Could Bulls lose Williams in expansion draft?

[thaKEAF]

Jay Williams is hoping to begin his basketball comeback next year in training camp.

Will he be coming back with the Bulls? Or could he belong to the Charlotte Bobcats by then?

Early next summer - perhaps before Williams has a chance to prove his health - the Bulls must settle on eight players to protect in the upcoming expansion draft.

One possible list of eight would include Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Marcus Fizer, Kirk Hinrich, Donyell Marshall, Jalen Rose and Scottie Pippen. In this scenario, Williams, Eddie Robinson, Roger Mason Jr. and possibly some others would be unprotected.

If that turns out to be the case, Williams would be a tempting selection for Charlotte, which begins play next season.

Should Williams fully recover from his June 19 motorcycle accident, the Bobcats would have a talented guard who played college basketball nearby at Duke. If Williams did not pan out, his contract could expire in 2005.

"There are going to be tough choices for every team," Paxson said. "Since we have so many young guys, we're going to have it more difficult than some. Contracts will be involved. We've talked about it already and I have a preliminary list in mind."

There are other strategies for the Bulls to employ. One is leaving Rose unprotected, gambling that Charlotte would not select a player owed $47 million over the final three years of his contract. Or the Bulls could leave Pippen, who will be 39 by next season, off the list.

But if Rose improves his poor shooting from last season and Pippen helps lead the Bulls into the playoffs, it would be difficult to risk losing either player for nothing in return.

Unrestricted free agents are not eligible for the expansion draft, but restricted free agents can be chosen. So even if Crawford and Fizer become restricted free agents next summer, the Bulls must protect them in order to keep them.

According to Bulls legal counsel Irwin Mandel, if a team does not protect a restricted free agent, that player automatically becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and is forbidden from signing with his former team.

Besides Crawford and Fizer, Trenton Hassell and Lonny Baxter could be restricted free agents next summer if the Bulls make a qualifying offer. Considering the options, though, the Bulls might be better off letting Hassell and Baxter become unrestricted and then take their chances on re-signing the two players.

[.]

I can imagine it must be pretty hard to pick 8 players U dont want to loose, but J Will had an accident and he may end up like Grant Hill playing 10 games every season. But on the other end he is a great player, Pure PG and has alot of talent and potential, if he wouldnt be injured would be foolish not to protect him, but after the accident he may never be the same player again.

[Jackal]

The Article

Would be a shame to lose Williams in the expansion draft, I would take my chances and leave Rose unprotected, hopefully the contract would scare them away. By that time Curry and Chandler should get much better, they will need more touches. With Rose around, I see problems, if they do lose him, they should try sign a free agent or sumthing, Lose Rose instead of Williams IMO.

[Drex]

How many years left are in Pippen's contract??

[Andrew]

Did Pippen sign a one or two year deal with Chicago? If it's a one year deal, he'll probably retire after this season. Thus, Chicago could protect Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Marcus Fizer, Kirk Hinrich, Donyell Marshall, Jalen Rose and Jay Williams.

I guess it depends on his recovery. If it looks as though he may never become the player he was supposed to be (or even reach the level he was at already), he probably wouldn't seem appealing to the Bobcats, who will have 28 other teams to select a point guard from.

[air gordon]

pip signed a 2yr deal

http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0719/1583037.html

[TRUball]

But on the other end he is a great player, Pure PG .

uh he isn't a pure point guard, is he? i remember hearing last year the media saying it will be hard for jay williams to move to PG as he played SG in duke, and from his size he won't be able to play SG in the NBA, well he could cept he would be pushed around by bigger guards. but i may be wrong

[Andrew]

pip signed a 2yr deal

http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0719/1583037.html

In that case, protect Scottie, out of loyalty if nothing else.

[mp3]

One player that the bulls will not be protecting is Eddie Robinson, Eddie still has a $20+million 3year deal left on his contract that they would be happy to give up.

[Andrew]

I'd be in favour of that. E-Rob would be a good fit on an expansion team - he's the kind of guy who could put up pretty good numbers when there's no one else to do it.

[Dan's Brain]

I can't see why you wouldn't protect Jay. The injury was disastrous to his young career, but he should still get over it. Best thing for the Bulls to do would be to protect him in the expansion draft, leaving Robinson, Hassell and Mason open for it (both Eddie and Hassell would be picked up. Hassell would provide some great perimeter D, something that expansion teams never seem to have. Then again, they never seem to have much of anything).
Then, if the 2004-05 season isn't too productive for Jay. They probably wont give him that extension, and he'll have to work his ass off in 2005-06, in order to ensure that he gets a deal with somebody.
I'm hoping against hope that Jay comes up big after his rehab, and that he develops into something that all of us Bulls fans have hoped ever since Krause drafted him.
Of course, all of this depends on how Hinrich plays this year as well. I still think he was an insurance pick, but hopefully he can offer something more than just a roster slot filler.

Personally, I'd protect Eddy, Chandler, Rose, Crawford, Fizer, Hinrich, Jay and Donyell Marshall.

On another vote: I'm putting my pre-season bet on Donyell to be 6th Man of the Year if Chandler starts the full season.

[Andrew]

Depending on his recovery, there might not be any need to protect Jay in the expansion draft. The Bobcats will have 29 teams to draw talent from, and after his injury, J-Will probably won't be the most appealing player available to them, especially with the deep teams in the Western Conference.

[Colin]

both Eddie and Hassell would be picked up. Hassell would provide some great perimeter D, something that expansion teams never seem to have. Then again, they never seem to have much of anything.

I believe that the Bobcats will only be able to take one player from each team, therefore one of them would be able to stay.

[Jackal]

Hopefully they pick up Robinson.

[Boyk]

a bit off topic but i'd like to see gerald wallace goto the bobcats, i reckon he could be quite good with minutes.

anyway, it would be great for bobcats, and for bulls, well it prolly wouldnt hurt them as much as people think.
Hienrich,Crawford and Rose can all run the offense and also Pippen can aswell.

interesting to see what happens

[Dan's Brain]

both Eddie and Hassell would be picked up. Hassell would provide some great perimeter D, something that expansion teams never seem to have. Then again, they never seem to have much of anything.

I believe that the Bobcats will only be able to take one player from each team, therefore one of them would be able to stay.

Didn't know that. Thanks for clearing that up

Well then, go for Hassell. Wait for the Offense to come in the top 3 picks of the 2005 draft. Anyone can get big numbers in expansion teams.

Acie Earl scored 40 in a game for the Raptors in their inaugural season.

2 years later, he's playing in the NBL for a shitty (at the time) Sydney Kings team. Figure that shit out.