RZZZA

Not only that, but we need a back up PG that can dribble drive and get to the rim and finish too. Neither CJ or Lucas could really do that.

a fair point, too...Thats why I hope we re-sign Korver

Well maybe it's just something I want then. Derrick can't be the only guy on our team capable of penetrating to the rim and finishing or creating a play for someone else. A large part of our offense is based on collapsing the defense and bringing rebounders to the hoop so...we need guys other than derrick to do that.

I'm excited by Teague too, by all signs he is also a good penetrator and finisher at the rim. The more guys we have collapsing the opponents defense, the better imo. Makes us less predictable on offense. I heard that this Bevereley guy is considered a pretty good defender too

No, Derrick needs someone else by him that can handle the ball. Thats what every Bulls fan has been screaming for since last year. He also needs athletic people next to him that know how to finish at the rim to take advantage of the fast break game. Last year we basically had only 2 people on this team who had any fast break game at all: Derrick and Rip. And Rip is old and not exactly a good finisher at the rim. Adding more ballhandlers and athletes is a good sign. If we improve our back up PG depth, then maybe that won't force Thibs to overplay Derrick in the regular season

For the third time, I'm excited that we're targetting players that know how to dribble drive, are athletic and can handle the ball

He's just bench depth. But get excited by the fact that this team is headed in a new direction: FO targeting players with certain skillsets to compliment Derrick.

Boy, it sure seems like Bulls are targeting with the idea of ballhandling, playmaking, youth and athleticism in mind. I'm so glad for this. There's a large athleticism gap between us and teams like the Heat or Thunder.

Except Dwight has made no indication that he's willing to sign an extension in Houston.

I took the top 8 because Deng is a top 8 SF. I meant to take the top 10 originally but...I didn't know who to list after the number 8 mark. There's a bunch of guys you could put there and make an argument for.

You have to account for awful contracts if you want to judge who is over or under paid. If everyone handed out fair contracts, there would be no bad contracts.

Let's see if Luol Deng is overpaid. I've compiled a list of the top 8 SFs in the league, of which Deng is one. We're going to add up the numbers of these contracts on a per year basis and divide by 8 to determine the average. Lebron James: $17.5 Kevin Durant: $16.6 Carmelo Anthony: $19.4 Paul Pierce: $16.8 Danny Granger: $13 Rudy Gay: $16.5 Andre Iguadala: $14.7 Luol Deng: $13.3 Point is, Deng is on the low end of this spectrum. His contract is not overpriced, if anything it's under priced.

Well, I think they are bargains, and regardless if you don't think Deng and Noah are our trade pieces then you must agree we don't have any trade pieces at all, so trading for a superstar becomes moot.

More injury prone than Brook Lopez? That dude just got a 61 million dollar contract in this market. I mean lets not kid OURSELVES here, players get overpaid on a routine basis. Deng and Noah are good enough players where they would likely receive even bigger contracts than they're signed for now out there. if these contracts are so bad, why does every team want these guys? Nobody is banging down our door asking us for Carlos Boozer. Deng, Noah, Taj, Asik...these are the guys that interest teams.

If you pin your hopes on trading for a superstar, that window hasn't closed for us yet. Our most attractive trade pieces (Deng and Noah) are still on bargain contracts and performing at a level that makes them appealing, and will do so for the foreseeable future. Who could we have gotten so far? Lebron and Wade, that was never feasible because they colluded to go to Miami Melo, he was never thought of highly by this FO and I don't blame them. We would have had to trade Deng and Noah for him. Dwight? This FO would happily trade for Dwight but the dumbass doesn't want to be here. Not their fault.

I actually think getting a better back up PG rotation will be hugely important to us.

I was only arguing against what Sox Badger said today. oh, and a little with you, but only because you said #1 seed doesn't matter and I disagreed with that.

To me this says how badly this team needed a better back up PG than C.J. Watson. I'm betting a lot of those games, Thibs felt like he had to put Rose back in because C.J. wasn't cutting it. Our team needs great PG production, what are you gonna do?

I think this team was good enough to win a title had they had good health to their core players. This team is like a well-oiled machine. Take cogs out of that machine, and the machine weakens. This team is completely reliant on great PG production and excellent front court rebounding and defense. We've had injuries to main pieces both years this group was together, that prevented us from playing our best in the post season. Due to health issues and financial matters, this teams window is drawing to a close. The only question now is to proceed with caution or blow it up in a hurry. I think the Bulls know they need to put a younger, more athletic core around Rose now to help him. But going all in on a Dwight Howard rental is not the course they've chosen to pursue. I agree with them on that. There will be many more opportunities in the future to improve this team, so let's not fret about it too much.

Being the best team and having the most stars are two different things. The clippers and knicks arguably have more star power than we do. Yet they're not a better team.

They can still do it though. You keep going back to the Cavs as if them not having won a title justifies your logic that they never would have. Seems like a post hoc fallacy to me. Again, the Bulls management knows that they need to put a legit 2nd star next to Rose before he's tool old. They know it, I'm sure they know every point that's been made in this entire thread. Nobody can tell me they think they know more about basketball than coach Thibs. And nobody can tell me that they know more about GMing them our GM.

Bulls did explore trade avenues for CJ and Brewer but nothing materialized out of them.

Things aren't so bad. Worst case scenario, we're irrelevant for a year or 2. This team used to be irrelevant every year, for years on end, and it didn't seem to stop our enjoyment much. These guys know they need to get a 2nd star around Rose, they know it.

Again a person who says #1 seed doesn't matter? It matters a little. If you play consistently well enough, disciplined enough to win #1 seed multiple times in a row, you're a good team. Period. End of story. Bad teams are inconsistent, bad teams are ill-disciplined, bad teams are unstable and disorderly. None of which describes the Bulls. Winning the #1 seed doesn't matter if all you care about is winning the title. But if you ever have to question whether or not the Bulls are good enough to contend, just watch them play. Watch how consistent they are, how hard they try, how disciplined and fluid they are when everything is clicking. Make no mistake about it, this is a good team when healthy.

Blaming Thibs for Derricks injury, lol, classic. Why not just blame Derrick himself? If he didn't have such a reckless, physically taxing playing style none of thise would have happened. If he was smart enough to just hang back and distribute the ball like a Nash or a Chris Paul would have, instead of driving in full speed, stopping on a dime and jerking and contorting his body in weird positions...none of this would have happened.