Checking in on the Bulls and the Number One Pick
I haven't written about the Bulls lately because a) the Cubs have been playing well, b) there's been lots of Bears news, and c) the Bulls disgusted me this season. Awful. Just awful. But that's in the past. Lots has been going on lately and its time to check in.
Mike D'Antoni didn't want to wait around for the Bulls to make an offer so he signed a deal with the Knicks. I like D'Antoni, and I thought he was a decent option for coaching the team. But he's no savior, and I'm not a huge fan of castoffs anyways. If he's so great, why did Phoenix let him go? I'm no fan of Avery Johnson either. He led his team to the Finals (but lost to heavy underdog Miami) then suffered back-to-back first round collapses. No thanks. The Bulls can collapse in the first round on their own, thank you very much. At this point, it looks like the Bulls are going to go young and grab an eager young assistant off somebody's bench. Might work, might not. It's certainly the most frugal option, and with Skiles already on the books for $5 million this year, you know that's how the Bulls are going to do it.
Even bigger news this week, of course, is the Bulls nabbing the top pick in the upcoming draft lottery. The 1.7% chance reminded me of Pippen's 1.8 second pout in the '94 playoffs. In both cases, the Bulls won anyways.
There's no LeBrons in this draft, but there are two really good players at the top. Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley. (With all the lottery picks the Bulls have had in the last 10 years, why do they always fair better in lesser years?) Both players have pros and cons, and those are well documented elsewhere. I'm going to attempt to figure out who's better for the Bulls.
With Larry Hughes and Kirk Hinrich having massive contracts, it would appear that the Bulls are more or less stuck with them. Hughes for sure. I still like Hinrich, but he really hasn't progressed since his rookie year. He's a good but not great player. He'll never make an all-star team. As for trade value, they might be able to get something for Hinrich, but really it would just be a swap of expensive mediocrity at that point. Ben Gordon's got some value, too, in sign-and-trade, though those deals don't net much for the senders beyond a courtesy. Oh, and Duhon's a goner.
As for the front court, the Bulls have Deng, Thomas, Noah, Nocioni, Gray and Gooden. All have their strengths (and at least some value), but none is a star. Really, when you look at the Bulls roster, they have a bunch of decent players. No massive holes, which makes this decision tough. Paxson really has to prune his roster or the Bulls won't go anywhere.
So if they go with Rose (yay! another short guard), they absolutely have to trade Gordon and/or Hinrich. I'd honestly be happy with Rose and Sefolosha starting, or at the very least Rose and Hughes with Sefolosha and a no-name (or possibly 6th man Gordon) off the bench. Then go with Noah, Thomas/Gooden and Deng at forward. Package Nocioni with Hinrich.
If they go with Beasley (yay! another head case forward!), they absolutely have to trade Thomas or Noah (or both.) I like Noah. He's the only one that showed any heart on the team this year. So dump Thomas' overrated, worthless ass (with Hinrich and Nocioni). Package 'em up and drop them in the mail with no return address.
Either option sounds good. I guess it depends on what the team can get for Hinrich, Thomas, and the rest. It also severely depends on who's coaching this team. If it was D'Antoni, I'd go with Rose in a heartbeat. But we need to see who's hired and what style they prefer to play before we can really identify which player will help the team most in the draft. Paxson likes defense, and he likes little guards, so my guess is Rose is coming to Chicago. And that'd be fine.