What Players Should The Bulls Keep For The Future?, The Bulls Need A Rose To Brighten The Day Options

[eddog2]

Here is a list of players I'd like to see the Bulls keep for the future and those I think should go.

Keep:
Luol Deng
Joakim Noah
Ben Gordon (as a bench player or playing the PG spot if we can get a SG with size that can handle the ball)
Drew Gooden
Tyrus Thomas (give him 1 more year. If he doesn't show improvement ship him out)(But I think next year could be somewhat of a breakout year)
Aaron Gray (as a 3rd center)
Demitrus Nichols (as the last roster spot)
Cedric Simmons (work with him and see what happens. Drop him if he doesn't improve next year)
Thabo (I have him in both the trade and keep b/c I only want to keep him if we trade Kirk and Hughes. If we don't get rid of them there is no reason for him to stay)

Trade/Let Walk:

Chris Duhon
Kirk Hinrich
Larry Hughes
Nocioni
Thabo

I'd love to trade any combination of Kirk, Hughes, Thabo, or Nocioni and our pick for any combination of players and the # 2 pick so we could draft Derrick Rose. Then I'd like to sign Maggette with any money we save in a trade. Then resign Gordon & Deng and go into next year with the following lineup. Tyrus will be able to get more minutes b/c he'll be able to play the 3 and 4. I'd then trade the rest of the players listed for mid-late first round picks and draft a backup PG and backup center. I'd love a lmid to ate first round pick to take Brandon Rush, Hasheem Thabeet, or even a 2nd round pick for Serge Ibaka. I am just tired of having a glut of guards. I want consistent minutes for the guards we have. I want Ben Gordon to know he's going to get 25+ mpg. We can use him as the primary backup to both Rose & Maggette and have another young PG or veteran PG to use when players get in foul trouble.

Noah
Gooden
Deng
Maggette/Gordon
Rose

http://www.mynbadraft.com/NBA-Draft-Profil...08/Derrick-Rose


Rose has superstar written all over him. He's super quick and super athletic. He has to work on his jumper but he's going to be an outstanding player. Plus he seems to have his head on straight.

I say trade Kirk & Tyrus and our pick to get him. I don't care if that sound like a lot. I'd even trade Nocioni/Kirk/Tyrus & our pick for the #1 or 2 and some other players or picks. That's how confident I am that he's going to be a star.

We might not be a great team for a couple of season but the lineup above would be young and explosive offensively.

[Balta1701-B]

IMO, the blocks this team should be trying to build around right now appear to be:

PF: TT, Gooden
SF: Deng
C: Noah, Gray
SG: Thabo, Hughes
PG: ?

I'm totally unsatisfied with our PG position right now. Hinrich is still useful as a defender, but the disaster that is this season started with poor play on offense, and he's supposed to be the guy making the offense go. If I had to choose, that's the part I would focus on fixing.

I like the 3-4 person rotation we have at PF and Center, although I still think TT should be getting more minutes, and the next time Boylan goes to his 4 guard and Gooden lineup he ought to be castrated.

Deng and Thabo I don't think need a big explanation. Deng, I think we still hope he can find a way to be healthy next season and take the next step he failed to take this season. Thabo has looked like a 15 ppg guard who can legitimately shut down the opposing team's best guard regardless of who that is, and that's a damn useful piece even if he's not going to make the AS team doing that.

Hughes is the interesting one. He's a wild card to my eyes. He fits a certain type of ball. He's by far the best on a high energy team, because he can generate steals, and is known as a cutting and slashing kind of guy who gets in to the lane, breaks down a defense, and gets to the foul line. That was what he did in his best season in Washington. I want to hold on to him for 2 reasons. First, I think his value was badly depressed by playing in Cleveland, and I think there's a reasonably good chance he'll stay healthy next year just by chance and push his value higher by performing well. And second, he has a large expiring contract that hits in the Wade/Lebron/Melo year. And someone will give up a boatload for one of those.

[GreatScott82]

Keep:
Sefolosha, Thomas, Noah, Deng, Gooden.

Trade: Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni, Larry Hughes. This team needs a true go to guy and i would love it to be via the point guard position. Can Pax move up in the draft? Who else is out there?

Let Walk: Chris Duhon.

Sign and Trade: Ben Gordon

Obviously Pax wont be able to trade ALL those players. BUT i think we have enough players to trade for a true stud. I would love a true center who can score consistenly and rebound consistenly (Elton Brand). I would also love a true point gaurd... if only Pax can move up in the draft for Derek Rose. I know Utah traded an aweful lot to move up and pick up Deron Williams. I think we are in a position to move up like that. What will Minnesota want for that #2 pick?

[Balta1701-B]

Keep:
Sefolosha, Thomas, Noah, Deng, Gooden.

Trade: Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni, Larry Hughes. This team needs a true go to guy and i would love it to be via the point guard position. Can Pax move up in the draft? Who else is out there?

Let Walk: Chris Duhon.

Sign and Trade: Ben Gordon

Obviously Pax wont be able to trade ALL those players. BUT i think we have enough players to trade for a true stud. I would love a true center who can score consistenly and rebound consistenly (Elton Brand). I would also love a true point gaurd... if only Pax can move up in the draft for Derek Rose. I know Utah traded an aweful lot to move up and pick up Deron Williams. I think we are in a position to move up like that. What will Minnesota want for that #2 pick?

There's certainly no guarantee that Minnesota would get the #2 pick, or even that they'd be willing to move. We know they'll get top 5.

In terms of a "true go to guy", I only really see 2 that should be available on the market this offseason. Elton Brand, and Gilbert Arenas. Neither of them are the PG you want. Both would have to be done with a sign and trade, which probably means it would involve our #10 pick or so, along with either Hinrich or Hughes, probably plus one of the 2 young big guys.

[CubbiesFan07]

If you think keeping Gordon is a good idea then you haven't been watching the games lately.

So many games have come down to the wire, as in the 4th quarter (as we all know...), and for some reason the key player goes to Gordon. The problem here is Gordon is one of the worst small-guards in the NBA at handling the ball. He drives to the hole out-of-control and loses the ball half the time, and misses his shot the other half of the time. Driving full speed to the rim hoping to get a foul, it's just not realistic to have that happen constantly...

Get rid of the following:

Gordon
Hinrich

That's all I see of the main problems right now. They are the key players from last year that have been such a disappointment for this year. I don't care if you say Gordon puts up 20 a game, anyone can do that when they keep the ball and shoot. Hinrich just can't hit anything this year, and it's time to let him go.

Keep the following for a while:

Tyrus
Duhon
Hughes
Gooden
Thabo

Hughes and Gooden coming over to the Bulls was probably the best transaction the Bulls pulled off since trading for Jalen Rose (Laugh... JK...) but they are awesome players who just need to get into the Bulls playing-style and they will bring Wins in like no other. Tyrus is still out of control, and I'm a huge Tyrus fan so it's hard for me to go against him, but I'd like to give him 1 more year (as was stated above). Duhon is probably the 2nd best backup PG in the NBA (Calderon/Ford best 2 combo in my opinion). Duhon is getting the hard end of the shaft this season, but I believe he could easily take a starter roll next to Hughes as being PG with Hughes the new SG.

Here's a great lineup option for next year:

C - Jermaine O'Neal
PF - Jamison
SF - Deng
SG - Hughes
PG - Duhon

Also I'd like to pick up Maggette, which could result in:

C - Jermaine
PF - Jamison
SF - Deng
SG - Maggette
PG - Hughes

This lineup would be a bigmans dream, big key players who are athletic and can shoot the 3PTers with ease.

[Balta1701-B]

Just out of curiosity, do you know how bad Jermaine O'Neal's contract is for the next couple years? He's currently the 3rd highest paid player in the NBA I believe.

[ZoomSlowik]

The Bulls don't have enough cap space to add Jamison, and to have enough to get O'Neal they'd have to send two of Hinrich, Hughes, Nocioni and Gooden (you can add Gordon and Deng to that list too in a sign and trade). Not that I endorse that move, he's grossly overpaid, injury prone, and has fallen off precipitously.

[RME JICO]

It is amazing how far Hinrich's stock has fallen in one year.

As for must keeps, I would say:

Luol Deng
Joakim Noah
Ben Gordon
Drew Gooden
Tyrus Thomas

I would love to see Pax trade some of the others for draft picks or to move up. Then sign at least one impact FA. For how bad this team was this year, it is not far from being a contender again with the young nucleus.

[Balta1701-B]

It is amazing how far Hinrich's stock has fallen in one year.

As for must keeps, I would say:

Luol Deng
Joakim Noah
Ben Gordon
Drew Gooden
Tyrus Thomas

I would love to see Pax trade some of the others for draft picks or to move up. Then sign at least one impact FA. For how bad this team was this year, it is not far from being a contender again with the young nucleus.

A lot of people have been low on Hinrich for several years now, and those of us who liked him could find things to point to like the fact that he did seem to be constantly improving on offense, or he'd play shut-down defense on even the better guards in the league, that would make us feel correct in saying he was a useful piece. And on top of that he seemed like he was becoming a solid leader/captain under Skiles.

This year though he's regressed on offense, his defense has taken a step back, he gets in foul trouble too often, he's just getting exploited on the court, and he really looked to be one of several weak links. And that says nothing about how rudderless and leaderless this team has been. If there's ever a season which justified stripping a player of a "C" it's this one.

[CubbiesFan07]

Even with Jermaine out of the picture we need to get a big dominant forward that can play the post and shoot the range, and I think that Jamison is a perfect FA to acquire for that. Put Noah at C, as he has done an excellent job for being a rookie this year.

Gordon is a must go, so is Hinrich. Once they leave, this team will be much better. I personally would like to see Deng be our go-to-guy in the clutch instead of Gordon.

[ZoomSlowik]

They'd still have to work out a large sign and trade for Jamison since they have zero cap space (well, mid-level exception, which is at best half of what Jamison will likely get). With no dead-weight expiring contracts, that'd be quite a pain in the ass to pull off since you'd either have to give up Gooden and another piece or two or convince them to take on a decent sized longer term contract (like the ones mentioned in my last post). I don't think you can sign Gordon/Deng to a one year deal and then trade them, otherwise that might work.

[madisonsmadhouse]

At this point I think I am willing to trade ANYONE for the right price. This team has played so godawful and with an absolute lack of heart, I wouldn't care if any of them got dealt.

[TeaLeafReaderII]

IN KC Johnson's story today in the Trib he goes through the crowded back court and makes predictions. Sounds like he thinks Kirk is going to be traded, and Thabo is going to have much larger role next season.

LINK


Here's a look at the incumbents' strengths and weaknesses and their likelihood of returning:



Ben Gordon
Salary status: Bulls will present $6.4 million tender offer, which Gordon could sign and then become an unrestricted free agent after 2008-09 season. Bulls own his rights this summer as a restricted free agent and also can negotiate a long-term extension.

2007-08 strengths: Remains the Bulls' best pure scorer and has the ability to score in bunches. Also, at least publicly, accepted sixth-man role without making waves.

2007-08 weaknesses: Served as primary ballhandler for longer stretches than ever and continued to display poor decision-making. With size limitations, often got swallowed by double-teams. Still an average defender.

Crystal ball outlook: Any sign-and-trade scenario is difficult given Gordon essentially announced to league he's seeking more than $10 million annually by rejecting last summer's extension offer. Bulls will shop him, but he'll return to play with Hughes, for better or for worse.


Larry Hughes
Salary status: Two years, $26.5 million remaining

2007-08 strengths: Has shown flashes of being able to contribute as a scorer and as a playmaker. Can get to the rim and owns enough experience to attack when jumper isn't falling.

2007-08 weaknesses: Poor shot selection contributed to his Bulls' field-goal percentage plummeting to 37.8 percent, below even his 41 percent career mark. Not as committed a defender as when he led the league in steals during 2004-05 season.

Crystal ball outlook: Contract makes him tough to move until 2009-10 season. Look for Hughes to return.


Kirk Hinrich
Salary status: Four years, $36.5 million remaining

2007-08 strengths: Improved his on-court leadership skills.

2007-08 weaknesses: Regressed at defensive end, where he seemed to lose a step after making second-team All-Defense last season. Shooting percentage dipped to his career mark of 41 percent.

Crystal ball outlook: Despite his substandard season, Hinrich still has value. Bulls will move him as part of larger package to settle point-guard position.


Thabo Sefolosha
Salary status: One year, $1.9 remaining on his rookie contract; Bulls own his rights for two more seasons.

2007-08 strengths: Flashed versatile defensive ability and improved jumper, particularly during long starting stretch until a groin injury sidelined him. Also displayed mental toughness to rebound from horrible start.

2007-08 weaknesses: Still dribbles into trouble too often and tries to make spectacular play.

Crystal ball outlook: Will return and be a prominent player.

kcjohnson@tribune.com

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

Its hard to imagine another year with Gordon, Sefolosha, and Hughes all crowded at the same position again. Then again, there is the money factor which makes it difficult to move any one player. I just wish we could somehow package say a Ben Gordon, Drew Gooden, and Nocioni for somebody and then perhaps move Kirk for a player and draft pick later on. Idk

[SoxFan1]

If we could con someone into taking Hinrich and our 1st, as well as a future pick and get Derrick Rose, that'd be sweet. Then you trade a combo of Gooden, Noc, Gordon (S&T), Hughes and Tyrus for a true PF like Jermaine O'Neal or Elton Brand. Fill in the bench with some veterans in FA and we're looking a lot better.

Rose - Thabo - Deng - Brand - Noah