Bulls Contenders Next Season?

[Go Getter]

1. What's with the bulls fan's infatuation with t-mac? i guess you haven't seen this dude steady decline over the past few years. those 8ppg in new york WAS NO FLUKE. all this "oh if he comes back healthy...", "if he comes back 50% of what he used to be...".... yeah not gonna happen. He wouldn't fit chicago's offense healthy and he sure as hell is not going to fit it now that he is contemplating retirement.

2. That's just a horrible trade for houston. so your basically trading your crap away to benefit your team? how about i trade ariza and a couple draft picks for derrick rose... makes as much sense

3. Bulls are a great young team. The addition of Boozer finally gives them a low post presence which will do wonders for their offense and Derrick Rose continues to improve as one of the premier point guards in the league. (tmac doesn't make the team better and martin trade is unrealistic throw that out the window). Right now they aren't contenders but they are a strong playoff team in the east. They are definitely a team to watch out for in the east playoffs but they're missing a few more pieces to be contenders.

I am a Bull's fan and I am 110% against acquiring T-Mac.

[lukekarts]

The Bulls won't be any better than last season's Jazz, so no, they're not contenders. They are obviously improved though, and will be 4th or 5th seed at worst.

[SinJackal]

Ok, your a Bulls fan, so I'll give you the respect you deserve and say kudos for having the enthusiasm.

But those are some really made bad changes. Let me get this straight, you want to trade away one of our most consistent players in Luol Deng at the 3-spot the last fewyears for a Tracy McGrady that couldn't score more than 10 points under Mike D'Antoni's system last year? The one who doesn't hustle on defense and couldn reach 40% Field Goal Percentage?

Then you want to have Allen Iverson as our back-up point guard?

What the Bulls need as a backup point is someone like Luke Ridnour, who has proven to understand how to efficiently run a half-court and transition basketball game. Jerry StackHouse and Kurt Thomas would also be great veteran leaders who could come in and provide that experience. Stackhouse can still shoot the ball and play efficient, and Kurt Thomas is always a nice pickup for the amount he is payed.

If the spurs don't sign them, Roger Mason and Richard Jefferson would be nice pickups as well. Our starting five in Rose, Boozer, Noah, Deng, and Korver is already on paper a potential contender. Korver is nothing special, but he spreads the floor and complements Rose as a 3-point shooter.

Gibson + and any of the free agents that I mentioned above would be a very solid bench, and all better fits than McGrady and Iverson IMO. If McGrady is willing to play for the minimum... sure I guess. But in general those two over there just have been way too concerning in there attitude / play / injuries to the game that as a Bulls fan I would rather not take that chance under Thobodeus new system.

Yeah I agree, Bulls fans here are too down on Luol Deng. Just because he's a "quiet" type of player doesn't mean he sucks. He's efficiant, and you don't see him getting burned too much on defense. . .that's a good thing. don't forget Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard are "quiet" type of players too. . .not to say Deng's anywhere near them. . .just saying quiet doesn't neccessarily mean he's bad.

Though. . .about T-Mac, he wasn't ready to play yet after surgeory. That sort of surgeory takes over a year to fully recover from. In his defense, I actually give him a pass on last season.

Richard Jefferson is almost 100% for sure resigning with SA. They're just working out the exact figures per year so they can avoid luxury tax every season for the entirety of his contract. The odds of him not resigning are like less than 5%. He wants to play there, and they want him back for sure.

I agree about Kurt Thomas and Mason though, except they aren't as cheap as you think. Both are good players. Both play pretty decent D', and Thomas can bang threes if he keeps practicing his stroke and doesn't get lazy. But. . .again, not cheap. Many teams want Kurt Thomas-type players. They will pay 4-5m per for them.

Overall though, I pretty much agree with you.

[Go Getter]

The Bulls won't be any better than last season's Jazz, so no, they're not contenders. They are obviously improved though, and will be 4th or 5th seed at worst.

We are better than the Jazz--I've watched both teams extensively.

[dbugz]

If Chicago plays their cards right they could very well be going for that chip next year. First thing they gotta do is focus on signing Tracy McGrady before anyone else (especially the Heat) get him. A lot of you might think TMac is to old but he still has great mileage left in the tank, he is only 30. Tracy McGrady would fit in the Bulls better than any team on the bulls because of his Driving/Jump shooting. Next year the Bulls will be a jump shooting team with Rose leading the offense.

If TMac joins not only will he compliment Rose greatly because he can shoot from anywhere on the court but he can also drive in and is a great passer. He may not be the old TMac but he is still the best FA still out there if you count out injuries. Once the bulls manage to sign Tracy they would now be able to trade away Luol Deng for a starting SG (Korver isnt a starter and neither is Brewer). Maybe package James Johnson and Luol Deng + a future pick to Houston for Kevin Martin (Houston gets an SF that they need and the Bulls get a starting SG and get 3 million more in cap space).

Once the Bulls make these moves I would look to sign Kurt Thomas. Then i would go after a backup PG like Randy Foye and Allen Iverson. If you can't get those you could always sign a rookie PG to see how he does like Scottie Renolds and Edgar Sosa. If the bulls follow these steps they could be so stacked I wouldn't be surprised to see them get past the first round this season lol.


PG: Rose/Foye
SG: Martin/Korver
SF: McGrady/Brewer
PF: Boozer/Gibson
C: Noah/Thomas

If you can't get Martin or T-Mac they can also go with Plan B and sign Josh Howard.

Rose/McGrady/Boozer compliment each other very well. Only thing this team would really lack is a bit of defense but that is what the new Bull's coach is for. Rose and Noah are great defenders anyway.

Healthy Kevin Martin plus Rose would be an exciting combo to watch

[lukekarts]

We are better than the Jazz--I've watched both teams extensively.

You haven't seen your new team play at all!

On paper, it looks even:

Deron > Rose
Matthews = Brewer
AK = Deng
Boozer = Boozer
Okur < Noah

Korver = Korver
Miles > Johnson
Millsap > Gibson

[King Lebron LBJ]

They will be improved but 50-53 wins and 2nd round exit is likely. Suppose they could make the CF if they surprise.

[Go Getter]

You haven't seen your new team play at all!

On paper, it looks even:

Deron > Rose
Matthews = Brewer
AK = Deng
Boozer = Boozer
Okur < Noah

Korver = Korver
Miles > Johnson
Millsap > Gibson

excuse my typo...we will be.....and Deng is better than AK.

[BIG FURB]

Decent doesn't mean good.

Yeah Celtics were in the finals, but they played a crappy Bobcats team, a mortally choking Hawks team, -AND- a choking Magic team to get there. They're older now, and have less pieces than last season. KG's health is in serious question, and Ray Allen is becoming more and more hot/cold which isn't good. I'm not saying the Celtics sucks, but I don't assume they're going to magically be really good again this year. How have they improved? Many other teams improved. The Celtics have not, even in the tinyest of ways. If anything they have taken a small step back. imo.

Uhhhh, the Celtic's took out D-Wades Heat, Lebron's top seeded Cavs, Dwight's 2nd seeded Magic and nearly beat Kobe's Lakers for he title just this past season. Even if they've taken a small step back they're still firmly in that 'contender" slot until proven otherwise. As a fellow Bulls fan I'm as excited about the improvements we've made as the next man, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. At least wait til we've seen them play before we start calling them contenders

[lukekarts]

excuse my typo...we will be.....and Deng is better than AK.

Haha no worries. Well I'm not sold on Deng being better than AK, and if he is, it's probably marginal. You have no Paul Millsap though.

Either way, still a solid 50-55 win team, and probably just on piece away from being a legit contender... you just need to find yourselves a very good SG.

[game385]

Don't think T-Mac is better than Deng at this point in his career. I believe he deserves a shot though. Looking at Grant Hill gives you a bit of hope for T-Mac.

If the Bulls can sign him for mid-level exception then its worth a shot, but I wouldn't trade away any pieces unless they independently make the team better. Not to mention, come playoff time I'd rather have Deng trying to guard LeBron before T-Mac.

[Go Getter]

Haha no worries. Well I'm not sold on Deng being better than AK, and if he is, it's probably marginal. You have no Paul Millsap though.

Either way, still a solid 50-55 win team, and probably just on piece away from being a legit contender... you just need to find yourselves a very good SG.

Noah is our Milsap.

Trust me.....AK is a major disappointment to the Jazz....

[Bigsmoke]

You haven't seen your new team play at all!

On paper, it looks even:

Deron > Rose
Matthews = Brewer
AK = Deng
Boozer = Boozer
Okur < Noah

Korver = Korver
Miles > Johnson
Millsap > Gibson

The Bulls more balanced.


and give me Deng over AK47 at this stage. This is not 2004

[AMISTILLILL]

KG's not that much of an impact player anymore. He's always injured in the postseason. You can pretty much pencil him in for knee problems next year too.

Besides, at this point. . .I would take Noah or Boozer over KG easily. Either one is going to rebound more, be quicker, and Boozer will score more. Noah will be slightly outscored by KG.

Bulls won't get knocked out in round 2 unless they're playing the Magic or Heat imo. Though they are a good matchup against the Heat, who knows.

[BigNBAfan]

i have a hard time believing theyre contenders