"Chicago Bulls have made it known, if they get the number 1 pick, they will take Tyrus Thomas."

I like Thomas, but I would prefer Aldridge between the two...but, I would love to see either on the Bulls next year.

Thomas is a PF....which might give insight into what Pax is thinking....

If we draft Tyrus Thomas over LeMarcus Aldridge I will punch a huge freaking hole in my wall then take my remote and throw it into the freaking river

We need someone tall, Thomas is not
We need someone that can score in the post, Tyrus can't

We also need to find out what Portland does with their pick, we have to see who they take, if they take Tyrus we take lamarcus, and so on.

Maybe he's planning on taking Thomas (if available) and going after another big either with that 2nd pick (O'Bryant) or via free agency (Nazr)???? I'm really thinking perhaps Pax is under the impression that Tyson Chandler isn't our answer in the starting lineup at either position.

Making ANYTHING clear like this before draft day is just stupid. Pax is not that dumb, smoke grenades away. If we get number 1 we could chose him, or this could be Pax's attempt to boost Ty's stock so we have a better shot at whomever he is targeting there should we fall later. This story is bunk either way you look at it.

Of course...if we were to get Garnett and had to move a big salary in order to take on his contract...that would make sense...

There's still a very good chance the Bulls' pick will wind up ahead of Portland's.

i hear you loud and clear on that i will never be a bulls fan for the rest of my life if we do that it is not right at all. if JP knows what is best for him we will pick Aldridge then pick up another post player or we will pick up Sene with the second one.

if you're still a bulls fan after trading Brand for chandler, drafting Jay Williams and letting the dynasty break up...then you could handle that.
with some of this, of course.

fish YES!!!! THATS THE BEST NEWS IVE HEARD IN A LONG TIME!! When did you hear this? Tyrus Thomas will be a superstar people, just wait...

lmao, some great Bulls Fan you are... So long Bulls91 dont break your neck falling off the bandwagon while your at it.

I want Tyrus Thomas and Rodney Carney so bad but unlike you or other people I would still support the bulls for whoever they got, EVEN IF IT Were Redick even though I hate his guts and would be the worst pick in the entire NBA. IMO they will take Tyrus with their first and most likely Ronnie Brewer with the second.

Why do you want Thomas? What does he provide that we don't already have?

Just curious

The question of whether tyrus is going to be superstar is of no concern to me.

If he is, he will be a ben wallace or theo ratliff type star..........defensive minded

I don't care if he will be better than aldridge, we need a big man who can score down low.

From a defensive standpoint, we are set at pf. Even if we were looking for a defensive big man, it isn't a pf, its a center like Nazr mohammed.

If someone is REALLY set on getting a 6'9 pf, look at al harrington, bc he scores.

We already have a lanky 6'9 forward named loul deng.

No tyrus thomas, no al harrington, ALDRIDGE and MOHAMMED

I agree, but there is a good chance, we could pick 2nd and Aldridge will be gone. Then we almost have to take Thomas 2nd. I think we will use both draft picks on big men, plus we will add 1 low post player in FA.

I'm not against a 6'9 pf if he is a good player on both ends. Some great PF's are shorter than 6'10....Elton Brand for example. I'd take his 20/10!!! In fact, we had his 20/10-argh.

Thomas' height isn't as much of an issue as his lack of ability to score is.

The Bulls have probably done the same thing teams do right before the NFL draft. They lie and tell other teams who they will pick in the draft just to get a player that they actually wanted. If portland takes Lamarcus i would want them to take Baragni with the knicks pick. He is being compared to Dirk and Pau. If not him then Tiago Splitter with the knicks pick.

As for the bulls pick.Im going with and staying with this guy, Saer Sene. He will be a great backup Center. 7fter with a 7'8 wingspan. He will help us on the defensive end for sure.

Absolutley none of those guys should be the Bulls pick, Saer Sene isnt a guy u want to pick with 16, hes a early 2nd rounder late 1st at best. Tiago Splitter im pretty sure isnt coming out, (Saw it on draftexpress i think) And Bargini is another unproven player who none of us know and like all other europeans probably not developed to play in the NBA right now. Our Best bets are drafting Thomas,Aldridge with the first pick and either Obryant,Carney,Roy,Brewer etc with the 2nd.

Hopefully, we will get aldridge with the first and Obryan with the 2nd...that would be a pretty good draft.

I never said i didnt want Lamarcus. And tiago Splitter is comming out
http://draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1282

well like I said, I would be excited for Aldridge also but Watching Thomas perform at such a high level in the Tourney intrigued me. This guy blocked about 5 shots a game during the tourney and about 10+ rebounds each game. Yes I agree that his offensive game is rather "raw" along with most of his game but he is the best player who fits "Our System". Hes a defense first kind of guy and thats a Skiles-Paxson type player. To be honest, I would take Aldridge if we had a different system instead of our current one. I still think they will both be great players, Aldridge will most likely be better Earlier but later I predict Thomas to be the best. He just needs to add about 25-35 pounds over his career to be productive. I like Thomas more than Aldridge cuz I think Aldridge is too soft but like I said if we had a uptempo lineup Id choose Aldridge but with the system we have now, Thomas.

ok, I saw something about him not coming out a while ago, this ones updated so... Either way I dont want any of them guys.

With the lack of any sure impact players some team will surely take a flyer on a big man of Patrick's potential inside of the top 10. I know how much flack Im going to take for saying this, but if we drop down to 3 or 4 I would really think about taking O'Bryant there. It might be a go big or get out year for us in the draft, and anyone we get no matter what is going to be a potential based pick.

Little do you know that JJ Reddick would be a huge shot in the arm for the Bulls offense. The problem with Scott Skiles system is that it depends on the guards to make shots from downtown. The problem is the Bulls have exactly two guys between their PGs, SGs, and SFs who can hit a shot consistantly from 20 feet plus in Ben Gordon, and Andres Nocioni. Noc you can even give an asterick to because his shot is slow developing so he needs to be a little more open than most to have time to get it off before the defensive closeout reaches him. A pure shooter like JJ Reddick wouldn't allow the defenders to sag and clog into the middle of the floor like they do now, which gums up all of the cutters and screeners, trying to get players open, and completely stopping what should be the basket cuts phase of the offense. Reddick might not be worth a spiff as a defender, but he would help the Bulls offense more than just about anyone else in the draft this year.

That doesn't really mean anything. Splitter has already declared for the draft twice and pulled-out. Even with the new rule regarding foreigners, he can still do it two more times.

He has no buyout clause, which means his draft stock would take a serious plunge if he were to stay in the draft. His agent has made it known that he needs to be a very high pick to stay in. It wouldn't make much sense for the Bulls to draft Splitter when it's at best 50-50 that he even plays in the NBA next year, and probably more likely that he doesn't.

Tyrus is really a 6'9" version of Chandler. They're extremely similar. They're both good but not great rebounders, they're both fairly good shot-blockers, they're both woefully thin, and neither has any offensive game whatsoever. We don't need another defensive specialist, especially another thin, undersized one.

Thomas' stat lines from the NCAA tournament:

Iona- 20 minutes, 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks
Texas A&M- 20 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks
Duke- 25 minutes, 9 points, 13 rebounds, 5 blocks
Texas- 39 minutes, 21 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks
UCLA- 17 minutes, 5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks

That's decent, but only the Texas game was really impressive, and they basically let him roam free for several dunks in that game (Before someone says it, Aldridge was mostly guarding Davis, who is a really bad matchup for him. Buckman/Tucker are the culprits).

Unless Thomas makes drastic improvements (especially on offense), I don't see him doing all that much for at least his first two years, maybe more. He's not going to vastly more athletic than his competition in the pros, which is really his only asset.

He's very similar to other first round busts like Stromile Swift, Jerome Moiso, and Marcus Haislip. All of them were similarly athletic and raw and came out of nowhere to be high draft picks, but none went quite as high as Thomas is projected to go in the draft because of stronger draft classes.

Aldridge is a better fit for us because of our system. We don't run as much as a lot of other teams, so our big men need to be able to score in the half-court offense, especially in the post. Thomas can't do that, and it'll take a lot of work for him to get to the point where he can do it. He'd be significantly more dangerous in a wide-open offense like the Suns, where all he has to do is run and catch alley-oops from Nash. Plus with his length, Aldridge can be just as dangerous a defensive player as Thomas, only he actually has some offensive talent. I really don't see a major advantage to taking Thomas over Aldridge at all.

GREAT post Zoom. Sums up my feeling exactly, and with a lot more evidence.

AGREED

Forget about thomas

aldridge + mohammed + chandler = FUTURE championship front court rotation

Thank you Zoom, you took the time to say exactly what I was thinking.

Say no to Tyrus Thomas

Throw in Nene and yes.

if aldridge and thomas are off the board, we might have to take him...but there is also splitter.

take out chandler and substitute with pretty much anyone else...then yes.

Thomas = Josh Smith/Tyson Chandler

McRoberts is supposedly taking his name out of this draft, so I'd say, I would take Aldridge first, then Bargnani(he's even stated he wants to play for us), then Roy.

I'm with the crowd that will literally gouge out their freaking eyes if we draft Thomas

Tyrus could be good, but i dont think he will develop his game here in Chicago... i think hes gonna need a lot of touches in order to establish himself as a offensive threat.... And I dont see that happening... (think Tyson Chandler) He has a long way to go on the offensive side, so he's just gonna be there for putbacks, and waiting for a pass to finish strong low for a while.... thats how he will get his points.... however, he has potential to be a good defensive pressence down low for Defense...

AND one more thing......Everyone knows we need someone that can score down low.... its a must....And thats why LaMarcus is our 15-16 pt, 9 rbs future guy... (could average 20 or more if he's determined) add that tall player w/ our backcourt.... could be pretty scary... Kirk, Ben, Deng, Alridge, Chandler=good offense, good defense....

I don't expect LaMarcus to be quite that good as a rookie. He's good, but he's not an instant-impact stud like Howard or Stoudemire. Even those guys only averaged in the low teens. I'd expect 12 points tops, with 8 as a minimum, and 7 or 8 boards and maybe 1.5 blocks per game.

Oops, misread what you were saying. He can definitely do that in the future. He as Jermaine O'Neal/Chris Bosh type upside.

oh hey dont worry about that.... its cool....and yeah i totally agree w/ u.... i see Alridge averaging about 9-11 pts, about 7 boards and 1 blk per game his rookie season. And i think around the last 2 months he should be feeling confortable out there and averaging about 14pts, 8-9 rbs unless he hits the rookie wall

Just putting it outthere Anyone who said that we should draft Yi Jianlian can now stop talking about him because he is not comming to the NBA draft this year.

I don't think Nazr is the answer, but Aldridge and Obryant is what I'm hoping for. Than I'd think long and hard about offering Peja a long term deal, especially if I thought Deng could play shooting guard.

We dont need Peja... 3 good small fowards is a no no.... we need to save up the money for our front court, and then sign up our main young core 4 the future.....