The Trade that Should've Happened, According to Chad Ford Options

[soxfan3530]

By Chad Ford
ESPN

Trade 1:

Kevin Garnett and Mark Madsen to the Bulls

Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, P.J. Brown, Michael Sweetney and Malik Allen to the Wolves

Why should the Bulls do it?
Garnett
Garnett
They overspent for Ben Wallace last summer, and it looks like they'll have nothing much to show for it come June.

The team is still stellar defensively, but offensively? Ugh. Without a legit low-post scoring option, the Bulls live and die by the jump shot.

Adding Garnett to the Bulls' attack would give them one of the best inside-outside scoring punches in the league as well as a front line that could hog rebounds on both ends of the floor.

The great thing about this deal is it would allow Chicago to keep its backcourt intact. The Bulls would be the instant favorites to represent the East in the Finals.

Why should the Wolves do it?

Garnett's stellar play this season has the Wolves on the playoff bubble. But no one believes this team has enough juice to get out of the first round in the West.

With Garnett beginning to hint at his dissatisfaction in Minny, now is the time for the Wolves to make their move, before it's too late.

The Bulls are really the only team with the pieces to make a Garnett trade pay off in the long run. If the Bulls use their money elsewhere, Garnett will likely finish his career without a championship.

An offer of Deng, Thomas, Brown, Sweetney and Allen gives the Wolves some serious cap relief and it gives them two young players with serious upside. Deng fell just short of an All-Star bid this year and many scouts had Thomas pegged as the best prospect (a young KG, according to some) in the 2006 NBA draft. Pair them with Randy Foye and in two years the Wolves will be a better team.

Will it happen?
The chances look slim. The Wolves have steadfastly refused to deal Garnett over the years and haven't shown any signs of softening their stance.

The popular rumor has the Bulls after Pau Gasol. Gasol is good … but Garnett is better. This rumor has been around so long, we think the Bulls should give the Wolves one more call. This deal makes more sense for both teams than any potential trade in the NBA. There's still time for Kevin McHale to show the world he has a clue.




IMO i would have much rather had garnett. i know gasol is younger and cheaper but garnett is just better. gasol sucks at D and garnett is great at escaping the double team and finding the open man (i.e. kick it out to a wide open gordon). He would be perfect in the Bulls system and i think he has a lot of basketball left in him. Hopefully this is a deal we will explore at the end of the season.

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

Lock!

[Balta1701-B]

Lock!

The T-Wolves would never have done that.

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

Which is exactly why I said Lock. The trade deadline is over and we never getting Kevin Garnett. What makes you think that we would get Kevin Garnett and take on his contract when we couldn't even trade Luol freaking Deng for a 26 year old allstar PF?

(BTW I was on the fire Skiles bandwagon a long time ago, now im on the fire Paxson bandwagon. I have saved a few seats for any other riders)

[Balta1701-B]

Which is exactly why I said Lock. The trade deadline is over and we never getting Kevin Garnett. What makes you think that we would get Kevin Garnett and take on his contract when we couldn't even trade Luol freaking Deng for a 26 year old allstar PF?

(BTW I was on the fire Skiles bandwagon a long time ago, now im on the fire Paxson bandwagon. I have saved a few seats for any other riders)

Because the other team would not take what we would be willing to offer? The Grizzlies were not going to give up Gasol for Deng without getting Gordon as well, and the T-Wolves would be in the same boat, and would probably want even more than that.

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

I would rather have Pau Gasol over Kevin Garnett given the age. Certainly KG is a better player but we would have Pau for much longer.

[eddog2]

I'd rather have anyone over nobody!

[dasox24]

I'd have to go with KG. I'd have been okay with giving up Deng for KG, but not Gasol. I don't know, but I just don't like Pau as much as most of yall do. It's probably b/c I live in Memphis and watch him play quite often, and don't think he's worth what Memphis wanted.

[The Dude Abides]

The T-Wolves would never have done that.

fire skiles...now fire paxson??? It takes more than 3 years to build a champion. Pax has turned around the worst franchise in the NBA to almost a contender in a short time. We are 1 piece of the puzzle away from contending, but it'snot worth dismantling the bulls to do it. We had Brand, Artest and Miller...but traded them away for complete garbage...Now Gasol or KG would be awesome...but if we can keep Deng and Gordon, but find another way to add a low post player...then Pax looks like a jedi once again.

[Chicago Bulls Fr...]

The Bulls have gotten worst since 04 (Record wise) and we still haven't gotten out of the first round. Thats not really an improvement. Ever since our first playoffs in 04, the team is expected to produce in the playoffs but they haven't and thats why they have not improved enough IMHO.

[Balta1701-B]

The Bulls have gotten worst since 04 (Record wise) and we still haven't gotten out of the first round. Thats not really an improvement. Ever since our first playoffs in 04, the team is expected to produce in the playoffs but they haven't and thats why they have not improved enough IMHO.

Man, you are really going to desperate lengths to simplify things in order to make your point look valid when it clearly is not.

In the 2005 playoffs, look at the situation the Bulls were in. Yes, the Bulls made the playoffs, yes, the Bulls had home court advantage against the Wizards. But what kind of shape were the Bulls in? The Bulls went into that series with both Eddy Curry and Luol Deng, 2/5 of their starting lineup that season, out with severe injuries. Especially with the fact that they had no offense inside to get Washington's big men in foul trouble, Washington was able to own the lane late in the series, and that cost the Bulls a shot at the 2nd round.

In the 2006 playoffs, the Bulls were healthier, but still young...but they gave a sh*tload of a scare in the first round to the team that wound up winning the NBA championship.

So you're complaining that the Bulls have gotten worse since 04, when in 04 they faced a team at 80% strength, and in 05 they faced a team that won the NBA title. They produced as well as humanly possible in the playoffs both years, IMO. In 05 for example, the Bulls went into the playoffs without a single player in the top 50 or so in terms of performance for the full year, Noc was in teh 60's according to the average stats that are out there, and still somehow scared the pants of the team that won the NBA title. How in the world can you give this team so little credit?

If I recall correctly, this team is quite a few games ahead of the pace from 05-06 right now, even after the losing skid the Bulls just went through. As far as I can tell, even despite Pax making deals for the future, the Bulls as a team look better every year. I have no idea how you can be this negative on the system Pax and Skiles are building, I just can't see it.

[AirScott]

Because the other team would not take what we would be willing to offer? The Grizzlies were not going to give up Gasol for Deng without getting Gordon as well, and the T-Wolves would be in the same boat, and would probably want even more than that.

Gasol is not worth Deng AND Gordon. the Bulls need an inside scorer, but can we afford to give up Deng, who is scoring 18.8 points per game, for Gasol, who is scoring 20.3? hell, I'd go as far as saying the Bulls would be fine with a traditional go-to guy, such as Paul Pierce, if an inside scorer were not available. though it does seem that really nobody was available this season, I think giving up Deng is too steep a price for Gasol.