Sam's Old Mailbag, Luol, and 2 Bad Moves

[Dpauley23]

Diddy1122 wrote:

Dpauley23 wrote:

Fred wrote:

Sam Smith's Mailbag, 11.22.2006
Is Luol Deng a legitimate candidate to play shooting guard? What strengths or weaknesses does he have that would make that possible for impossible? --Jim Hecimovich, Oxford, England

Sam Smith: I don't think so. The Bulls thought about it some, but the backcourt is crowded and Luol hasn't defended as well this season. The Bulls say he's the most responsible for the penetration off the perimeter and wouldn't give him extra defensive responsibility. He also has been unable to improve his shooting range and actually has been asked to get away from the three-point line.....I don't see Deng guarding twos since he hasn't done the best job this season guarding threes.

So the Bulls coaching staff felt in the first month of Luol’s best season that he was “the most responsible for the penetration off the perimeter".

2.11.2008
Chicago Bullseye interview with KC Johnson, on why the Bulls suck:
“I don’t want to single out one player……but the play of Luol Deng has been disappointing. Even though his numbers are pretty similar to last season, he hasn’t taken that next step forward.”

In casual conversation after the recording, KC mentioned that Luol was frequently "torched" during the season up to that point.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chi...king-out-still-a-few-weeks-away-from-100.html
Doug Thonus reports on ChicagoNow.com: "As for the stress fracture itself, the last update my sources have given me says another three to four weeks before it's 100%.”

Luol’s been out since Feb. 28th. He could be the slowest healing human being on the planet. He’s the anti-Wolverine.

Then I turn on Kush’s latest show, and Kush describes fans who say “You can’t pay that much money for Ben Gordon.” I can only imagine the insane, "kill your cat” anger these same fans must harbor over Deng’s contract, since he’s making 13 million per year. If Gordon isn’t worth 11 mpy, then Deng isn’t worth 8 mpy.

In 5 years, the following 2 assertions will be widely regarded as true:
a. The Luol Deng contract signed in July 08 will be one of the worst deals in Chicago Bulls history.
b. Reinsdorf’s decision to pull the 9 million per year offer (that Gordon wanted to sign) off the table in late September of 08, thus enabling a 20 ppg scorer to walk without any compensation, will be regarded as one of the worst decisions in NBA history.
Both decisions made within 60 days of each other…Both decisions made by a man who chose Krause and Tim Floyd over Phil Jackson…both decisions not surprising.

Fred get your facts straight before writing this post. Deng contract is only worth 10 million a year since 30 percent of his contract is guaranteed. Thus its really 6/60 million which isn't that bad of contract. So what if he didn't make the leap he's one of the hardest working players when on the floor, goes after every lose ball, very physical player, and provides good defense. Why is it his fault Bulls organization is stupid and tells him to get post game?

C'mon now Dpauley Deng a physical player? He's Mr. Glass! The guy shrinks from physical play. Deng & physical shouldn't even be in the same sentence, unless it's him getting one at the doctor's office after another season-ending injury. Hardest working player when on the floor? How many times this year did you just watch Luol stand out by the 3pt line hoping someone would pass to him? He complained about the system not being geared toward his strengths. Yet Salmons comes in & in 2 weeks is already completely acclimated to our style & became one of the best players on the team. For a guy who's a Max player, Deng should be finding ways to contribute & improve his game, instead of mouthing off to the media that the coaches aren't finding him ways to contribute.

And for the love of God if you're going to shoot 1 step inside the 3pt line, why not try & take that 1 step back & LEARN HOW TO SHOOT A F'N THREE!!!

On the court he was physical in Janurary when he was healthy he averaged 11.6 rebounds game per 48 minutes. Hes not tough player, but he's physical. Deng isn't a max player get your facts straight. Salmons was able to come right in and play his game because the offense fitted his style of isloation. How come you didn't bring up the fact that when he was in Sacramento he was complaining about how the offense didn't fit him when Kenny Natt decided he wanted to play like Hoosiers

 

[Newskoolbulls]

sorry to go OT but do you think MJ hated Sam Smith for his Jordan rules book?

 

[Dpauley23]

I read that thing like 5 years ago so will memory is little shaky, but didn't MJ okay the book? Did you read it Newskool?

 

[Newskoolbulls]

Dpauley23 wrote:

I read that thing like 5 years ago so will memory is little shaky, but didn't MJ okay the book? Did you read it Newskool?

I read it but MJ came out looking like a real ****. It depicted how teammates didnt like Mike and more about his gambling.

 

[Dpauley23]

Here's the thing: I don't think MJ really cares. It's like Kobe all they care about is winning and don't give crap what they do to their teammates along the way.

 

[??? ??????]

Dpauley23 wrote:

Here's the thing: I don't think MJ really cares. It's like Kobe all they care about is winning and don't give crap what they do to their teammates along the way.

MJ's human. Of course he cares about what someone writes about him in a best selling book. All players are just lying when they say they don't pay attention to the media.

 

[??? ??????]

Dpauley23 wrote:

Kush77 wrote:

houheffna wrote:

Dumars not drafting Carmelo is the worst move I have seen in league history...

I agree with that one 100%. They could of had Carmelo or Wade or Bosh or Kaman. Hell Hinrich is is way better than Darko.

One of worst moves in NBA history? That's alittle over the top. At least he was guy with ton of potentital and they had glaring need at pf where they already had sf covered with Prince. How about all of the free money Isiah gave to Jerome James, and Jared Jeffries?

It became apparent once people saw Darko playing in the NBA, that he didn't have all that much upside.

It definitely is one of the worst moves in NBA history. It's the difference between the Pistons being a 2 finals appearance, 1 championship team, and an NBA Dynasty.

It doesn't matter if Darko was #2 on NBADraft.net, Draft City's, and Chad Ford's mock drafts....as well as everyone else's. It's up for the Pistons to do the scouting work, and make sure they're picking the right player.

 

[Dpauley23]

It depends on how you judge the move. I judge it at the time do I think it's good move and I thought they made necessary move. I mean this guy had to have talent because I know for fact the Nuggets would of picked Darko too if Nuggets took Melo.

 

[houheffna]

You and Dumars are the only ones who thought that was a good move. No one I knew thought Darko would be any near as good a pro as Carmelo. What would I have done? Drafted Carmelo and trade for a big man, or at least trade the pick for an established big man. EVERYBODY knew Melo would be a star, it was a no brainer. It was even stated at the time that if another team besides Cleveland got the top pick, Carmelo might have went first. Because he was so successful in college. And no matter what Dumars thought, he was so far off its ridiculous.

 

[houheffna]

MJ was very upset about that book, he was in the prime of his career and the Teflon Superstar. This was sticking a bit because these were his teammates. He was upset with Sam Smith and didn't much talk to him. In a press conference, Jordan would answer his questions but not make eye contact. Sam Smith was even vilified by most Bulls fans. It got a bit ugly, but Sam Smith survived and is still known as one of the great basketball writers. He and Charley Rosen are my favorites.

 

[engies]

Sam Smith wrote other "post Jordan Rules" books, including one on his return which I have

In the introduction Sam Smith talked about everyone having there favorite Jordan moment, and mentioned number of them before stating (not specific quote but from my memory) "My favorite Jordan moment is when Michael walked passed me & said "**** you!" days after the release of the Jordan Rules"

I thought that was pretty funny

On a side note its been reported that Phil Jackson was the source of most of the information in the Jordan Rules. I guess when Phil decide to do one about Kobe he thought he may as well publishing it himself

 

[dougthonus]

In 5 years, the following 2 assertions will be widely regarded as true:
a. The Luol Deng contract signed in July 08 will be one of the worst deals in Chicago Bulls history.
b. Reinsdorf’s decision to pull the 9 million per year offer (that Gordon wanted to sign) off the table in late September of 08, thus enabling a 20 ppg scorer to walk without any compensation, will be regarded as one of the worst decisions in NBA history.
Both decisions made within 60 days of each other…Both decisions made by a man who chose Krause and Tim Floyd over Phil Jackson…both decisions not surprising.

If Luol Deng gets healthy, then I don't think his contract will be anywhere near the worst in Bulls history. That will be the question though.

Ben Wallace was paid 60 million to actually destroy the team.

Eddie Robinson was paid 35 million to be a cancerous player and do nothing on the court.

Deng, at worst, will be a guy who's paid 72 million, but I don't think he'll be a guy who destroys team chemistry while making huge money like Robinson/Wallace, and if he gets healthy then he'll be overpaid, but he'll also contribute on the court.

As for b, I don't know, I do think the Bulls will regret not paying gordon 9 million a year for 6 years, but I don't think it will be anywhere near "worst decision" in NBA history. I doubt very much that it would make the top 50 worst decisions in NBA history.

Dallas let Steve Nash go without compensation and he won back to back MVPs, Gordon's not going to top that. Two teams passed on Michael Jordan in the draft. There's Darko Milicic over Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh for example. Just in guys going out of order in the draft there are probably hundreds of mistakes worse than letting Gordon go for 50 million.

 

[dougthonus]

On real gm couple Mods from Bulls forum have stated this.

Well I was a mod on realgm, and I don't recall anyone stating Deng's contract is only 30% guaranteed, and on top of that, I can tell you assuredly, whomever told you that is wrong. 71 million of his deal is guaranteed, he has another 10 million or so in incentives which no one knows exactly what they are.

 

[dougthonus]

houheffna wrote:

Was that a joke or are you serious? The Blazers had two all-star SGs at the time.

It doesn't really matter. Not drafting the greatest player of all time and instead drafting a guy who's a complete bust is the worst move in the history of basketball. It doesn't matter what else you had on the roster.

That would be like the Spurs passing on Tim Duncan because they already had David Robinson.

 

[JayJohnstone]

Regarding the Jordan Rules, Krause was a lot more upset than Jordan.

Jordan possibly was upset with Smith. Krause was upset with the whole coaching staff (and Smith).

In fact, one could make a strong case that it was The Jordan Rules that transformed a not-great relationship between Krause and Jackson into a terrible one.

 

[JayJohnstone]

dougthonus wrote:

houheffna wrote:

Was that a joke or are you serious? The Blazers had two all-star SGs at the time.

It doesn't really matter. Not drafting the greatest player of all time and instead drafting a guy who's a complete bust is the worst move in the history of basketball. It doesn't matter what else you had on the roster.

That would be like the Spurs passing on Tim Duncan because they already had David Robinson.

It's like Bobby Knight told the Trailblazers..."Need a Center? OK, play Jordan there."

 

[Fred]

houheffna wrote:

Letting a player go who is not great cannot be seen as one of the worst moves in the almost 90-year history of the league. I don't think so. Dumars not drafting Carmelo is the worst move I have seen in league history...I am sure there are worse, but not by much. Some people actually think Gordon should NOT be retained...so that is different than the Carmelo situation for example, where Carmelo was consensus #2 behind Lebron...a no brainer.

Fact is, the Bulls don't see Gordon as a great player like you do, neither do I.

What about John "Hot Rod" Williams and Jon Koncak? Worst moves by far.

If Jordan not getting drafted by Portland is excused because Portland had 2 decent SGs then letting Gordon go will be excused because the Bulls have a decent SG that can start.

You are of course ommitting a key point from my statement. I said, "In 5 years, the following 2 assertions will be widely regarded as true". We'll see where we're at in 5 years. Gordon's pretty good now, and he's just entering his prime. No one will remember John Koncak in 5 years.

 

[houheffna]

You are of course ommitting a key point from my statement. I said, "In 5 years, the following 2 assertions will be widely regarded as true". We'll see where we're at in 5 years. Gordon's pretty good now, and he's just entering his prime. No one will remember John Koncak in 5 years.

No one will consider this move a bad move in 5 years, its a smart, business move on the Bulls part. If he signs at $10 mil a year, they can keep Salmons at the position for half the price and then give him an extension for maybe 20-30% less money and less years.

And if the Bulls get Dwayne Wade, who will regret Ben Gordon being gone?

 

[TheStig]

dougthonus wrote:

houheffna wrote:

Was that a joke or are you serious? The Blazers had two all-star SGs at the time.

It doesn't really matter. Not drafting the greatest player of all time and instead drafting a guy who's a complete bust is the worst move in the history of basketball. It doesn't matter what else you had on the roster.

That would be like the Spurs passing on Tim Duncan because they already had David Robinson.

Thats why you go BPA, espically now. The draft is an even bigger crapshoot with international players and one and done guys.

 

[TheStig]

houheffna wrote:

You are of course ommitting a key point from my statement. I said, "In 5 years, the following 2 assertions will be widely regarded as true". We'll see where we're at in 5 years. Gordon's pretty good now, and he's just entering his prime. No one will remember John Koncak in 5 years.

No one will consider this move a bad move in 5 years, its a smart, business move on the Bulls part. If he signs at $10 mil a year, they can keep Salmons at the position for half the price and then give him an extension for maybe 20-30% less money and less years.

And if the Bulls get Dwayne Wade, who will regret Ben Gordon being gone?

In 5yrs Salmons will be out of the league and Wade will still be in Miami. Meanwhile the bulls will be in the desperate postion the cavs are trying to acquire anyone actually decent to play with Rose so he doesn't leave us in FA. BG is a very good scorer in this league and last time I checked the game was still decided off who can put the ball in the hoop more and not who is on a better value contract. You can get rid of BG and pray to sign wade or you can keep BG and still hope to sign a max fa.