Q&A W/ Sam Smith 6/14/10

[Anytime23]

BULLS: Ask Sam -- Sam Smith opens his mailbag -- 06.14 - 06.18.10

Heres a couple Q&As that i found interesting.

Is david lee that much better than taj gibson?? he is clearly better offensively, but way worse defensively. if you factor in the salary differnence between the 2, i would think you could make a pretty solid argument that gibson is the more valuable to a team (including cap number).

Mitchell Wu

Sam: That’s been my point about Joe Johnson. It’s why I view him as a top choice because you could miss on LeBron and Bosh, though I would try as well, and then be stuck with someone like Lee. Lee’s a nice addition for someone, but overall I like Taj just as well or better because defensively he fits with Noah well. I think he’ll get bigger and stronger and improve his offensive game. Lee’s a hard worker and I think there’s a chance he can improve defensively, though I’ve noted he talks more this summer about improving his three point range and doesn’t talk about defense much. You can add a four like Lee or Boozer, say, and still have a big hole at shooting guard. Kirk isn’t a long term solution. If you add Johnson, you can get away with Gibson. It’s why I wouldn’t wait long for LeBron or Bosh’s drama unless I could guarantee two maximum salary spots by getting a lot farther under the cap.

What teams will have cap space on draft night? I read where one writer thinks that the Bulls will offer their 1st round pick to a team in an effort to clear cap space so I was curious where these potential salary dumping grounds were located.

Kyle Smith

Sam: I can see that among the carrots, including the 2012 first the Bulls got from the Bobcats in the Tyrus Thomas deal. The Bulls will be among the teams trying to persuade teams like the Timberwolves and Kings and perhaps Clippers to take on players under the assumption those teams cannot get free agents. One idea is to try to get room for a second max salary so you can tell two free agents they can join Rose and Noah. That would be the ultimate recruiting. But you figure those teams know they’ll be in demand and will try to make it a bidding war. It’s like the way the Lakers kept giving up players in 1996 when Shaq was a free agent and every time the potential contract went up the Lakers would offload someone else. The difference is a lot of teams will be trying, and some of those teams will be trying to dump contacts, like Nocioni in Sacramento, and the Bulls likely could not take on such deals.

 

[JCM]

i dont want lee, i much rather have boozer. lee is a terrible defender.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

thats why lee plays with the knicks

i would love to see boozer with the bulls

 

[Anytime23]

I do not want Lee. Not one bit. I dont even consider him a top FAI would much rather have guys like Haslem for cheaper.

 

[JCM]

the reason why lee was a allstar this year is because the system he plays in, i bet if he goes to a team with a different style of play like a backcourt team he wont be getting those bloated numbers.

mike d's offensive system is all about up tempo offense.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

ok i'd take lee over haslem any day

haslem isnt that good and he is starting to get old

 

[JCM]

I do not want Lee. Not one bit. I dont even consider him a top FAI would much rather have guys like Haslem for cheaper.

i still rather have lee than haslem, and thats not saying much, but haslem is a nice role player for a contending team.

 

[Anytime23]

Lee is a better player than Haslem but do you really want to pay that price? I would rather save millions, get a great role player in Haslem who is older but hasnt shown any signs of slowing down and use that saved money on more depth.

 

[JCM]

Lee is a better player than Haslem but do you really want to pay that price? I would rather save millions, get a great role player in Haslem who is older but hasnt shown any signs of slowing down and use that saved money on more depth.

then i just rather not get none of them period.

let taj play and see how he plays next year, i know he is going to play better because he played mostly all this season with a injury.

but im not saying we dont need a big man and i want to stick with taj, i want boozer out of lee and amare. boozer is a better rebounder than them.

my first choice is bosh though.

 

[Anytime23]

I agree with your rankings. Bosh, Boozer then Amare. Dont want anything to do with David.

 

[JCM]

I agree with your rankings. Bosh, Boozer then Amare. Dont want anything to do with David.

yeah, then boozer, lee and amare cant play defense.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

amare is not a great rebounder either but he can be a much more reliable guy in the post than what they have

 

[JCM]

yep, but defense win championships.

 

[Anytime23]

Looking at the Celtics, theyve really contained the opposing PFs in their series. Pau had that great game 1 but besides that, he hasnt been great.

None of them really play defense but Boozer is a very tough and willing defender. I'll give him that. Thibs is a D specialist, im sure it wouldnt be a problem.

 

[JCM]

its the thibs effect.

but yeah, they have really played like that defense that won them the title back in 08.

 

[Anytime23]

Yep. Also, any chance he gets Tony Allen to come here at a nice rate? I would like him as a nice piece off of the bench.

 

[BigP50]

I thought we got a 1st rd from Charlotte?

 

[Anytime23]

i thought we got a 1st rd from charlotte?

2012

 

[Anytime23]

Yep. Also, any chance he gets Tony Allen to come here at a nice rate? I would like him as a nice piece off of the bench.

Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston

Though comfortable, teams with cash could lure Allen away from Boston

"Dare I say, TA might have priced himself out of Boston. The Celtics are not going to have a lot of cap wiggle room, and if you're one of these cash-gushing teams that gets spurned in the big-name bonanza, why wouldn't you spend $3-4 million to put a defensive stopper on your bench (or, heck, as your starting guard in some cases). But TA is comfortable here, even with the impending departure of Tom Thibodeau. If it wasn't for the his off-the-court troubles in Chicago in years passed, I wonder if TA would be likely to land in the Windy City with Thibs."

Damn im thinking like an ESPN moron

 

[JCM]

Damn im thinking like an ESPN moron

thats good. i like him.