Chicago Bulls Thread

[_Steve_]

Still a 8-9 player rotation bears some risk, when your top three players are injury-prone. I really hope Thibs is able to handle the minutes of Noah, Gasol and Rose carefully.

[shadowgrin]

Good to see the Bulls getting Pau Gasol instead of Ben Wallace, now Ben Gordon can play with a capable scorer in the post.

[benji]

The Chicago Bulls are finalizing a deal with free-agent guard Aaron Brooks, according to sources close to the talks.

This years career-revived PG?

[_Steve_]

Good to see the Bulls rely not solely on Captain Kirk. As much as I like him, less minutes will do him well.

[Andrew]

If it's a one year deal, I think it's pretty much guaranteed that he'll have a career year and appear to have found a niche, only to be lost at the end of the season.

[Stress Fracture]

I wonder if Brooks' defense will improve.

[air gordon]

I wonder if Brooks will get more pt then hinrich

[NovU]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11247 ... trade-push

Sick.

Although the full extent of the Bulls' offer wasn't immediately known, it is believed Minnesota would seek a package from Chicago featuring forward Taj Gibson and defensive ace Jimmy Butler in addition to other assets. The Bulls shelved their Love interest while trying to sign Carmelo Anthony away from the New York Knicks but, according to sources, have re-emerged as contenders.

Much better than Cavs' Anthony Bennett Waiters offer which was close to trolling. I see little chance at the moment but if the Bulls somehow land Love and Rose becomes capable again, the Bulls are locked for the Finals from East. This will screw LBJ big time. Wiggins just signed a contract and can't be dealt for 3o days. That really sucks for the Cavs is the Bulls just take it from the Cavs.

Although James is said to be intrigued by Wiggins' potential and to have tracked his progress during summer league, sources say he has backed the Cavs' win-now pursuit of Love, with whom he played on the United States' gold-medal-winning team at the 2012 London Olympics.

Obviously. Wait for Wiggins to fully develop, LBJ will be 35 year old and pushed either to PF or bench position.



I hope the Bulls make this happen without giving up Noah and Rose.

[shadowgrin]

Wolves would be stupid to do the trade with the Bulls if this is the Cavs new offer:

Cleveland's offer, sources said, would be headlined by No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins, 2013's No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett and a future first-round pick, with one source close to the process insisting Tuesday that the Cavs are destined to acquire Love. At least one more player might have to added to the package to satisfy NBA trade rules.

So Wiggins + Bennett + 1st round pick + bench player trade filler for Love.

Wolves would be stupid to turn that down.

[NovU]

I doubt it's true. I read that Andrew Wiggins inclusion was likely a false info leaked by the Wolves themselves to see what GSW would do. And there was a source that said Cavs denied offering Wiggins.

[shadowgrin]

It's only logical that the Cavs and their legit sources would deny offering Wiggins considering he hasn't signed a contract with the team yet when the trade rumors were going around. Don't want Wiggins being a dick with contract negotiations if he finds out he's trade bait. Never too late for Wiggins to do a Kobe/Keith Van Horn/Steve Francis picking his preferred team by force even if the draft is over.

[benji]

There's nothing to really negotiate for rookie contracts.

[NovU]

All sources say Wiggins wasn't made available for the Wolves to take him. Only reason his contract being postponed allegedly is because the Cavs couldn't make their mind on Love trade.

[bigh0rt]

Everybody knows LeBron won't be leaving the Heat. A I stopped reading after "Barkley said".

Soooooo...

[shadowgrin]

Soooooo...

...far Heat fans have been wrong predicting offseason moves.
Let's just hope they are wrong too on Love not being traded to the Cavs.

[Andrew]

I like Gibson, but trading him for Love is a no-brainer. I'm not so keen to see them trade away Butler though. It's not that he's untradeable or anything, but he's currently their best perimeter defender. Naturally, I like the idea of boosting the frontcourt rotation with Love, but I'm leery of losing depth on the wing. If it were to go through, I'd hope that Love would be open to an extension. Stating the obvious, but it'd suck to see them give up a solid power forward and their starting shooting guard, only to have him walk at the end of the season.

I have my doubts that it's happening, though. I'm guessing they won't be pulling off any more significant moves this offseason; at the very least, I'd rather not get my hopes up, and be pleasantly surprised if something awesome happens.

[Moz]

I like Gibson, but trading him for Love is a no-brainer.

I hope this will not happen and I reckon Love is overrated... he can't make his own shot, though, yes he can rebound but not a good defender... I prefer to wait for LaMarcus Aldridge next year...

[Andrew]

He can still knock down his shots at a pretty decent clip, though; 50% from two point range, around 38% from three point range. If all goes well, you'd have Rose creating shot opportunities, and Noah's not too shabby at running the offense from the centre spot and getting people the ball when and where they need it. Even if he is overrated by some observers, I'd take Love over Gibson. Having to give up one of their best perimeter players is what concerns me, though.

[Moz]

But then again they got some players with the same shooting percentage this off season and they're not in desperate of needing a facilitator... I'll let this new guys play and develop first and have some more trade chips for next year since he (Love) will still be available at that time and you got plenty of players to choose...

[Sauru]

its starting to sound like the wolves are just making shit up to see who jumps first lol

[Andrew]

If he goes anywhere during the offseason, I'm guessing it'll be Cleveland. As I said, I don't think the Bulls will end up making a deal for him.

I wouldn't be surprised if it turns into a Carmelo Anthony situation though, where he's still on the team come training camp, and a deal doesn't get done until the deadline is suddenly on the horizon (or indeed, at the deadline itself). If so, someone is likely to get him for cents on the dollar.

[Sauru]

If he goes anywhere during the offseason, I'm guessing it'll be Cleveland. As I said, I don't think the Bulls will end up making a deal for him.

I wouldn't be surprised if it turns into a Carmelo Anthony situation though, where he's still on the team come training camp, and a deal doesn't get done until the deadline is suddenly on the horizon (or indeed, at the deadline itself). If so, someone is likely to get him for cents on the dollar.

thats why i dont think these are real offers because the longer they wait the less value he has to the wolves. if they deal him just before the deadline it will be a huge steal

[NovU]

Andrew, if the Bulls land him, I think he'll more than likely re-sign with the Bulls. He'd lose a lot of money if he goes somewhere else and with the Bulls contending in the East, there probably is more benefit to stay.




You see Love's a picasso that a lot of fans don't realize. He was the top offensive juggernaut at his position and arguably was a top 3 offensive player in the league last season. Defense is secondary, you can still get away with Boozer in the league's top 5 defensive team. Within the right system, Love should do ok as well (he belonged to a league avg defensive team last season, that's with Pekpek as a primary rotating big). Gibson and Butler as a centerpiece in the trade for Love? This is no brainer. You give up players like that any day and time for a picasso. There're people still looking at him like a house and waiting for the owner to undersell him greatly. That's a sure way to lose in this league. Cough up Wiggins now or let's go Bulls.

And no. His offense is not the work of his teammates(ie. Rubio). He was still extremely effective and efficient with Ridnour and Flynn which at the time was the worst backcourt duo.

[Moz]

The thing with Love is that he's not a shot creator... I've watched some Wolves games the past years and from what I see he himself relies on his teammates who's getting double teamed on the post (Pekovic/Jefferson) or through with an abundance of pick and roll with slasher-type players (Ridnour/Brewer/Rubio/Martin/Barea) who themselves are capable to invite defenses away from him and I reckon the Bulls doesn't have that... If all he can do is jack-up 3s or tip in offensive rebounds, it's already covered with the line-up they have now... The Bulls need a shot creator not an additional facilitator...

[Andrew]

The thing with Love is that he's not a shot creator... I've watched some Wolves games the past years and from what I see he himself relies on his teammates who's getting double teamed on the post (Pekovic/Jefferson) or through with an abundance of pick and roll with slasher-type players (Ridnour/Brewer/Rubio/Martin/Barea) who themselves are capable to invite defenses away from him and I reckon the Bulls doesn't have that...

Rose?

I'm not sure anyone that the Bulls have in the frontcourt at the moment is capable of putting up Love's 26 and 12. I'm not disputing his abilities as a shot creator, but I imagine he'd still be able to give them a boost offensively.

But again, I doubt he's going to end up in Chicago anyway.