Vescey on Bulls mid-season trade and Vinny

[Newskoolbulls]

Celtics-Bulls: Chicago finishing seventh was a complete shock to managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf and GM John Paxson. They didn't trade people to improve, the moves were strictly about saving money for cap elasticity in 2010(roughly $30M under), yet management is loungin' in the limelight (as if this was by design) while on-the-cheap Vinny Del Negro, who made it work for wins, gets zero credit.

I actually changed my Coach of the Year vote from Jerry Sloan to Del Negro. It'll be a sorry shame, when Chicago dethrones Boston, the resultant fuss will all be about Kevin Garnett's absence with very little focus on the unforeseen/astonishing ascension of the Bulls.


I expected better from him. Sure the deals saved us money however you cant seriously think that John made that trade not knowing that it could propel them into the playoffs? getting a legit 18ppg scorer and a former all-star center to compliment our young bigs?

I do agree that Vinny gets no credit especially from the fans. He has had to deal with lots of issues that veteran coaches would break under and he has handled it well. I also agree that even if the Bulls do advance the talk will be just about KG.

 

[Morten Jensen]

They didn't trade people to improve, the moves were strictly about saving money for cap elasticity in 2010(roughly $30M under)

The ESPN announcers said this last night about the trade. Now we know Vecsey's source.

Seriously, he's a joke of a reporter. He adds nothing of value to the NBA table.

 

[Newskoolbulls]

He is a good rumor guy and thats it. He has great sources. However the move was made to save money but everyone knew it was a steal of a deal.

 

[Morten Jensen]

I would hardly agree that he's a good rumour guy. He reported the entire Paxson/GM fiasco which turned out to be false. He's also on several occasions been named by GM's as someone who can't be taken seriously. Hell, even NBATV (one of the most laughable coverages there is) didn't even have him on again after a season where he sat there and presented 'inside info'.

He can create rumours, and is sneaky enough to get them into the paper rotation at other large markets. But they are very rarely correct. He's a great manipulator, and people tend to believe him because he prints his rumours as facts. I guarentee that Sam Smith has ten times better sources and in-depth rumours at his desk than Vecsey.

Also, Colangelo came out once and mentioned Vecsey by name as one you couldn't take seriously. That says a lot when an actual GM states that.

 

[TheStig]

Wow thats about the worst basketball analysis of a trade I have ever heard. Yes the money is nice but the talent is a perfect fit, I don't think it was an accident. Also Salmons has a PO that he says he will probably exercise. So he isn't likely to be a 2010 deal in this economy.

 

[dougthonus]

I expected better from him. Sure the deals saved us money however you cant seriously think that John made that trade not knowing that it could propel them into the playoffs? getting a legit 18ppg scorer and a former all-star center to compliment our young bigs?

I do agree that Vinny gets no credit especially from the fans. He has had to deal with lots of issues that veteran coaches would break under and he has handled it well. I also agree that even if the Bulls do advance the talk will be just about KG.

I think VDN deserves some credit.

My problem with giving him too much credit is that I thought the roster had more talent than we were getting out of it for most of the year. The counter point to that is that we had too many injuries though.

Either way, to think this trade was about dollars and not about performance is naive. It's pretty clear that Brad Miller was going to help us a lot in the short term as was Salmons compared to Nocioni. I thought it was obvious that we got the best two players in the trade when it was made.

 

[Newskoolbulls]

dougthonus wrote:

I expected better from him. Sure the deals saved us money however you cant seriously think that John made that trade not knowing that it could propel them into the playoffs? getting a legit 18ppg scorer and a former all-star center to compliment our young bigs?

I do agree that Vinny gets no credit especially from the fans. He has had to deal with lots of issues that veteran coaches would break under and he has handled it well. I also agree that even if the Bulls do advance the talk will be just about KG.

I think VDN deserves some credit.

My problem with giving him too much credit is that I thought the roster had more talent than we were getting out of it for most of the year. The counter point to that is that we had too many injuries though.

Either way, to think this trade was about dollars and not about performance is naive. It's pretty clear that Brad Miller was going to help us a lot in the short term as was Salmons compared to Nocioni. I thought it was obvious that we got the best two players in the trade when it was made.

As did Mgt. Vescey really looks bad on that call.

 

[wjb1492]

All anyone had to do was listen to Pax talk about the trade afterward to know it wasn't just about money. I'm sure he was looking to make any moves financially beneficial, but he definitely went out and got people he thought could play well and fit into the team. He also made that statement about a trade (presumably Kirk to Minnesota) that would have been great financially for 2010 but wouldn't make the Bulls a better team so passed on it.

So, yeah, money's always a factor these days, but it's total revisionist history to act like Pax made a trade just to save money and totally lucked into the team getting better.

 

[charity stripe]

That's ridiculous that he claims it would be a complete shock to Paxson. The Bulls were around 1-2 games out of the 8th seed before the trade. And i'm sure he knew the Bulls had an easier schedule down the stretch while the other teams had diffcult schedules. Every fan knew this as well. Reinsdorf might have been shocked because he probably doesn't follow the team too closely.

 

[pinkizdead]

wouldn't we have saved more money by keeping gooden until the end of the season, then giving away noce to anyone at the end of the season? Although the salary cap is part of the motivation behind this trade, it doesnt appear as if it were the driving the force.

 

[Hendu0520]

Vescey is on the way out. When he was in his prime in the early 90's Jordan would supposedly talk to him and that probably made him and I guess people were always scared he'd rip you in the paper. But once Jordan retired he went down the drain. Now he is trying desperately to matter again so he is making up more and more stuff. One thing about Bulls management is that they have overall always tried to make the right decisions talent wise (they've freed cap space and gone after Duncan in the early 2000's and tried to get Garnett and Kobe), they just don't know how to pull off the huge deals. They knew the talent they were getting in this trade, I agree.

 

[step]

tried to get Garnett and Kobe), they just don't know how to pull off the huge deals.

Seriously how was it the Bulls fault for not landing Garnett or Kobe?
What did Paxson truly do wrong in either case? It's not like the offers weren't fair, for KG we had Deng, Chandler and the #2 pick in the draft. The T-Wolves were lucky and managed to get Al Jefferson, he trumps anything we could of offered.

The Kobe scenario had too much bullshit being reported in the media, heck at one time the Bulls and Lakers supposedly came to an agreement but Kobe vetoed the trade. And if you were Lakers, would you trade him?

 

[dougthonus]

pinkizdead wrote:

wouldn't we have saved more money by keeping gooden until the end of the season, then giving away noce to anyone at the end of the season? Although the salary cap is part of the motivation behind this trade, it doesnt appear as if it were the driving the force.

It would have likely been difficult to give away Noc.

 

[step]

It would have likely been difficult to give away Noc.

I would almost dare say impossible if his form stayed much the same.

 

[Medianotzu]

I heard the ESPN guys say the same thing too. It baffles me. I guess people don't understand how truly bad Drew Gooden is and how awful Nocioni had gotten? I'm not sure how else to explain those kinds of comments.

 

[pinkizdead]

I was never really sure why... but weren't the raptors absolutely enamoured with noce?