They can't hold all of that this year...and they're going to have this Deron Williams guy to deal with. $30 mil in cap space isn't enough to max-offer both of them.

I should also add that the new CBA does appear to make it much harder to fill out a roster around 2 recently signed big salaries like that.

They can't hold all of that this year...and they're going to have this Deron Williams guy to deal with. $30 mil in cap space isn't enough to max-offer both of them.

 

Deron's $17.8 million player option is already counted against their total. They'd have damn near enough space for two other maxes BESIDES Deron.

 

Edit- However, my math was slightly off because the total didn't count a couple of options/qualifying offers properly. Their salary/holds would leave them about $23 million in space and it already includes Deron, Lopez (qualifying offer), Morrow and a couple other players. That's enough for Dwight and another $6-7 mil or so depending on what the max ends up at, plus if they had to they could out-right Lopez and make another $4.1 mil in space.

 

New Jersey is well positioned to have plenty of room for Dwight and still have enough left over to add another role player or two.

Edited December 13, 201114 yr by ZoomSlowik

Pacers having an interesting offseason.

 

SG-Crawford SF Granger PF West C Hibbert

 

Very interesting.

Pacers having an interesting offseason.

 

SG-Crawford SF Granger PF West C Hibbert

 

Very interesting.

 

To me, that's a .500 lineup at best. But at least they would be competitive.

Edited December 13, 201114 yr by Palehosefan

Pacers having an interesting offseason.

 

SG-Crawford SF Granger PF West C Hibbert

 

Very interesting.

 

That West signing was pretty amazing assuming he's healthy. They're not quite a contender, but I think they're around the 5th best team in the East as things are structured right now and I could see them pushing the Bulls or Heat to six games if they make the second round.

To me, that's a .500 lineup at best. But at least they would be competitive.

 

I'd say add about 5 wins since they play in the East.

They remind me of the mid decade Bulls. I think at some point they will make a move to get someone. Not tier 1 superstar, but someone to get people excited in indiana.

They remind me of the mid decade Bulls. I think at some point they will make a move to get someone. Not tier 1 superstar, but someone to get people excited in indiana.

 

Sort of what I was thinking. Those Bulls were probably better defensively, but I think these Pacers have more offensive punch. Granger and West are both fringe-stars that can score, Hibbert has some touch down low, Collison is a decent all-around point, and they'll have some scorers off the bench with Crawford (yes, I'm assuming George starts for defense, and they have plenty of options with the first unit) and Hansbrough.

That Crawford deal isn't done, is it? The Bulls would be smart to swoop in and offer 3 years at the MLE ($15 guaranteed, vs $5+$5). He could be our Jason Terry lite.

 

The Bulls had better take the Rip Hamilton blinders off and f***ing make that offer to a player in his prime who greatly matches what we need, vs another guy who needs an entire team to set screens to be effective.

Edited December 13, 201114 yr by Steve9347

That Crawford deal isn't done, is it? The Bulls would be smart to swoop in and offer 3 years at the MLE ($15 guaranteed, vs $5+$5). He could be our Jason Terry lite.

 

The Bulls had better take the Rip Hamilton blinders off and f***ing make that offer to a player in his prime who greatly matches what we need, vs another guy who needs an entire team to set screens to be effective.

 

It's done, we're getting rip.

 

edit: not officially done, but there's been no other words except assured confidence that rip will sign tomorrow. And no, i don't want crawford for 3/15.

Edited December 13, 201114 yr by bmags

It's done, we're getting rip.

 

edit: not officially done, but there's been no other words except assured confidence that rip will sign tomorrow. And no, i don't want crawford for 3/15.

Crawford @ 3/15 is better than the corpse of Rip Hamilton for this roster, imo.

Well then this should make you unhappy, as well.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21748...andez_From_Mavs

 

edit: Also, I'm willing to give Rip a chance. I thought Shawn Marion was deader than a doornail, and then he re-emerged last year as his scrappy self. Sometimes these players will find their youth on a competitive team.

Edited December 13, 201114 yr by bmags

Well then this should make you unhappy, as well.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21748...andez_From_Mavs

 

edit: Also, I'm willing to give Rip a chance. I thought Shawn Marion was deader than a doornail, and then he re-emerged last year as his scrappy self. Sometimes these players will find their youth on a competitive team.

Rudy. Good old Rudy. I used to love Rudy. I think Thibs would eat Rudy alive.

 

Good point on Marion; I just hate Rip.

Hamilton is goose dung. Marion brought athleticism, rebounding and versatility defensively. He could effectively guard 2's, 3's and 4's. Rip doesn't address a single need for the Bulls. Forget about the Heat. How are the Bulls better than the Knicks? Full year of Carmelo and the second best defensive C in the game > Boozer staying healthy, RIP.

Hamilton is goose dung. Marion brought athleticism, rebounding and versatility defensively. He could effectively guard 2's, 3's and 4's. Rip doesn't address a single need for the Bulls. Forget about the Heat. How are the Bulls better than the Knicks? Full year of Carmelo and the second best defensive C in the game > Boozer staying healthy, RIP.

Really?

Really?

 

Yes. With no legitimate additions, I expect at least semi-regression from the Bulls. Everybody knows they overachieved last year. I expect Rose to continue his natural progression. But where's the upside for the rest of the roster? The Knicks only had Carmelo for 25 games last year. And Tyson is a massive upgrade for them at C.

Hamilton is goose dung. Marion brought athleticism, rebounding and versatility defensively. He could effectively guard 2's, 3's and 4's. Rip doesn't address a single need for the Bulls. Forget about the Heat. How are the Bulls better than the Knicks? Full year of Carmelo and the second best defensive C in the game > Boozer staying healthy, RIP.

 

Because the Knicks suck defensively still?

 

I don't care if they have Chandler, he's one player and in D'Antoni's system.

 

 

And will probably be injured for 2/3 of the season. This page is hyperbole central. Rip doesn't serve a single need for us? Really?

And will probably be injured for 2/3 of the season. This page is hyperbole central. Rip doesn't serve a single need for us? Really?

 

Nope, Bogans is just light-years better.

Yes. With no legitimate additions, I expect at least semi-regression from the Bulls. Everybody knows they overachieved last year. I expect Rose to continue his natural progression. But where's the upside for the rest of the roster? The Knicks only had Carmelo for 25 games last year. And Tyson is a massive upgrade for them at C.

The Bulls missed Noah for 1/2 the year, Boozer for 1/3 of the year, and frankly, never got Noah back healthy after his injury, he was never the same player afterwards. Add in a second year in the system for these guys and there is room for growth there. Adding in depth behind Luol Deng could help Luol Deng become a better player, and frankly, shifting Bogans's minutes to Brewer, Korver, and Hamilton is an upgrade as well. Omer Asik also has substantial room for improvement in his 2nd year and that would give the Bulls both better inside play and potentially a really useful trade asset.

 

The counterpoint of course is that "Boozer and Noah are always hurt!" which is 100% true at this point. Getting them to stay mostly healthy for a season and have it not affect their performance would be impressive. The biggest thing on that line for the Bulls is that if they had the Noah from November last year, instead of the Post March Noah, they'd be a vastly improved team. The early season Noah was a dominator, the late season Noah was pretty darn weak.

Hamilton is goose dung. Marion brought athleticism, rebounding and versatility defensively. He could effectively guard 2's, 3's and 4's. Rip doesn't address a single need for the Bulls. Forget about the Heat. How are the Bulls better than the Knicks? Full year of Carmelo and the second best defensive C in the game > Boozer staying healthy, RIP.

They don't have a single guard worth a s***.

 

"Second best defensive C in the game > Boozer staying healthy"

 

Let's just take that little snippet out, because of it's comical effect.

 

Tyson Chandler last 5 years total games played (out of 410): 322

Carlos Boozer last 5 years total games played (out of 410): 329

Yes. With no legitimate additions, I expect at least semi-regression from the Bulls. Everybody knows they overachieved last year. I expect Rose to continue his natural progression. But where's the upside for the rest of the roster? The Knicks only had Carmelo for 25 games last year. And Tyson is a massive upgrade for them at C.

Also, teams with the "youngest MVP in NBA history" can normally be expected to get better based on that fact alone.

 

Also, when do we bring up Amare's knee?

New all-black alternate Heat jersey makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

 

I'll go on another part of this rant...

 

Knicks' bench right now...

 

PG- Mike Bibby's corpse

SG- Iman Shumpert

SF- Bill Walker

PF- Renaldo Balkman, Jared Jeffries

C- Jerome Jordan, Josh Harrelson

 

While I think benches are a bit overrated, that's worse than the Heat. They're going to get out-scored by 25 points/100 possessions when those guys are in.

Hamilton is goose dung. Marion brought athleticism, rebounding and versatility defensively. He could effectively guard 2's, 3's and 4's. Rip doesn't address a single need for the Bulls. Forget about the Heat. How are the Bulls better than the Knicks? Full year of Carmelo and the second best defensive C in the game > Boozer staying healthy, RIP.

What in the world.........