Comments on: ‘Melo rumors swirling again

By: Bill Z

Bill Z — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:21:50 +0000

I corrext myself one more time – just double checked the stats and Deng is now 12-24 from downtown!

By: Bill Z

Bill Z — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:19:19 +0000

Sorry – meant 40% so far

By: Bill Z

Bill Z — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:18:31 +0000

I just wanted to point out that even though I would support this trade, I think Deng has been very solid and I will not be disappointed if there is no trdae. How many other teams have a guy like Deng as their 3rd option. He is a 17-7 guy, above average defender, and it looks like his 3 point shot is for real. He was 1-3 again today and I think is averaging over 50% for the preseason so far.

However, if Melo is available, bye-bye Deng.

By: Bill Z

Bill Z — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:13:22 +0000

I have been back n forth over the whole Melo debate the past couple months. But if they were willing to take Deng, Taj, and a 1st I have to do it.

That would give us a pretty incredible Starting line-up

Rose/Melo/Boozer/Noah

Wade/James/Bosh/x

It would hurt our front-court depth a bit, but you don’t win championships with that. Asik is further along than expected and looks like he can contribute some meaningful minutes. I’m sure we can pick up somebody to be a fill in and use our mid-level exception next year on someone looking to come to a contender. If its Deng, Taj, and a first I’m in.

By: joe

joe — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:12:35 +0000

Melo isn’t going to fix much, he’ll demand the ball and isn’t that much an upgrade over Deng. If the Bulls land him, it will be at a fire sale price.

Bulls need a SG or PG but No Arenas. He’s a flake and very expensive. He would need to take a buyout from the Wizards to be affordable.

Putting together a good team isn’t like collecting bubble gum cards.

Gasol made a name for himself in LA after the trade. Prior, he was too soft for PF and while a steal for what LA gave up, he was not the player he grew into when at LA. That happened later.

By: Inception

Inception — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:24:11 +0000

edit to my last comment ….*without losing Noah

By: Inception

Inception — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:22:59 +0000

I would get rid of deng, gibson and a draft pick for anthony in a heartbeat….who cares if you lack a legit backup for boozer? the addition of anthony cancels all of that out and adds more…bulls mgmt need to be clever and fill that hole later on before the all-star or whatever…but in the end, bringing anthony to the bulls w/o losing boozer is a HUGE win…depth can be overrated sometimes….the championship teams always have a solid core to rely on.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:14:54 +0000

I think that the Bulls are a lot closer to elite status than a lot of people think. They havs an all-star caliber player at every starting position except SG. Yes, I think Deng can put up AS caliber numbers on this team. The one thing they really lack is a SG that can create his own shot and shoot 3s. Here is my radical proposal:
Roll the dice with Arenas. I am not a cap expert, but I believe that because the Bulls are under the cap, they don’t need to match salaries to make a trade. So, all they would need to offer the Wizards is a 2014 2nd round pick, bag of chips or something equally worthless. The Wizards would move him in a heartbeat if offered nothing in return. It would clear their cap and let them move on. The Bulls would get a bona-fide scoring threat without giving anything up.
My only concern would be the attitude of Arenas. From everything I have read, he seems like a decent enough guy who just makes poor decisions. He does not strike me as a corrosive person like Sheed, Z-Bo and others. They are this close and this move would put them over the top.