And I mean cooling way down. As in, it ain’t happening.
Oh sure, technically speaking, anything could happen. The Bulls could trade for Boozer next week. MJ could come out of retirement. I could discover a chemical formula that transforms pure evil into delicious candy.
A lot of things couldhappen. This one specific thing, barring circumstances unforeseen, will not.
It’s probably just as well. The Utah Jazz, by all indications, don’t want Carlos Boozer anymore. Typically speaking, NBA teams do not lightly dismiss players who can average 20+ points and 10+ rebounds per game. But in Boozer’s case, there are questions regarding his durability (he’s missed 134 games during his five seasons with the Jazz) as well as his desire.
Is that the kind of player the Bulls want to bring in? Particularly in a potential two-for-one swap? Why give up Kirk Hinrich (which could cripple the team’s back court depth) and Tyrus Thomas (who might explode in 2009-10 given that it’s a contract year for him) in return for a potential locker room cancer who might miss half a season and not even re-sign with the team after his contract expires next summer?
It seems kind of silly when you look at it that way, but that’s what happens when a team spends year after year longing for somebody, anybody who can score in the low post. It’s a bad sign when fans start longing for the halcyon days of the Michael Sweetney Era. And it’s especially frustrating for Bulls fans, who had to deal with the loss of Ben Gordon while the league’s rich got even richer: Boston got Rasheed Wallace, Cleveland got Shaq, L.A. got Ron Artest and San Antonio got Richard Jefferson (not to mention Antonio McDyess).
It makes sense that the fans wanted to see a move. Something big, something juicy.
But sometimes, staying the course might be the best plan of action. Or inaction, as the case may be.
As things stand right now, the Bulls have a solid core of players — a budding All-Star-in-the-making, a few savvy vets, some developing youngsters — and enough expiring contracts to make a major move next summer or at the trade deadline. And Chicago will certainly be a much more attractive free agent destination if the Bulls can match last season’s success than if they fell apart because Boozer took his usual 30-40 game vacation and our back court players broke down from playing too many minutes.
Now, if the Jazz wanted to trade Boozer for some loose parts off the Bulls’ scrap pile — Tim Thomas, Jerome James, Anthony Roberson — then let’s get it done. And while we’re dreaming, maybe they’ll trade us Deron Williams for Brad Miller’s expiring contract.
But barring some mass hysteria and insanity in Utah, I guess Bulls fans will have to be satisfied with some incremental progress and hope for the future.
Actually, the Blazers offer sheet to Milsap might open up a better deal. If Utah matches, they have to move Boozers contract for scraps. The only way to do so is to use Portlands salary cap space.
The Bulls want to move Hinrich’s contract, not so much Hinrich himself, and Portland apparently covets Hinrich, to some degree or another.
We ship Hinrich to Portland, we get Boozer from Utah, and Utah gets Outlaw from Portland. We ship a minimum contract(Roberson or Nelson) to Portland to balance out the deal salary cap wise.
So basically, we get Boozer for Hinrich, without giving up on Thomas. Utah saves almost $18 million dollars this year.
The Bulls should be proactive and take this deal to Portland and Utah to incent Utah to match, assuming that Portland prefers Hinrich to Milsap.
Having Boozer and Thomas may be ideal, especially for Thomas, but at least we get one more year to evaluate Thomas, and next summer we can keep or release either or both.
The deal maximizes our cap space for next summer, and guarantees that we are major players for the top free agents.
I am not crazy about Boozer, and I value Hinrich as a combo 3rd guard, but if we have to lose his contract to give 2010 a shot, than this seems like the best way to do it.
phuck me!
The Spurs got Richard JEFFERSON, not HAMILTON. Just a small typo (I think) that you could change. =P
Richard Jefferson, not Hamilton.
I don’t get why you would care if he doesn’t resign next summer? You think we can’t get another good player for that 13 Million in cap room????
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the Spurs get Richard Jefferson and not Richard Hamilton?
We need Kirk coming off the bench. He stabilizes things for the second unit. Can’t underestimate the importance of that. The Bulls will do better that people think…
Keep Kirk… Keep Kirk… Keep Kirk…
I’m guessing you meant San Antonio got Richard Jefferson and not Richard Hamilton.
My sources tell me that the bulls in jazz have a deal in place that will land tim thomas and jerome james in utah for boozer, deal to be completed on wednesday
actually its richard jefferson not hamilton… man thats a pretty big mistake lol
Rather interesting. Has few times re-read for this purpose to remember. Thanks for interesting article. Waiting for trackback
the spurs got richard hamilton?? i thought it was richard jefferson…
hey, typo: richard hamilton? xD
had me going crazy there for a bit when i read “Richard Hamilton” to the spurs. Then i realized you meant Jefferson. Had me thinking that might as well have crowned the spurs. I mean a lineup with Parker,Hamilton,Jefferson,Duncan,Gortat with the two main bench players being Manu and Antoino would have been killer. Personally I know the team would be better with boozer, but I don’t want to trade tyrus. I want to see how well a line up of Rose,Kirk,Johnson,Tyrus,Noah. W/ out gordon throwing crazy shots up or turning the ball over. The only options is rose turning the ball over, rose driving, rose lobs to 1 of 3 players that will finsih with an impact or kirk doing the things just mentioned. I believe w/ out gordon this team might just be a bit more efficient on the offensive side and the D gets better w/ out having the liability of ben guarding a 2 he can’t guard.
richard jefferson* (not hamilton)
Jefferson, not Hamilton
i dont get it every time we try to trade for a good player teams want half the roster then they turn around and trade them for back up crapy players look at pau gasol to the lakers and look at the celtics and garnett and so on so forth what do these bleepin teams have against the bulls
Why does this article say that Richard Hamilton plays for the spurs! I believe you meant to say Richard Jefferson.
I think all along, we should look for personnel who have the ability to score in the paint. we cannot keep thyinking guard play all the time. look what we have to deal with next season
I think all along, we should look for personnel who have the ability to score in the paint. we cannot keep thinking guard play all the time. look what we have to deal with next season
I agree with (Dbow Queen City) the Bulls do need Hinrich because seen we lost BG I know Hinrich, Rose, Salmon & Pargo are going to step-up their game and score more points then what they did last season. I still would like to see the Bulls take a shot with Carlos Boozer for 1 year by trading only with the Jazz. Giving-up: Ty. Thomas, J. James or Tim Thomas & A Roberson for Carlos Boozer. Seen the Bulls have 2 new Forward that they drafted they will not lose much with their new players: James Johnson and Taj Gibson to replace Ty Thomas defense.
The Bulls have been staying the course since they traded Tyson Chandler. Never signing, drafting or trading for a legit low post presence while you have an abundance of wing players with value isn’t just staying the course, it’s weak and gun-shy management.
Why wasn’t Ben Gordon traded last year if they weren’t planned to sign him? Or why didn’t they trade Hinrich when he had more value? Why does this team insist on having Deng and Salmons on the roster? The Bulls could have gotten Gasol or Garnett, but instead have held onto the same core forever.
Hey everbody. Sorry about he Richard Hamilton screw-up. It was the middle of the night, I was sunburned and exhausted from walking 40 miles across Italy, and I was concentrating on spelling McDyess correctly. That’s not excuse…it’s just what happened. Fixed now, though.
what the hell is wrong with some of you people if you can get boozer that makes us better no matter how you look at it we need to get a good low post player we will not get any free agents to come play here if we dont inprove this team
The Bulls are going after Boozer still… the Pargo deal was made to replace Hinrich for cheap once he (and his mediocrity) are finally shipped out.
i’m not the biggest kirk fan, but giving him up without getting another PG back would hurt, since that just leaves pargo as the primary back-up. but if they still want to do a 3-way deal w/portland and the bulls get jerryd bayless in return, then it might be worth it.
I think that having Boozer on the Bulls roster is more attractive to Wade than having Hinrich. Wade is the only potential FA that may come to the Bulls next year. LBJ is highly unlikely to come. Bosh is also highly unlikely to come because the Raps now have a better roster than the Bulls. Boozer will play hard next year because it’s his contract year (when Boozer played hard, the Jazz went to the WCF). Also if you offer Boozer as much money as another team (or a little more) next year, he would want to stay (isn’t it everyone say Chicago is a big market?). If he leaves, you can use the cap space to sign a good player (there are plenty next year). It’s said that Wade is pushing the Heat to trade for Boozer, indicating Wade wants to play with Boozer. But I don’t see how the Heat can get Boozer because they don’t have a large non-guaranteed contract and they don’t have a player that is attractive to the Blazer (or the Thunder).
If the Jazz accept the trade proposal described by BigWay, then the Bulls should do it. Otherwise, I don’t see how the Bulls can get that low-post scorer in the foreseeable future. Amare S, the only another post scorer that might be available, shares all the things said about Boozer and it’ll cost more than Hinrich to get Amare. The Jazz hoped Boozer not to opt in; in other words, they were supposed to lose Boozer for nothing. Now they get Outlaw, save 18 mil and keep Milsap at a reasonable price, so they should do it if they are smarter. The Nuggets gave away their best defensive C (to the Clipper) for nothing to be under L-Tax (you pay the price for mismanaging the cap).
The Bulls will have to trade Hinrich soon or later; otherwise they will lose Hinrich for nothing. Hinrich will opt out as soon as he can (there is no way he wants to be Rose backup forever unless he is retarded). The longer the Bulls wait, the lower Hinrich’s value will be because no team wants to rent him for a year. Furthermore, Hinrich could get injury next season again and then his trade value will be reduced to zero. Hinrich is not an injury-prone person. However, when he was not playing the PG position, he was running crazily to try to defend everyone to put himself in an injury-prone position. All of his major injuries were caused when the stupid Bulls coaches (particularly Skiles) played him out of the PG position (of course, Vinny doesn’t have much choice since drafting Rose).
Hey Matt, you know why this site stinks? Because you are not as negative as blogabull. Can you please bitch and moan more about the Bulls’ front office, the coaching staff and the off season moves. Please, we need someone with little understanding of professional basketball to whine endlessly about every single move, or lack of, the Bulls make. Furthermore, your command of the English language and understanding of sentence structure really make this site difficult to read.
Signed,
A Bulls fan who has been laid in years so I’ll take my frustration out on the Bulls via blogabull.
Thank you.
The Bulls have a great core of young players. Everyone knows they need a low post presence but at what cost? Guys lets not screw up this mix by bringing in Carlos and giving up TT. Be patient the right player will come. BG was a huge lost. The Bulls keep grooming guys for other teams and then draft the same type of player they gave away. The fix here is not to be desperate, wait for the right deal. Carlos Boozer is not the answer remember it took Jordan and Scottie six years to gel. Tyrus, Noah, Rose, Deng, Salmons and Kirk are pieces that fit lets add to that with a big man. People look at other teams and see big time moves, well guest what… all the big moves that were made will make those teams older not so much better. Clevland, SA and Boston have all gotten older. I think the bulls will be fine.
why would you want to trade Kirk Hinrich? Bulls already lost Ben to FA (Which i aint happy cuz i aint gona see him in the O2 in london).
Stay the course? What’s the course? Becoming the worst team in the NBA?
Do you honestly think Tyrus is going to “blow-up” next season? He was jogging down the court to play defense in the playoffs, but sprinting for the ball on offense. Is that the type of player you want? NO.
We wanted to resign Gordon, but have Deng under an extremely overpaid contract that no one wants! So let’s go after Boozer, and possibly Bayless, if anything to move Hinrich’s contract. Rose is going to want to be paid, so we are going to have two legit point guards? Don’t think so.
Boozer to Chicago makes all the difference in the world for Bulls fans. Why? Because it means we are doing something. We lost are top player because Foreman doesn’t know what he’s doing and, frankly, neither does Pax.
Bringing in Boozer will do a lot of things in one little season, before one of the biggest seasons in the NBA. It not only prepares the Bulls financially, but still gives them a contender spot in the playoffs instead of just blowing off 82 games.
1. Boozer will be a one and done in Chicago and fans are prepared to accept that. Why? Because he is in a contract year, and will play his tail off for one more big pay-day.
2. We get rid of unneccessary contracts with Hinrich and Tyrus, since we would have Boozer and Rose. Pargo is a back-up, so is Hunter. Front office just said, “Rose is the man” and he should be. Hinrich is getting paid $50 million to play just as much as Rose. Hinrich had his shot, so the new “plan” is Rose.
3. Boozer is a proven low-post scorer. Tyrus, we are still waiting. It’s a gamble, sure, but it’s better than “staying the course” because the course let Ben Gordon go to the RIVAL Pistons. Boozer is good, Tyrus isn’t, get over it! Remember, who was it that traded Aldridge for Tyrus straight up? Oh yeah, PAXSON.
4. You want Chris Bosh to play in Chicago? You better be ready to pay up and for that to happen, we need to clear cap room. Tyrus, Hinrich, Hunter and Deng are all expendable and should be looked at as on the trading block at any and all times. If we can get an all-star that played under one of the best coaches of all time, we do it. Plain and simple, we do it.
Enough with staying the course and enough with “were waiting until next season”. We still got this one to go and we took the then defending champs to game 7 in one of the best series ever! So why are we calling ourselves the Oklahoma City Thunder already?
GET BOOZER….and Bayless if you can.
WHO CARES if tyrus thomas gets traded? probably the same people who were adamant about not trading for kobe if it meant losing..um..luol deng (even though, as we all know now, that trade never would have happened. sure, tyrus has gotten better. we knew coming in that he had the potential to be a force on the glass, and that he had eye popping shot blocking ability. as for his, as ive heard it described, major offensive improvement? if a guy constantly gets left open from 15-18 feet, and he keeps taking those shots, hes eventually going to make a few. and didn’t the bulls just draft a couple forwards? we can live without tyrus, and if the bulls have any chance to trade for boozer, they should pull the trigger. im not saying boozer is the potential savior of the franchise, but if you can move hinrich’s hellish contract (i like hinrich, but his salary is just too big) and being in a big, expiring contract, attached to a player who could actually make your team better for the upcoming season, then why the hell not?
Tyrus has peaked pretty much. i dont know what you guys are talking about keeping him.. we just drafted a foward that has just as much athleticism as ty. hinrich is a great role player but we signed pargo and if d wade ever thinks about coming to the bulls it wont happen if theres still a overload in the backcourt. clearing space for next summer is key but throwing away this season because you think tyruss thomas will do something.. tyrus and noah next to each other get pushed around to much. we need some muscle like boozer to come in and clean up. an athletic wirey rebounding noah and strong low post scorer in boozer will do great things for us next year.
we need to trade hinrich because he can not play the SG role, we can have salmons play SG.
The lineup best fitted for our team next year should be PG Rose, SG Salmons, SF Deng, PF Boozer, C Noah
Remember Salmons stepped up last year and averaged 18.3 PPG. this year with BG not jackin up shots all the time that will give him time to step up. Rose will have matured and hopefully not turn it over on stupid plays as much. Deng was injured most of last year and few years ago he averaged 19 PPG. once healthy again he will be a good swingman for us.
Boozer is 1 of 3 big guys to average a 20/10 for the past 3 or 4 years. enough said about that along with it being his contract year and he wants his last big pay day.
Noah is an athletic big man that can run baseline to baseline. needs to work on defense a little bit. I saw him fall apart a couple times against the Celtics. Brad Miller will be splitting time with him though which is a good thing. we can go from a athletic center and strong power foward to a strong center and an athletic power foward James Johnson.
James Johnson was my pick before the draft as the unsung hero of this years weak draft. he has the work ethic from his parents who are kickboxing world champions and he has a black belt in. only 4 years into playing basketball he averaged 14 and 15 PPG in only 2 seasons at Wake with 7 and 8 boards
Get Boozer. if only for a year which will get us over the 1st round hump again and give us cap room for next summer to land Dwade