Chisoxfn

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 02:11 PM) Yes, but you could have used one of those on a euro player (as denver did) and stash them ala Mirotic. That "savings" was negated by taking back Randolph, whom we then had to use assets to unload his 1.9 million salary. Brutal brutal brutal. Not really. We are talking about two extremely late 2nd round picks here. We aren't talking about even a top 2nd round pick, which still has little value and can be easily bought. This was nothing. In fact, we now have a bit of a trade exemption, which when applied with the rules, would allow us to potentially spend a little something on another wing player.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 02:10 PM) Wouldn't the cap hit on 2 1st round picks at 16 and 19 be more expensive than just McDermott's? Not when you factor in the minimum salary for the other roster spot (e.g., we still would have had to have 2 players vs. 1, so Doug McD + minimum cap hold of like 500K > #16 and #19.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 02:02 PM) Yeah it's just for the cap space. They needed Randolph's salary to sign Gasol/Mirotic. Wouldn't have enough with just the Boozer amnesty. I'm not going to lose sleep over 2nd round draft picks. We could buy a few up with ease this off-season if need be. We also get some form of a TPE for this, so in theory this might actually give some flexibility to use for a small level S&T (maybe even for someone like Jameer Nelson).

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 11:41 AM) Here is the pile of crap current free agent crop of guards we can try to convince to take the vet min: Udrih, Beno Stuckey, Rodney Sessions, Ramon Rush, Brandon Ridnour, Luke Murry, Toure Moore, E’Twaun Mack, Shelvin (RFA) Johnson, Wesley Douglas, Toney Douglas-Roberts, Chris Crawford, Jordan Brooks, Aaron Brooks, MarShon Henry, Xavier Temple, Garrett What say you, Soxtalk? A few different quality players in there. Sessions / Aaron Brooks are quality. I also like Stuckey quite a bit. Wes Johnson / CDR and others are solid too, but I think if we could get 2 of the better guys on that list (one at SG and another at PG), I would be extremely happy.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:53 AM) Also, just to be clear, Bulls entered offseason with areas to upgrade, one of which WAS front court depth. That they chose to go pump up FC depth rather than go hard for a guard will be something to judge this team on. And I don't think anyone here has been overhyping McDermott. A certain poster has the tendency to make a fake person to argue with to make their argument more convincing, but it doesn't mean anyone has actually been acting like McDermott will be the 3rd star we were missing. Reason for optimism: For 4 years the bulls have tried plug the spacing issue by signing a "3-point guy". IT really did work pretty well when you had Korver and Deng was hitting reasonable amount of 3s. Then they plugged in Belli. Then MDJ. Point being we've basically had one consistent long range shooter and our spacing is by far the worst i the league. Defenses against us look like a kids soccer game. If Snell has made the leap to become a legitimate 3 and D SG, Dunleavy, McDermott and Mirotic are all legitimate, consistent long range threats. Also losing Boozer, who basically gave up playing inside on O and hung out 15 feet from rim in favor of Gasol really could be an interesting offense. But you can't have everything, and losing Melo derby means the bulls for the 4th straight year are entering season without a 2nd shot creator unless a gift is sent to us. That has been the single biggest killer preventing this team, and it still isn't addressed. But maybe the spacing improving and some semblance of a real derrick rose would be enough. Technically, Pau can create his own shot in the post, much more so then Boozer or anyone else we've ever had could down in the post. Not to the extent he once could but he is extremely nifty and efficient in the paint.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:44 AM) Unstoppable? Jason Richardson didn't play at all last year, only played 33 games in 2012-2013 (and was pretty bad when he did play) and is 33 years old. He may be done. Wroten can't shoot at all so I don't think he is a good fit either. Alec Burks would be a very good get out of Utah. He might be on the outside of a numbers game there.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:46 AM) The wizards may not have done anything that put them over the top, but they were also very young, and are now a year older. If Otto Porter's crap first season was just dealing with the hip injury, and he turns out to be a good player, they are a scary team. They diced the bulls apart. Nene/Gibson destroyed Noah. This is a much different team and wouldn't have gutted the Bulls without Trevor Ariza. Ariza was a better player then Pierce so that is a downgrade, imo. I don't even know how the heck Pierce plays on that team, given the fact that they benefit so significantly from their athleticism.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:39 AM) Agreed with everything above. If the Bulls could just magically swap Dunleavy for a guard, I'd feel a lot more comfortable. I don't think anyone wants Rose getting 38 mpg, but when your only backup is Kirk, who is going to miss, at minimum, 20 games, that's a scary proposition. I can't imagine the Bulls' offseason is done yet. They should send like 5 picks with Boozer to Philly to make something happen with Richardson and Wroten. Then this team would be unstoppable. I agree it would be nice to find a SG and a PG. I wonder if they land someone like Mo Williams even (or can find a way to get creative to get a s&T for Jameer Nelson). I just don't want to send Dunleavy out for like a 3rd string guard or cap relief, that would just be stupid, given his affordable contract and how well he played last year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) It has been incredibly inconsistent. Moreso than any other sport that uses it. I feel like there have been multiple times where the call on the screen was obvious, but the call wasn't made that direction. At other times it takes way too long to get an obvious call made. One of biggest problems with baseball is the speed of the game. Replay makes that worse and in a 162 game season, anomalies will off-set themselves. I understand in a tie-breaker game or the final game of the season it could be the difference maker, and if you really feel that strongly, like I said, only do it in September or something. But doing it all season is awful. Baseball also needs to do something to speed up at bats and breaks. They have for a long time and I don't get why they don't really hammer on it. Quicken the tempo / pace and you'll see ratings pick up, imo.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:34 AM) Life is so much better with LeBron in Cleveland. People can (mostly) stop hating him now. This season the league is wide open. Spurs dominated last year, but will be a year older, and, well, the West is so difficult, you really don't know who will come through. I don't think the Wizards did anything to put them over the top (no Pierce won't be that difference maker). Pacers, who knows, they should be one of the 2 or 3 best teams, but you really never know. Bulls / Cavs should be 2 of the 3 best aHeat will be relevant (not a title contender) but that relevance depends on Bosh taking his game back to star levels and Wade playing a bit. Nets lose Pierce but get Lopez back, which will help. I don't think Kidd was a very good coach so they also get a coaching upgrade, but still, they are a meh team as a whole. Raptors are again solid but not a title team. I think 4 best teams (in no particular order) are Bulls, Cavs, Pacers, Wizards.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:07 AM) Limit mileage on Rose. Healthy Rose > McDermott, so getting a guy who can give Rose legitimate rest was kind of a priority. Im not sure McDermott will be the best scorer in the draft. There are guys like Parker and Wiggins. I don't know if McDermott is even a starter. He might be more of a 6th man type. We'll have to see how well he can play defense and just how good his scoring will be. It isn't like we are talking about the #1 pick. I almost feel at this point that McDermott is getting overhyped on this board.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:02 AM) Better off how? If the goal is to win a championship, with this roster, the only hope is that Rose is good again. You have to go for broke here, not plan for contingencies. If Rose is hurt again or isn't himself, it doesn't matter what player they could have drafted or signed because they're not going to win. McDermott at least gives you the best ceiling if Rose is back to form because he's the best scorer in the draft. Even with Love, with no Rose, this team isn't winning a title. Melo was the only guy, where we could have potentially won a title without Rose (and of course Lebron) that was available.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 09:54 AM) You take the best player off any team, and they are screwed. We know what the Cavs are without Lebron. I like the fact that we have some young players who should improve and have some nice looking futures. If all things go right, we could win this thing, and that is great. Melo would have been fantastic but I think with Love we'd still have needed Rose (knowing we'd be losing a lot of other assets). Melo was the one shot at being able to contend either way. Now, to win (and even with Love), we need Rose to be healthy and be our best player. I think that can and will happen.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 09:50 AM) You aren't going to get Presti to bite unless you include draft picks galore. At this point Boozer is overpaid by about 11 million, people know he's about to be amnestied, and as we saw last year, the 76ers don't really care that much about coming under the floor. It's not that harsh of a penalty. Technically the penalty is they just allocate whatever $ amount they were under the floor to the rest of the players on the Sixers, so in theory, if adding Boozer somehow helps them (and they get some sort of asset they think is helpful), then they really are getting him for free. Question is whether Boozer is better then someone else. Any dollar they go over the floor, because they added Boozer, impacts them though. I also don't know if that S&T actually works or if the Bulls would then also need to get the Lakers somehow involved too to tie in the Pau signing for it technically to work.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 09:37 AM) Then I think you'll be disappointed. He has the 11th best wRC+ and WAR. He's a good shortstop. He will help a team down the stretch but I do not believe he is the type of player that a team view as a make or break piece. If the packages they are getting are similar to the ones the Sox were reportedly getting for Jermaine Dye in 2007 (Wily Mo Pena and Manny Delcarmen, two talented but struggling players), then I 100% agree you hang onto him. I think you can get a good package of young players for him and I think he'll be dealt. I agree with your posts but also agree w/Balta's. Both very good posts.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 09:17 AM) I really, really like what I continue to read on Mirotic's defense, which I did not know was an asset: http://hoopshype.com/columns/david-nurse/w...-nikola-mirotic I still don't know exactly what we are getting but he has a lot of raw tools. I'm extremely excited for this season.

It sucks and should be gone. Use it in the post-season. Not needed in regular season. If you really need it in regular season, implement it in final 10 games or something. It is terrible.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 09:08 AM) You were talking about Aaron Brooks, right? I haven't heard MarShon brooks discussed, don't really remember seeing him play at Brooklyn. I was referring to Aaron, who would be pretty realistic at the vet min.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 09:02 AM) I actually like Ramon Sessions, that said, he's not on the roster. MarShon needs to show me somethin'. They better find a way to get him or someone of that ilk. I just don't know how they get him with their current cap situation. Guy made 5M a season last year. Highly doubt he takes what Bulls can offer, unless we can work a S&T with Randolph, etc, to get him. I think if we do that we can get close to 3.5M for him (under the cap rules), although somewhere I think I saw it might actually be as much as 5M, not sure how that works since Randolph just makes 1.8M). Clearly we'd have to give up a pick or something to entice the Bucks to do it.

I would expect some sort of trade in the next couple days to secure another back-court player. Not talking someone special but they'll probably use Randolph (and potentially a pick) to get him. They could also dangle Dunleavy, but if they look to move him, we better get someone good, cause I don't want to just let Dunleavy go and rely on our unproven youngsters quite yet.

Re: Cap, I stand corrected. Team is completely tapped out, can only add vet min contracts. Hinrich apparently turned down a 2 yr 8 M deal to take the Bulls offer. Total salary right now is just below 63.1M. Bulls are significantly below luxury tax threshold, which probably bodes well for a Jimmy Butler extension this year. Luxury tax threshold is 76.8M.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 08:44 AM) so - rose sits out, and kirk has one of his 11 injuries a season - who plays guard? Sessions or Brooks or someone like that I presume.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 08:20 AM) You keep harping on McDermott. Its kind of funny because I was one of the few who talked about him BEFORE the draft. Hes a nice player, the problem is, he isnt an ideal SF and cant play SG. So you add Gasol, Mirotic and McDermott, but you still didnt add anyone who can play SF/SG and create with the ball. Its not about the player, its the fit. As I before the Bulls drafted, said that McDermott would be good on the right team. He still can be good, the Bulls just needed something else and given the additions of Gasol/Mirotic its even more clear that a SG/SG and a PG were more important. Butler and Snell can play both positions so with McDermott, it is fine if he just plays the 3.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 08:15 AM) Where are you reading this? Not from KC Johnson, who pretty explicitly stated BAE went to Hinrich. Unless we traded MDJ, which I hope we haven't because we have no 3, I don't see where that money is coming from. Sam Smith article indicated Hinrich took less then BAE. No one knows the money situation for certain yet though.

It is believed the Bulls still have their BAE to use on their back-up PG.