| Up Next for the Bulls |
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| Written by Joe Willett | |
| Tuesday, 08 July 2008 | |
 The Bulls are offensively challenged, there is no way around saying that. However, they have helped themselves by adding Rose, who is a solid 20/10 prospect. However, two of their best offensive weapons are on the free agent market. They need to find a way to keep at least one of the two starters testing the waters, and I think that Deng is the person to keep. The Bulls have good back-up options at each position with Larry Hughes behind Gordon and Andres Nocioni behind Deng, but neither of these players are upgrades. If they keep Deng, then they can help get rid of some of the traffic jam at the guard position. Letting Gordon go also opens up more money in trades in case a team is trying to alleviate some financial problems. I'm not saying get a washed up guy who is making to much money, but certain teams have players who are making money and playing well but are just sitting in bad situations. Making Trades The Bulls have trade bait to say the least. They are jam packed at the guard position and should be looking to deal some of their pieces for somebody that can help them win now. I am personally expecting some sort of blockbuster moves, and in my mind, I have a few crazy ideas already. Don't worry baby birds, papa's about to feed you. The Dallas Mavericks are in a position where they aren't getting any younger, and they are about to let some stars go to waste. Why not help them start the rebuilding stage a year early and avoid the whole first-round knockout that is destined to ensue. Remember those wasted contracts I was talking about, this is a prime example. Dirk Nowitzki is about to lose any chance at a Championship if he stays with the Mavs. The Bulls can offer a package of Kirk Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas and Aaron Gray for Dirk, who is a power forward that can really give the Bulls an inside scoring presence. In return for one superstar, the Mavs get two young players that can help them start to transition into a new era as well as a decent back-up at center to give them depth. The trade also fits salary restrictions set up by the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Who else could the Bulls make a move for? I have heard the name Yao Ming thrown around by the media, so why not have a little fun with it. The Rockets don't have a really good point guard, and Hinrich could step in and become a starter for them. Luis Scola is a good, but not great power forward. Tyrus Thomas could challenge for the starting job or push Scola into a better player. Either way, I think he would help the team. In return, the Bulls would get Yao Ming who will give them an inside offensive and defensive presence as well as allow Joakim Noah to move to PF. The trade would end up looking like Ming for Hinrich, Thomas, and Cedric Simmons who was added to make the salaries match. What the Bulls Will Do The consensus has been that the Bulls are going to make some sort of move and not sit on their stack of guards. I have included Thomas and Hinrich as trade pieces because they seem like the most trade-able players on the Bulls current roster. Expect the Bulls to find an inside scorer to pair up with Joakim Noah who is a defensive player. This should give the Bulls exactly what they need to make a run in the playoffs. Do not expect any of the crazy scenarios I have thrown out there to happen. They are lovely scenarios, they make sense from both teams' point of view, but the Bulls are more likely to find a player who is looking to be traded on a team that is looking to trade rather than convince a team that a trade is a good option. Whatever they do, expect it to make them contenders for next season. What They Shouldn't Do I have seen this thrown out there by fans, and I seriously hope that this is not going to happen, but I have grown to have a problem with Marcus Camby of the Denver Nuggets coming to Chicago. This would hurt the Bulls because they would be given another offensively challenged inside player who plays great defense. We had it once with Ben Wallace, we don't need another center who averages under 10 ppg. I love what Camby does rebounding and defensively. He is an extremely good player and fits on a lot of teams. One of those teams isn't the Bulls.         Comments
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responding to the previous comment
written by Joe W. , July 08, 2008
The Dirk article was me finding a good inside player who can really help the Bulls and is wasting his talent on a team that is heading down. I said I don't expect it to happen, but here is how it should happen.
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The Yao trade was me toying with an idea that was thrown out by a Chicago media outlet. I don't think that Yao is in position to get traded, but it would be nice. I was trying ti figure out a way for that trade to work and benefit both teams, but I think more pieces would need to be thrown in on Chicago's side for that one to work and it really won't happen. Rose is a 20-10 prospect. He isn't going to come right in and have 20-10 games right away, but when the Bulls drafted him, that was their intention. Finding a guy who can contribute a few years down the road. report abuse
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written by phillyfan , July 13, 2008
I agree with what you said about what the Bulls will do and shouldn't do. They need a better inside scorer instead of having another big man who can only defense.
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I'm not sure it's fair to dub Rose a 20-10 candidate right off the bat. The PG position is the hardest to develop under in the NBA and he's only played one year of college ball. What he'll bring to the table is more open looks for players like Gordon, Deng, Nocioni and Gooden.
The Dallas Mavericks won't trade Dirk Nowitzki unless it's (maybe) for another superstar. Mark my words, that trade theory is without any merit.
Why would the Rockets rebuild? They won 22 straight games last year and were without their star center for the playoffs!
These trades don't make sense from the Mavs and Rockets points of view as you suggest.
What the Bulls needed most of all is a player who could create opportunities for other players on offense. They're a jump shooting team, but didn't have a lot of creators. They could use a post presence, but that'll be harder to come by and they'd have to shell out a lot of money. They expect Rose to fill that void from the PG spot. Hinrich wasn't that type of PG. If they make a trade, I'd be surprised if Hinrich wasn't included in the deal, despite what they said about him being their starting 2 guard. I don't expect them to land a superstar, though.