Chisoxfn

If you want to isolate what happens if we sign Wade, below is a pretty good summary of what it means for next year's cap (and who we would need to keep / who we would have to renounce): You add a Blake Griffin or Westbrook or Paul to that team and you are talking about a pretty darn good team. I'm not saying you are a champion, but you are a contender (depending on how some of the young players develop).

By the way, if the Bulls let Niko & Taj walk and opt out of Rondo's deal, they will have ~$68M in cap space available with the projected max contract for a Westbrook type player being $30.8M per season. Please note that the $68M does not include cap holds on new draft picks, etc, so lets presume they get the Sacremento pick and their pick (for conservative purposes) plus they have a couple roster holds, we still have essentially enough to offer two full max deals as soon as next year (presuming we don't go long-term on anyone). Even if you gave Wade $25M, that still give you enough for one max guy, plus another pretty good size contract (if you opt for that route). Oh and you have Jimmy Butler on a deal on par (on a per annum basis) with guys like Luol Deng, which puts them in a much better spot than a lot of other teams. Hypothetically, Bulls could sign Wade to his big deal and keep Rondo plus find a way to offer a max deal too (if they think Rondo was the attractive piece) and than a year later, they could let Rondo and Wade walk and give big money again to younger players, too. Whether they can actually exit on any of these strategies, who knows, but they aren't in near the dire position so many allude to. Unless of course Butler goes off the reservation and demands out because of Gar / Hoiberg / Pax (which is definitely possible).

Friedell is reporting Bulls have no meeting set with Wade and that front office is in Chicago (contradictory to Woj's report that the Bulls will be meeting with Wade in NY this afternoon). For all we know, the Bulls have literally zero interest in Wade (and were only interested in getting one of him or Rondo).

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 10:23 AM) Just like in dallas Guy was there for like a month. He was in Boston for years. I realize he annoyed Pierce and KG from time to time and there were plenty of rumors of potential trades, but he stayed a long time there and was an extremely good player for them. Carlisle and Rondo didn't mesh and they never even had like an off-season to gel /adjust or anything. Sometimes bad fits happen and Carlisle is suppose to be a notoriously difficult guy to work with (excellent coach, but if you don't see eye to eye, you are in trouble).

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 10:10 AM) None of those reasons make it right. He needed help and we all knew it, and he thumbed his nose at the process Even if he did, I don't know if it helped. Drose just isn't charismatic. Buckets is. I have full faith in a Buckets led recruiting process, but I have to imagine having Wade as a pitch-person would help and that is why the Bulls are looking at him (not to mention, given what people are getting, Wade @ 20M (if he's healthy) isn't the worst deal on the planet (he was actually pretty damn good last year).

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 10:01 AM) I'd like to think he'll be motivated to play really well this year to get another contract. If he has a poor year or has a run in with Hoiberg, is there another team that is going to give him a shot? And like it or not, but in the east, this team will contend, so there is more to play for than there ever was in Sacremento. I agree with you, he has a lot of reasons to be on his best behavior. Than again, you'd have said the same thing last year too.

By the way guys, I'm semi serious, I totally could see Chris Paul, Wade, Lebron and maybe even Melo teaming up at some point to try and be the "good" guys in a battle vs. the hated Warriors. And I actually think Chris Paul, while older, would be a good fit for the Bulls and Hoiberg (and he is the type of guy who should age well, given his tremendous vision). Either way, the big key is Butler going ham and taking another step forward this year (as well as him getting everyone to dig him at the olympics). I see Jimmy as a fantastic pitchman in FA a year from now, but you got to surround him with someone else. And when it comes to Rondo, I realize he has his issues in the lockeroom, but Boogie dug him and Sac fans thought pretty favorably of him. While I don't like a guy padding his stats, I can see why, given they were a loser team with no hope at the playoffs, etc (coaching issues). Yes, the Bulls have issues, but if Hoiberg can't handle it, he can be gone at the end of the year as far as I'm concerned. Rondo is now on a team that should absolutely contend for the playoffs, so that creates less incentive for the "selfish" play, imo. And no, they have zero shot at a title so lets get rid of that delusion. But you don't have to suck to become a champion, in fact, it can be pretty hard when you suck for a while to ever get good. Look at the hot mess that the Lakers are in or how long the Knicks have sucked or the Sixers (who can't even get vets interested in checking them out). I actually think the key is you need to contend and be able to pivot and the Bulls have actually home-grown two stars, one Rose, who is now fading (but could excel again in a new spot) and the other Buckets who is still rising (and who knows, maybe he can emerge as a super star). He was actually third on the freaking team in usage a year ago (which is hard to believe), behind Rose & Pau. I am curious to see how he does with all the extra touches. I presume his efficiency will go down, but I don't know how much (given how proficient he is at getting to the line). I realize Gar is a hard guy to like, but dude, there are a lot worse ran franchises than the Bulls. What went down a year ago with Thibbs, clearly was awful, but I'm not going to sulk and cry and act like we are the worst franchise on the planet, cause we aren't, and Paxson has a pretty strong track-record running this franchise (one that very few GM's in the league can top). He has his faults, sure, but he also brought the Bulls back to contention and a run as one of the better franchises in the game (unfortunately not everyone can win titles and Lebron and now the Warriors are top dogs). But I don't judge front office success purely by championships (and I suppose that is where I differ with some who have these ridiculous extremes of, just suck for forever until we get lucky on a star or win a title, but don't ever be anywhere other than that and it is so unrealistic it is crazy).

If bulls sign wade, I think the plan would be for them to grab Chris paul or Westbrook and buy out rondo and then a year later when wade comes off the books they would look to bring in another star with Paul and Butler recruiting. Either way I think people realize recruiting matters a ton and wade has a ton of street cred and a year from now I think the Bulls know they will have an easier time pitching buckets and wade to potential free agents vs buckets on his own with space for potentially two deals. Just watch, we will sign Paul and then Lebron will leave Cleveland two years from now to team up with buckets and a ring chasing wade!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 6, 2016 -> 08:35 AM) That is literally the only good reason to look at Wade. Is he superfriends with Russ, or maybe AD? I presume that is why we are looking at wade. He is still a good player, but do agree our spacing would have issues. I presume this is more the cred of having jimmy and wade pitching a max guy vs any alternative.

Is the Bulls interest in Dwayne Wade due to them thinking they can leverage Wade and Butler to land Westbrook or a real star? Or do they think he is a longer term piece? I have to presume it is for his recruiting pitching (and of course the fact that he's a solid player) but not the guy I want tying up cap space on unless we could get a real impact signing (Westbrook or some "star" equivalent).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 02:55 PM) Scot Gregor ‏@scotgregor 22m22 minutes ago Aaron Rowand back on the South Side. Working as minor-league OF/base running instructor for #WhiteSox Wasn't he already doing something within the org, or am I crazy?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 08:18 AM) This is how I feel and I am utterly dumbfounded how positively this move was met by bulls fans here: http://www.blogabull.com/2016/7/5/12096310...g-for-the-bulls Of all the deals handed out, the Rondo one was about the last deal to complain about. Whiners gonna whine though and the Bulls fan base has turned into tons of whiners. What the hell did people expect this off-season? And I realize Rondo is a relatively selfish player,but he is a good passer and he was just in loserville in Sacremento which could give him a new appreciation for things. If you ask Kings fans, they generally were pretty positive about Rondo. You know the bad things that come with him, but can also appreciate the fact that he's a very smart player (sometimes too smart to his own detriment in the sense that it results in clashes, etc).

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 3, 2016 -> 10:27 PM) I didn't know there was so much hatred for Rondo. People on twitter were like furious over the signing. It doesn't really matter but the Bulls got better at C and PG and this deal doesn't really hurt them next summer. What did people think they were going to do? Should they have given Tyler Johnson $50 million? I mean for christ sakes. This was one of the better signings of the offseason. Absolutely love it. Gets us to the floor without long term implications and he is an upgrade at pg over rose last year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 1, 2016 -> 09:51 AM) That is two years of zero signings internationally. Seems minimal in the grand scheme of what they were doing (which was a total violation of the rules). I'd have nailed them for between 3-5 years.

NBA is going to have a lockout, I can't see the league being able to support these type of contract. Conley is signing a 5yr $153M deal. $30.6M/yr for Mike Conley (who I liked and who I wanted the Bulls to get). But Mike freaking Conley making $30M/yr. That is insane.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jul 1, 2016 -> 10:15 AM) Looks like after 3 months, I'm back in the job force. My dream of winning Mega Millions and not having to didn't come to fruition. Nice...graphic side or gym (you did historically work at a gym, right)?

Dunleavy, who two weeks ago, had a contract that I think people would have said they don't like (especially due to the longer term nature of the deal), now looks like a guy, that if he can show some bounce back early on next year, you might be talking about a guy who is a nice fit longer term (given where the cap has gone) or again, could be a piece a team would look to add (and be able to add given his low cap figure). Do you all realize how valuable Jimmy Buckets looks right now. On a per year basis, he is making 250K more than Evan freaking Turner. ROFL.

Given how many of these role players are taking long term, big money deals (and you can't blame them), I'd have to think there are contenders out there who might look at Taj and the 1 year commitment at a reasonable deal as being a pretty good option right now.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Jul 1, 2016 -> 01:02 PM) Evan Turner 4/75 million from Portland Seriously....oh my.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 1, 2016 -> 11:12 AM) FWIW, whoever said that when FA started we'd be looking at Lopez's deal a lot more positively, you were completely right and I apologize for doubting you. Well, I was one of those people, so I'll take a bow.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 1, 2016 -> 10:58 AM) Someone in the know told me Bulls reached out to Rondo. That surprised me. Probably just a feeler, I imagine that he'll be too expensive even if he no longer has that top 10 player hype behind him. I think we are interested in any solid PG who would take a 1 or 2 year type deal (that keeps our cap flexibility). Rondo could use the Bulls as the right spot to actually position himself for a larger deal next year (when the cap goes up again).

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Jul 1, 2016 -> 08:56 AM) As much as I want this free agency to be exciting, the teams that are winning this FA are the ones who do nothing or make Lin-type deals. Bulls are doing exactly what they should be.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 30, 2016 -> 08:16 AM) Noah is probably the most overrated Bulls player ever, right? I mean he was a fan favorite but he always made a lot of coin for what he provided. Those two years where Rose was out, Noah put the team on his back. Those teams had no business finishing where they did. Noah was, when healthy, one of, if not, the best center in the league (please note, part of that is because the league doesn't have many quality centers). Star defender, excellent rebounder and excellent passing big men (one of the best ever). Yes, outside of his passing, the rest of his offensive game was weak.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 30, 2016 -> 07:39 AM) Watch the Bulls tank next year for a high pick and get a karma b****slap from getting Rose at #1 and end up in the bottom of the lottery Well, you can only move down a couple spots from where you picked. For example, I think if you had the worse record, you can't pick lower than like 3 or something.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 30, 2016 -> 07:16 AM) We have to get over the cap floor. We're going to have to give someone a lot of money regardless. I don't believe the cap floor is much of an issue for the Bulls.