Bulls Future Plans.

From seeing Tracy McGrady in Orlando, albeit in street clothes, to Elton Brand's arrival at the United Center on Friday, it's in vogue to revisit the Bulls' painful past these days.

What if McGrady hadn't grown up in Florida and/or Benny the Bull hadn't made that embarrassing visit to O'Hare to greet him in the free-agent fiasco that defined the summer of 2000?

What if Jerry Krause had decided making one teenager an instant millionaire was enough and Tyson Chandler were still Brand?

But the Bulls' past is littered with losses--on the court and off--and you can rest assured that the current regime isn't looking back. It's looking forward--to an off-season of certain change, possibly major.

Three dates are what most consume general manager John Paxson and coach Scott Skiles and his staff: the May 26 draft lottery, the June 24 draft and the July 1 free-agent recruiting period. The first date will provide the Bulls with the most critical information--their draft position--and affect their flexibility and planning as the other two dates draw near.

It's impossible to predict exactly what the trade market, er, future holds. But here are some educated guesses as to who from the current roster will and won't be wearing Bulls uniforms next season.

To make it easier for fans who stopped paying attention to the roster two 10-day contract signings ago, this procedure will be done in alphabetical order.

- Tyson Chandler. The first one also is one of the toughest to predict. This is for sure: He will be shopped. Paxson will suggest and listen to many trade scenarios once the Bulls' draft position is known. Chandler will be in many of these talks. But given the questions about his durability and his relatively low cost to the Bulls--$4.8 million next season--the safe bet is that he'll return.

- Jamal Crawford. Management never has loved his shoot-first mentality, and he, too, will be shopped in sign-and-trade scenarios. Somebody has to score, but the only way Crawford will return is if he gets little interest as a restricted free agent. Even Paxson would have a hard time swallowing losing him for nothing if teams are offering little more than that.

- Eddy Curry. Forget his defensive lapses. Forget his tendency to dominate games early and disappear late. Forget the affable and mellow nature that occasionally drives management nuts, especially come workout time. He's 6 feet 11 inches. He's nimble and athletic. And he will be back.

- Antonio Davis. To make this easier, only Curry and Kirk Hinrich won't be included in trade talks, so yes, Davis will be too. But he will have more value in the 2005-06 season, when his $13 million salary comes off the books. For that reason, look for him to be back.

- Ronald Dupree. Management likes his defensive intensity and his work ethic, but there's a reason why he started the season in the NBDL. He'll be job hunting come October.

- Marcus Fizer. Dennis Rodman has a better chance of returning.

- Kendall Gill. The 14-year veteran carries a life list with him that has playing 15 years in the NBA as one of his goals. He'll reach it--in another uniform.

- Kirk Hinrich. The hairstyle and hustle are as much of a lock to return as the Jordan statue.

- Chris Jefferies. Let's see . . . Jefferies. Oh, yeah, tall guy, shooter--and has a guaranteed contract. Unless Paxson can include him as a salary-cap equalizer in a trade, he's likely to return. Paxson is tired of buyouts.

- Linton Johnson. The local native is a nice success story who can rebound and defend. He'll be given another season to develop a jump shot.

- Jannero Pargo. Another local product whose future is tough to call, but he certainly has displayed the shooting ability to earn a crack at being Hinrich's backup.

- Scottie Pippen. After just 23 games, who will be able to tell? Salary-cap watchers will, as Pippen continues to hint at not accepting a buyout of his guaranteed second year. But he's expected to retire.

- Eddie Robinson. Paxson will attempt to win Executive of the Year votes by getting somebody to take the two years and $14 million left on Robinson's deal. Expansion Charlotte is the best shot, albeit a long one.

- Paul Shirley. Management likes his practice habits. But if he's back, Paxson didn't turn over the roster as much as he wanted to.

- Jerome Williams. Expect more woofing. With $18 million left on his deal, the self-proclaimed Junkyard Dog will be back.

Some might not want to register, so whole article.

Limp made a scenario as to where Crawford could land up (Golden State) but what about Chandler? Bobcats possibly?

Our whole team will basically be different next season, but we'll still suck...

I don't think Pax has a clue, he's set this team back years, we went from playoff potential to another rebuilding project...

We're more than likely going to lose 2 lotto pick players for nothing, and don't have money to bring in talent (as if anyone besides Steven Jackson wants to play for us). I think our only hope is to trade the #1 pick (if we get it) to Boston for all 3 of their first rd picks and try to get them to throw in Jiri.

We need 8 pieces, a Okafor, Deng, and definitely a Josh Smith won't make a difference for us...

Otherwise, we're old, we're strapped with cash because of role players, we don't have that much flexibility roster wise, and we clearly hired the wrong coach and odds are he'll be here until he quits...

Anyway, for you Bulls fans out there, I still think bbb.net has the best Bulls talk on the net...

The Bulls need to hang on to Hinrich, and Curry has showed enough promise to stick around at least another year. Just for fun, I'll say it one more time - Curry needs to be motivated at the beginning of the year, and remain motivated for the whole season. He has the tools, he just doesn't seem interested in going near the workbench every day.

I think Chandler should be given another chance, but as the article mentioned his durability is a big question mark. If he has another injury riddled season, not only will he be unavailable to contribute, he'll also be more difficult to trade.

As the season winds down, I'm leaning more and more towards the "Trade Crawford" camp, though I don't want to see another Chicago/Toronto swap. Yes, it didn't kill the Bulls as I thought it would, but it did leave the team lacking offense. Defense wins championships, but you still need to score more than your opponents. Crawford is too inconsistent though, and his shoot-first mentality is something the team can do without. A sign-and-trade sounds good, but only if there's good value in return. It would also be preferable to losing him to free agency.

It'd be great to see Davis taken off Chicago's hands, but I doubt it will happen. It would just be too good to be true.

If they can keep Dupree fairly cheaply, they should consider it. If he'll stick around on an inexpensive non-guaranteed contract, I say take the risk.

Marcus Fizer: Gone. Please. Hopefully for a more suitable player if possible.

I guess they'll let Gill go, though he might be good for one more year.

Keeping Johnson and Pargo sounds good, I'm not bothered either way when it comes to Jefferies. I won't be too upset if he's included in a deal with Crawford or Davis. Clearing cap room doesn't hurt...unless you're the Atlanta Hawks.

Pip will probably ride off into the sunset. Shirley is probably also on the way out.

Eddie Robinson: See Marcus Fizer. The Expansion Draft scenario seems ideal.

Holding on to Jerome Williams seems like a good idea for now.

Shoot first mentality?

I wonder how many games you've seen...

If JC doesn't score, who does?

Eddy just started playing in January...

Hinrich is just as inconsistent and hasn't had near some of the monster games that JC has had for us...

JC has been the leading scorer in 35 of our 76 games and 11 of our 22 wins, some nights out there he's all we got, see New Jersey (2 games), New Orleans (2 games), the Seattle game a couple months ago when he had 31 and the backboard dunk, the OT win vs. Golden State, I can go on and on...

Tonight he had 24 pts and 12 assists in a win, ya he's absolutely terrible...

Not only will JC be a star after he leaves Chicago, he'll be a better player than Hinrich, he is now, you put him on the Clippers he'd average 17 and 7 easily...

As it is now we don't have any options offensively, we go as he goes...

The bulls need to do some serious cleaning idd, but who CAN they actually get rid of, it seems like they have to wait at least another year to be relieved of some contracts.
Now if it would be possible, they should get rid of Davis, Junkyard Dog(sorry im just not a fan), Fizer, Robinson and Jeffries (these things have pretty much been said).
Right now i believe they should hold on to Crawford, there's just no one else who can score(except Hinrich and Curry when they have their moments, but crawford can explode for 30), i know there's that consistency thingy but heck, they should get something decent in place and i just dont see that happening(who's gonna trade a big for a small inconsisten two?!).
Hinrich is the only one that's untouchable imho, Curry and Chandler have to be given only a half season to prove themselves, if it doesnt work out, get rid of them, though i believe in Chandler more then Curry. Curry has to show he wants to play before Christmas, you can have all the potential you want, if the player doesnt wanna play he's no good(look at t-mac, he's not playing motivated and thus can't lift the magic to greater heights but that's for another topic), and now they can still get something for both of them.
Well, so far my short return

Anyway, for you Bulls fans out there, I still think bbb.net has the best Bulls talk on the net...

realgm and bbb are virtually the same with exception of rlucas being at bbb. at least there isn't a jamal supporters vs jamal haters onging thing here.

i do agree that those 2 are have the best bulls talk. this one ain't too bad either

I don't think Pax has a clue, he's set this team back years, we went from playoff potential to another rebuilding project...

we'll find out if he really has a clue this offseason and next.

i've been bouncing around ideas here suggesting what the bulls should do. my latest, as crappy as it sounds, is that the bull have to be patient for yet another year. regardless who they pick, sign, and trade for (realistically speaking)- it's very unlikely they can rebound and be a drastically better team next year

the wise move is to NOT trade for good role players with fat contracts- Jamison, antoine walker, etc.. we've already seen what happens when you make a glorified role player lead a team. and the team does NOT need to clog the their cap with their bad contracts as well

davis and erob's contract come off the books next year. those will be very valuable trade assets. and by the end of next season, pax should have a much better grasp on whether curry and chandler are the franchise builidng pieces that they are supposed to be.

i'm not sure with the crawford thing. this guy, like arenas said, would be great playing on a west coast team as the starting pg. he'll reach his potential on a team where he's not forced to be the #1 option at a position that's not his natural one, a team that doesn't consistently draft pg's with their 1st round pick.

on the other hand- he has shown he has good chemistry with hinrich, even more so with curry and chandler. also it has been the backcourt of hinrich and jc that has gotten the team most of it's wins.

at the least, give JC another year. if curry can be a consistent force on offense right from the start, JC won't be forcing as much as this year

i haven't decided who the bulls should draft- between okafor, deng, j smith in the 1st. but definitely, pax needs to get his ass scouting those 2nd round picks. he can't dilly dally like he did last year and refuse to scout foreign players

so heading into next offseason, the bulls roster could look like this-
curry
chandler
*okafor/deng/jsmith
stephen jackson/manu/turkoglu
hinrich

crawford, linton johnson, jyd, possibly 2nd round picks sato & duhon, and those expiring contracts

depending on the development of the 3C's, the bulls may have the assets that could land an impact type of player like tmac or PP

I would love to see t-mac wearing a red and black jersey. That would be sweet..

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Last edited by hmm on Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Benji Wallace is a monkey!

Sorry for my offtopicness

Earlier this season, coach Scott Skiles half-jokingly asked reporters to stop asking questions about Eddy Curry's offense so that he would concentrate more on defense.

Curry won't be confused with Ben Wallace anytime soon.

As recently as the March 31 victory in Orlando, Skiles talked critically of Curry's defensive play.

But Curry averaged 1.5 blocks in both February and March after not averaging more than one block in any other month, and then had five blocks in Friday's victory over the Clippers.

Averaging 1.5 blocks would place Curry in the league's top 25 if he were to do so over the course of an entire season.

Skiles has said Curry has the athletic ability to finish in the top five in blocks.

"I'm trying to be more aggressive in that department," Curry said. "I have a lot of work left to do, but I'm definitely more conscious of how that can have an effect on games."

Speaking out

Uncharacteristically, Kirk Hinrich used strong words following Saturday's loss to Miami. "We have people who don't play their hardest," Hinrich said.

He counted his performance in his critique, but he shouldn't have, seeing as how he posted his 13th double-double, tops among all rookies.

Protection plan

Teams are allowed to protect up to eight players for the June 22 expansion draft to stock Charlotte. Early indications are the Bulls will protect Curry, Hinrich, Jamal Crawford, Tyson Chandler, Jannero Pargo, Paul Shirley, Marcus Fizer and possibly Scottie Pippen, out of respect. Fizer probably won't receive a qualifying offer, but the Bulls might protect him for the slim chance they can include him in a sign-and-trade scenario. If Linton Johnson and Ronald Dupree need to be protected, which is unclear at this point because of questions on their free-agency status, the list could change.

Getting a chance

Last summer, Johnson rode a CTA bus to UIC to work out alone.

"Jimmy Collins was nice enough to let me use the gym," Johnson said. "I didn't even have anybody to rebound for me. Nobody believed in me. People said, 'You'll never make it. You're best off getting a 9-to-5 [job].'"

Now Johnson has played decently enough to possibly warrant some looks from other teams this summer. It's likely the Providence-St. Mel graduate will remain with the Bulls and possibly play summer league with them.

"I'm very thankful to [general manager John] Paxson because he was the only one to give me a chance," Johnson said.

Source.
Registration Required.

Early indications are the Bulls will protect Curry, Hinrich, Jamal Crawford, Tyson Chandler, Jannero Pargo, Paul Shirley, Marcus Fizer and possibly Scottie Pippen, out of respect. Fizer probably won't receive a qualifying offer, but the Bulls might protect him for the slim chance they can include him in a sign-and-trade scenario. If Linton Johnson and Ronald Dupree need to be protected, which is unclear at this point because of questions on their free-agency status, the list could change.

Good. If the Bulls decide to protect Johnson or Dupree, I'd personally drop Shirley from that list.

i don't see the point in keeping Shirley he may have a good work ethic, but he never proved anything neither in NBA, nor elsewhere ... The Bobcats surely wouldn't pick him.

But he will be replaced by Johnson or Dupree for sure ; if their free agent status change

Anyway, for you Bulls fans out there, I still think bbb.net has the best Bulls talk on the net...

realgm and bbb are virtually the same with exception of rlucas being at bbb. at least there isn't a jamal supporters vs jamal haters onging thing here.

i do agree that those 2 are have the best bulls talk. this one ain't too bad either

Well I'll definitely post here more often then, didn't know there were a lot of Bulls fans here...

BTW Crawford, RL is a great poster, very respected on our BBB board.

Anyway it's nice to post where there aren't these JC haters vs. lovers, personally I think the kid is going to be a good player and needs out of Chicago in the worse way. He does have faults in his game, but he'll get there, and he's shown he has the work ethic to do so.

Anyway, for you Bulls fans out there, I still think bbb.net has the best Bulls talk on the net...

realgm and bbb are virtually the same with exception of rlucas being at bbb. at least there isn't a jamal supporters vs jamal haters onging thing here.

i do agree that those 2 are have the best bulls talk. this one ain't too bad either

Well I'll definitely post here more often then, didn't know there were a lot of Bulls fans here...

BTW Crawford, RL is a great poster, very respected on our BBB board.

Anyway it's nice to post where there aren't these JC haters vs. lovers, personally I think the kid is going to be a good player and needs out of Chicago in the worse way. He does have faults in his game, but he'll get there, and he's shown he has the work ethic to do so.

it's just a shame that he most likely won't be doing it in a bulls uniform..

i have nothing against RL. in fact, i enjoy reading his posts, especially the ones about euro prospects he's seen, especially pietrus.

hello anyone. this is my first post on this site. I have read this thread and thought everyone wrote really good stuff. My opinion on the Bulls is so low right now. Let me just post a couple of my quick thoughts

First off, being Milwaukee doesnt interest me. I want to contend for titles, not top out at 500. For that too happen we are going to have to change the culture of the Bulls from top to bottom

Pax and Krause before him run the leagues most understaffed sets. Teams like Dallas, Detroit have more fulltime AFRICAN and ASIAN scouts then the Bulls have European scouts. So far pax has only shown a willingness to go as far as the south suburbs to find a player. Dallas, Detroit and Sacramento will turn over every rock in China to look for a player. The Bulls were unequipped to do that because Krause was so secretive. Now Pax simply just doesnt have the work ethic to do that. he has spent 4 days out of town this whole season. I go to plenty of basketball games here in Europe, and I have seen Ainge atleast 3 of them.

I think top to bottom this team needs to be overhauled. Arenas has said he thinks this club needs 7 or 8 players. I am even more radical. I think it needs 12. That means that I dont even see Hinrich or Curry, in the current system has viable players on a winning team. I think both are pretty overrated. How do we fix it? Well id break every rule in the book to do it.

Id start by looking at the HS kids in this crop. I think this draft is deep and strong, not weak like most do. If Johan Petro really declares, here is a top 2 talent probably going at 20. Id want plenty of picks in this draft, not one. I am a huge Okafor fan, but really think spreading out the talent is more important then getting one guy. Id deal Okafor for Bostons 3 picks plus Welsh. I think Okafor would get that for you. so a 4 for one deal. Id take Marvin Williams, Johan Petro (who i think could be better then Emeka given 2 years) and Luca Bogdanovic/Rashad McCants with the last pick.

As for Chandler, Id try to go with him next year. But if the Bulls are hell bent on dealing him, could you deal him and Erob for Wally and Ebi? again, this would be upgrading the wing.

As for Kirk and Curry, maybe keep them for a year. Id let JC walk. We are going to have to eat AD and JYDs contract, so be patient with them, and play them.

Im not a Skiles fan, but I want to see him have actual players before we fire him. Actually I have felt bad for him recently. Pax has been a failure. id fire him, but I know its not going to happen. Id cut my losses quickly on him.

Round 2, take Sato or Duhon, whoever is available. And with the last second round pick, take Mo Ke from China. he might be a legit big man. But I am not taking him for his game as i am taking him so the Bulls can have some practice in working in China. they need to have relationships there. and getting Ke would be a start.

id cut Austin altogether. This kid has no right behaving the way he does

And Id give Marquis Daniels our full MLE. I guess I am one guy who loves great wing play. Plus Daniels might actually be able to push Hinrich at the point as well.

I know this post is a bit scattershot. And I intend to get more indepth later on each point. But just thought i would toss it out now

Pax and Krause before him run the leagues most understaffed sets. Teams like Dallas, Detroit have more fulltime AFRICAN and ASIAN scouts then the Bulls have European scouts. So far pax has only shown a willingness to go as far as the south suburbs to find a player. Dallas, Detroit and Sacramento will turn over every rock in China to look for a player. The Bulls were unequipped to do that because Krause was so secretive. Now Pax simply just doesnt have the work ethic to do that. he has spent 4 days out of town this whole season.

i agree. to add to this, i'm suprised that iva dukan still has his job

Id start by looking at the HS kids in this crop. I think this draft is deep and strong, not weak like most do

i'm a little bit weary of having multiple picks in the lottery given the bulls recent history of lack of success in them. maybe there are some gems out there, but i don't know if i can wait 2 years for their development let alone a team being competitive. but i look forward to your scouting reports...

And Id give Marquis Daniels our full MLE. I guess I am one guy who loves great wing play. Plus Daniels might actually be able to push Hinrich at the point as well.

each time i see of this guy play, the more i want this guy on the team too. possibly moreso then whoever's left of hedo/ginobili/jackson

haha.. if the bulls do get wally, sam smith will wet his pants