DBAHO

So Bulls fans, what are your thoughts on Aaron Afflalo? Would he someone who if acquired, would help put the Bulls onto the same level as Miami and Indiana? FWIW, he's shooting 46% from 3PT range, and is averaging a career high at 19.5 a game. Jacque Vaughn's figured out that he's not a playmaker, but if you surround him with one and just allow him to focus on nailing corner 3's and playing defense, he's pretty handy to say the least (in his current form). His contract is also fairly decent at 7.5M a season for the next 2-3 years as well.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 11, 2013 -> 02:27 PM) Suns are 5-2 now. Between them and Philly, I think we can put the tanking s*** to bed. That s*** was lame. I think it shows if anything, that Jeff Hornacek and Brett Brown are also going to be very good NBA Coaches, and talent isn't the be all to end all if you can actually get a team to "buy in" so to speak.

If I was going to pick one of out that group as well Jordan, it'd be Anthony Davis. He's already putting up insane stat lines. You just hope his body will hold up over time.

Haha, that might be the stupidest thing I've seen a NBA player do on the court for quite a while. Surely he had to know that Boston had a Timeout remaining.

MCW. Quite the game b/w Philly and Cleveland ATM.

I don't think it was actually so much of a "small market" issue with Harden and OKC. He simply wanted the Max (4/60), and Presti was only willing to go for 4/52 with him, more to do with the fact Durant and Westbrook were already on Max Money, and the impact that would have had on their payroll flexibility, and that Harden hadn't really developed into a superstar (although that was simply because of the role he was in). What really killed OKC was trading for Kendrick Perkins. That contract has really hindered them big time.

Nicola Vucevic might end up getting close to a max contract if he keeps producing 30/20 games like this going forward. Thank you Doug Collins.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Nov 6, 2013 -> 12:18 PM) Throw in the Tristan Thompson pick too, they reached on all three of those. Without stretching things too much (ie expecting them to take Kawhi or Klay Thompson), they could have had Jonas Valanciunas, Andre Drummond and Victor Oladipo. Instead, they have Thompson, Waiters and Bennett. Their bad picks definitely forced their hand on subsequent picks, which is why I'd be shocked if Kyrie stays (unless Lebron miraculously returns). I was never a fan of the Bennett pick, he pretty much looked like a clone of Michael Beasley/Derrick Williams. At least they got the Irving pick right... I think another point that you've raised is about Small Forwards that get drafted very highly such as Beasley / Williams, where they're not really cut out to be 3's and play more like 4's, but in the NBA, they're not big enough to play the 4, and are willing to post up. So they fit that "tweener" sort of mould, and that's exactly the problem I see with Bennett, he's not athletic enough to play the 3 IMO, but he'll get dominated down low by the bigger 4's in the league. I think with the Small Forward position in the NBA today, unless you have a real special talent like a Lebron or a Durant, you'd want a "glue guy" such as a Luol Deng, Andre Igoudala etc. Someone who won't shoot the ball 20 times a game at around 35% success (Carmelo come on down), but can play very solid defense, hit the corner 3, and give you solid rebounding. Having a star big or PG is probably going to be a better outcome, unless you have either James or Durant (although Paul George is quickly heading to that status also). There's already speculation about Irving joining the Knicks, but I don't see how that can happen cap wise, and I think actually Orlando gets either Denver or New York's 1st rounder at this year's draft, which could actually end up being a pick b/w 10 and 20 the way both teams are looking at present. I'll be curious to see what happens with Eric Bledsoe come the end of the season also. His current averages aren't sustainable, but if he can get over 17.5 PPG and 6 AST's a game come the end of the season, how close does that get him to say $12-$15M a season from someone? The A/TO Ratio at present is terrible though.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 06:09 PM) Speaking of Anthony Bennett, he still has yet to record ONE basket this season. Not one. That's crazy. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but taking Dion Waiters at #4 in the previous year's draft really forced their hand. I wonder if Kyrie Irving thinks if he can win with that team as currently constructed in the long-term.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Nov 5, 2013 -> 10:59 AM) The team that has the worst record never seems to win the lottery anyways. Besides, getting Julius Randle or Dante Exum (if he comes out) wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. They do have some nice young talent. Vucevic is way better than I expected when they acquired him, Oladipo is legit and Harris and Harkless are fairly solid (my fantasy needs Harris to get back though!). I think what you can say about Orlando is that no-one expected them to have the young talent they currently have when Dwight wanted out in the last off-season. Hennigan has pretty much hit on every move he's made so far, he easily won the Dwight trade by getting 3 starters (albeit Harkless wouldn't start on a lot of teams) and 2 future 1st's, Oladipo looks much better than Anthony Bennett currently, and also getting Tobias Harris for Redick's ending contract. To go from having Hedo, Davis, Jason Richardson and Arenas as core pieces 24/36 months ago to having younger pieces such as Vucevic and Nicholson producing well, I think he's done a very good job so far, and it'll be interesting to see what he does when we have some cap space in the off-season. I would almost look at targeting Exum in the draft if he committs (being an Aussie certainly help), and going after a good PF in Free Agency (such as LaMarcus Aldridge if he left Portland), and then you'd have a pretty decent lineup.

Oladipo's already putting up some very nice numbers off the bench, a 19/6/4 line today vs. Brooklyn. Having him on the court has made Affalo a much better player for Orlando also. I've got mixed feelings though in terms of if everyone for the Magic is healthy (no Harris or Davis currently), that's probably a 30 win team at least, and that doesn't get you Andrew Wiggins.

Beno Udrih?

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 22, 2013 -> 08:33 AM) Yup, it's a waste too. Milwaukee didn't need any more combo guards. My guess they'll probably try to re-sign Redick instead of Ellis in the off-season actually. Redick's a better outside shooter, and probably a better fit next to Jennings, and he'll probably be cheaper also. Bucks still have to re-sign Larry Sanders down the road also. Bit annoyed that we didn't get a 1st round pick, but they've become pretty valuable with the new CBA / Tax Implications to say the least. Looks like Orlando is definitely trying to follow the OKC model. Get 2 top 5 picks in a row, and then try to sign a max FA in the 2014 off-season.

So long as I get to keep Harper and Trout, I'm happy with whatever.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 11, 2013 -> 05:39 AM) I wonder what the Bulls would have to give up. Would they take Rip plus a draft pick or something in a salary dump? Reddick would be a nice fit. Apprently we want an expiring contract, an unprotected draft pick and someone to take on either Glen Davis, Hedo Turkoglu or Al Harrington's contract. I don't know whether it's worth moving him from our point of view unless we at least get a top 10 pick in the deal. Redick's become a pretty damn good fit in our system.

Nikola Vucevic had himself quite the game today. Suddenly, Orlando's haul from the Howard deal (Vucevic, Affalo, Harkless and a few 1st rounders) doesn't look so bad. I'd say Redick is likely to end up with Minnesota as well at this point if I had to pick a team.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 28, 2012 -> 07:33 AM) More like unrealistic expectations for a roster with sub-par talent just because they are in Brooklyn and have a crazy owner. When your second-best player is a toss-up between Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez, and Gerald Wallace, and Deron is playing gimpy, you have a problem. Williams is a real interesting case study right now. He's on max money for the next 4-5 years, yet his numbers are down across the board this season, and he's only shooting 40% from the field, and 29% from 3PT territory. His numbers were much better in Sloan's Pick and Roll offense rather than Johnson's isolation motion offense. SVG would be an ideal coach for Deron as his uses the pick and roll system on offense a fair bit, but with the Nets still holding out hope for Dwight in the off-season, he won't go there. Nate McMillan I could see end up in Brooklyn or Brian Shaw.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 20, 2012 -> 01:46 AM) They are also fewest in attempts. Redick standing stationary at the 3 point line isn't going to make him suddenly open. Actually if you've watched any of Orlando's games this season, he's probably been our main facilitator especially off the pick and roll. Think people still sell him short and call him nothing but a jump shooter, he's developed his game to a better point than that nowadays (and I think he's argubly our best player now).

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Dec 19, 2012 -> 09:52 AM) I'd feel a bit better about the Bulls if they had anyone that could actually shoot. They're 30th in 3's attempted, 30th in 3's made, and 24th in 3-point percentage. When your team is built around a penetrating PG and a strong frontcourt, that's extremely problematic. They just can't spread the floor effectively. When they absolutely need points in the playoffs, teams will pack the paint and laugh while our guards brick open 3's. It worked for the Heat before, it'll work again with Rose at less than 100%. J.J Redick would be such an ideal fit for them right now.

With the way Redick is playing so far this season, the Bulls would be a fair bit better now if they were able to end up with him 2.5 seasons ago. That said, Rob Hennigan will definitely re-sign him and probably pay overs to do so, as he fits the culture they want to build after the Dwightmare.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Nov 9, 2012 -> 09:52 PM) I'd kill to get Afflalo for a fair price from the Magic. He's got 4/28 left on his deal IIRC, while Redick is in the final year of his deal. Redick is the real interesting one, he'd almost be Sixth Man of the Year so far, and I think Hennigan is after so much cap flexibility, he'd probably trade Redick for draft picks if the right offer was out there. Affalo needs to get back to playing some consistent defence, but he's had a pretty decent start to the season at least.

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 9, 2012 -> 10:34 AM) Sorry DBAHO, but after watching that Magic team last night... man they're atrocious. That starting lineup is just garbage. Yep, which is exactly what I hoped coming into this season. Tank, get the #1 draft pick, trade Davis and Harrington for picks if possible, and start from scratch. Harkless is going to be a player, could be another Deng or Iggy if all goes well, Nicholson's got a bit of offensive game to him also.

QUOTE (fathom @ Nov 7, 2012 -> 01:08 PM) I can't believe Bulls are losing to the Magic. The Magic lineup is terrible. At least they're playing hard so far the 1st 4 games. Still when you have Big Baby should 20 foot jumpers all game and he's only making about 20% of them, the Magic are hardly going to win. Would love if we can get him and Harrington off the books by the end of the season somehow.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Aug 11, 2012 -> 12:19 PM) I think you're going to be sorely disappointed. Afflalo was like the 4th best player on the Nuggets. Harrington had his best year in a while and still wasn't exactly good. Nelson might be the worst starting PG in the league (is he even still there? I don't totally know, haven't looked at the salary dumps). Davis is a below average starter and you're probably not going to get much from Vucevic or Harkless. Even if Ayon does as well as their past backup centers, that's pretty awful. On paper, they're worse than the Cavs were post-Lebron. They don't have any scorers, and as you said, their defense is going to take a huge step back. Oh, and the top-3 free agents for 2014 already made it obvious that they're not interested in Orlando. Basically they're going to be praying to the lottery gods for 3 or 4 years. It ultimately depends, if the Magic can get a top 3 pick in the next 2 seasons, that's going to be pretty attractive for a free agent IMO. Even if they can say end up with the 5th - 6th pick, they should be able to trade up into the top 3 if they want to considering the multiple 1st rounders they have now. New Orleans for instance is a decent enough model to follow for what they've done this off-season. They're a team I think could definitely make the playoffs in the West if all goes well for them this season.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Aug 11, 2012 -> 12:04 PM) Meh, the rest of that lineup would be pretty awful, as I posted in my edit. Bynum isn't an instant 50 wins like Dwight was. Exactly, so to me, you acquire more future assets and re-load. Especially considering Bynum's knees. Affalo will probably become a 20PPG a game scorer for us as the #1 option. If SVG was still coaching us, I'd say potentially we could be a 35 win team still with that lineup you've posted, I'm thinking probably more around the 25 wins mark for the upcoming season instead. Hennigan now needs to look at trading Harrington and Davis for future picks to free up more playing time for Harkless and Nicholson.