Ok so...

-New Coach - Freddy Hoi...things we're optimistic/pessimistic about? I already like that he made a hire from Pop's staff. That's an immediate good sign.
-Taj had surgery, out 4 months (affects his trade value?)
-Niko and McBucketts development (summer league?)
-D-Rose finally going into an offseason FULLY healthy and able to really work on his game without rehab being the main focus
-Pau a year older (playoff injury/reliability? - Should we plan for more inside depth?)
-Noah FULLY recovering from last seasons knee issues
-Trades we should explore (I'm open to moving Noah and/or Taj for the right guy)
-Draft - I have no idea what we're looking at with #22. Rumors have Rashad Vaughn, Kevon Looney, Delon Wright, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Jerian Grant, RJ Hunter and Justin Anderson with Wright and Vaughn as the front runners. Personally I'd like to try and move up a few picks and get Tyus Jones but I wouldn't mind Vaughn or Hunter.


Lastly, does this team with minor tweaking to the roster, a revamped offense, tightened defensive principles (slacked a lil this past season), better sub rotations (Hoi won't run the guys into the ground and will likely develop the younger players a lil more than Thibs) and a year together (hopefully healthier and more developed - McBucketts/Niko) good enough to beat Clev/G-State/West teams?

Or do we explore a trade for a major piece?

What's up Bulls nation?

____________

I'm down for exploring a trade....

Noah and/or Taj would be at the top of my list ....And in the back of my mind I would even discuss trying to move Rose (I know, shocker...) to take advantage of his rebirth of sorts in the playoffs....

The problem with moving any of those three players is their injury history. Noah, especially. I love dude's heart and D...He really does do all the cliche shit and doesn't give a fuck about kissing ass. But his poor showing in the playoffs and knee issue hurts his trade value. Taj will probably be moved during the season once he gets back to form following his ankle surgery.

But yeah...at this point no one on this team beyond Jimmy Buckets is safe. The Bulls have been treading water for a myriad reasons. Some bad luck (Rose's injuries) and some self-inflicted (Thibs' stubborn ways...). I told everyone who would listen that we would struggle in the playoffs and against Cleveland (I want a happy ending for Rose, but I don't know if we can depend on him to be the best player on our team after going through those serious knee injuries).

My quick fix would be targeting Lamarcus A. via a trade(Maybe a package of Noah, Niko and a draft pick) and try to get in on those Ty Lawson talks. Maybe move Gasol for an athletic rim protector on a losing team desperate for scoring or find a center through free agency or off the wire....

Basically, I want the Bulls to make some serious moves....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

>My quick fix would be targeting Lamarcus A. via a trade(Maybe
>a package of Noah, Niko and a draft pick) and try to get in on
>those Ty Lawson talks. Maybe move Gasol for an athletic rim
>protector on a losing team desperate for scoring or find a
>center through free agency or off the wire....
>
>Basically, I want the Bulls to make some serious moves....

I'm kinda in this boat but I only want ONE serious move. I'd gladly give up that haul for Aldridge but I'd swap Niko with Mcbucketts. Not like Noah aint a DPOY and allstar. Taj is a starter quality 4 and Mcbucketts was a lotto pick. Plus a draft pick and they get more than enough quality in return (would even take Lopez or Meyers off their hands if they wanna move a body). Trouble is, LA probably wants to go home to Texas.

Would be cool with a Lawson trade but not to replace Rose and I don't want to use Rose as a SG. I like Pau but I think he needs someone who can score next to him as well and he's only on the books for a year.

My top options would be:
1- Lamarcus
2- Kawhi
3- The other Gasol bro

Granted they'd all have to be sign and trades though. I hear Dunny's coming back and he did a great job for us last year but if we could upgrade SF, make him the back up or upgrade the big man rotation, I'd gladly go for it.

____________

>I'm kinda in this boat but I only want ONE serious move. I'd
>gladly give up that haul for Aldridge but I'd swap Niko with
>Mcbucketts. Not like Noah aint a DPOY and allstar. Taj is a
>starter quality 4 and Mcbucketts was a lotto pick. Plus a
>draft pick and they get more than enough quality in return
>(would even take Lopez or Meyers off their hands if they wanna
>move a body). Trouble is, LA probably wants to go home to
>Texas.


There's no way Portland, if they talked LA into a trade with the Chi, would take Mcbucketts...lol...We have to be realistic here. The reason u include Niko is Noah is not some slam dunk trade bait. He has injury issues with had a huge effect on his offense (Jo looked downright terrible on the offensive end this season...) Sure, try to give them Mcbucketts with Noah and a pick and HOPE that Portland is stupid enough to bite. But we all know that ain't happening....


>Would be cool with a Lawson trade but not to replace Rose and
>I don't want to use Rose as a SG. I like Pau but I think he
>needs someone who can score next to him as well and he's only
>on the books for a year.


I think Lawson is a lot better than what people even understand. I think in the East he would be an multiple all-star. At this point, finding a healthy PG who can create AND hit the open jumper easily with consistency should be on the list....If we can find a way to move Rose and get a nice haul for him and get 3 or four teams involved, I'm down to do it, as much as I would HATE it....

>My top options would be:
>1- Lamarcus

Could def. happen...

>2- Kawhi

Won't happen....He's staying in SA...

>3- The other Gasol bro

I always liked this ^^^ idea....

>Granted they'd all have to be sign and trades though. I hear
>Dunny's coming back and he did a great job for us last year
>but if we could upgrade SF, make him the back up or upgrade
>the big man rotation, I'd gladly go for it.

I just want healthy bodies and a big man (beyond P. Gasol) that can score with regularity 16 to 15 feet....

Bottom line: if fans think we are winning a chip with this current lineup even under a new coach they are delusional....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

LOL...now that my obligation as a Knick fan and Bulls hater is done, let's analyze
>
>-New Coach - Freddy Hoi...things we're optimistic/pessimistic
>about? I already like that he made a hire from Pop's staff.
>That's an immediate good sign.
>-Taj had surgery, out 4 months (affects his trade value?)
>-Niko and McBucketts development (summer league?)
>-D-Rose finally going into an offseason FULLY healthy and able
>to really work on his game without rehab being the main focus
>-Pau a year older (playoff injury/reliability? - Should we
>plan for more inside depth?)
First things first:
See what you got with Hoiberg. The most important thing (imo) for the Bulls to figure out with "The Mayor" is if he has an offense that will maximize Rose and Butler on the floor. The media made a big stink about those 2 not being able to play together, but I'll reserve judgement. That's his biggest issue, to get his 2 biggest stars in sync.

>-Noah FULLY recovering from last seasons knee issues
Getting healthy is #2...but that's all time based.

>-Trades we should explore (I'm open to moving Noah and/or Taj
>for the right guy)
That's the question: who's the right guy? Who would be the right guy for Hoiberg?
Someone mentioned LMA...I think that might be a little redundant with Gasol still in the lineup. I don't think the problem was necessary the players you had, but the offense you ran.
I still think one of the biggest mistakes the Bulls made was letting go of Nate Robinson. Headcase or not, he could get you buckets when needed, and the Bulls SORELY missed some scoring, especially when Pau went down. Nate would've thrived off the bench, and that's kind of what the Bulls need.
If I were the Bulls, look at getting a solid bench contributor, and an Aaron Afflalo type SF to help on the starting lineup.

For the right price, the Bulls might even get David Lee (a rebounder that can get you 10-15 off the bench, although you sacrifice some defense)

>
>Lastly, does this team with minor tweaking to the roster, a
>revamped offense, tightened defensive principles (slacked a
>lil this past season), better sub rotations (Hoi won't run the
>guys into the ground and will likely develop the younger
>players a lil more than Thibs) and a year together (hopefully
>healthier and more developed - McBucketts/Niko) good enough to
>beat Clev/G-State/West teams?
>
>Or do we explore a trade for a major piece?
Problem is who knows what Hoiberg wants to run. It'd be easier to say if we were able to see exactly what he wants to do in an offense. The last thing you want to do is trade for a major piece that STILL doesn't fit what Hoiberg wants to do.
Like I said up top, he's gotta make sure his offense gets the most out of Butler and Rose TOGETHER ON THE FLOOR.

More mid-range tweaks to the roster than a home run hitter...get a SF that can start (let Niko come off the bench for right now), and bolster the scoring on the bench (what happened to Brooks?)

Thing is, the Bulls were a shot away from being up 3-1 in that series. So they're not TOO far off. Just a lot of uncertainty with the Hoiberg era beginning.

You can ride shotgun until Phil gets y'all together.

>First things first:
>See what you got with Hoiberg. The most important thing (imo)
>for the Bulls to figure out with "The Mayor" is if he has an
>offense that will maximize Rose and Butler on the floor. The
>media made a big stink about those 2 not being able to play
>together, but I'll reserve judgement. That's his biggest
>issue, to get his 2 biggest stars in sync.

Well if you go by what he was doing in college, he'll run a pro-style offense heavy on floor spacing, 3pt shooting with a mix of pick and rolls.

>That's the question: who's the right guy? Who would be the
>right guy for Hoiberg?
>Someone mentioned LMA...I think that might be a little
>redundant with Gasol still in the lineup. I don't think the
>problem was necessary the players you had, but the offense you
>ran.

I had this same thought but Pau ain't a load carrier anymore. He can get 18-20 but it shouldn't be his 'duty' at this point. Lane protector and rebounder should be job #1 for him, scoring #2. 14-16 a game, 11 boards, 2-3 blocks and he's perfect. Let LMA go for 20-25 a night and carry the offense. Let Jimmy and Rose do the rest at around 17-18 a piece.

>I still think one of the biggest mistakes the Bulls made was
>letting go of Nate Robinson. Headcase or not, he could get you
>buckets when needed, and the Bulls SORELY missed some scoring,
>especially when Pau went down. Nate would've thrived off the
>bench, and that's kind of what the Bulls need.
>If I were the Bulls, look at getting a solid bench
>contributor, and an Aaron Afflalo type SF to help on the
>starting lineup.

I like both those guys. Nate too small though but as a bench option he was perfect. I like Afflalo but we can't afford him without a trade or him taking a deep pay cut.

>For the right price, the Bulls might even get David Lee (a
>rebounder that can get you 10-15 off the bench, although you
>sacrifice some defense)

I'd be open to it but again...$$$

>Problem is who knows what Hoiberg wants to run. It'd be easier
>to say if we were able to see exactly what he wants to do in
>an offense. The last thing you want to do is trade for a major
>piece that STILL doesn't fit what Hoiberg wants to do.
>Like I said up top, he's gotta make sure his offense gets the
>most out of Butler and Rose TOGETHER ON THE FLOOR.
>
>More mid-range tweaks to the roster than a home run
>hitter...get a SF that can start (let Niko come off the bench
>for right now), and bolster the scoring on the bench (what
>happened to Brooks?)
>
>Thing is, the Bulls were a shot away from being up 3-1 in that
>series. So they're not TOO far off. Just a lot of uncertainty
>with the Hoiberg era beginning.

I think Freddy Hoi is gonna be on that Steve Kerr...keep the defensive principles from Thibs but revamp the O and work the entire rotation more. His offense will be as stated above, likely with some development based on having more skilled players. I think if he's worth his weight as a coach, he should be able to incorporate good offensive pieces easily (LMA, Lee, etc.) Brooks was better than Nate was for us this year but he was also a liability on D...that's why Thibs shied away from him in the playoffs (though he probably should have played him more).

And even going up 3-1 on the Cavs...you really think we could have beat G-State in 7? Maybe...maybe not considering we lost to that Cavs team in 6 with a hobbled Kyrie. We need a move that makes that 7 game W more likely.

____________

Last season was probably the most disappointed I've ever been about the Bulls. We went out like some bitches when the basketball gods were kind to us and the championship trophy was basically up for grabs. On paper, it was a strong roster but they just never gelled correctly and the players started tuning out Thibs. On to the next one...

- I like the Hoiberg hire. He's a mensch, and the total opposite of Thibs. That's what the players need after 4 years of being screamed at. Seeing the leap the Warriors took after signing Kerr gives me a lot of hope for The Mayor. The players should enjoy playing for him much better than they did with Thibs, and it should make for more entertaining basketball. It was the right move and will drastically change how the Bulls play.

- I have no idea what the starting 5 will be. The Noah and Pau lineup never really worked, one of them needs to sacrifice their ego (like Iggy did) and come off the bench. With Taj returning from surgery around the time preseason begins, it might be time to see what Niko can do with the starters. If he's ready for it his floor spacing and playmaking would fit well with Hoiberg's system.

- Don't resign Dunleavy. He was a solid role player for the team, but McBuckets & Snell need his minutes if they're going to take that next step in their careers.

- Find a solid backup PG that's over 6ft and not named Kirk Hinrich. Two years in a row of undersized scoring PG's carrying the offense in the regular season and being impotent in the playoffs. Kirk can't contribute anything anymore. Let him collect his retirement check on the bench. Ideally we draft a PG who can come in and contribute in a backup role, I hear good things about Delon Wright. In terms of free agents, it's pretty slim pickings, the only names I like are Rodney Stuckey, Andre Miller and (maybe) Jeremy Lin.

- Sign Jimmy for as long as possible. My favorite player in the league but as Noah would say, he's becoming "hollywood as hell". Mark Wahlberg is luring Jimmy to LA to join his entourage and play for the Lakers. Bulls need to do what they can to make him a cornerstone of this franchise. Even if his offense now is as good as it will get, he's the best in the league at defending Bron.

- Sign Nazr as an assistant coach. He's got the respect of the players on the team, and would be a good bridge from the Thibs regime.

To your last question, I'd say yes. It's a deep roster as is, they underachieved last season for numerous reasons which have hopefully been corrected by the Thibs firing. I expect Rose to have a huge comeback season, Jimmy & Pau to play at around the same level as last season, Noah and Taj to play like their old selves, and McDermott, Niko, & Snell to contribute at a higher level. With a new coaching staff, more time to gel, and good health, I think this team could go into the playoffs being legitimate contenders.

and we have options to more or less mimic what golden state did to cleveland in the finals. small(er) ball is the way of the immediate future.

we have the pieces, but guys (niko and doug) will need to make a significant jump next season. niko needs to put on some weight and refine his shot (and improve defensively), and doug needs to somehow become klay-lite on offense. wouldn't hurt if snell stepped up as well. he needs to improve that streaky shot while learning how to not be a pussy. dude could be an x-factor on both ends.

i think a lineup consisting of derrick/doug(or snell)/jimmy/niko/whatever big is healthy is ultimately our winning lineup. for whatever reason i trust fred dawg. he seems like the progressive to thibs' staunch conservatism.

that 'winning lineup'. lol

>and we have options to more or less mimic what golden state
>did to cleveland in the finals. small(er) ball is the way of
>the immediate future.

Only worked for g-state because the Cavs were beat up. Kyrie, love and maybe Andy play and they get killed doing that. And it STILL took 6 games.

>we have the pieces, but guys (niko and doug) will need to make
>a significant jump next season. niko needs to put on some
>weight and refine his shot (and improve defensively), and doug
>needs to somehow become klay-lite on offense. wouldn't hurt if
>snell stepped up as well. he needs to improve that streaky
>shot while learning how to not be a pussy. dude could be an
>x-factor on both ends.

I dig internal improvement...but I don't think it'll be enough. The Cavs have more talent AND LeBron.

>i think a lineup consisting of derrick/doug(or
>snell)/jimmy/niko/whatever big is healthy is ultimately our
>winning lineup. for whatever reason i trust fred dawg. he
>seems like the progressive to thibs' staunch conservatism.

This team would get murdered on D. Literally. Doug would need major improvement on D to be what Dunny CURRENTLY is. Niko can't guard in the post (yet) and is foul prone. If his shot isn't falling, sometimes he becomes stagnant. Snell can disappear for long stretches too. Besides...Pau and/or Noah aren't coming off the bench if their healthy. You'd have to trade one.

____________

pau's too slow footed to be out there at crunch time in the playoffs and noah's lack of offense and overall movement really hurts. it's possible that noah gets his swag back but i'm not betting on his foot and knee to be healthy for a full year.

our new and improved 2015 offense should rely (somewhat) on niko, doug, and tony's skill sets. personally, i believe our chances rely on those guys shooting well and playing acceptable defense. floor spacing gonna be everything under fred.

>i think a lineup consisting of derrick/doug(or
>snell)/jimmy/niko/whatever big is healthy is ultimately our
>winning lineup. for whatever reason i trust fred dawg. he
>seems like the progressive to thibs' staunch conservatism.

Nah...we need some changes in the lineup. Unfortunately the Bulls won't pull the trigger....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

>Last season was probably the most disappointed I've ever been
>about the Bulls. We went out like some bitches when the
>basketball gods were kind to us and the championship trophy
>was basically up for grabs. On paper, it was a strong roster
>but they just never gelled correctly and the players started
>tuning out Thibs. On to the next one...

Agreed.

>- I like the Hoiberg hire. He's a mensch, and the total
>opposite of Thibs. That's what the players need after 4 years
>of being screamed at. Seeing the leap the Warriors took after
>signing Kerr gives me a lot of hope for The Mayor. The players
>should enjoy playing for him much better than they did with
>Thibs, and it should make for more entertaining basketball. It
>was the right move and will drastically change how the Bulls
>play.

I hope so. With the same results hopefully.

>- I have no idea what the starting 5 will be. The Noah and Pau
>lineup never really worked, one of them needs to sacrifice
>their ego (like Iggy did) and come off the bench. With Taj
>returning from surgery around the time preseason begins, it
>might be time to see what Niko can do with the starters. If
>he's ready for it his floor spacing and playmaking would fit
>well with Hoiberg's system.

I dunno. I feel like Niko will be the starting PF in 2016-2017 after Pau retires/fades and takes a backup role. He's not quite a SF and if he starts, McBucketts gets shafted.

>- Don't resign Dunleavy. He was a solid role player for the
>team, but McBuckets & Snell need his minutes if they're going
>to take that next step in their careers.

Dunny is solid. I don't mind having him but I'd prefer he be a back up to an upgrade at SF. If you're asking me should a contending team bench a solid vet in hopes that a 2nd year guy makes 'the leap' to difference maker, I'm always gonna go with the solid vet. Maybe give them more PT but let dunny do the heavy lifting.

>- Find a solid backup PG that's over 6ft and not named Kirk
>Hinrich. Two years in a row of undersized scoring PG's
>carrying the offense in the regular season and being impotent
>in the playoffs. Kirk can't contribute anything anymore. Let
>him collect his retirement check on the bench. Ideally we
>draft a PG who can come in and contribute in a backup role, I
>hear good things about Delon Wright. In terms of free agents,
>it's pretty slim pickings, the only names I like are Rodney
>Stuckey, Andre Miller and (maybe) Jeremy Lin.

I don't like ANY of those free agents outside of Miller and he gets killed by quick guards in his advanced age. I'd have to think on plausible back up PGs...well plausible inexpensive ones.

>- Sign Jimmy for as long as possible. My favorite player in
>the league but as Noah would say, he's becoming "hollywood as
>hell". Mark Wahlberg is luring Jimmy to LA to join his
>entourage and play for the Lakers. Bulls need to do what they
>can to make him a cornerstone of this franchise. Even if his
>offense now is as good as it will get, he's the best in the
>league at defending Bron.

Jimmy staying...$$$ and collective bargaining rules will keep him here. At least thru 16/17.

>- Sign Nazr as an assistant coach. He's got the respect of the
>players on the team, and would be a good bridge from the Thibs
>regime.

I can rock with this.

>To your last question, I'd say yes. It's a deep roster as is,
>they underachieved last season for numerous reasons which have
>hopefully been corrected by the Thibs firing. I expect Rose to
>have a huge comeback season, Jimmy & Pau to play at around the
>same level as last season, Noah and Taj to play like their old
>selves, and McDermott, Niko, & Snell to contribute at a higher
>level. With a new coaching staff, more time to gel, and good
>health, I think this team could go into the playoffs being
>legitimate contenders.

This is like a solar eclipse. Lots of things have to align and THEN we have to beat Clev (who'll probably be healthier and more gelled) or G-State or OKC or The Clippers or maybe even the Spurs. I tend to think we might need an upgrade somewhere. I don't think we can if we simply stand pat and hope a new coach makes the issues created by facing LeBron go away.

____________

>I dunno. I feel like Niko will be the starting PF in 2016-2017
>after Pau retires/fades and takes a backup role. He's not
>quite a SF and if he starts, McBucketts gets shafted.

Yea he can't really play SF and he's a perfect fit at the 4 for the new smallball craze.


>Dunny is solid. I don't mind having him but I'd prefer he be a
>back up to an upgrade at SF. If you're asking me should a
>contending team bench a solid vet in hopes that a 2nd year guy
>makes 'the leap' to difference maker, I'm always gonna go with
>the solid vet. Maybe give them more PT but let dunny do the
>heavy lifting.

I like Dunny, and if he comes at the right price I'll be okay with the Bulls resigning him. I just want the younger players to get more tick. We invested so much in McBuckets, time to see what he can really do.

>This is like a solar eclipse. Lots of things have to align
>and THEN we have to beat Clev (who'll probably be healthier
>and more gelled) or G-State or OKC or The Clippers or maybe
>even the Spurs. I tend to think we might need an upgrade
>somewhere. I don't think we can if we simply stand pat and
>hope a new coach makes the issues created by facing LeBron go
>away.

A main reason for my optimism is that, like last year, the NBA seems pretty up for grabs. It's early in the offseason but there's not one dominating team that should be favorited, it's more like eight teams or so that could win, but have a lot of what ifs. Every contending team needs luck and things to align to win a chip, the Bulls are no different.

I'd imagine for young players like Niko, McBuckets, & Snell, playing under a coach like Thibs is scary and they were always too nervous about making mistakes. My hope is that they'll thrive under a supportive coach like Hoiberg, and provide the added punch to fortify the bench and put the Bulls over the top. Maybe that's delusional, but I can't get hype for a season if I don't see the Bulls as contenders.

The roster wasn't good enough last year and it had little to do with Thibs or the way overstated minutes discussion. Taj's ankle had little to do with Thibs. Noah's shitty season was a result of him never recovering from surgery. And Rose barely had time to get get into shape for the playoffs after the meniscus surgery...and even with that, basically had a few games were he was old D Rose.

I'm not totally against a new voice coming in, but any expectation that they'll perform better than they did under Thibs is nuts imo. We didn't lose to the Cavs because we were gassed. We lost because they had a bench perform and ours shit the bed. Brooks, Niko, Snell, and Hinrich were absolutely awful. Any type of performance from those guys and the Bulls probably win the series.

As for trading Rose, that's crazy. To this day, I don't understand folks that are ready to give up on him. He had an uneven playoffs, but showed enough that there's no way in hell I'd let him go. Guys that can win games on their own, which he showed he can still do, don't grow on trees. With an offseason to only focus on getting ready for the season and not rehabbing from injury, I expect him to have at minimum an all-star season and potentially even an all-nba one.

As for roster construction. Doug was awful last year. I'm not expecting much more next year because in the minutes he did have, he was by far the worst player on the court. I have a bit more hope for Snell, but he needs to continue to become more assertive and consistent. He can't go 80% one game and then 13% the next like he often did this past season.

Hinrich should be glued to the bench. Niko needs to get stronger and work on that three pointer. For a guy with the reputation as a shooter, he was ass juice way too much. His disappearing act in the playoffs was a major reason we lost to the Cavs. He also needs to get better on D.

For the pick, I'd love a back-up PG. Grant or Tyus works for me. We could also use another big man if we're going to ship off Taj, Noah, or Gasol.

Speaking of Gasol, I'd move him first. He's not a good fit for Hoiberg's offense and he was low key the reason the defense was ass last year. He just can't guard the PnR. Even his offense was a bit of fools gold, but I did appreciate his ability to hit the mid range J. That Rose/Gasol pick n pop was nasty.

>The roster wasn't good enough last year and it had little to
>do with Thibs or the way overstated minutes discussion. Taj's
>ankle had little to do with Thibs. Noah's shitty season was a
>result of him never recovering from surgery. And Rose barely
>had time to get get into shape for the playoffs after the
>meniscus surgery...and even with that, basically had a few
>games were he was old D Rose.

All true but you don't think wear and tear by excessive mins had anything to do with Rose and Noah going down? Pau pulling limp in the playoffs?

>I'm not totally against a new voice coming in, but any
>expectation that they'll perform better than they did under
>Thibs is nuts imo. We didn't lose to the Cavs because we were
>gassed. We lost because they had a bench perform and ours shit
>the bed. Brooks, Niko, Snell, and Hinrich were absolutely
>awful. Any type of performance from those guys and the Bulls
>probably win the series.

Bench was BARELY used, which was one of the issues. He should have used our depth more. Those guys play well with extended minutes as they proved all year. Putting them in for spot duty 2-4 minutes a rip wasn't gonna work. I mean Derrick was pushing 40 mins a night in the playoffs man.

>As for trading Rose, that's crazy. To this day, I don't
>understand folks that are ready to give up on him. He had an
>uneven playoffs, but showed enough that there's no way in hell
>I'd let him go. Guys that can win games on their own, which he
>showed he can still do, don't grow on trees. With an offseason
>to only focus on getting ready for the season and not
>rehabbing from injury, I expect him to have at minimum an
>all-star season and potentially even an all-nba one.

This is the first year we've been open to it. He's tradable, for the RIGHT deal. The injury concerns are just too great to not at least consider it. No one is saying ACTIVELY look to trade him but if something great comes along...

>As for roster construction. Doug was awful last year. I'm not
>expecting much more next year because in the minutes he did
>have, he was by far the worst player on the court. I have a
>bit more hope for Snell, but he needs to continue to become
>more assertive and consistent. He can't go 80% one game and
>then 13% the next like he often did this past season.

I agree on both. I was worried about the Mcbucketts pick last summer (man, we had a lot of good options at that pick OR if we kept the two picks we had) but I'm HOPEFUL he becomes a great compliment guy as he gets acclimated. Don't wanna give up on him after his rookie year. Plus he got hurt so...

Snell, progressing in the right direction. Considering his draft position, he has done well. He makes another decent leap next year and I'd be elated.

>Hinrich should be glued to the bench. Niko needs to get
>stronger and work on that three pointer. For a guy with the
>reputation as a shooter, he was ass juice way too much. His
>disappearing act in the playoffs was a major reason we lost to
>the Cavs. He also needs to get better on D.

Agreed.

>For the pick, I'd love a back-up PG. Grant or Tyus works for
>me. We could also use another big man if we're going to ship
>off Taj, Noah, or Gasol.

Yup.

>Speaking of Gasol, I'd move him first. He's not a good fit for
>Hoiberg's offense and he was low key the reason the defense
>was ass last year. He just can't guard the PnR. Even his
>offense was a bit of fools gold, but I did appreciate his
>ability to hit the mid range J. That Rose/Gasol pick n pop was
>nasty.

Eh...only if we got an upgrade that was similar. Aldridge would work. Otherwise, one more year of his size is workable. I think an upgrade at SF is what we need. A more dynamic player with 3pt range, defensive ability and some semblance of a slash game. Guys like Wilson Chandler, Nic Batum would be perfect.

____________

>All true but you don't think wear and tear by excessive mins
>had anything to do with Rose and Noah going down? Pau pulling
>limp in the playoffs?

No, I don't think the minutes had anything to do with that. San Antonio, the beacon of minutes restrictions, had players go down with injuries all season. So did other teams that were supposedly more mindful about minutes issues. I don't think Pau playing less minutes would have made any difference with a hamstring injury. As I'm sure you know, hamstring injuries happen regardless of whether you're playing a lot or a little.

Noah's a tall dude with knee problems. Less minutes wouldn't make him any less of a tall dude with knee problems. Is Joel Embiid constant injured because he's played too much? No. Is Kyrie always getting hurt because he's played too many minutes? No.


>
>Bench was BARELY used, which was one of the issues. He should
>have used our depth more. Those guys play well with extended
>minutes as they proved all year. Putting them in for spot
>duty 2-4 minutes a rip wasn't gonna work. I mean Derrick was
>pushing 40 mins a night in the playoffs man.

Did you see how bad those guys were when he played them in the playoffs? We routinely had leads blown or deficits grow with them in there. Not only couldn't Brooks hit a shot or play defense, but he couldn't even run the offense. Brooks was a -28 during the Cavs series. He was awful.

Mirotic was just as bad after the injury. He was giving anything on offense and he wasn't doing anything on D. Maybe Snell could have gotten more minutes, but that's about it. Derrick was pushing those minutes because we literally had nobody that was capable of backing him up without blowing the game.

>
.
>
>This is the first year we've been open to it. He's tradable,
>for the RIGHT deal. The injury concerns are just too great to
>not at least consider it. No one is saying ACTIVELY look to
>trade him but if something great comes along...

Outside of trading him for AD or someone of that ilk, he isn't. You'd have to trade him for a franchise player because there's nobody else that gets you there. As long as Rose shows he can potentially get back to where he was, you keep him. I'm not concerned about the injuries anymore. The meniscus was something that was expected. He should be relatively fine going forward, unless some freak injury happens.


>
>Eh...only if we got an upgrade that was similar. Aldridge
>would work. Otherwise, one more year of his size is workable.
> I think an upgrade at SF is what we need. A more dynamic
>player with 3pt range, defensive ability and some semblance of
>a slash game. Guys like Wilson Chandler, Nic Batum would be
>perfect.

I'm with this, especially if Dun is gone.

>
>
>>All true but you don't think wear and tear by excessive mins
>>had anything to do with Rose and Noah going down? Pau
>pulling
>>limp in the playoffs?
>
>No, I don't think the minutes had anything to do with that.
>San Antonio, the beacon of minutes restrictions, had players
>go down with injuries all season.


Huh? Yeah, SA dealt with injuries too...But that was mainly because they had some aging ass players...Tony P is old. Manu is old...Both of those guys struggled with injuries because of age more than anything else. Duncan was put on strict minutes management and looked like PRIME Timmy in the 'offs....But that works better with a big man anyway.

The Bulls for the past 4 seasons found their VERY YOUNG players sitting on the bench in street clothes damn near every post season because of injuries and being totally gassed.

U can't compare those two franchises....At all...

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

>>
>>
>>>All true but you don't think wear and tear by excessive
>mins
>>>had anything to do with Rose and Noah going down? Pau
>>pulling
>>>limp in the playoffs?
>>
>>No, I don't think the minutes had anything to do with that.
>>San Antonio, the beacon of minutes restrictions, had players
>>go down with injuries all season.
>
>
>Huh? Yeah, SA dealt with injuries too...But that was mainly
>because they had some aging ass players...Tony P is old. Manu
>is old...Both of those guys struggled with injuries because of
>age more than anything else. Duncan was put on strict minutes
>management and looked like PRIME Timmy in the 'offs....But
>that works better with a big man anyway.
>
>The Bulls for the past 4 seasons found their VERY YOUNG
>players sitting on the bench in street clothes damn near every
>post season because of injuries and being totally gassed.
>
>U can't compare those two franchises....At all...


You can't make the argument that Thibs is to blame for Pau's injury and then on the flip blame age for the Spurs guys getting injured.

Fine, take the spurs out of it. Durant, Westbrook, Tyreke Evans, Melo, Shumpert, Jabari, Randle, Mathews, etc.

All players that got hurt. Minutes weren't the reason for any of them. Everyone is so quick to blame minutes for injuries when the fact of the matter is that motherfuckers get injured playing sports. That's just how it goes.

Rose didn't tear tear his ACL because he was playing too many minutes. He tore that shit because his movement put a ton of pressure on the ligaments.

Taj's ankles have zero to do with playing too many minutes.

Ditto Noah's knees.

This is the top ten in minutes: Butler, AD, Wiggins, James, Oladipo, Ariza, Lillard. The only ones that got hurt were Kyrie, who's always injured, and Wall who fell on his hand.

You go back as many years as you want and it's the same thing. 80% of the minutes leaders don't get hurt.

The whole minutes thing has become so overblown that it's ridiculous.

>>>
>>>
>>>>All true but you don't think wear and tear by excessive
>>mins
>>>>had anything to do with Rose and Noah going down? Pau

>You can't make the argument that Thibs is to blame for Pau's
>injury and then on the flip blame age for the Spurs guys
>getting injured.

If I use common sense, sure I can. Hell, I'm not even talking about Pau, who was playing a shit load of minutes as an aging player (that one game when we were up 25 points and Thibs still had Pau in the game in the 4th Q was alarming as hell....)

I'm talking about for the past four-five years our stars and role players have been in street clothes by the time the playoffs hit...

U keep talking about GAME minutes....But u miss the point that it's bigger than that....Thibs was handing out CRAZY minutes in practice....

So much so that the players started even complaining to upper management. There is hardly a coach in the NBA running his team through 4 hour sessions after playing his guys 40 plus minutes in a game THE NIGHT BEFORE....lol

Thibs is a damn good coach and he pushed the right buttons. But it was time to make that move...

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

>I'm talking about for the past four-five years our stars and
>role players have been in street clothes by the time the
>playoffs hit...
>
>U keep talking about GAME minutes....But u miss the point that
>it's bigger than that....Thibs was handing out CRAZY minutes
>in practice....
>
>So much so that the players started even complaining to upper
>management. There is hardly a coach in the NBA running his
>team through 4 hour sessions after playing his guys 40 plus
>minutes in a game THE NIGHT BEFORE....lol
>
>Thibs is a damn good coach and he pushed the right buttons.
>But it was time to make that move...
>

Cmon. Rose being in street clothes had little to nothing to do with minutes or too much practice time.

My question for all you "Thibs ran the team into the ground" folks is why has just about every other team out there had the same amount of injuries at one point or another going into the playoffs?

Players get hurt. History has shown that no matter what you do, it's going to happen. I've yet to see any actual statistical correlation between the minutes played and injuries. It's consistently been an assumption made by those clinging to the idea that overwork has led to the injuries.

Now do I think some wear and tear exists because of the schedule and b2bs? Yeah, that's why Silver is addressing it. However, I haven't seen anything persuasive that suggests Thibs ways made the Bulls worse or was a leading reason for their injuries.

Very few, if any, of the Bulls injuries could be attributed to being overworked.

It's a myopic fan's view that only their team has been hurt by injuries going into the playoffs. Go back and look at every other team out there and you'll see the majority of them have had the same issues the Bulls have had. The only difference is that their fans haven't been spoon fed the "OMG Thibs" mantra that the Bulls FO has been putting out there through the media for the last few years.

It's not coincidence that Thibs only started "losing" the team once Pau arrived. We didn't hear any of this shit the year before.

>The roster wasn't good enough last year and it had little to
>do with Thibs or the way overstated minutes discussion. Taj's
>ankle had little to do with Thibs. Noah's shitty season was a
>result of him never recovering from surgery. And Rose barely
>had time to get get into shape for the playoffs after the
>meniscus surgery...and even with that, basically had a few
>games were he was old D Rose.



Yeah...and those injuries had a lot to do with Thibs handing out minutes like it was the pre Reconstruction era....That said, Thibs pretty much got the best out of this team...But his management style was wholly lacking...


>I'm not totally against a new voice coming in, but any
>expectation that they'll perform better than they did under
>Thibs is nuts imo. We didn't lose to the Cavs because we were
>gassed. We lost because they had a bench perform and ours shit
>the bed. Brooks, Niko, Snell, and Hinrich were absolutely
>awful. Any type of performance from those guys and the Bulls
>probably win the series.

The Bulls were not good enough...Point blank period....



>As for trading Rose, that's crazy. To this day, I don't
>understand folks that are ready to give up on him. He had an
>uneven playoffs, but showed enough that there's no way in hell
>I'd let him go. Guys that can win games on their own, which he
>showed he can still do, don't grow on trees. With an offseason
>to only focus on getting ready for the season and not
>rehabbing from injury, I expect him to have at minimum an
>all-star season and potentially even an all-nba one.


For years I have been known as one of Pooh's biggest boosters on OKP Sports....I've gone at it with Basa, Billy Ocean, Bomb and just about every Rose hater on this board....I'm a Rose guy....But if we can swing a deal to trade a injury plagued player of Rose's caliber YOU DO THAT SHIT...You don't run a franchise with your heart. U run it with foresight and intelligence....

Besides, teams (beyond Curry's MVP showing) have gotten championship trophies with GOOD-NOT-GREAT PG's and at times role playing PG's...U can't hitch your wagon to a uber athletic PG with knee problems. If Rose is the second best player on the team at this point in his career I'm down to keep him. But my dude has to take a pay cut sooner or later...

As much as it breaks my heart, if we can make a good deal involving Rose u do it in a heartbeat...

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

>Yeah...and those injuries had a lot to do with Thibs handing
>out minutes like it was the pre Reconstruction era....

No, they didn't. Players get injured playing sports. The minutes have little to do with it.

>For years I have been known as one of Pooh's biggest boosters
>on OKP Sports....I've gone at it with Basa, Billy Ocean, Bomb
>and just about every Rose hater on this board....I'm a Rose
>guy....But if we can swing a deal to trade a injury plagued
>player of Rose's caliber YOU DO THAT SHIT...You don't run a
>franchise with your heart. U run it with foresight and
>intelligence....

So the one year he makes it through you're ready to jump ship? The one year where he actually showed flashes and there's a reasonable expectation for him to be even better after a full offseason of basketball prep? That just seems crazy to me. Some of you guys are so scared of him getting hurt again that you can't appreciate the fact that he's finally turned the corner. That's not foresight and intelligence, that's acting out of fear.


>
>Besides, teams (beyond Curry's MVP showing) have gotten
>championship trophies with GOOD-NOT-GREAT PG's and at times
>role playing PG's...U can't hitch your wagon to a uber
>athletic PG with knee problems. If Rose is the second best
>player on the team at this point in his career I'm down to
>keep him. But my dude has to take a pay cut sooner or
>later...

What's this about a pay cut? His contract is what it is. That's not even an issue considering it's basically locked in until it runs out. And he's the 2nd best player right today, and may be the best player next year...or at the very least 1b. It sure as shit won't be Pau.

Now, with a new coach, we'll get a chance to see how good this team can be in its current incarnation.

There isn't much that can be done with the roster. It is what it is. But what it is is pretty damned good.

I'm interested to see what The Mayor can do with the offense. It's not like the offense was bad...it just got mired with long scoring droughts.

The biggest story this season will be what our bench can contribute. McBuckets is going to get more tick....Snell needs to step up as a better 3 and D prospect, which is really all we need from him. If those two can spell Jimmy so that's he's not completely exhausted....we'll be back in the thick come playoff time.

I'm interested to see what a fully healthy summer will do for D Rose and Butler. I don't think the playoffs was an accurate representation. With the minutes and practice time down this year....I think they will start to gel. They truly have the potential to be a devastating backcourt....all they need is familiarity.

Frontcourt will be interesting. With Taj on the mend...that opens things up for Noah, Pau and Mirotic to man the front. Nikola is going to be a major part of the 2nd unit with his ability to act as a stretch four. I'm expecting his conditioning to make a jump and he should be a fringe starter by season end.

All in all....it's a pipe dream thinking we are going to catch the Cavs if the whole team comes back. They lost...so they are going to improve. The Cavs team that played in the Finals? We would have beaten them...Kyrie was key to the Bulls loss. We need to figure out how to handle two players able to create their own shot at any given time.

I'm enthused. I don't know if this group can win a title, but they have a fighting chance. That'll have to do this year

D

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Waldorf and Statler Vol 4:CONAN IS OUT NOW!!!: http://waldorfandstatler.bandcamp.com

and don't forget to check "DVS 4 ALDERMAN"

http://windimoto.bandcamp.com/album/dvs-4-alderman-bandcamp-exclusive-expanded-editio

https://digife.com

draft workout
https://youtu.be/mbdMAVHZPyQ
https://youtu.be/250GfoRCG9s

scouting: strengths
https://youtu.be/whMSt_vhLTs

scouting: weaknesses
https://youtu.be/3wzfeO7lI4g

an excellent must-read profile from BR
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2490872-after-tough-childhood-bobby-portis-has-become-drafts-most-intriguing-sleeper

draft profile + coach's interview:
https://youtu.be/X0UIwYg4U2I

...

DX scouting report:
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Bobby-Portis-7167/

The 6'10.5, 235-pound forward has some intriguing physical tools, centered around his seeming never-ending motor. He competes with tenacity and while he isn't the most explosive player, he zips around the floor with constant energy to affect play on both ends with his mobility. To round out his physical attributes, he sports a long wingspan, measured at 7'1.5, and excellent strength to help play physically on the interior.

Portis will get many baskets at the next level solely from his energy, as he runs the floor in transition well to get ahead of the defense, rolls aggressively to the rim, and establishes deep post position. He's also a relentless offensive rebounder, as his 4.5 offensive rebounds ranks 4th among all players in our top 100. He crashes the glass hard with a great nose for the ball, chases down rebounds outside his area, and proves adept at converting put backs.

He's an improved finisher around the rim in the half court from his freshman year, raising his average from 60% to 64.2% according to Synergy Sports Technology. His lack of explosiveness hurts his ability to finish against rim protectors, so he counters with a quick second jump pursuing offensive rebounds and a quick release to avoid being blocked. He'll need to continue to get stronger or refine his finesse game to find success at the rim at the next level as he is mainly a below the rim player

Portis is a great jump shooter for a big man and has range to the mid-range and beyond. He shot 41.2% on all jump shots according to Synergy Sports Technology which includes 43.5% on jump shot measured from 17 feet to the three point line. He has an unconventional release and follow through but he is consistent with it and it seems to work for him. He hasn't yet looked to extend his shot out to the three point, as he took just 1.0 three's per 40 minutes pace adjusted. He was effective in that small sample connecting on 46.7% of such attempts and increasing his range would make him a more dangerous, versatile offensive player.

Portis has a solid, but not spectacular back to the basket game, as he doesn't have the array of moves needed to consistently beat defenders. He is quick enough to beat defenders to the spot or strong enough to back them down, which does help him create easy looks at times. He has also demonstrated a useable face-up game, along with a drop-step and hook shot that he could use to score on NBA defenders. He's a fairly patient scorer on the block, doing a nice job looking for cutters and turning the ball over at a low rate. However, he doesn't have the counter moves necessary to score consistently on the block and often relies on a tough turnaround, fadeaway jump shot when he can't get past his defender.

Defensively, Portis is constantly active and has the potential to guard either interior or perimeter players. He can leverage his size and strength to slow down big men in the paint and showed the ability to move his feet well enough to stay in front of guards on the perimeter when Arkansas switched on the pick and roll. With the intensity he brings to the court combined with his physical tools, he could help a team in multiple ways defensively and has the potential to be a nice asset for a NBA team on this end of the floor.

One area he will have to improve upon is his defensive rebounding. While he has posted great offensive rebounding numbers, he hasn't had this success translate to the defensive side, where he averages just 6.4 defensive rebounds per 40 minutes pace adjusted. He doesn't always focus on boxing out his opponent and then doesn't have the leaping ability necessary to grab the rebound in traffic. He has the lower body strength to hold his opponents and will need to concentrate on this aspect to contribute as a defensive rebounder for a NBA team.

He doesn't project to be a great rim protector at the next level, as his 1.7 blocks per 40 minutes pace adjusted is an average mark for power forwards in our top 100. He'll surprise people at times with his closing speed but he didn't display the explosiveness and length to be a dominant rim protector at the college level.

Overall, Portis may not project to have a high ceiling but his skill set suggests he should be able to find a spot in the league as a high-impact role player. He has enough offensive weapons to find ways to contribute offensive and his motor and physical tools should help him compete on the defensive side. If he continues to play with high energy, he'll be able to impact on both ends of the floor and find a home in a NBA rotation.

...

nbadraft.net scouting report:
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/bobby-portis

NBA Comparison: Greg Monroe

Strengths: Great size and length. Great face up player and is incredibly tough to guard when he gets a head of steam going towards the basket ... He's got a great mid-range game and is expanding his range to include the three ball ... Defensively he is active which leads to his fair share of deflections and steals ... He moves his feet well and is a versatile defender due to his ability to stay in front of his man on the perimeter ... Active rebounder as well, particularly on the offensive glass ... Always seems to be in the right place at the right time and battles for position ... He's a strong player that can finish through contact and is effective with both hands ... Really likes to get out on the fast break and can even run the break at times due to his ability to handle the rock for a four man ... He may not be done growing as he's over an inch taller now than he was when he arrived on campus two years ago ... Great size for a PF at the next level ...

Weaknesses: Good, but not great athlete ... Fundamentally sound player at this stage but lacks explosiveness ... Still doesn't have great post moves and needs to work on his footwork around the basket ... He projects as a PF at the next level but will need to develop more of a post game and not rely so much on his jump shot ... While he's a great defender in space and out on the perimeter for a big man, he isn't the greatest post defender and isn't really a shot blocker ... His ceiling isn't as high as some of the other big man prospects at this point due to his lack of elite athleticism and lack of great footwork in the paint ... Still a raw player on both sides of the floor but is developing ...

Overall: Portis has the prototypical size for a PF at the next level and has really improved from his freshman to sophomore season ... He's continued to improve upon his range which is a positive but really needs to develop a better back to the basket game and at least one go-to move in the post before he will be a truly effective player at the next level ... The good news is that he has an NBA ready body and can concentrate on the technical parts of his game instead of adding weight and muscle ... Will need to continue to be a guy that gives maximum effort from night to night to make up for his deficiencies ...

Notes: Measured 6'9.5 (in shoes) 215 lbs, with a 7'0 wingspan at the 2012 LeBron James Skills Academy ... Measured 6'11 (in shoes) 231 lbs, with a 7'1.5 wingspan and 8'11 reach at the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit ... Measured 6'10.5 (in shoes) 235 lbs, with a 7'1.5 wingspan at the 2014 Nike Big Man Skills Academy

...

other scouting reports / profiles

http://www.arkansasfight.com/2015/6/23/8826219/bobby-portis-nba-draft-scouting-report-prospect-profile-2015-arkansas-razorbacks?_ga=1.256101579.1147478094.1372118757
http://www.sbnation.com/2015/3/17/8219797/bobby-portis-scouting-report-nba-draft-arkansas?_ga=1.256101579.1147478094.1372118757
http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-pm-the-draft-best-kept-secret-bobby-portis-2015/

___

it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

.

Relatively, sure...but fully, absolutely not. ACL's are never the same model and his meniscus was snipped which is gonna cause degenerative changes in his knee (think osteoarthritis). He's going to continue to have work on hip and ankle stability along with knee musculature to try and take up the load for his knee instability.

---------------------------------
<--The drought is over

"have fun reveling in your pettiness tho" (C) Dula summing up 98% of OKS

"I didnt finish a damn thing...matter of fact I jerked off after she left."
-Kobe speaking to investigators

L D E A

>-Trades we should explore (I'm open to moving Noah and/or Taj
>for the right guy)

I've come to accept this.
Don't like it but...*shrug*

As for drafting another forward? I mean even with Hoiberg, I don't see Portis getting ANY tick unless Noah and/or Gibson are traded.

https://digife.com

If you blamed Thibs because of minutes, you were incorrect in doing so. Jimmy Butler logged the most minutes and was also in a contract year. LeBron and Kyrie logged major minutes and they went to the finals and Kyrie is injury prone regardless.

The problem was that Thibs got more with clearly less. He made the team look better than it was as far as talent is concerned. Hoiberg has a task of trying to make these players appear better than their counterparts and to that, I wish him good luck.

Ron Adams basically too the blueprint and won a ring with a team built like the ideal Bulls team some of you dream about

A MVP point guard.
A PF that gets boards plays a solid game
A C that isn't the most offensive minded
A young forward that comes off the bench and contributes
A veteran SF that can play D and score when needed

The big difference is that they had that shooting guard in Klay that stretched the floor and made it difficult to guard the perimeter.

Bulls fans for years asked for a SG or someone with star power to assist Rose, and then came Jimmy.

Getting rid of Rose would be stupid.

Gar Pax is the problem.

If Doug McSczerbiak does end up making an impact, it will be forced and hopefully doesn't throw the balance off.

This will be an interesting season indeed.

>If you blamed Thibs because of minutes, you were incorrect in
>doing so. Jimmy Butler logged the most minutes and was also in
>a contract year. LeBron and Kyrie logged major minutes and
>they went to the finals and Kyrie is injury prone
>regardless.


Again, I think people need to chill with over-simplifying the whole "minutes" issue with Thibs....As I said before, it went beyond game-minutes...Thibs was at times running his team in the ground during PRACTICES directly following games in which starting Bulls players were logging 40 plus minutes on the court....It got so bad that some players during the off season chose not to workout in the Bulls facility because they were growing tired of Thibs' task master style....

Of course it wasn't all Thibs' fault.

The Bulls front office needs to take some of the blame. They were at times picking a fight with Thibs (firing his assistant in the way that they did was dirty pool). But really, it came down to Thibs not wanting to change up his offense and his ham fisted style, not understanding the chain of command, and delegating minutes like he had a team of robots putting in work...

>The problem was that Thibs got more with clearly less. He made
>the team look better than it was as far as talent is
>concerned. Hoiberg has a task of trying to make these players
>appear better than their counterparts and to that, I wish him
>good luck.

Who knows how Da Mayor will do.... I mean dude could shit the bed as a 1st year coach for all we know....But u r right about Thibs getting more out of less, but not in the way u think....For the past few seasons Thibs found himself having to squeeze blood out of a stone because it was HIS coaching style that pounded key players into the ground by the time the playoffs was coming around. One year it's Noah in street clothes; next it's Taj; next it was Jimmy; and we all know Rose's story....

And the fact that Thibs refused to get coaching help on the offensive side of the ball (Doug Collins even offered to help out but was turned down by Thibs) came back to bite the Bulls year after year in the playoffs....




>Ron Adams basically too the blueprint and won a ring with a
>team built like the ideal Bulls team some of you dream about
>
>A MVP point guard.
>A PF that gets boards plays a solid game
>A C that isn't the most offensive minded
>A young forward that comes off the bench and contributes
>A veteran SF that can play D and score when needed


The word is nuance, my dude....Ron Adams team was flat out better (and more diverse skill wise) than the Bulls' team...

--Golden State's MVP point guard WAS A VASTLY BETTER SHOOTER THAN OUR PG...That made a huge difference in opening up everyone else's game on the team...

--The Bulls' PF (Pau) played very well), but didn't showcase the defensive player of the year caliber play that Draymond was flexing. Oh yeah Draymond also proved himself to be a dangerous 3 point shooter, something that the Bulls rarely got from the PF spot except when Niko was getting minutes and his shot was on....

--GS's center could at least make a move to the basket from time to time. Noah at times looked like he struggled to make a layup...And I think that had more to do with his nagging injuries, especially in the 'Offs....

--The forward play off the bench was a bit of a wash.....But....

--The Bulls did not have an Iggy: someone who not only played defense off the bench like a demon but could handle the rock like a PG AND occasionally shoot the 3 when open....Nor did they have a PG coming off the bench that was over 6'1 who wasn't old (Cap' Kirk) or physically outmatched in the playoffs (A. Brooks played some big minutes in the regular season, but got exposed in the post season....)

GS's versatility and outside shooting prowess made them a better team than the Bulls...When you have two guys (Klay/Curry) that can shoot the 3 like an afterthought and a unique PF who can defend close to all 5 positions, forcing the opposing team to play small ball (Draymond), that's some other shit...

As for the trade Rose brigade, again, let's not oversimplify this....People are just being realist...The Bulls will not win any championships if Rose (my favorite dude on the team and a cat I've gone to bat for relentlessly on this very board), with two damaged, injury prone knees, is being asked to be the best player on the team....If the Bulls can find a team to jump on him and get a good trade back they would be foolish not to do it....

That said, it will indeed be interesting to see if Da Mayor gives Niko, Snell, and the other young players on the team more minutes, something Thibs was very apprehensive to do so....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

To have a coherent offense
Shit was way too predictable

The minutes were an issue
Can't sleep on that

He Ran d rose into the ground in that shortened season
Dude was playing 40 min per game like they had 82
He never really had any major injuries until that year

http://hoopshype.com/2015/06/17/how-the-bulls-can-keep-jimmy-butler-in-chicago/


How the Bulls can keep Jimmy Butler in Chicago
June 17, 2015- by Mark Deeks

On Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that Chicago Bulls free agent Jimmy Butler wants a shorter term deal than he is eligible to receive.

As a free agent with full Bird rights on his side, the Bulls are able to offer Butler a five-year contract for anything up to and including the maximum salary, with maximum raises of 7.5 percent on that first-year amount. If he were to try and sign with any other team (“try” being the operative word; Chicago is entitled to extend him a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent, and certainly will do), he can still sign for up to and including the maximum salary, but with a maximum of 4.5 percent raises, and for a maximum of four years. The Bulls therefore have some leverage in his free agency negotiations, by virtue of both his restricted nature and the extra year they can offer him.

Per Wojnarowski’s report, however, even four years would be too much for him. Yahoo! Sports reports that Butler intends to seek a contract that allows him to opt out and become a free agent again – this time unrestricted – after the 2016-17 NBA season concludes. All offer sheets, regardless of a player’s Bird rights status or ability, have to have at least the first two years not contain any options. So unless Butler re-signs with the Bulls on a one-year deal (be it for his comparatively paltry $4,433,683 qualifying offer, or by individually negotiating a bigger one-year deal, a la David Lee and the New York Knicks in 2009-10), this is the quickest way he can hit unrestricted free agency.

However, this is something the Bulls can prevent.

There’s a little known clause in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. It is little known because, as best as can be ascertained, it has never been used. When a player coming off of a rookie scale contract is entering restricted free agency, his team can, in addition to the regular qualifying offer of an amount predetermined by the CBA and his draft spot, extend something called a Maximum Qualifying Offer.

A Maximum Qualifying Offer is, essentially, an offer of a maximum contract. It is not a contract – it is an offer. It is not binding on the player. It is not something the player has to accept, or that prevents him from signing contracts with other teams, be they in the NBA or elsewhere. But it is something that impacts upon their options afterwards.

In a Maximum Qualifying Offer, there can be no option years whatsoever, nor any bonuses, nor any wiggle room on the salary. A Maximum Qualifying Offer is an offer of the very maximum; the full five years, the full 7.5 percent raises, and a full 100 percent guarantee in each year. It is the most player-friendly contract a team can possibly offer. And that is why it has never been used.

If Chicago extends Butler a Maximum Qualifying Offer, nothing will ostensibly change. Butler will remain a free agent, he will remain a restricted free agent on account of the original one year qualifying offer he was extended, and he can still accept that QO. He can also accept the Maximum Qualifying Offer, or indeed sign another type of contract with his incumbent team or any other franchise. He does not even have to sign for the maximum, despite how illogical that might seem.

The only difference is the length of the offer sheet he can potentially sign with a new team. If Chicago offers a Maximum Qualifying Offer, an offer sheet with a new team has to have at least the first three years be optionless, as opposed to the first two.

In this specific example of Butler and the Bulls, that difference is a highly significant one. By extending a Maximum Qualifying Offer, the Bulls can ensure that Butler, if he still chooses to sign with another team, cannot hit the unrestricted free agent market until the summer of 2018, two years after the salary cap has begun the very huge increase he wants so badly to cash in on. Butler is thinking about his next payday, despite not having received the first one yet, because of the potential rewards it may yield. For the same reason, Chicago will not want him to. Using this clause, they can do something about that.

Butler may plan to reject the five-year offer, but he cannot prevent the Maximum Qualifying Offer. He does not have to accept it, of course, but simply by virtue of it being there, the Maximum Qualifying Offer gives him all the more incentive to sign with Chicago. If he wants to be a free agent in either 2016 or 2017, then Chicago is the only team he can do it with. They have that power available to them in the form of the Maximum Qualifying Offer.

How savory of a strategy that would be is another matter. The Bulls need to keep Butler for all manner of reasons, not least of which is the fact that they dared him to go and earn the maximum salary, and they cannot now afford to lose him after he has done so. Due to the power restricted free agency bestows, they surely won’t. But they need to do so in such a way that Butler is not re-signing begrudgingly. If Butler begrudgingly re-signs this time, he will not want to do so next time. And the option of taking the one-year qualifying offer still exists – as demonstrated by the Ben Gordon situation, this is not a scenario that harbors any good will or in any way maximizes a player’s value.

Chicago however must reconcile that perception issue with the business concerns, something they are known to always prioritize. A frustrated Butler under contract is still a Butler under contract, and although the very extension of the Maximum Qualifying Offer is designed to stymie Butler’s options, it would be tough for anyone to argue that offering a player the most they can be offered by rule is in some way disloyal or manipulative. The Bulls also were relatively recently burned by the case of Omer Asik, who, precisely because his first NBA contract was only two years long, was lost via free agency. This Butler situation is suitably synonymous to dig over those wounds.

There are an absolute plethora of options available to Butler, who holds a lot of leverage despite being a restricted free agent. Depending on how much of an eye he is giving to future paydays beyond his most immediate one – and in light of Wojnarowski’s report, he seems to fully be aware of this – there are many scenarios that can make him a free agent in any of the next five years. But the Bulls have the ability to take some of them away. If Wojnarowski is right, and they are prepared to offer a five-year maximum salary contract, then that is exactly what they are going to do.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/06/29/report-bulls-extend-maximum-qualifying-offer-to-jimmy-butler/

Report: Bulls Extend Maximum Qualifying Offer To Jimmy Butler
June 29, 2015 5:53 PM

(CBS) The Bulls have extended All-Star wing Jimmy Butler a maximum qualifying offer of five years worth around $90 million, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Eric Pincus, a move that adds a wrinkle to Butler’s free agency.

By virtue of the Bulls extending that, any offer sheet Butler signs from another team must be for at least three years, options excluded. That’s significant because Butler reportedly wants to pursue a shorter-term deal so that he can become a free agent sooner and maximize his earning potential when the salary cap spikes in the summer of 2016 as a mega TV deal kicks in.

By extending the maximum qualifying offer, any offer sheet Butler now signs with another team would, at the earliest, have him becoming a free agent in 2018, which may be later than he wants. If the Bulls hadn’t extended such an offer, other teams could’ve proposed a two-year offer sheet to Butler, making him eligible to become a free agent in 2017.

The only way Butler can become a free agent in 2016 is to play on a one-year deal with the Bulls (or on a one-year deal with a second-year option), who have also extended the formal one-year qualifying offer that’s believed to be worth around $4.4 million, Pincus reported. The sides can also negotiate a one-year deal at a much higher value if they so choose.

If Butler really wants to become a free agent in 2016 and the Bulls don’t want to play ball on offering a shorter-term deal, Butler can play out his one-year qualifying offer deal from Chicago and become an unrestricted free agent next summer — but he’d be leaving a guaranteed $85 million or so on the table.

The maximum qualifying offer is rarely, if ever, extended, in large part because teams usually reach an extension with stars before they reach restricted free agency and because organizations usually want to negotiate so that they don’t have to pay the said player as much.

In this financial climate though — in which max deals signed in 2015 will often look like bargains when the cap spikes in 2016 — it makes good sense for the Bulls because it gives them a little more leverage and perhaps an extra year of Butler if he signs an offer sheet with someone else.

Butler averaged 20.0 points per game last season and was the team’s top perimeter defender.

Now they are offering him 18 which will be like 14-15 after the new cap increase.

I see his side of it BUT...Jimmy better take that 18 mil fam.

Really? 5/90 and he has to THINK about it?

If he turns down that deal, we KNOW Jimmy don't wanna be here no more.

____________

>Now they are offering him 18 which will be like 14-15 after
>the new cap increase.
>
>I see his side of it BUT...Jimmy better take that 18 mil fam.
>
>Really? 5/90 and he has to THINK about it?
>
>If he turns down that deal, we KNOW Jimmy don't wanna be here
>no more.



He's "thinking about it" because he reportedly has some issues with Rose....If that's the case the Bulls need to make a decision: Rose or Jimmy......

At this point, sadly, I would go with the latter....The only problem would be finding a team that would take Rose's contract with his injuries....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/ct-hinrich-picks-up-15-16-option-20150629-story.html

Kirk Hinrich picks up '15-16 option
By K.C. Johnson
Chicago Tribune
June 29, 2015, 11:46 AM

Kirk Hinrich will return to the Bulls for Fred Hoiberg's first season.

Hinrich, who will enter his 13th NBA season, picked up his $2.85 million player option Monday morning, according to his agent, Jeff Austin. RealGM.com first reported Hinrich's decision.

The Bulls expected this path from their 2003 first-round pick and his salary won't affect their free-agency plans or their knowledge they will be a tax team for just the second time in franchise history.

With Hinrich in the fold, the offseason focus shifts to signing restricted free agent Jimmy Butler to a maximum contract and bidding for unrestricted free agent Mike Dunleavy. The Bulls also plan to sign a veteran guard with a salary-cap exception.

Hinrich, 34, signed a two-year deal to stay with the Bulls in 2014.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/ct-jimmy-butler-free-agency-bulls-spt-0630-20150629-story.html

Bulls' goal is to lock up Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy
By K.C. Johnson
Chicago Tribune
June 29, 2015, 7:10 PM

Monday brought the introduction of first-round pick Bobby Portis and news that Kirk Hinrich exercised his $2.85 million player option for 2015-16, meaning 40 percent of the Bulls' offseason moves are complete.

The rest of the to-do list involves re-signing restricted free agent Jimmy Butler, bidding hard to re-sign starting small forward Mike Dunleavy, and adding a guard with a salary-cap exception, likely the mini-midlevel for taxpaying teams.

The Bulls plan to be a luxury tax team for just the second time in franchise history. That's based on a maximum qualifying offer of five years, $90 million to Butler, who would really have to bet on himself to enter unrestricted free agency and the lucrative new financial landscape in 2016 infused by the league's new TV deal.

Butler took that route last October when he turned down the Bulls' four-year, $44 million extension offer and became an All-Star. To do so again, and in a more extreme fashion, Butler would have to sign a one-year qualifying offer just over $4 million.

The maximum qualifying offer prohibits Butler from signing an offer sheet from another team for less than three seasons. The Bulls, who have been given no indications Butler doesn't want to be back, would match any such offer sheet.

Thus, barring the extremely unlikely scenario of a sign-and-trade, Butler will be a Bull next season. It's merely a matter of whether he's playing on a one-year qualifying offer or signs a three-, four- or five-year max deal.

"The most important pieces of our summer are retaining the guys we have — Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy. After that, there won't be a lot of flexibility," general manager Gar Forman said. "We'll have a spot or two to fill but not a lot of money to do anything on a major scale."

When free agency begins at 11:01 p.m. Tuesday, the Bulls plan to be extremely competitive to retain Dunleavy, who turned down more lucrative offers in signing a two-year, $6.5 million deal in July 2013. He found a comfort level personally and professionally in Chicago.

"I love being here and would love to be back," said Dunleavy, who has spent time at the Bulls' practice facility. "Re-signing is a priority."

The Bulls are confident they can re-sign Dunleavy. If the market turns too rich or Dunleavy opts to sign elsewhere, former Bull Marco Belinelli is a backup target, sources said.

Rodney Stuckey, Gary Neal, Mo Williams, J.J. Barea and Jeremy Lin are some of the many guards on the Bulls' free-agent list, sources said. The market for Stuckey and Williams certainly could be too lucrative, but both will be explored.

Hinrich, who was executive vice president John Paxson's first draft pick in 2003, is back for a 13th NBA season.

"We're happy that Kirk picked up his option," Forman said. "We think he's a very valuable piece, has been in the past. We feel that way and (coach) Fred (Hoiberg) feels that way moving forward."

Hoiberg is still deciding about serving as head coach for summer league, a rarity but something first-year coach Steve Kerr did last summer for the Warriors. One possibility is Hoiberg coaching the first two games and then ceding to a more observatory role.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/basketball/7/71/723155/bulls-front-office-best-pretend-rose-butler-conflict-doesnt-exist

The Bulls front office is doing its best to pretend Rose-Butler conflict doesn't exist

WRITTEN BY JOE COWLEY POSTED: 06/26/2015, 09:08AM

Gar Forman has admittedly read the reports about the building friction between backcourt mates Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose.

The Bulls general manager, however, did his best sell-job that it didn’t exist. At least not in his world.


“We talk to Jimmy all the time,’’ Forman said on Thursday, following the drafting of Bobby Portis with the 22nd pick of the first round. “Jimmy has been in the building. There’s no reason at all that their games shouldn’t fit together perfectly.

“I read about the friction. I haven’t seen it. In all our minds, you’ve got two guys who can attack, want to run, can play off the dribble and play-make for themselves and others. They haven’t had a chance to do it a whole lot because of the injuries. But there’s no reason those two shouldn’t be able to play at a high level and be one of the best backcourts in the league.’’

Actually, there are several reasons.

A league source again acknowledged that one of the issues that has left Butler willing to play hardball with the Bulls in his push to hit the free-agent market sooner than later was because he’s turned off with the idea that it’s “Derrick Rose’s team.’’


Not that the old coaching regime didn’t see this coming, as the feeling back in training camp was that Rose and Butler were two alpha males that would have a hard time existing and could be headed for a collision of egos.

That relationship didn’t exactly improve as the season went on, either, as Butler took notice of the special treatment Rose, as well as Joakim Noah, received from the team’s director of sports performance, Jen Swanson. In Butler’s mind, while he and the likes of veterans Pau Gasol and Mike Dunleavy were busting it every day they could in practice, Rose and Noah had permission to sit out practices and certain drills under Swanson’s care.

By the postseason, the collision of egos was on display for all to see, especially in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal loss to Cleveland, in which Rose seemed to be agitated with Butler’s shot selection, almost shutting down in the second half of that loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

So few are surprised that Butler is now doing all he can to draw a short-term deal as a restricted free agent so that he can hit the market unrestricted as quickly as possible.

“Our goal all along obviously is to have Jimmy here long-term,’’ Forman said. “We feel real confident in our situation how well he fits and that Jimmy is comfortable in Chicago. Our goal will be on July 1 to sit down with him and hopefully come to a deal in a timely fashion. We’ll sit down and talk about what he’s looking for and what we’re looking, and hopefully find something that’s beneficial for both sides. Obviously, Jimmy is a huge, huge part of what we’re doing. We’ll do everything we can and anticipate him being in Chicago.’’

First-year coach Fred Hoiberg will take it a step further, doing everything he can to make Butler feel comfortable playing alongside Rose.

“I think they complement each other beautifully,’’ Hoiberg said of the duo. “I’m looking forward to trying to put those guys in great spots where they can continue be All-Star caliber players.’’

________________________________________
"Take the surprise out your voice Shaq."-The REAL CP3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2H5K-BUMS0

U late, Truth....Stop trolling....lol

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

He can be a nice scoring option off the bench

Is it conflicting styles of play? Is it cause one is more ball dominant? Is this shit personal? You would think they would be able to work it out, on a lesser level Westbrook/Durant type shit.

What started the beef with these 2?

They don't. The Chicago sports media, specifically Cowley at the Sun-Times and Bernstein on sports radio, are full of shit.

Mfers in this very post have eaten up their shit about Thibs and will very likely start believing this BS too.

This whole story started with an article Bernstein wrote assuming there was beef because of the way the last game of the Cavs series ended. Everyone has just run with it from there despite no evidence of any issues.

>Is it conflicting styles of play? Is it cause one is more
>ball dominant? Is this shit personal? You would think they
>would be able to work it out, on a lesser level
>Westbrook/Durant type shit.
>
>What started the beef with these 2?


It's not serious BEEF.....It's info being fed from both of their camps....A little spark to the fire...There were reports of Rose being passive aggressive on the court during game 6 against the Cavs and a little verbal dust up between Rose and Jimmy after the game. After that, the local Chi writers just ran with it....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

But if it's getting down to the point where one has to be traded, that's terrible.

You would like to have Hoiberg have a full deck to start his coaching tenure just to see what he would have to do to mold the team.

Sounds like some NY media shit

>But if it's getting down to the point where one has to be
>traded, that's terrible.
>
>You would like to have Hoiberg have a full deck to start his
>coaching tenure just to see what he would have to do to mold
>the team.
>
>Sounds like some NY media shit


It's Chi Media not NYC....

And like I said, IF the beef gets REALLY serious, I'm keeping Jimmy and finding a way to move Pooh....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

>>But if it's getting down to the point where one has to be
>>traded, that's terrible.
>>
>>You would like to have Hoiberg have a full deck to start his
>>coaching tenure just to see what he would have to do to mold
>>the team.
>>
>>Sounds like some NY media shit
>
>
>It's Chi Media not NYC....
Yeah, I meant NY media does some similar shit...Chi media and Philly media can be just as ruthless


>And like I said, IF the beef gets REALLY serious, I'm keeping
>Jimmy and finding a way to move Pooh....
Wow...that's a BIG leap

This is a few years down the line but this is how Hoiberg is going to want to play:

PG - D. Rose
SG - Jimmy Butler
SF - Doug McDermott (Tony Snell) (Terrence Ross?)
PF - Nikola Mirotic
C - Bobby Portis

That's five guys who can shoot the 3, put the ball on the floor and make plays off the dribble. It's basically impossible to defend a unit since that, especially when you have at least 3 (Rose, Butler and Mirotic) who can command a double team and collapse a defense.

Read the rest at...
http://patternofbasketball.blogspot.com/2015/06/nba-draft-review-22-30.html
@JonathanTjarks

https://digife.com

go to playoff lineup.

Maybe not next year because guys still need to work on their defense, but sooner rather than later Fred will be trotting four (five if Portis develops) shooters on the floor.

smooth offseason.

only item left on the agenda: backup PG with the mini MLE. once that's done, they're good.

marshall would be a great get: http://www.blogabull.com/2015/6/16/8785397/who-should-be-the-backup-pg-for-the-bulls-next-year

___

it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

13 MIN Zach LaVine
14 PHO T.J. Warren
15 ATL Adreian Payne
16 CHI Jusuf Nurkic
17 BOS James Young
18 PHO Tyler Ennis
19 CHI Gary Harris
20 TOR Bruno Caboclo
21 OKC Mitch McGary
22 MEM Jordan Adams
23 UTA Rodney Hood

-We could have taken ANY of these guys over Doug at 11
-We had picks 16 and 19 initially
-I wanted a combo of Young + McGary or Hood + McGary with those 2 picks
-Right today, I'd take Hood + Nurkic
-Wouldn't have minded LaVine as a combo guard either

I REALLY hope Dougie ends up a 17-20ppg guy...I really do.

____________

Did you see Rodney Hood's numbers at the end of the year? There were so many options, & if I remember, there was very little chatter about Doug getting picked before the Bulls first pick anyway. Gary Harris would have been nice too, but I'm still a little mad that Kyle Anderson fell to the Spurs, even if he didn't really play at all this year.

about the future. Right now, there's a ton of uncertainty beyond Jimmy, Niko and maybe Rose.

>Did you see Rodney Hood's numbers at the end of the year?
>There were so many options, & if I remember, there was very
>little chatter about Doug getting picked before the Bulls
>first pick anyway. Gary Harris would have been nice too, but
>I'm still a little mad that Kyle Anderson fell to the Spurs,
>even if he didn't really play at all this year.

Doug's summer league last year had me excited. I'm hoping he can transfer some of that to the reg season this year.

But even still, I'd rather have 2 of those guys than one Dougie.

____________

Doug McDermott makes the jump in summer league. He showed enough during the season to show that he has a chance to be a key reserve at the 3, simply with his ability to fill it up. Keep in mind that his injury hindered his growth during last season. If he stays healthy, I see him as a key contributor come the post season.

Mrotic/McDermott/Portis are going to gel very well in the Summer Leagues. I hope The Mayor decides to coach the team so that that cohesiveness can carry over to the regular season a la Kerr.

Butler and Rose are going to figure it out by All Star break provided no one gets hurt.

Call me optimistic but I'm thinking we still have a chance at the chip next year. It's an outside shot but we are STILL in the East.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Waldorf and Statler Vol 4:CONAN IS OUT NOW!!!: http://waldorfandstatler.bandcamp.com

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If Jo comes back as a top 5 DPOY candidate...
If Derrick & Jimmy can be the back court we think they can be...
If Snelly-cat & McShootsalot are serviceable or better...
I think we'll be better than we were last year.

I expect Jo will be better, & that Jimmy & Rose will figure it out. The minutes issue didn't bother me as much as some, but the lack of play time for Snell was difficult to understand. every time he got steady playing time he looked pretty good, but any mistake... he was on such a short leash.
Niko will shoot better this year, & the offense should be less prone to famine & drought. I like the Jim Boylen hire, but I wish we would have gone after an OG defensive guy. I think the defense slips from the height of the Thibsian era, but it will be better than last year.

And if all else fails & this year goes horribly wrong, I hope Hoiberg gives us a steady diet of the young guys to get them experience.

I'm predicting a 48 win season, & a second round exit. I might be done with them til GarPax is out.

https://digife.com

like dula said above, marshall would be an ideal fit. it's time to bring in a reserve pg taller than 6'1. it's cute when lil nate/dj/brooks goes off during the regular season, but when they're useless against high level competition in the playoffs (Cavs) it makes the entire signing kind of pointless.

but yeah, kirk should be the fourth guard off the bench. behind whomever backs up jimmy and derrick.

still a ton of guys on the market (mo will, jameer, lin, marshall, norris cole, etc)

___

it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

>still a ton of guys on the market (mo will, jameer, lin,
>marshall, norris cole, etc)


Mo gone...Lin is asking for too much (he's not taking the min)....We left with Marshall (who is OK) and fucking Norris, who I'm not too keen on at all......

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

He showed some flashes last season and if the Bulls can't nab another guard (Marshall would be nice) then I'd like to see Hoiberg give the backup PG minutes to Moore.

Unless his shooting miraculously returns, Kirk needs to be buried on the bench, simple as that.

This^^^^is why the Bulls won't be seeing any trophy's anytime soon...lol

But seriously, what r the Bulls waiting for? We missed out on everyone from Corey Joseph, Gary Neal, Mo Williams to Pat Bev and (and now reportedly) J Lin.....The Bulls brass talk a good game about again going over the lux tax like last season...But they waiting around for something to drop in their lap.....Winning organizations don't operate that way....

Beyond that, I think the Bulls will regular-season-good: 48 to 52 game winning team...But as presently constructed they r not good enough to make a deep playoff run....

When all of your hopes and dreams are pegged on whether your PG--off of three knee surgeries--will stay healthy for an entire season, that's no way to win a championship...

I got my fingers crossed and hope we can pull off a bold trade to shake the dust off of this team....Because the Cavs and even the Bucks r not playing around....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

>But seriously, what r the Bulls waiting for? We missed out on
>everyone from Corey Joseph, Gary Neal, Mo Williams to Pat Bev
>and (and now reportedly) J Lin.....The Bulls brass talk a good
>game about again going over the lux tax like last season...But
>they waiting around for something to drop in their
>lap.....Winning organizations don't operate that way....

the bulls have the mini midlevel exception, which is ~$3.4M. since they're already in the tax, that's the only mechanism they have available this summer to add a free agent from another team. it's not a matter of whether they want to spend more or not, that's literally all they're allowed to spend under the rules.

nearly every backup PG signed so far has gone for more than chicago can offer. why criticize them for "missing out" on guys that they couldn't afford in the first place?

joseph went for 4/30. beverley for 4/25. lin will likely get more than what the bulls could offer. and neal and williams both "went home".

all organizations -- even winning ones -- have to wait for something to drop in their lap when their options are limited.

seems like you're just pressed to be critical. as usual.

___

it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

>seems like you're just pressed to be critical. as usual.


Nah...I'm good homie.....I think I've been perfectly in the right to be pressed....

I said we didn't have enough to get pass Bron given that we were still waiting for Superman (Pooh) to return and got the side-eye from some Bulls fans on this very same board and then my worse case scenario turned out to be even more surreal (Getting beat by James and some role players....)

I said we would get bit in the ass by depending on smaller back-up PG's and that's exactly what happened in the 'Offs...

And when I mentioned that trading (my dude) D. Rose would be the smart thing to do after he recovered in decent form for the previous playoffs I got a similar reaction as if I called Obama a pussy....

Listen....I know how us Chicago fans roll....Outside of the Jordan dynasty and the recent Blackhawks Cup runs, Chicago has had a miserable time within the world of professional sports....We rarely win. So what ends up happening is we latch on to personalities and beloved stars ( AND HOPE) because that's really all we got. So please forgive the kid if he seems on edge as I wait for my Cubs, Bears, and Bulls to deliver....

So it comes down to this: do you think the Bulls will win a championship with this roster? With the likes of SA, the Cavs and even an improving Bucks team that we struggled to snuff out making improvements?

This ^^^^ is the only question worth talking about.....Everything else is just OK Sports bullshit....

Yeah...I think I have a right to be pressed....What have we won?

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

chicago was _extremely_ limited in terms of what they were able to do this summer. it's unreasonable to criticize them for not doing more.

fans too often have unrealistic ideas of just how much flexibility teams actually have to restructure their personnel on a season to season basis. nobody rebuilds every year. once you lock into a core, it's your core for 3-5 years. the bulls will have some more freedom next summer when noah comes off the books, but they were basically locked into 1 more run with this core.

san antonio and milwaukee had cap space to sign outside free agents. cleveland resigned their own free agents, same as chicago did. grass is greener tho.

all they had to spend was a small salary cap exception on a backup PG. why go all chicken little because they didn't sign the guy you wanted? "winning organizations don't miss out on mo williams and cory joseph!!!" cmon man, lolz.

oh and trading derrick right now is an awful idea. he has no real value, owing to his salary and injury history. what could they possibly get for him that would improve their team?

___

it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

>chicago was _extremely_ limited in terms of what they were
>able to do this summer. it's unreasonable to criticize them
>for not doing more.

I always wonder why other contending teams can get guys to come in at a bargain price but the Bulls struggle to make such a move...Actually, I know the answer. It seems like the Bulls as an organization has issues getting FA's of all stripes unless we lure a player on the downside of their career (Pau, who showed his ass and played well, but more often then not, those type of moves usually don't end well). The irony is Pax and them usually do well with picking up PG's.

But as a whole I guess I'm more frustrated with our pick up's of PG's under 6 ft. than anything else....



>fans too often have unrealistic ideas of just how much
>flexibility teams actually have to restructure their personnel
>on a season to season basis. nobody rebuilds every year. once
>you lock into a core, it's your core for 3-5 years. the bulls
>will have some more freedom next summer when noah comes off
>the books, but they were basically locked into 1 more run with
>this core.

Are we really locked in? I say if we are not truly good enough to win the entire thing after 5 plus years maybe it's time to do something bold....Maybe we can see what we can get for Jo...Or Rose.....

I know there are no easy fixes....I know this is not fantasy basketball. I guess what I'm saying is we might as well take some chances at this point....



>san antonio and milwaukee had cap space to sign outside free
>agents. cleveland resigned their own free agents, same as
>chicago did. grass is greener tho.


Grass is always greener....It's been greener since we had Ben Gordon....


>all they had to spend was a small salary cap exception on a
>backup PG. why go all chicken little because they didn't sign
>the guy you wanted? "winning organizations don't miss out on
>mo williams and cory joseph!!!" cmon man, lolz.
>
>oh and trading derrick right now is an awful idea. he has no
>real value, owing to his salary and injury history. what could
>they possibly get for him that would improve their team?


If we dangled Rose in front of a team like Denver to get say Ty Lawson, a pick and an additional body (maybe Wilson Chandler), I don't think they would turn that down....Of course we are not going to get true value back for Rose....WE R NEVER GOING TO GET TRUE VALUE BACK FOR A PLAYER GOING ON 3 KNEE SURGERIES....LOL....At this point I want the Bulls to get from under the homies' contract AND get something back.....

I've been hearing the same thing for years: Bulls r locked in...Bulls can't make any moves because we are tapped; FA difference makers don't want to come to the Bulls....Rose's knee.....

Yeah man...I've heard it all. And basically I'm tired of it....

If we not winning, might as well either swing for the fences (revisit that Melo trade...but try to keep Rose and Noah) or at least get serious about latching our future to my favorite player on the team who also happens to be injury prone: Rose....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

>I always wonder why other contending teams can get guys to
>come in at a bargain price but the Bulls struggle to make such
>a move...Actually, I know the answer. It seems like the Bulls
>as an organization has issues getting FA's of all stripes
>unless we lure a player on the downside of their career (Pau,
>who showed his ass and played well, but more often then not,
>those type of moves usually don't end well)

who are you talking about? david west? shawn marion and
mike miller? those guys aren't 'on the downside' too?

more 'grass is greener' shit. pau and dunleavy both left money
on the table to sign with chicago. if san antonio or cleveland
had signed them, you'd be talking about what great bargains
they were and blowing those teams' front offices.

the spurs pursued pau aggressively last summer. lebron wanted
dunleavy bad this year. they chose chicago. and pau had an all
star season.

>Are we really locked in? I say if we are not truly good enough
>to win the entire thing after 5 plus years maybe it's time to
>do something bold....Maybe we can see what we can get for
>Jo...Or Rose.....

but it hasn't been 5 plus years with this core. boozer and deng
are gone. butler and rose just finished yr 1 as a starting
backcourt. and a number of their rotation guys (mirotic, snell,
mcD, portis) will still have significant room for growth.

it's not always about completely scrapping everything and starting
from scratch just because you didn't win a title. the 2010
mavericks lost in round 1, so did the 2014 warriors. neither team
panicked, and rightfully so.

>I know there are no easy fixes....I know this is not fantasy
>basketball. I guess what I'm saying is we might as well take
>some chances at this point....

but not just for the sake of doing something. it has to be a move
that makes sense and improves the team.

>>oh and trading derrick right now is an awful idea. he has no
>>real value, owing to his salary and injury history. what
>could
>>they possibly get for him that would improve their team?
>
>
>If we dangled Rose in front of a team like Denver to get say
>Ty Lawson, a pick and an additional body (maybe Wilson
>Chandler), I don't think they would turn that down....

see, that's what i'm saying, murph. this is COMPLETELY
unrealistic. they're not getting anything like that for rose
right now, man. in fact they'd almost certainly have to attach
a pick to get a team to swallow rose's remaining 2 yrs @ ~41M.
that's a bad contract. the bulls would be the ones having to
convince someone to take it, not the other way around. you
really don't get that?

denver's rebuilding. they just drafted a point guard. why would
they give up ty lawson (who was better than rose last yr and
significantly cheaper) AND a pick, for derrick rose?

>Of course we are not going to get true value back for Rose....WE
>R NEVER GOING TO GET TRUE VALUE BACK FOR A PLAYER GOING ON 3
>KNEE SURGERIES....LOL....At this point I want the Bulls to get
>from under the homies' contract AND get something back.....

it's amazing to me that bulls fans want to trade rose NOW,
when he's just working his way back and finally showing some
semblance of being a productive player again. i expect him
to be MUCH better in his 2nd yr back, he and butler are going
to be very good together for years to come.

>If we not winning, might as well either swing for the fences
>(revisit that Melo trade...but try to keep Rose and Noah) or
>at least get serious about latching our future to my favorite
>player on the team who also happens to be injury prone:
>Rose....

why are you guys still fixated on carmelo? he's 31, coming off
knee surgery, owed 100M over the next 4 years. he's going to be
taking up a quarter of the salary cap AFTER it explodes next year.
that's going to be a terrible contract in very short order.

___

it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

Reserve guard Aaron Brooks will return to the Bulls on a one-year deal, according to sources.

Brooks averaged 11.6 points and 3.2 assists in playing all 82 games for the Bulls last season, starting 21 games due to various injury absences. Brooks made the veteran’s minimum last season but he’ll earn more than that in 2015-16.

There was speculation the Bulls would go for a bigger guard who could possess the ability to play both guard spots as opposed to just one, but when the market dried up after a few targets signed above-average deals, it didn’t leave the luxury-tax paying Bulls with many options, and a return engagement with Brooks was an easy choice.

Brooks scored 20 or more seven times last season, including a 31-point performance against the 76ers in Philadelphia where he sent the game into overtime with a leaning baseline triple.

The 6-foot guard struggled in the playoffs as Derrick Rose carried a heavier workload and opposing point guards began to overwhelm him with their size, leading to the thought of the Bulls breaking away from the pattern of smaller backup point guards (Brooks, D.J. Augustin, Nate Robinson).

With Kirk Hinrich exercising his option to return, the Bulls will keep essentially the same team intact barring any unforeseen personnel move—which can never be counted out.

The Bulls still have 26-year old guard E’Twaun Moore as a reserve, and they hope he’ll make a push for more minutes under Fred Hoiberg.

___

it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

He's pretty good in the regular season....But will get exposed (again) in the 'Offs....

Bulls...gotta love it....

GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....

brooks
snell/mcdermott
butler
mirotic
gibson

https://digife.com

ain't the end of the world with brooks.

i like aaron over norris tho.

Why Aren’t the Chicago Bulls Doing Anything this Offseason?
JULY 9, 2015
KELLY SCALETTA

The Chicago Bulls’ offseason has consisted of replacing their head coach, adding Bobby Portis through the draft and a whole bunch of nothing. More or less, the exact same team that got ousted by LeBron James for the umpteenth time is staying exactly the same.

So, you may be asking: “Why in the wide, wide world of sports aren’t the Bulls doing anything?” And sadly the answer isn’t nearly as easy to find as you might like. Just because there’s a need to do something doesn’t mean there’s a way to do something.

Then comes the deluge of things that could’ve or should’ve been done.

As an accomplished home-office general manager, I’m well acquainted with the practice. I can make a fake trade quicker than you can tune an air guitar. Note that all redressing of fake GMs in this article have the proverbial “four fingers pointing back at me.”

The problem is that the Bulls’ real front office isn’t doing it for fake, they’re doing it for real. And that means having to deal with real restrictions.

THE PROBLEM WITH FREE AGENCY

The Bulls are limited in what they can do, and no, it’s not because Jerry Reinsdorf is cheap. It’s quite the opposite. Currently, pending the specific contract information for Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy, Aaron Brooks and Bobby Portis, the Bulls are sitting around $88.41 million in salaries.

There’s something in the CBA referred to as the “apron.” That’s the mark $4 million over the tax threshold. Even with the adjusted figures, the tax is expected to start around $88.74 million. That puts the Bulls right around the threshold.

That binds them in what they can do. They can’t use their full mid-level exception because that would put them over the apron, and that’s illegal. If they do a sign-and-trade, they get hard-capped and can’t go over the apron. Effectively, being just below the apron is the same as being over it.

So, I hope we can appreciate the irony. The thing limiting the Bulls right now is they’re spending too much money. And there’s no room to “just spend more.” It’s not their decision that’s limiting them; it’s league rules.

But what about the taxpayer mid-level exception? The existence of that exception has some fans wondering why the Bulls are “letting” all these other guards “get away.” But the truth is, the guards who are inking elsewhere are out of the Bulls’ price range.

The taxpayer MLE is just $3.376 million. Rodney Stuckey gave the Pacers a discount when he signed a three-year deal for $21 million. Was he really going to take half as much to play for the Bulls?

You know how sometimes you walk into a clothing store, go, “Yeah, I love that shirt,” and look at the price tag? And then your eyes saucer up, and you tuck the tag back in, nice and neatly because you feel like you might get charged just for checking the price?

That’s sort of how things are going for the Bulls right now. Literally, anyone who could make a lick of difference in free agency isn’t remotely affordable. You could argue that the Bulls could’ve gotten Jeremy Lin, who signed with Charlotte for the biannual exception. But is he really the difference in getting past LeBron James?

There’s Gerald Green, who just signed in Miami for the minimum, but his defense was so horrid it washed him out of the Phoenix Suns’ rotation. Point being: players that might be gotten for that price aren’t exactly elite. Whatever the Bulls could get for that price is going to make minimal difference.

It also turns out they don’t even have the full taxpayer MLE to offer anymore, because they used part of it to keep Brooks (which probably also explains why they didn’t get Lin):

@KCJHoop
Aaron Brooks' deal is for portion of MMLE, not vet minimum. It's just over $2M, source said.
10:46 AM - 9 Jul 2015

They might not be completely done yet though, as there are reports that they’re talking to Donald Sloan:

@ShamsCharania
Free agent Donald Sloan in ongoing discussions with the Spurs, Bulls and Mavs on potential deal as reserve PG, league sources tell RealGM.
10:14 AM - 9 Jul 2015

People may not like these moves, but there are arguments to be made for continuity (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2015/06/20/want-to-make-the-nba-playoffs-keep-your-roster-together/) and the chances of getting a difference maker with the full taxpayer MLE wasn’t all that great.

THE PROBLEM WITH A TRADE

So why not make a trade then? The Bulls have a glut of bigs, especially after drafting Portis. The narrative is that Joakim Noah or Taj Gibson could be dealt. And yes, they can.

In fact, write a list of reasons why it makes sense for the Bulls to trade them. Noah wasn’t the same last year. Gibson’s ankle is always getting injured and so on and so forth.

That list of reasons for trading either of them is also a list of things that lower their trade value. Every reason that you have to trade either of them is simultaneously a reason not to trade for them.

But now the list of reasons that other teams would want them starts to kick in. Maybe Taj will be OK. Maybe with minutes better managed, Noah can return to his All-NBA caliber play. But all those are reasons for the Bulls to not trade them as well.

Can the Bulls trade Noah or Gibson? Without a doubt they could. But just making a trade isn’t the goal. They need to make a trade that improves the team. And that’s not nearly as easy to do.

Armchair GMing is easy. None of our stupid trade ideas ever gets put to the test. Or you can just emphatically grunt “Do something!” as though that magically makes “something” doable appear.

Nor does that the fact that the Bulls haven’t “done something” mean they haven’t explored things. There are a range of ideas ranging from the realistic (Gibson for Avery Bradley) to the stupid for the Bulls (Gibson for Terrence Ross) to “the other team would never do it” (Gibson and Noah for Aldridge).

But all of these ideas, however good or bad they are, never have to survive anything but the filter of your brain. They don’t have to actually get discussed with another real-life GM, who’s trying to improve their team at the same time.

Furthermore, if your trade idea doesn’t happen — and the more stupid is, the less likely it will — it never gets proven wrong. So then fans can bemoan how if “only they had done what I said” for the next five years. The biggest difference between GarPax and the typical fan is that the typical fan can pretend their Tyrus Thomas-for-LaMarcus Aldridge trade never happened.

I can give you a fake fan trade that looks great, but that doesn’t mean it’s realistic. It’s not realistic until a rival GM is looks at it and thinks, “Yes, I’m willing to consider that.”

Furthermore, if you think that the Bulls’ front office is taking the offseason off and just going to baseball games with Andre Miller, you’re delusional. Don’t confuse “no trades” with “no activity.” The Bulls’ front office is notoriously quiet. Even when they traded Luol Deng, it crept up on the world and shocked everyone.

If they’re that good at keeping a trade that did happen quiet, how likely are they to keep discussions that aren’t happening on the down low? There may or may not be a trade coming. We’ll only know the result. We won’t know the conversations that led up to it. That doesn’t mean there weren’t any.

THINKING AHEAD

Here’s another thing about GMing from a laptop. You get to hit the reset button every time you want. Prior stupid decisions in no way prevent you from making present stupid decisions. Actual GMs don’t have that luxury.

In the real world, there are consequences for what you do a year later and five years later. ESPN’s Nick Friedell explains:

"Re-signing Butler and Dunleavy were no-brainers for a team that still holds out hope that the championship window they have been holding open for several years hasn’t closed completely… the Bulls front office still wants to give this core one more chance to push for a title under new head coach Fred Hoiberg. The belief is that Hoiberg’s offensive system can help push the Bulls over the hump in the Eastern Conference."

And maybe it can. Remember that this same group was one blown-timeout call away from going up 3-1 in the series against the Cavaliers this year. Is Cleveland better than Chicago? Yes. Are they “Welp, time to give up on the whole thing, trash the entire team and start over” better? No.

And frankly, if they did that, the same people complaining now would be complaining then.

Here’s the thing. The roster was too good to throw away, and it wasn’t good enough to win with the present system. Furthermore, it was too limiting to change much in free agency or trades. So GarPax did the only thing they could: They changed the coaching staff.

So now, they have a one-year window to do something with a 21st-century offense that uses all their players, including the kids like Tony Snell, Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic. Maybe Derrick Rose, in his second year back from injury, is more consistent. He had flashes of his MVP form last year, but it was interrupted by bouts of insufferable shooting.

Maybe Jimmy Butler improves on his Most Improved Player season, but also brings back the kind of spectacular defense we saw in the playoffs but was missing most of last season.

Maybe the offseason and reduced minutes help Gibson and Noah to get some of their spring back, and Tristan Thompson doesn’t completely dominate them on the glass next year.

Just maybe, all the stars align. There’s a scenario where this roster can beat Cleveland. It’s not likely, but it’s better than impossible.

And maybe it doesn’t. And that’s where you have to consider the long-term planning end of things.

Worst-case scenario, the Bulls don’t get past LeBron this year. The next year Noah comes off the contracts, the cap balloons and the Bulls have a roster with Butler, Rose and Mirotic and room for a max contract.

And the year after that, with Rose’s contract coming off, the cap takes another giant leap, and the Bulls can add two more max contracts.

In the worst case, the Bulls have a chance to see what their young fellas like Snell and McDermott can do while featuring youngsters Butler and Mirotic, who have already shown something. Then they can add more stars through free agency. They can rebuild without having to go through the process of getting bad first.

The point is if they can’t really do anything to improve right now, and keeping their youth is the best plan for the future, why not just stay the same? Even if the chances are slim of winning it all, it’s better to have slim chances than none, particularly if that helps the long-term plans even more.

I imagine that some people are going to read this as me being a GarPax apologist. I can’t help that. It doesn’t change that there are real-world issues making it nearly impossible for them to make significant improvements. So, barring that, trying to improve the coaching seems like the best approach.

Doing so in a way that maximizes the potential for the future just makes it smart GMing.

http://www.todaysfastbreak.com/nba-east/central/why-arent-chicago-bulls-doing-anything-offseason/

___

it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

young guys that didn't really get a chance to take their rookie lumps under thibs. mostly talking about doug here but snell is in the same boat.

niko will be better.

i don't think jimmy has peaked.

and derrick should be back to all star derrick next year.

group those improvements above with hoiberg and his offensive acumen (i hope) and we should be a more dangerous team come playoffs.

>i don't think jimmy has peaked.

Honestly this is what excites me most about the upcoming season.
Butler and Mirotic.

https://digife.com

and the jimmy/derrick cohesion can't be understated. we'll only make real noise if those two learn how to play together. i know jimmy's agent doesn't want to hear it but it's on both of them to figure it out this season. no excuses.

Dude on blog a bull hit it yesterday.
How to handle the front court minutes is going to be The Mayor's first hurdle.

Noah
Gasol
Gibson
Mirotic
Portis

And I don't see the rookie getting much tick (if any at all).

https://digife.com

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25301010/spanish-coach-says-pau-gasol-played-against-medical-staffs-advice

Spanish coach says Pau Gasol played against medical staff's advice
By Matt Moore | NBA writer
September 13, 2015 7:05 pm ET

Pau Gasol loves his country, Spain. That's why he's played with the team constantly since 2001 when he was on the Under-19 FIBA team. He's one of just two NBA star participants this summer for Eurobasket alongside Nikola Mirotic (with Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, Jose Calderon, and Ricky Rubio all sitting out). A lot of players have taken it upon themselves to participate this summer for their country's pride, with Rio 2016 ramifications on the line, but Gasol is 35. Should he be out there participating? Ultimately, that's his call.

Especially when he's apparently ignoring doctor's orders.

From EuroHoops.Net:

Pau Gasol was in pain just before the start of the game against Poland and he had to run to the locker rooms in order to get medical treatment. However, this was the start of an amazing story.
As Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo revealed in the press conference: “The doctors told me that Pau couldn't play more than five minutes straight. But after the first five minutes, when I asked him to come to bench he told me now. “I will take the risk”, he answered me and he had an amazing game."
Spain's leader led his team to the quarter-finals with an extraordinary performance, having 30 points on 6/7 from the three-point range. And while Rudy Fernandez is day to day and may miss the next big game versus Greece in the quarterfinals, Gasol is ready to play: “I never jumped off the boat and I will not do that now. We play against Greece, I will play for sure”.

Source: Scariolo: "Pau took the risk" - Eurohoops.

So Gasol was supposed to not play for more than five minutes at a time. He played 31 total minutes.

Well, it's good to know that Tom Thibodeau's patented approach for running his players into the ground despite injury concerns has rubbed off on the guy Kobe Bryant once described as a Black Swan. But that entire blockquote above has to give everyone in the Bulls' front-office palpitations.

Spain is still looking to qualify for Rio in 2016, but there's no reason they wouldn't be able to qualify next summer. Meanwhile, Gasol has already had seasons over the past four years impacted significantly by injury concerns. He started off red-hot last year, and played at an All-Star level. But over the year, he was slowly ground down. For Gasol to be playing through injury to the point of disregarding doctor advice, that's an awfully risky situation for Chicago.

Luckily, Gasol came out fine and obviously had a huge game, but this is something that has to be a concern for the Bulls organization, which parted ways with Tom Thibodeau this summer in part because of how many minutes he put the players through.

Trusting a player with his body is a good thing, but it's alarming from a team perspective when that directly contradicts the advice of the medical staff. It's awesome that Gasol came up once again as such a hero for his national team, but that's a pretty stark contrast between what the doctors wanted and what he did.

''i went from bashful to asshole to international''- CdoubleO

If true, I dig the move.

https://digife.com