thing.

The Spurs make their big moves through the draft - mostly via scouting international players. Whatever they do will effect the Bulls least.

depends on the agenda

the spurs havent really needed to make any big moves because their nucleus has been so solid for the last 10-15 years(there have been some decent acquisitions here and there...richard jefferson,stephen jackson,etc.)

they make moves to work around the current big 3

with duncan gone soon, and maybe manu going elsewhere

i don't think it's unrealistic to think that the spurs will get more involved in the free agent pool and trading

you could argue the spurs could rebuild using the draft, but i think it would be dumb to count out a rebuilding spurs(who will probably have some cap space) from at least being competition for some free agents and big time trades


you missed the point with the other two teams; in fact you actually helped the point

if these teams are in decline and aging, won't they be looking to make some trades and sign some young,and perhaps,star talent?

we can argue that teams like dallas(oldest team in the nba) and the lakers may not be contending in a few years, but that claim does not factor possible transactions

 

[FirstTimer]

The problem with our current roster is that we've placed a premium on chemistry and cohesion, which works great when your four best players aren't all getting over substantial injuries (it still blows my mind that Boozer played in all 66 games last year). The FOs biggest problem has been how bad they've overvalued Deng, Boozer and Noah.

With them all being under contract for at least two more seasons, GarPax really needs to take a look at how other teams are structuring their payroll, not in the immediate future, but for several years down the road. I'm not a fan of Joe Johnson, but I love how savvy that deal was for the Hawks. Take in a bunch of deals that will expire before Johnson's deal would have, while also snagging an extra draft pick. Not only will they gain flexibility along the way, but these assets could also be flipped in other deals.

The Bulls have an opportunity to start rebuilding now while maintaining a fairly capable roster. Others may disagree, but the Bulls have several assets that other teams may covet, such as --

**The rights to Nikola Mirotic
**The Bobcats first-rounder from the Tyrus Thomas trade
**Taj Gibson having one-year left on his rookie scale deal
**The amnesty clause is still available
**Watson's final year ($3.7 million) being a team option
**Brewer ($4.7 million) and Korver ($5 million) having expiring, non-guaranteed deals
**Two tradable assets in Deng and Noah

In theory, the Bulls would be able to shed $13.5 million in salary without using the clause. I'd imagine we won't match Asik's offer from Houston, so there goes another million, as well as Scalabrine and JLIII not coming back (two vet. min deals).

That roughly gets us to $3 million below the cap before any trades that could shed salary or the amnesty clause (Boozer would be the obvious choice). Here are two potential trades I've worked up --


Deng trade

Noah trade

So -- after these deals, our starting lineup would consist of Rose, Jackson, Leonard, Gibson and Perkins with Teague, Butler, Blair, Maynor, Cook, Hamilton coming off the bench. What's nice about these deals is that the Bulls would stay $3 million under the cap, as well as acquring $15 million in expiring deals for 2013, all of this kicking in before Rose's extension. We'd still need to acquire a backup center, our problem whether we'd go down this road or not.

On top of that, these trades make sense peronnel-wise on both sides. Either way, this is just one way to free up cap space in both the short and long-term, while maintaining our best player and giving us a chance to rebuild around HIM, not rebuilding around Rose plus Deng, Noah and Boozer.

Excellent post. I don't think the Thunder do that deal just because they like Maynor a lot and I can't see the Spurs making a big trade like that just because of the way they work but awesome post and well thought out. Overall I agree with your general thesis.

 

[FirstTimer]

depends on the agenda

the spurs havent really needed to make any big moves because their nucleus has been so solid for the last 10-15 years(there have been some decent acquisitions here and there...richard jefferson,stephen jackson,etc.)

they make moves to work around the current big 3

with duncan gone soon, and maybe manu going elsewhere

i don't think it's unrealistic to think that the spurs will get more involved in the free agent pool and trading

you could argue the spurs could rebuild using the draft, but i think it would be dumb to count out a rebuilding spurs(who will probably have some cap space) from at least being competition for some free agents and big time trades


you missed the point with the other two teams; in fact you actually helped the point

if these teams are in decline and aging, won't they be looking to make some trades and sign some young,and perhaps,star talent?

we can argue that teams like dallas(oldest team in the nba) and the lakers may not be contending in a few years, but that claim does not factor possible transactions

Another excellent post.

I'm sure Rami will come in with a combo breaker of sorts.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Of course teams can make moves. Hell, there are 29 other teams that can make moves that will position themselves for free-agents like Paul George and Evan Turner. All the Bulls can do is give themselves a chance to get a player like that in a couple of years. So, in that sense, there is no point in worrying very much what specific teams are doing. Just put yourself in the best position possible.

They are best off going in the draft/free-agency route as opposed to the trade route in my opinion.

 

[JosMin]

Excellent post. I don't think the Thunder do that deal just because they like Maynor a lot and I can't see the Spurs making a big trade like that just because of the way they work but awesome post and well thought out. Overall I agree with your general thesis.

I could see San Antonio entertaining the trade, simply because Jackson served his purpose last year and Deng kind of fits the philosophy of the team. The only "real" asset they'd be giving up is Leonard, who has three more deals on a rookie year and has shown a lot of promise. I'm purely speculating on if San Antonio even likes Deng, but again, I'm figuring that with his style of play, he'd work.

The Spurs generally operate over the cap anyway, so I really don't even see them putting a premiuim on Jackson's expiring deal. As for the OKC deal, the Bulls could throw in Teague and take back a trade exception to make the deal work because, I agree, they are pretty high on Maynor.

 

[FirstTimer]

Of course teams can make moves. Hell, there are 29 other teams that can make moves that will position themselves for free-agents like Paul George and Evan Turner. All the Bulls can do is give themselves a chance to get a player like that in a couple of years. So, in that sense, there is no point in worrying very much what specific teams are doing. Just put yourself in the best position possible.

They are best off going in the draft/free-agency route as opposed to the trade route in my opinion.

Ok but let's think realistically and reasonably here(Will be a challenge for you I know..but at least try). There are certain teams with the resources/mindset given current ownership that would more likely to be competing with the Bulls for top free agents. Saying "29 other teams" kind of just skates by the point that given what we know of the NBA Milwaukee won't trying to outbid the Bulls for top talent and talent in general the way the other teams mentioned would be.

I would say at least critically thinking at what teams might be trending/heading towards a re-tool/rebuild around the same time as the Bulls would be pretty important to perhaps trying to project/forecast what the Bulls would be capable of/up against in future markets.

Please try to critically think about this.

 

[JosMin]

Of course teams can make moves. Hell, there are 29 other teams that can make moves that will position themselves for free-agents like Paul George and Evan Turner. All the Bulls can do is give themselves a chance to get a player like that in a couple of years. So, in that sense, there is no point in worrying very much what specific teams are doing. Just put yourself in the best position possible.

They are best off going in the draft/free-agency route as opposed to the trade route in my opinion.

Well, you do have to worry about other teams **** blocking your potential moves. Look at the whole Brooklyn/Houston/Orlando/Atlanta cluster ****. Houston acquired all those assets to get Dwight Howard and another star and a few days later have virtually no shot to get Howard or anyone else, for that matter. Everyone figured Brooklyn had no shot with the Gerald Wallace/botched draft pick scenario, and now it looks like they're primed to get a core of Johnson/Williams/Howard in a matter of two trades. Pretty nuts if you ask me.

Atlanta also got rid of Johnson's albatross deal and Marvin Williams turd of a deal and primed themselves to have two guys under contract going into 2014. I'd say that's quite savvy. And you know how they did it? By paying attention to what other squads are doing.