Chicago Bulls Thread

[The X]

damn, that starting lineup is as tough as nails....aside from Gordon, all those guys have balls of steel

I think Deng will see a lot of time as well, because that starting lineup doesn't give them as much scoring....I could imagine them subbing out Brown & rolling with Deng at SF & Noci at PF....will be good to see Tyrus play beside Big Ben, if he plays at all that is....I'm hoping that Swizz guy is good

[John WB]

aside from Gordon, all those guys have balls of steel

Last I checked, wasn't Gordon the most clutch 4th quarter shooter in the game just a year ago?

[elwudl]

Maybe, but perhaps he wants to say that the others are very good at the defensive end, where Gordon isn't such a force.

[maes]

those pro's & cons seem a bit off to me.

i say it was a high risk move because Wallace's game is based on athleticism & energy. The drop off by the time he's 35 could be drastic.

I don't disagree that he'll slow down drastically at 35, but i don't see how that's a negative. His contract is for 4 years, he'll be playing well for 3 of those 4 years, and the Bulls gave up absolutely nothing, not even a draft pick.

I kinda disagree that his game is all athleticism...that's how i would describe a Josh Smith or Jason Richardson. Wallace has amazing instincts and a lot of muscle power, neither of those will really deteriorate in his early 30s.

I think his numbers will dip a little because he won't be doing the Detroit 39 mpg regular season grind (which cost them in the playoffs, imho), assuming Chicago keeps its heavy subbing philosophy. But his presence and impact should be the same whenever he's on the floor.

I think the signing is only a bust if Wallace is unplayable immediatley, the next 3 years. And that would be just weird. Even Mr. Glass himself, Marcus Camby, is playing strong when he's on the floor and has the same # of seasons under him, and Camby & Wallace are on opposite ends of thes spectrum in durability.

[Silas]

Very, very true maes. Also players like Darko and Mehmet Okur say they learned a lot defensivley from playing with the Wallaces in practice every day, and I think with somebody with all the talent that Tyrus Thomas has, he'll probably develop a lot under Wallace.

elwudl also said that they have a small lineup, but I disagree. Ben Gordon is a bit undersized at SG, but besides that they have a big starting lineup. Hinrich is larger than the average PG, Nocioni is bigger than the avg. SF since he is a SF/PF player. PJ Brown played center exclusively in NO and now if that lineup is right they're moving him to PF, and Ben Wallace has shown hes one of the best centers in the league so I'm not so sure size will be an issue for them.

[elwudl]

No I didn't want to say it will be an issue. Although Nocioni is only 6'7 and so he is not bigger than average!

[cyanide]

The top teams in the East are starting to look more and more scary every year.

[KDWilliams85]

My whole take on the Chandler for PJ Brown/JR Smith trade is as follows:

I think adding J.R. Smith was a mistake because we're stocked at the 2 spot with Gordon and Sefalosha. Smith will just crowd the backcourt and force a kind of... Eastern Phoenix Suns type of lineup. While we saw what it did for them, it might not fly too well in the East because of the size of the frontcourt.

So, I disapprove of this trade but it does give J.R. Smith a chance to prove his worth. As for Brown, I think it's a good deal for us. Brown is an offensive minded PF that can crash the boards.

[Andrew]

I don't see how acquiring JR Smith is too big a negative. If he doesn't work out, he doesn't have to play. His contract has a team option for this offseason so he can be off the books by the end of the year as well. He doesn't have to be anything more than a throw-in.

[Indy]

I think P.J. Brown is going to be a huge addition for the Bulls if they hold on to him. He is going to have a huge impact. He will knock down open shots, and he's very hungry to win so he'll really drive those guys. He'll be a welcome contrast to Tyson for the Bulls.

In fact, I would have traded Tyson for PJ from the Bulls standpoint, plus the fact that they get a young guy like JR who could break out any time is a huge steal. Paxson is doing an absolutely amazing job.

For the first time since 98, I'm sad to have to say to all my Bulls fan friends that there team will most definitley be better then mine.

[beau_boy04]

aside from Gordon, all those guys have balls of steel

Last I checked, wasn't Gordon the most clutch 4th quarter shooter in the game just a year ago?

Yes he's been known as the the best closer in 4th quarter for the past two seasons.

I kinda like the addition of Ben Wallace, he adds lots of strength up front and a defensive minded player who has a winning mentality aquired from his tenure with the Pistons is also a plus. I see another DOY season for Ben Wallace this season. One thing though, I loved the way Dennis Rodman would control his opponents and the way he played the game, I wonder if Ben Wallace can bring that type of impact to the table. He has good players around him so he needs to concentrate more in his man to man defense i'm predicting 13-15 rpg and 2.5-3.0 bpg this season for Ben.

What a better tutor for Thomas than Ben Wallace himself. Before the agreement the Bulls for known for his defense now image with the Wallace addition... amazing.

[Its_asdf]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bulls/cs ... ull07.html

With Wallace and 6-11 P.J. Brown (who will come over from the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in the Chandler trade), the Bulls are better in the front-court but still could use another big body. According to team sources, the next name on Paxson's wish list is restricted free agent Chris Wilcox, a 6-10 power forward.

Since the Wallace signing will eat up most of the Bulls' $16 million of cap space, their best chance of landing Wilcox will be through a sign-and-trade deal with his current team, the Seattle SuperSonics. That's always a tricky situation when the current team wants to retain the player, but the Bulls could benefit from the Sonics' shaky financial outlook.

Wilcox, who will turn 24 in September, is looking for a multiyear deal at roughly $10 million a year. Although the Sonics were delighted with his play after he was acquired in February from the Los Angeles Clippers -- he averaged 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds in 29 games with Seattle -- they don't want to commit that kind of money to an essentially unproven player.

If the Bulls get Wilcox, then I'm sorry. I have to jump on to the bandwagon first before it gets too full.

[TheBigEasy]

plus the fact that they get a young guy like JR who could break out any time is a huge steal.

Emphasis on could be a huge steal. At this point, JR Smith is nothing more than a throw-in to make the salaries work and because we wanted to get rid of his attitude. Remember, when we got him, Hornets fans and FO were amazed at his talent and thought he could be a star in this league. Even more so, when we drafted Chris Paul last year. Was supposed to be one of the best backcourt tandems for years to come. A year later JR is just a throw-in. Maybe Skiles can turn him finally around ... than Chicago and Paxon look like they made a big steal. If he doesn't pan out ... all that people will remember is that he was a throw-in.

As a side not to that ... Last year people thought NO was stupid giving up Baron Davis for Dale Davis and Speedy Claxton ... well although neither of these two players is with the Hornets anymore - Claxton was a candidate for 6th man of the year, it got us Chris Paul, we cleared major cap space .... and most importantly - Baron Davis hasn't been able to get the Warriors to the playoffs .

So thats why I wouldn't worry that much about JR Smith KDWilliams85. If he doesn't show improvement he won't play ... and won't take any minutes from the other wingmen.

Like I said before and others have said. You get one of the most professional and classiest acts in the league in PJ Brown, no matter if he stays past the trade deadline or not. He'll teach your young guys a lot and he has some game left in him ... That alone should make the deal worthwile for the Bulls.

Let's just hope Tyson Chandler can be what we want him to be.

TBE

PS: As a side note ... after those deals I started a new NBA Live dynasty, including Chandler and Peja for the Hornets. So far (4 games into the season) Chandler is great ... averaging 11.3 points per game, 6.8 offensive rebounds and 14.5 rebounds overall a game. Sounds good so far ... the only downside is, I lost those 4 games by an average margin of 24.8 points .

[beau_boy04]

All I can say is "I CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR NBA DRAFT" and you know why!

[Jackie Kong]

I would trade Duhon, Sweetney and Allen in exchange for Wilcox.

[Silas]

Sonics would never accept that. They dont need Duhon, which is the only valuable player in that trade. They have Watson and Ridnour, and Ridnour is better, and will remain better, than Duhon.

[The X]

aside from Gordon, all those guys have balls of steel

Last I checked, wasn't Gordon the most clutch 4th quarter shooter in the game just a year ago?

yep, it's great watching Gordon in the 4th....but as elwudl said, I was referring to the defensive end....but the Bulls will be fine there, so there's no worries there....

[beau_boy04]

Ok if all this speculations are truth then I'd say the Bulls starting rotation is shaping up...

C: Ben Wallace
PF: Nocioni
SF: Deng
SG: Gordon
PG: Hinrich

I really like the idea of Gordon coming out the bench coz he really puts that extra punch to end games. If Thomas plays extremely well and progresses in no time and add some big time muscles then he could develop into a extremely athletic PF. I'm very excited about the future.

The biggest question of them all is if Bulls get the rights to draft Oden next season, what would happened to Wallace??? maybe this rotation will be waiting for us then....

C: Oden
PF: Wallace
SF: Deng
SG: Gordon
PG: Hinrich

SWEET

[Silas]

I'm not so sure Skiles would start Oden his rookie year if Tyrus Thomas is available at PF and Ben at C.

[Abctest123]

C Wallace
PF Brown
SF Nocioni
SG Gordon
PG Hinrich

Not bad of a starting lineup, although quite small. I think 50 wins in the East and if being lucky the conference finals are in the mix.

Just wondering, but doesnt Deng usually start ahead of Nocioni? I dont watch many Bulls games, and when the Raptors play them, I rarely watch since its been two years since the Raptors have won against Chicago .

[sucram]

Felt like making a jordan mix. Thought this would be the most suitable place to post it

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VARYJPfiZx4

[funk99]

C Wallace
PF Brown
SF Nocioni
SG Gordon
PG Hinrich

Not bad of a starting lineup, although quite small. I think 50 wins in the East and if being lucky the conference finals are in the mix.

Just wondering, but doesnt Deng usually start ahead of Nocioni? I dont watch many Bulls games, and when the Raptors play them, I rarely watch since its been two years since the Raptors have won against Chicago .

deng does usually.

[Andrew]

Deng did start 56 games last year but was coming off the bench late in the season and in the Playoffs.

[air gordon]

For the first time since 98, I'm sad to have to say to all my Bulls fan friends that there team will most definitley be better then mine.

i'm pretty excited and it's pretty strange to see the Bulls as front page material for a few days now on national sports papers/sites... but i'm going to temper my expectations until i see them start playing. one thing's for sure- the Central division is going to be pretty damn tough

as far as the starters- Noce vs Deng...
it's a tricky situation: Deng last year was recoverying/battling a wrist injury. the injury opened up a lot of minutes for Nocioni and he took advantage of it- his play in the last few months of the season and in the playoffs should earn him starters minutes. Even when it looked like Deng was full strength, Noce was still taking mintues from him

IMo Skiles will start:
C- Wallace
pf- Brown
sf- Deng
sg- Gordon
pg- Hinrich

Brown will initially start but Nocioni will be the first one off the bench and get a lot minutes. I can see a lot of small lineups where Wallce/Nocioni are the C/PF combo.. giving the team a quicker/more athletic lineup


Thabo Selfolosha is actually 6'7 instead of the 6'5 height he's listed in the draft's media guide... nice

i'm not buying into the Wilcox rumors yet. Seems like a worst case scenario for Seattle to make that type of deal with Chicago.

i find it a little contracting when some posters are saying Chicago paid way too much to get Wallace when lesser/unproven players like Curry, Dalmebert & Chandler got similar contracts last year and now lesser/unproven players like Wilcox, Harington, Gooden are asking for similar amounts

[Dean]

After returning to the Bulls thread after a small absence, i have to say..I could not be any more pumped for the season to start! CHI-TOWN!!!