BbtH Mailbag- Post Deng Trade Edition

Image from Flickr via Pacdog

Welcome to the Bulls by the Horns weekly mailbag where we will answer some of your reader submitted questions about the Chicago Bulls and/or the NBA. If you’d like to submit your question to us please shoot us a message via our contact form or send a tweet to @AvikarSaini.

——

The Bulls seem like they’re going to try to tank the season but they’ve won their recent games. Do you think the Bulls part with a player like Noah or Gibson to get worse this year and get future assets?
James

I can see the Bulls maybe trading away another player or two like Kirk Hinrich or Mike Dunleavy, but I can’t see them trading away Noah or Gibson. The Bulls are in a weird position where they need to tank and rebuild, but they have most of the pieces they need to try to contend within a few years. In this kind of scenario it doesn’t make much sense to trade away two very good big men who are signed under good contracts when the league is already starved for good bigs. That being said if Chicago gets an offer that blows them out of the water then they may consider a trade for either, but they’d really have to be amazed by the offer.

Is (Marquis) Teague the next Derrick Rose?
@mynewhate

Long answer- NOOOOOOOOOO. Short answer- no.

Could Chicago sign Melo this offseason? They’d have the cap space to pull off the move if they use amnesty Boozer and Melo has expressed interest in coming the Chicago.
Andy W

Chicago could sign Carmelo Anthony this offseason, but I don’t think they will for a few reasons. First and foremost I don’t think the front office will commit all of the team’s money to Noah, Gibson, Anthony, Butler, and Rose and rely on a bench of minimum contract players, Snell, Teague, and Dunleavy. The idea of committing all the money to the starters could work, but given the injury history of this team over the past three years it may be wiser to have a bench. Secondly, as Chis Herring from the Wall Street Journal has said on Twitter, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Anthony leaves the Knicks to join another star player only to join a star player with Rose’s knee injuries. He’s already tried playing with someone who has had both knees surgically repaired (Amare Stoudamire) and we all see how that’s worked out so far. For Anthony, it’d be a huge risk for him to join Chicago when there are other potential contending teams available for him to sign with.

Over or under the 8th pick for the Bulls?
@FreeBigMacs

Barring any further injuries to the team (a risk assumption on my part) and/or other big trades, Chicago should be over. Chicago is still going to win their share of games because Tom Thibodeau is the coach and, because the team plays in a terrible Eastern Conference, the team will likely make the playoffs. Even if Chicago does miss the postseason, chances are they end up with a draft pick somewhere between 10-14.

What better ways are there to spend $1.1m than on Teague’s contract next year?
BbtH writer Peter Owen via Twitter (@PeterOwen00)

So many possibilities to choose from. It could go to a charity and potentially help millions or it could go into the Avi wants a Lamborghini Aventador fund. But since this is the Chicago Bulls we’re talking about, there’s only one “better way” to spend that money- funneling it into paying for the Chicago White Socks. Remember kids, “Basketball is a game. Baseball is a religion. Baseball is American.”