unofficial bulls offseason thread

[air gordon]

now that the cinderella ride is over and it's gone fishin' time...

what's next, bulls fans or anybody???

only davis, gordon, pike, hinrich, deng, nocioni are under contract for next year

who should they resign?
what are the teams needs?
they have no draft picks so if they're going to get someone, it's going to be through free agency or trade. who should they go for?

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

I say keep everybody and hope Curry and Chandler don't go coasting after getting the big bucks...

Here's an article about their cap condition:

http://www.nbadraft.net/stateofthecapchicago001.asp

[Andrew]

For now I'm in favour of keeping the current core, so I'd re-sign Chandler, Curry and Duhon. I suppose Pargo deserves some consideration, because when the shots are falling he's a nice weapon to have when one of the other guards needs a rest. But his fondness of shooting the ball whenever he touches it is a back breaker when the shots aren't falling. If he's to return, it shouldn't be for a huge, long term deal by any stretch of the imagination.

I think some more help up front is required, someone who could possibly spend some time at centre. You've suggested Donyell Marshall before and I quite like that idea.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

How about Shareef? ]

How much space would the Bulls have to sign FAs anyway, assuming they keep Curry and Chandler?

[beau_boy04]

Yeah I totally agree with Andrew. Keeping the current core for another full season to see what kind of results they get. I would like Curry and Chandler to keep improving if they're resigned. I say leave Gordon as their 6th man, first because Kinrich is a more complete player than him, and second because he's great off the bench.

[air gordon]

paxson has already mentioned in recent interviews that most of the improvement will come from within the team

as far as FA's, he has stated he wants to have cap space available in 2006, which makes some sense since davis humongous contract as well as erob's buyout comes off the books then (that's 19 mil). chicago will have the MLE and the veteran's exception so if any players are added, they will probably only get 1yr deals

dweaver: it's hard to tell what curry will get because of his heart condition but i do think it has lowered his value. regardless, when the team is done resigning chandler, duhon, curry, and possibly harrington & griff, there won't be substantial, if any, cap to sign an impact player of any sort.

i've heard about that SAR possibility. good attitude, can score inside & out, average rebounder, defender. that would be a 'big' change and i don't think pax will be making one of those until next offseason when he knows what position gordon will be playing

i think the team needs:
a big man that can score off the bench
a big SG who can defend & shoot or at the least a SG they will allow hinrich to play his best position, pg on BOTH sides of the ball.

since pax doesn't appear to want to give out multiyear contracts to FA's, that all but eliminates the bulls from getting those type of players.

maybe someone like kittles is a possibility. he's coming off of major surgery and may take a 1yr contract to prove he is healthy and still capable of being a starter in the league.

as far as big men, i wouldn't be surprised if paxson went overseas and brought another euro back

[maes]

That cap will get eaten quickly signing both Curry & Chandler, there will be little room for anything other than the MLE.

Gasol & Kirilenko both getting max has set the bar out there for big men (AK not even being a true big...just plays D like one), so both C's are going to get paid. And it hasn't gone unnoticed what a True Post player can do to a team, with Amare & Shaq & Yao, heck the Sonics are still in the playoffs only due to one of the league's worst Centers deciding he'll play ball after all.

Meanwhile, mega-star perimeter players have shown mixed results. VC. Lebron. Kobe. Webber. Toine.

And as popular as those hot trigger Bulls guards are, the statistics show that the highest +/- players are actually Harrington & Deng.

http://www.82games.com/0405CHI.HTM

As well, the Bulls failed in the first series because they lacked the D they normally bring to a game.

If i was Pax, i'd be shopping for a strong Defensive player to replace the almost-broken Antonio Davis. He may need to give something up to get it.

[air gordon]

That cap will get eaten quickly signing both Curry & Chandler, there will be little room for anything other than the MLE.

Gasol & Kirilenko both getting max has set the bar out there for big men (AK not even being a true big...just plays D like one), so both C's are going to get paid. And it hasn't gone unnoticed what a True Post player can do to a team, with Amare & Shaq & Yao, heck the Sonics are still in the playoffs only due to one of the league's worst Centers deciding he'll play ball after all.

Meanwhile, mega-star perimeter players have shown mixed results. VC. Lebron. Kobe. Webber. Toine.

And as popular as those hot trigger Bulls guards are, the statistics show that the highest +/- players are actually Harrington & Deng.

http://www.82games.com/0405CHI.HTM

As well, the Bulls failed in the first series because they lacked the D they normally bring to a game.

If i was Pax, i'd be shopping for a strong Defensive player to replace the almost-broken Antonio Davis. He may need to give something up to get it.

yes i agree the "C's" will get big paydays

chandler is the defensive presence you're talking about. davis is still serviceable, same with harrington but they are more effective playing off the bench against opposing teams reserve players. i think we all can agree they are not starter-caliber players anymore. i don't even think harrington was hehe

but i still i think Paxson needs to look for a big man to eventually replace those 2 vets

[got philk?]

I agree the Bulls should keep their core together. There's too much we don't know yet. Deng could be really good! Curry should keep up where he left off if he can come back. They were missing these guys in the playoffs and still had a chance to win the series.

Looking way ahead, is Davis' big contract up after next year? That would free up some room if they would need something different after next year.

If I may say so, I'd like to see this team get a taller defensive shooting guard. Watching the Bulls vs. Larry Hughes was tough. No offense to Gordon/Heinrich/Duhon...but Hughes consistantly shot over them. It doesn't even have to be some big name. Even having a guy like Hassell would be nice.