Chicago Bulls Thread

[---]

At $9M, let him go to Memphis I say.

Anyway, about what Conley adds to the Grizz, I think they are close to a 50 win team again. They tanked it this year because of the Pau injury.

Conley/Miller/Gay/Stro/Pau being backed up by Lowry/Jones/Cardinal/Warrick/Tsakalidis is a playoff team, even in the West IMO. I think they are ahead of or on par with teams like Minnesota, Sacramento, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, New Orleans, Portland and Golden State.

EDIT: Ignore Tsakalidis

[Andrew]

If the Grizzlies were actually interested in the rumoured package of Nocioni, Duhon and the rights to Noah for Gasol, I'd pull the trigger on that one before they had a chance to change their mind. As much as I like Noce, as solid as Duhon has been and for any potential that Noah might have, if the Bulls could snare Gasol without giving up Deng, Gordon or Hinrich or any combination of the three, I don't think they can pass that up. Seems like wishful thinking though.

[Sauru]

yeah that cant be true, unless memphis just wants to get rid of him. i cant imagine thats the most than can get for gasol. still like you said, if it is true make the deal now before they reconsider.

[-Young Buck-]

Chicago Bulls forward Andres Nocioni has agreed to a five-year contract worth about $38 million, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.

The deal can't become official until the NBA's moratorium on free agent signings ends July 11. But Bulls general manager John Paxson confirmed the deal is in place, the Tribune reported.

According to sources, the contract includes a team option for a sixth season, the newspaper reported.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2928061

if memphis gets him its going to be through a trade.

[maes]

Yeah, i read that Memphis offered more in the $7-$8 range, and Paxson's offer with a +10% every year bumps up Noce's offer to $7.6 average, ending in $9.5M....so Paxson's offer was pretty competitive w/ what Memphis was offering.

I'm glad he's staying, although some friends of mine argue with me he's not worth $8M a year...which i don't follow.

[Andrew]

I read that Noce's contract has been front-loaded in the hopes that it will help the Bulls when negotiating extensions with Gordon and Deng which sounds good to me. If there's any way of keeping Nocioni as well as those guys I'm all for it, though if it comes to getting rid of someone (either in a trade to improve the team or for financial reasons), I'd still prefer they keep Gordon and Deng.

[---]

Just a heads up for anyone interested, the Bulls are playing their first summerleague game today at 3PM ET. You can watch it online here:

http://www.nba.com/magic/news/07summerleague.html

I hope I can get up, I haven't slept yet and it starts in four hours.

[NovU]

Just a heads up for anyone interested, the Bulls are playing their first summerleague game today at 3PM ET. You can watch it online here:

http://www.nba.com/magic/news/07summerleague.html

I hope I can get up, I haven't slept yet and it starts in four hours.

AWESOME!

[Dan's Brain]

The ESPN recap of the Bulls summer league game focused a bit on Tyrus' improved jump-shot. Only summer league, sure. And the defenders were backing off on him. But they did the same last year and he was clanging them.

Sounds like he's been working pretty hard on it, staying in the gym until he hits 700 jumpers in a day.

Halle-fucken-lujah

[Andrew]

Good to hear. If he can knock down jumpers from 15 consistently in addition to a couple of moves he's shown around the hoop plus the ability to catch pretty much anything thrown up around the rim he could make a good contribution at the offensive end this year, providing he gets the PT.

[Dan's Brain]

I dont see how you dont give him the start this year, regardless of whether PJ's in town or not.
Given the way he came on after the all-star break, it would be a shame and a surprising one at that, if he didnt get around 25 minutes per this year.

And if someone like Joe Smith, Chris Mihm or Mikki Moore comes in, Tyrus should still be the first option at the 4, ahead of Noah.

[Silas]

I could certainly see Joe Smith or Mikki Moore getting the start over Noah or Thomas, but not Chris Mihm. I really don't think he'd fit into the Bulls' system. On top of that, he's too injury proned, and really not that good. He may have more talent than a guy like Moore, but what Moore does well, Mihm does poorly, and Moore knows what to do to be effective, much like P.J. Brown did this year.

[---]

Has anyone here been watching the Bulls summerleague games?

For the most part (Tyrus!) I'm liking what I've been seeing.

Aaron Gray - A little more mobile than I thought, but still slow by NBA standards. Has good hands a good basketball IQ, makes smart plays and only shoots when he has the best shot, which usually goes in. Like the look of his post scoring, his defence is solid. Solid would be the word to describe him. Rebounds well, good passer, blocks a couple shots and just makes the right play. Big body that clogs the lane and doesn't back down. He's a strong guy and that helps alot defensively, keeping guys off the low block. I think he's an underrated scorer, he's had a couple nice post moves and jumpers over these couple games. Should be a solid center off the bench, hopefully his footspeed doesn't hurt him defensively, because he doesn't hurt you in any other way. I like what a see.

Andre Barrett - I would love to see him back next year. Kirk and Duhon are not pure passing point guards, Andre is. Thabo showed great feel at the PG, but he's a few years away. While he may not ever really see the court, he's good insurance in case of injury. Great passer and has a really good feel running the point, the team just seems to make the right play with him in charge (see: Jose Barea, Mavericks). I don't like the look of his outside shot at all, he'll need to work on that, especially as a 5-10 point guard. He's a guy that just runs on IQ rather than physical ability. Made some nice plays and played good defence, but his size hurts him alot. Scores when he needs to, but usually going to the basket. Should put up a good fight for a roster spot.

JamesOn Curry - He's a scorer, but I haven't seen a whole lot of scoring from him at all. His shot looks off, he doesn't look right out there. I was pretty impressed by his ability to run the point guard spot, but this is summerleague. If he works on his handle, he would have a much easier time scoring the ball. He just can't create his own shot right now, and when he does he's off. Hopefully he heats up and puts on a good show today. His defence is really lacking. He's undersized already, so being an average defender just doesn't cut it in the NBA. He's really gonna have to work on that and hustle more. He needs to learn how to impact the game if he isn't scoring. He did that day one with his passing ability, dishing out a few nice feeds and finishing with 4 assists. He also needs to be more aggresive. He needs to shoot more, get his shot going and get into a rythm. I wouldn't be suprised if he drops 20+ today if he just plays more aggresively and looks to utilize his greatest weapon - his scoring ability.

Thabo Sefolosha - Defence looks fantastic out there, just like it did on Dwyane Wade in the first round this season. He bothered Adam Morrison all game long and picked the passing lanes alot. There was plays where if it was anyone else denying their man, the guy would of made the pass - not with Thabo there though. He completely destroys passing angles with his reflexes. His man to man defence is great. He's long, quick and pretty athletic, but the thing I like the most is he obviously loves to play defence. If he can work on his jumpshot, he could become special. He rebounds very well, we all know he's a great passer with good court vision for a guy his size (especially as a SF) and plays great defence. He just needs to top that off with a jumpshot, which hasn't looked great thus far, especially yesterday. If he had three point range and a good midrange game, he's looking at being a sixth man of the year type quality player. I'm really excited to see how he does.

Lance Williams - I know he won't be making the roster, but I love what I see from this guy. He played with good energy and hustled. He was really aggresive both offensively and defensively. Played good solid defence and was really effective offensively, I don't even remember him missing a shot. Shot the free throw very well, especially for a big. He's a huge guy, strong and athletic, looked pretty quick out there - a bit like Glen Davis. Altered quite alot of shots just with his size. Clogs the lane like hell and challenges every shot, blocking at least one. He rebounded decently, but could improve alot and box out better. More of a garbage guy, he didn't make alot of plays for himself but just seemed to always be arround the ball. Has a bit of a knack for scoring off offensive rebounds and broken plays.

Tyrus Thomas - I'm most impressed with his jumpshot. He's been keeping himself in the gym and not leaving until he makes 700 jumpshots and it's showing. He's hitting down the midrange jumper and his mechanics look alot better. The thing that I'm following is how often Tyrus shoots that ball, not wether or not it goes in. If he's pulling up from 17 feet, he obviously thinks he can make the shot, which means he is comfortable pulling up from there in that situation. It's a good sign that he he taking those mid range jumpshots even if they aren't dropping, because it's showing he is trying to expand his game. Rebounded and blocked shots like a monster, but not just on his athleticism alone. Showed good reflexes and timing on alot of his blocks. His quickness completely destroyed any chance of anyone being able to guard him. I love the way he attacks the rim without the ball, often leading to a wide open lane to the basket off a cut and getting the feed from Andre or Thabo for the slam. His handle looks great to me, he went left off the dribble a bit and didn't fumble the ball around, getting off some good shots. He has barely turned the ball over at all, especially for a power forward getting the ball almost everytime down the court and experimenting with his game off the dribble. His passing skill is probably the second most impressive thing I have seen behind his new found jumpshot. I never knew he could pass like he does, I never saw it this year or during his days at LSU. I was really impressed with that aspect of his game, he saw the court extremely well and feed everyone the ball right where they can score.

I'm really looking forward to todays game, should be fun. I'm pulling for JamesOn to get going.

[maes]

I dont see how you dont give him the start this year, regardless of whether PJ's in town or not.
Given the way he came on after the all-star break, it would be a shame and a surprising one at that, if he didnt get around 25 minutes per this year.

Agreed, we passed up on a quite a few very good ready-to-play guys like Brandon Roy and Alridge for Tyrus, get him on the floor and let him play.

The Bulls are in a weird conundrum where age-wise, they're a rebuilding team but they're still in the playoff hunt so they're still hesitant about testing their youngsters by fire (how long did it take Ben to make the starting lineup?).

[air gordon]

I read that Noce's contract has been front-loaded in the hopes that it will help the Bulls when negotiating extensions with Gordon and Deng which sounds good to me.

Pax and his smart accountant going at it again.

No worries magius… so thanks for answering the question finally heh. There was such a difference in competition between the Heat and Pistons eh?

Which of duhon’s mechanics are similar to snow anyway? I can see the good defense and bad shot match but not lockdown defense and ability to cover both guard positions

Good stat lines you put up there. But how about the hinrich-gordon-deng-nocioni(when healthy)-wallace stats? That was their “best” lineup or at the least a lineup that got a lot of run iirc. Brown was the starting PF but it was pretty obvious he wasn’t getting starting minutes/his PT was sporadic

A hinrich-gordon only seems viable with Thomas in the lineup? Don’t get too mixed up in the stats

Gurads are very seldom in the running DPOY of the year voting. The award is biased towards big men…with the exception of Payton winning it (that was highway robbery-Pip should have won it that year). Look at the voting this year- not one true guard received one 1st place vote. Out of curiosity- exactly which guards do you place several tiers ahead of Hinrich anyway? i would say Raja Bell is ahead of him. but i would put him on par with Kidd, a shaq-less bryant, and Billups

Yeh- im all for trading one of their starting backcourt guys to land the post scorer

Mafia- other then Gasol- Memphis has no one the bulls want

Maes- this was Gordon’s first year of being the full time starter

thanks for the summer league update, shannon i hadn't been following the summer league that much. just heard that thomas was hitting some jumpers and working hard in the offseason. that guy better be hehe- aldridge is tearing it up i hear

[---]

If anyones interested, the Bulls are playing the Heat soon. The Nets/Pacers game is finished and theres usually a 10-20 minute gap between the finish of one game to the start of the next.

You can watch here: http://www.nba.com/magic/multimedia/07sl_video.html

Just click watch now and the video will start streaming.

[NovU]

If anyones interested, the Bulls are playing the Heat soon. The Nets/Pacers game is finished and theres usually a 10-20 minute gap between the finish of one game to the start of the next.

You can watch here: http://www.nba.com/magic/multimedia/07sl_video.html

Just click watch now and the video will start streaming.

is it just me or anyone else has buffering problem 2?

[---]

Yeah, the broadcast cut out. I've given up on it and am gonna watch the Sonics game.

From what I saw (About one and a half quarters of play), Aaron Gray was fantastic. Grabbing boards, playing very, very good defence and scoring. His passing looked better than anyone else on the team. He should have a real nice statline when they get the box score up.

Thabo finally got his shot to start falling, and as usual played great defence. Wasn't hesitant to shoot the three at all and knocked it down, along with a few other perimeter jumpers. He was also active on the boards, particularly the offensive end.

I didn't see much of JamesOn, but he still looks way to hesitant and still needs to be alot more aggresive. He looked better than he did in the previous games, but I think his problems have nothing to do with his skill. He just hasn't gotten "into" the game.

Tyrus was playing well, running the floor and finishing. Didn't see much of his jumpshot before the broadcast cut out though, hopefully he has been using it through the rest of the game. He was passing the ball very well though

[Andrew]

I dont see how you dont give him the start this year, regardless of whether PJ's in town or not.
Given the way he came on after the all-star break, it would be a shame and a surprising one at that, if he didnt get around 25 minutes per this year.

And if someone like Joe Smith, Chris Mihm or Mikki Moore comes in, Tyrus should still be the first option at the 4, ahead of Noah.

Absolutely, though I could see Skiles giving a veteran the starting nod over Thomas, at least to begin with. I'd much prefer to see Thomas getting at least 25-30 minutes a game as the starter though. As far as that shortlist of forwards are concerned I wouldn't mind Joe Smith or Mikki Moore at the right price but they obviously aren't the answer to the Bulls' post problems.

[The X]

I dont see how you dont give him the start this year, regardless of whether PJ's in town or not.
Given the way he came on after the all-star break, it would be a shame and a surprising one at that, if he didnt get around 25 minutes per this year.

And if someone like Joe Smith, Chris Mihm or Mikki Moore comes in, Tyrus should still be the first option at the 4, ahead of Noah.

Absolutely, though I could see Skiles giving a veteran the starting nod over Thomas, at least to begin with. I'd much prefer to see Thomas getting at least 25-30 minutes a game as the starter though. As far as that shortlist of forwards are concerned I wouldn't mind Joe Smith or Mikki Moore at the right price but they obviously aren't the answer to the Bulls' post problems.

I think the Bulls should pass on Smith & Moore....they have Ben Wallace, Noah, Aaron Gray as C/PF's....they have Ty Thomas & Nocioni as swing forwards....Deng could play a little bit of it too, but he's better as a SF I think....I think maybe if they can resign Brown for vet's minimum, then by all means....they just need some insurance inside....but they should only pay no more than 1/2 of mid-level exemption....would be better working on backcourt, shoring that up....they won't find the post player they need, so shore up other areas, & run from there....although that's just my opinion on the matter....

[Sauru]

i agree that the bulls should skip them, they need to get someone who can score in the post. they got alot of energy players already. now i like mikki moore, would love him on my team, i just dont see him being that good of a fit for chicago.

[air gordon]

Absolutely, though I could see Skiles giving a veteran the starting nod over Thomas, at least to begin with. I'd much prefer to see Thomas getting at least 25-30 minutes a game as the starter though. As far as that shortlist of forwards are concerned I wouldn't mind Joe Smith or Mikki Moore at the right price but they obviously aren't the answer to the Bulls' post problems.

yeh i see that happening too, assuming they pick up a veteran. heck- if noah wasn't injured i could see Skiles pulling a "duhon" and starting him instead haha

to me- it doesn't matter if he starts... just as long as he's getting at least 20 minutes a games. we've already seen him being a difference maker on defense/being used at the end of games (like noce).

i think a former nbdl-er like Mikki Moore will be asking more then the MLE so that puts him out of the picture.


the X: i think they need at least one more big guy-
-noah is rehabbing/probably won't be ready when the season starts
-gray seems nice but expecting anything more then a 3rd center at this point seems a bit optimistic
-thomas can't play center
-that martynas will lose his spot to gray

i'm hoping too that PJ brown comes back. i guess it's coming down to Mihm or Joe Smith. feh. i don't think Pax will do something stupid to find a temporary insurance big man

another thing that has me thinking- would you (bulls fans) trust the backup PG duties to Thabo/Curry?

[Andrew]

I think the Bulls should pass on Smith & Moore....they have Ben Wallace, Noah, Aaron Gray as C/PF's....they have Ty Thomas & Nocioni as swing forwards....Deng could play a little bit of it too, but he's better as a SF I think....I think maybe if they can resign Brown for vet's minimum, then by all means....they just need some insurance inside....but they should only pay no more than 1/2 of mid-level exemption....would be better working on backcourt, shoring that up....they won't find the post player they need, so shore up other areas, & run from there....although that's just my opinion on the matter....

Who would you suggest though? If Grant Hill hadn't gone to Phoenix I wouldn't have minded him going to the Bulls for the price the Suns paid, which made him a low risk despite all his injury woes since 2000. If Joe Smith could be signed for a year or two at that price, it wouldn't be such a bad move. Another PF/C, especially an established veteran who is at least decent, certainly couldn't hurt.

i'm hoping too that PJ brown comes back. i guess it's coming down to Mihm or Joe Smith. feh. i don't think Pax will do something stupid to find a temporary insurance big man

I'd like to see Brown back as well but supposedly he's either retiring or looking to latch on elsewhere. Like Smith he's a short term solution being an established veteran who can still play. I want to see Thomas get an opportunity to shine this season and it's important that he and Noah develop but an affordable short term insurance policy at the four is the best move if no long term solution is available at this time.

another thing that has me thinking- would you (bulls fans) trust the backup PG duties to Thabo/Curry?

Maybe not just yet, though I think they could weather it should an attractive deal involving Duhon comes along.

[The X]

I think the Bulls should pass on Smith & Moore....they have Ben Wallace, Noah, Aaron Gray as C/PF's....they have Ty Thomas & Nocioni as swing forwards....Deng could play a little bit of it too, but he's better as a SF I think....I think maybe if they can resign Brown for vet's minimum, then by all means....they just need some insurance inside....but they should only pay no more than 1/2 of mid-level exemption....would be better working on backcourt, shoring that up....they won't find the post player they need, so shore up other areas, & run from there....although that's just my opinion on the matter....

Who would you suggest though? If Grant Hill hadn't gone to Phoenix I wouldn't have minded him going to the Bulls for the price the Suns paid, which made him a low risk despite all his injury woes since 2000. If Joe Smith could be signed for a year or two at that price, it wouldn't be such a bad move. Another PF/C, especially an established veteran who is at least decent, certainly couldn't hurt.

it doesn't matter now that they got Joe Smith, he'll help as I said in the Joe Smith thread....maybe they could've got Chris Gatling out of retirement....who knows, haha....

[Andrew]

Serviceable as Gatling was back in the day, I'll take the Smith signing.