NBA Thread 2013-2014

[pettie4sox]

Why would people let it go? He's still on the roster. He's messing up their financial flexibility in epic fashion and not giving them the #2 scorer and solid interior presence that people wanted. He only gave them 16 a game even with Rose out and he's likely starting to decline.

 

POTD

[ZoomSlowik]

The front office messed up the financial flexibility of this team. Getting mad at Boozer for coming here and...playing pretty much how we expected isn't the best source of anger (but clearly placing any criticism at the feet of the front office is misplaced, because...)

 

I don't understand this "while Rose was out". You'd think with Rose out there'd have been huge offensive stat improvements in Deng, Noah and Boozer right? Wellp. Those points were pretty much distributed among the guards or just not scored.

 

Would it really make you feel better if I explicitly said that it was a bad signing? I said I hated it at the time in my last post. However, he also hasn't been as effective as people thought when they got him. Boozer was supposed to be that #2 guy that would get them 20-10 every year (or at least that's what they told us after they whiffed on Lebron). Instead, he hasn't really been any better than Deng.

 

The point with Rose out is that there were a ton of opportunities to score more points without Rose taking 20 shots a game. Noah and Deng aren't the kind of guys that can get significantly more shots, but Boozer has been in the past. Instead he only scored 16 on a weak TS%.

 

He's an okay player, not a good one. He's a terrible defender and despite some offensive skills, hasn't done much to improve the Bulls' offense. As I posted, the Bulls have been significantly better when he's not on the floor. Even if he were neutral, that would be a huge improvement over what they're getting now. We're also paying him $15 million a year and he's on the wrong side of his peak. That's why people are annoyed with Boozer. I don't see why that's surprising or controversial.

Edited July 10, 2013 by ZoomSlowik

[Jenksismyhero]

Simmons chimes in on a potential trade for the Bulls and Lakers, which wouldn't happen in a thousand years:

 

• Destination No. 2: Flip Gasol's expiring contract to Chicago for Luol Deng's and Kirk Hinrich's expiring contracts. Just a fascinating trade. The Bulls know Jimmy Butler can replace Deng's minutes, and that a crunch-time five of Gasol, Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, Butler and Mike Dunleavy Jr. (to spread the floor) would be more potent than Noah, Carlos Boozer, Deng, Butler and Rose. They'd have to say yes.

 

For the Lakers, they'd keep Deng for a couple of months before rerouting him to a contender for expiring deals and a pick. (You don't need Deng in a contract year making you slightly better than you need to be.) But here's the crucial part …

 

The Lakers can't sign LeBron after he wins his third straight NBA title for the simple reason that, in the history of basketball, the best player on a championship team has NEVER subsequently ditched that team. s***, even Wilt wouldn't have done that. LeBron would get crucified for turning his back on a chance to win four straight. No competitive person would ever, in a million years, do something like that. That's why the Lakers need to improve the Bulls — they can't get LeBron unless Chicago, Houston, Oklahoma City, Indiana or Golden State beats the Heat. And Chicago's the best bet of them all.

[Balta1701]

If the Lakers want the Bulls to beat the Heat, they need to figure out how to get Boozer replaced by Gasol, not Deng.

[thxfrthmmrs]

Bulls are reportedly looking to extend the contract of Deng between the value of the Smith and Iggy's deal.

 

I don't want to bash them for the lack of creativity once again, I am just perplexed on their man crush on Deng. This franchise needs to learn to move on.

[Buehrle>Wood]

I thought we had his second coming already. Why extend?

[Balta1701]

Is there any way they could rework his deal to get under the tax this year or is that locked in?

[Jordan4life_2007]

Andrew Bynum to the Cavs. 2/24.5 - I read only 6 million of that is guaranteed. Minimal risk for Cleveland.

 

Cavs with a team option for 2015. So basically no risk for them.

 

I see now that the 6 million guaranteed money is for only 2015. There's a s***load of incentives overall. In other words, he's not getting paid bank to ride the bench.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Jordan4life

[witesoxfan]

Andrew Bynum to the Cavs. 2/24.5 - I read only 6 million of that is guaranteed. Minimal risk for Cleveland.

 

Cavs with a team option for 2015. So basically no risk for them.

 

Don't think they'll stay healthy, but if they do, that's a pretty good starting 5.

[Kyyle23]

Bynum has nobody but himself to blame for that contract. He was quite the douche last year

[Jordan4life_2007]

Don't think they'll stay healthy, but if they do, that's a pretty good starting 5.

 

It would serve them best to be bad again and get a shot at Wiggins. Could you imagine that s***? LeBron would definitely go back. Irving/Wiggins/LeBron=game over. Or trade Irving for the sickest package in nba history.

 

[Jake]

If Thibs really loves Lu, so you defer to his judgment?

[Jordan4life_2007]

If Thibs really loves Lu, so you defer to his judgment?

 

I don't get it? The Bulls are just boring and terrible. Luol Deng is an old 28. You lock him up now then he becomes impossible to move. Carmelo can become a FA after next year. A franchise with vision would be focusing on him.

[Jake]

Carmelo + Thibodeau = ?

[Kyyle23]

La La isnt letting Melo leave NY. So your "vision" means nothing

[Balta1701]

I don't get it? The Bulls are just boring and terrible. Luol Deng is an old 28. You lock him up now then he becomes impossible to move. Carmelo can become a FA after next year. A franchise with vision would be focusing on him.

LOL, Carmelo does all that to wind up in New York and you expect him to leave.

[witesoxfan]

I understand what he's saying though. Luol Deng is a really good player but he is not a #2 on a championship team. A guy that plays defense and is pretty versatile offensively (though with no ball handling skills to really speak of) has a lot of value, but you need a better #2. You look at teams that have made and won the finals in recent history and you generally see teams with a ton of weapons and two legitimate players to drive the offense. Even the Mavericks 3 years ago had Kidd and Terry along side Dirk. You just don't have weapons like that in Chicago. Rose facilitates the offense and no one else can really draw the attention of the defense like you see in Miami, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, or really even Indiana. You'll see it in Houston this year too.

 

If they got creative, even an aging Pau would help the Bulls quite a bit, but there are all kinds of things they can do.

 

It would serve them best to be bad again and get a shot at Wiggins. Could you imagine that s***? LeBron would definitely go back. Irving/Wiggins/LeBron=game over. Or trade Irving for the sickest package in nba history.

 

The NBA isn't like the NFL or MLB though because of the lottery. You can be really bad and still end up with a low pick. They have a really nice group of guys there, and if LeBron does actually want to go back to Cleveland, then it doesn't matter, because they'll have the pieces in place. If all these guys get hurt, then they'll be really bad and in the running for that #1 pick.

[Balta1701]

You're 100% correct, Luol Deng is not a great #2 option, but throwing out ideas that anyone with a shred of reason will scoff at as a way to replace him is not the way to convince me that extending him is a bad idea.

 

Saying "Extending Deng is a terrible idea, if you don't you might be able to go after Carmelo" in 2014 is a selling point on extending Deng when you factor everything in.

 

Give me a decent reason to believe extending Deng is a bad idea and I'll happily agree it's a bad idea.

[witesoxfan]

I think the fact that it's better to keep your options open is worth it. You have no idea what teams will be in contention come deadline time and who will be available, and Deng's $14 mill expiring contract is extremely valuable. If you can't get anything done, then maybe you work on a small extension at that point just to ensure you have a steady option at the 3.

[thxfrthmmrs]

I still think Jimmy Butler is more of a natural 3. By not extending Deng, we will be able to shift Jimmy to the 3 and look for a natural scoring 2 that we really need to compliment this team.

 

If we do not extend Deng and amnesty Boozer, then we would have a lot of rooms to play with, and we can really target some big name free agents or the plethora of great young RFA's in next year's class.

 

By extending Deng, we are really saying a 30 year old Deng with all the mileage and nagging injuries is the best option in 2014, when it really isn't. And it will effectively close our windows to be free agent players in 2014, and the three years beyond that.

[Balta1701]

I still think Jimmy Butler is more of a natural 3. By not extending Deng, we will be able to shift Jimmy to the 3 and look for a natural scoring 2 that we really need to compliment this team.

 

If we do not extend Deng and amnesty Boozer, then we would have a lot of rooms to play with, and we can really target some big name free agents or the plethora of great young RFA's in next year's class.

 

By extending Deng, we are really saying a 30 year old Deng with all the mileage and nagging injuries is the best option in 2014, when it really isn't. And it will effectively close our windows to be free agent players in 2014, and the three years beyond that.

I get both of these last couple posts.

 

One thing worth noting though...Dunleavy signing a 2 year deal throws a major wrench into teh Bulls having a lot of room to play with.

[witesoxfan]

I get both of these last couple posts.

 

One thing worth noting though...Dunleavy signing a 2 year deal throws a major wrench into teh Bulls having a lot of room to play with.

 

Meh, if you include a future 1st or 2nd, or a few future 1sts and 2nds, you can always move expiring contracts.

[Chisoxfn]

LOL, Carmelo does all that to wind up in New York and you expect him to leave.

If he wants to win a title, he just might.

[Steve9347]

Oh, God. Stop with the Carmelo nonsense.

 

As for Deng, extending him would be moronic. The fact that he's an expiring contract makes him more valuable now to the Bulls and possible suitors. It's not like he's going to go out and average 22/7 this year and have his pricetag increase.

[HuskyCaucasian]

There's a report that Howard left LA because he wanted the Lakers to phase out Kobe Bryant after the 2013-14 season.

 

Sources told ESPN.com that Howard and his representatives -- in a handful of meetings with Lakers officials before he became a free agent July 1 -- strongly suggested the center would have a difficult time re-signing with the team if Bryant stayed with the franchise beyond the 2013-14 season, the final year of his contract.

 

The Lakers, almost from the moment Howard arrived in August 2012, had gone to great lengths to assure the 27-year-old that they saw him as the future face of the franchise and that the torch would be passed from Bryant to him in short order.

 

But with Bryant saying publicly just a week before free agency that he was thinking of playing at least two or three more seasons, it was hard for Howard to envision when he would assume that role, sources said.

 

"How can it be Kobe's team and Dwight's team?" one source said. "It was about the passing of the torch."