Avi Saini: I’m unsure. It’s hard to say mainly because no one really knows what the future plans are at the moment. There have been talks for a while now saying that the Bulls are potentially looking at making a run at one of the big name free agents during the 2014 offseason. If that’s the case then it seems as if Deng doesn’t fit into the front office’s plan. However, financially the Bulls don’t have enough cap space to get one of the big name free agents and bring over Nikola Mirotic at the same time. I believe we’ll get a more definite answer later on in the season if the front office begins to participate in trades to free up money.

Braedan Ritter: Assuming the Bulls’ plan is to win a championship, then I believe he does fit in. Deng is a top-tier defender, a good all-around player and Tom Thibodeau’s workhorse. He has led the league in minutes per game the last two seasons, and even though his shooting numbers have dipped in recent years, he is still one of the most important members of the Bulls (even more so when they are facing the Heat). Chicago has to cut costs though, as they don’t want to be in the tax for a third consecutive year—which they may face in 2014-2015—and letting Deng walk would be an easy way to drop a lot of salary (letting him walk also frees up some cash to try and sign a bigger name free agent). Deng fits into the plan to win a championship, but his contract doesn’t, and the Bulls seem to always side with what pockets them the most money. He won’t fit into the future plans unless he takes a discount to stay in Chicago.

Matt McHale: Deng is a do-everything wing player who always goes full-tilt and plays elite defense at multiple positions. He’s also highly respected by his Bulls teammates and an absolute favorite of coach Tom Thibodeau. And with an actual summer off to rest and recover from lingering injuries that included a fractured thumb and damage to ligaments in his left wrist, Deng might actually be capable of playing better and more efficiently than he has the past two seasons, during which he was selected for back-to-back All-Star appearances. So there’s no question Deng fits in with whatever the Bulls could possibly be planning from a pure basketball perspective. Frankly, there aren’t many places in the NBA where he wouldn’t fit in as a player.

Unfortunately, re-signing Deng may not make much financial sense. The generally accepted premise is that Lu could demand a multi-year contract that pays around $12 annually. According to ShamSports, the Bulls are due to pay around $55 million in 2014-15 for the combination of Carlos Boozer, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson. Adding another $12 million for Deng pushes that number up to $67 million. Even if management uses the amnesty provision to cut Boozer’s $16.8 million salary for that season, the Bulls would be left with no flexibility to pursue another star to pair with Rose.

Even if you love what Deng does for the Bulls — and who wouldn’t? — we’re talking about a player with a long injury history who is edging ever closer to 30 and (as Bill Simmons might point out) already has almost 700 games and nearly 25,000 minutes on his NBA odometer (combined regular season and playoffs). Forget the immediate future. Is Deng going to be worth $12 million per year three or four years from now?

About the only way I can imagine Deng wearing a Bulls uniform past next season is if he agrees to take a pretty major pay cut. And why would he do that?

2. Which teams might try to sign or trade for Deng?

Avi Saini: The only teams I can see wanting to trade for Deng are teams who want to try to make a run at the big name free agents next offseason. Deng’s $14 million expiring deal would free up a sizable chunk of change and is attractive for teams trying to free up money. However, the only situation in which Deng would be traded to one of those teams is if Gar Foreman and John Paxson give up their 2014 plan for good. As far as teams that may sign Deng during the offseason, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, any team that completely strikes out on the big name free agents next year will look to make a run at Deng.

Braedan Ritter: Teams that want to trade for him at the deadline would most likely be looking for his expiring contract so that they can let him walk at the end of the season and go after one of the potential max contract free agents. It’ll be interesting whether or not Chicago shops him at the deadline. If the Bulls really don’t think they’ll resign Deng in the offseason, and they know better than anyone else would of their intentions, they should at least try and get something in return for him. This would put a big dent in their title hopes, but by mid-season there will also be a clearer championship picture and maybe it would be in the Bulls best interest to shake things up.

Those big-name free agents will also play a role in where Deng will land this summer. Whichever teams miss out on the bigger names will go at Deng, and some of those teams could potentially have a lot of money if they whiff on other players. Lu would be a great addition to any team that is looking for a veteran small forward.

Matt McHale: As I pointed out above, Deng skills and willingness to do whatever his team needs would make him a great fit virtually anywhere. However, he’s not going to get the numbers he wants from a championship contender. Brooklyn, Houston, Indiana, Miami, Oklahoma City, San Antonio…none of the teams projected to be legitimate contenders in the next few seasons will have an extra $12 million-ish to sign Deng with. Assuming the Bulls are unable to trade him during the upcoming season or work out a sign-and-trade deal next summer, some middling or lower echelon team may try to make a big splash by signing a known commodity with great pedigree. Maybe it’ll be the Philadelphia 76ers. Maybe the Orlando Magic. Etc.

3. Fact or Fiction: Deng will resign with the Bulls next summer.

Avi Saini: Fiction. Continuing with my line of thought from the previous question, any team that strikes out on the big name players will overreact to their offseason failures then turn to Deng and make a hard push to get him. Part of this, as recent offseason history suggests, means that a team will be willing to pay Deng around $14 million per year, roughly what he is making now and roughly what the Sacramento Kings set Deng’s market value at when they were bidding on Andre Iguodala. Unfortunately Chicago will be cash strapped for several years to come and will not be able to offer Deng around what he could get on the market without severely hampering their future. Because the NBA is a business and Deng, like 99% of all athletes, needs to make as much money as he can to last him the rest of his life, I see him taking the larger deal and leaving Chicago.

Braedan Ritter: Fiction. I think the Bulls want Deng to take a hometown discount, and Deng sees this as his last chance to get paid. I assume Kirk Hinrich and perhaps even Carlos Boozer will be following Lu out the door after this year as the Bulls go in a different direction, still building around Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. You can’t blame Deng for looking for a big payday, especially considering its unclear how much time he has left on his over-worked body. I suspect at least one team will overpay Deng with a deal that puts him out of the Bulls’ price range.

Matt McHale: Fiction. I can’t see it happening for all the reasons I outlined above. If the Bulls want to bring in another top talent to compliment Rose — and they simply must to have any hope of competing with the Miami Heats and Oklahoma City Thunders of the NBA world — there’s no way they can commit to paying Deng $12 million or more per year for the next four to five seasons. Not given the risks involved due to his age, injury history, and the general wear and tear of his career-to-date. And there’s little chance Deng will pass up the opportunity to do what’s best for him financially. Nor should he. But the most likely scenario I can foresee is Deng making a lot of money and losing a lot of games for a lesser team.

The post 3-on-3: Luol Deng’s future appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Over the summer, key members of Chicago’s front office expressed their interest in signing Luol Deng back long term. However, it is also widely believed that Chicago wants Deng to take a pay cut from his approximately $14 million per year salary. To this point, no numbers have been disclosed.

Clearly the Bulls are not offering Deng what he and his agent believe he can command on the free agency market. As stated before in the trading Deng post Braedan and I did in July, Luol Deng could potentially walk out of free agency not having to take a pay cut at all. Several months back Andre Iguodala, then of the Denver Nuggets, walked into free agency and was offered $14 million per year by the Sacramento Kings. The offer effectively set the market for players like Deng. Though Deng is slated as the eighth best player in next year’s free agency (assuming all the stars opt out of their contracts), a handful of teams will strike out on the big name players and overpay to get the next guy on the list. In 2014 that player will be Deng.

Though he’s in a good situation in Chicago on a contending team, entering free agency is ultimately the smartest thing for Deng to do career wise. While he may be risking his chance for a title, Deng is not a player like Lebron James or Derrick Rose with “lifetime” endorsement deals and needs to make as much money as he possibly can while he’s playing. Chicago is going to be cash strapped for the foreseeable future and will try to get Deng as cheap as possible, somewhere from $9-12 million per year is my guess. Even if Deng doesn’t get a $14 million per year contract from any other team, he will still end up with a contract that will pay him what Chicago was willing to give him.

There are no reports on if the Bulls plan to hang onto Deng and risk losing him for nothing or place him on the trading block, however we should all begin to brace ourselves for an onslaught of trade rumors throughout the season.

The post Luol Deng is Looking to Test Free Agency appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

I have already professed my love for Nate Robinson on here, but I will paste it again because he deserves it.

When Nate was signed, I didn’t think he would be that much more than John Lucas III: a small scorer that would be a backup point guard; a guy who could occasionally fill it up and possibly steal you a game. But Nate was so much more. By season’s end he jumped into my top three favorite Bulls to watch this year (behind Noah and Jimmy). He was just pure energy and scoring, and even though the mistakes were plenty, he made games more fun—and fun was something often in short supply with this Chicago squad. At some points, it looked like he had enough energy to power a small country.

Nate did something people didn’t see coming: he ran the team well while also being himself. That’s not an easy task when you’re a shoot first, second and third point guard. Some credit goes to Tom Thibodeau, but Nate bought into the system and it paid off for everyone.

More quick thoughts on Nate’s season: his Karl Malone layup. His feud with Steve Novak over a stolen celebration. Then discount double-checking into eternity against the Knicks. His sneaky jump ball. How he brought the Bulls back from 14 down very late in Game 4 against the Nets, scoring 29 points after the third quarter and in turn playing the lead role in the most exciting playoff game of the season. After that game saying “I always think I’m on fire, kind of like the old school game NBA Jam…Whenever I’m in the game, I just play with a lot of confidence.” (If one quote could sum up Nate Robinson, it’s that one, or “shooter shoot”) Swatting LeBron in the playoffs.

He brought two things that were in short supply in Chicago this season: scoring and excitement.

But with Derrick Rose coming back next year, Nate’s scoring would be less important, and Marquis Teague has looked solid in Summer League, meaning Robinson would be fighting for time with three other point guards. He could play alongside both Rose and Kirk Hinrich, but the Bulls didn’t want him back despite a mainly positive season.

It wasn’t all one-way love in this short relationship. Nate Robinson, who became a fan favorite in his short time in Chicago, took to Twitter to express his feelings about the Bulls and the fans: “Chicago will always have a place in my heart I’m a miss all my teammates it was a treat playing along side of all of them all stand up guys. I know the nba is a Business but when u build friendships with guys on the team it’s hard to say goodbye … Thanks again chitown one love.” A nice thought—grammar issues aside.

Joakim Noah wished his teammate good luck, in Jo’s own special way: “congrats Nate. Dont forget U gotta risk it to get the biscuit…”

And in other “that guy is no longer on the Bulls” news, Malcolm Thomas has been waived. Thomas averaged 12.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per 36 minutes last season, but he also only played 36 minutes all season, spread over seven games. That was more than 100 fewer minutes than Vladimir Radmanovic (but 34 more than Lou Amundson!).

Thomas was set to make $884,293 during the 2013-2014 campaign and since the Bulls are over the luxury tax, they (Jerry Reinsdorf) will save more than $2 million with this decision. It is still possible that if he doesn’t get any offers from other teams, Thomas could be back at Bulls’ training camp.

Anyway, good luck to Nate Robinson. I hope Denver fans appreciate him as much as Chicago did.

And feel free to leave your favorite (or least favorite) Nate memory in the comments.

The post A final farewell to Nate Robinson appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

The move is slightly surprising as many Chicago Bulls beat writers such as Mike McGraw, Aggrey Sam, and K.C. Johnson have previously reported that it is highly unlikely that the Bulls would utilize the MMLE this season and would likely only add a few players on minimum deals. K.C. Johnson theorizes that the signing may be an olive branch to Rose after the Bulls let go of assistant Ron Adams, who Rose was close with. The Chicago Bulls 2013-2014 payroll at just over $80 million which means the Bulls will be paying approximately $15 million in tax.

Signing Dunleavy has several big implications for Chicago.

First this signing spells the departure of Marco Belinelli unless Belinelli is willing to return to the Bulls on a veteran’s minimum deal. This may not be all bad for Chicago. Last season compared to Belinelli, Dunleavy posted up better points and rebounds and as many assists per 36 minutes. Dunleavy also posted better better true shooting , effective field goal, and defensive rebounding percentages while also boasting a better offensive rating and win shares per 48 minutes. The Bulls will lose Belinelli’s ability to work off of the dribble but that is a role that can be taken up by Kirk Hinrich.

Secondly, the signing finally gives the Bulls a much needed 3-and-D to help spread the floor and play defense. This past season Dunleavy shot a career high 42.8% from beyond the arc while going 44.2% from the field. In his career, Dunleavy is a 37.2% three point shooter and a 44.4% field goal shooter. Paired with Jimmy Butler, who shot 38.1% from three point range last season, and Kirk Hinrich, who shot 39.3% from long range last season, the Bulls now have some pretty good floor spacing.

Lastly, the signing may give some much needed rest to both Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler throughout the season. One of the biggest concerns with Tom Thibodeau is his tendency to play his starters an absurd amount of minutes. With Dunleavy in the rotation, Deng and Butler may see their minutes drop to normal NBA levels which could help the team come playoff time.

While the signing isn’t a flashy, the move could be of great benefit for the Chicago Bulls if Dunleavy does what is asked of him. Early reactions to the move have been positive. CBSSport’s Matt Moore calls the move a steal at $3 million per year. Time will tell if Dunleavy is a steal and if the Bulls made the right move.

The post Chicago Bulls Sign Mike Dunleavey Jr. to a Two Year Deal appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Here is a brief look at some of the news since the draft through this first day of free agency:

• LaMarcus Aldridge wants out of Portland
  It was reported shortly before the draft that Aldridge wants out of Portland and would like to be traded to the Chicago Bulls. The Trailblazers have listened to offers but nothing is imminent. Portland and Chicago have had brief discussions but would like Joakim Noah and are not interested in Carlos Boozer or Luol Deng. Unless one side is willing to budge talks will seemingly remain at a standstill.
• Andrea Bargnani traded to the New York Knicks
  This doesn’t have anything to do with Chicago except for the fact that it takes out the possibility of Chicago trading for Bargnani as they had tried to do earlier this year. The Knicks will be sending Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, a future first round pick, and two future second round picks in exchange for the former number one pick.
• Kyle Korver is “in the bag” for the Brooklyn Nets
  ESPN’s Marc Stein tweeted out that one rival GM believes the Nets have Kyle Korver “in the bag.” Nothing has been finalized or announced from either party but, if true, this is a huge blow to the Bulls and huge win for the Nets. Korver is one of the more coveted shooters this offseason and previously expressed interest in returning to Chicago. Last season he posted the second best three point shooting percentage, fourth best true shooting percentage, and had a top 10 offensive rating. His skill set could once again improve Chicago’s miserable three point shooting and help spread the floor. Given Brooklyn’s financial situation, if Korver were to sign with them it means he was willing to accept the mini-Mid Level Exception, something the Bulls could easily have offered him.
• The Bulls’s Summer League roster is taking shape
  Chicago’s Summer League roster is quickly taking shape. Tony Snell, Erik Murphy, Marquis Teague, and Malcolm Thomas will all be on the roster. Aggrey Sam reported Luke Harangody, Andy Rautins, Ryan Allen (Tony Allen’s brother), and Charles Boozer (yes, the brother of Carlos Boozer) are all expected to be on the team. Mike McGraw indicated Andrew Goudelock may be on the team as well (which could explain a tweet he sent out early in the morning).
• The contract of head assistant coach Ron Adams was not renewed
  As reported by the Chicago Tribune the Bulls will not be renewing Ron Adams’s contract for the 2013-2014 season. Adams is a close friend and has been the head assistant coach to Tom Thibodeau and has been working on one year deals since coming to Chicago. As of now Chicago has no replacement for him. There is speculation that this move has caused some rift between general manager Gar Foreman and Thibodeau. According to a tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski, the “relationship between [the] Bulls’ GM and coach is easily the worst in the NBA.” Just perfect.
• Bulls linked to Mo Williams, Will Bynum, John Lucas III, and Monta Ellis
  According to a report from Shams Charania the Bulls have had exploratory talks with Mo Williams and Will Bynum. As of now there is no news as to how serious the talks are but they do fit in with the rumors that Nate Robinson’s days in Chicago are done. Mo Williams may be out of Chicago’s price range as he made over $8 million last year and has expressed he wants to play in a starter role (aka- significant minutes). The Bulls have also been linked to John Lucas III. JL3 was recently released by the Toronto Raptors and can likely be had for a minimum deal to replace Robinson. Lastly, Ken Berger reported the Bulls have had talks with Monta Ellis. Ellis is looking for a deal around $10 million or more and is more than likely out of Chicago’s price range.
• The Bulls are pursuing Mike Dunleavy Jr. with the mini-Mid Level Exception
  Adrian Wojnarowski recently tweeted out that the “Bulls [are] pursuing Mike Dunleavy Jr. with the mini-mid level [exception].” By adding Dunleavy Jr. the Bulls would be adding some much needed shooting to the roster. Last season Dunleavy shot a strong 42.8% from beyond the arc while posting up a 57.7% true shooting percentage and 54.5% effective field goal percentage. Should he pick up Thibodeau’s system, Dunleavy could prove to be a defensive upgrade over the options Chicago had last year (ex- Marco Belinelli). The current situation is fluid and nothing is imminent.
  
  UPDATE 7/1 by Avi Saini, 4:35 PST- According to a Twitter update from Wojnarowski, the Bulls are the frontrunners to land Dunleavy’s services. The sides are discussing a 2 year, $6 million deal. K.C. Johnson also tweeted out that both sides are confident a deal can be reached.

  UPDATE 7/1 by Avi Saini, 5:25 PST- According to a tweet by ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Bulls and Dunleavy have verbally agreed a 2 year $6 million deal. No other details about the deal are known at this time.

We will keep you updated as more news becomes available.

The post 2013 Free Agency Roundup- Day 1 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

When Bulls training camp begins next week, center Kyrylo Fesenko will be there on a non-guaranteed contract, according to a league source.

Fesenko, a 7-foot-1-inch former second-round pick, has averaged 2.3 points and 2 rebounds in 135 career games with Utah and Indiana. He worked out for the Bulls on Monday.

The Bulls possess $758,550 under the hard salary cap of $74.307 million and thus can’t sign a 14th player like Fesenko for the season until a prorated amount of the veteran’s minimum of $854,389 drops to fit. That would be in late November.

Simply put…Fesenko is a notch over seven feet. And you can’t teach tall, right?

Unfortunately, Fesenko isn’t a very good player.

His total Win Shares over 135 career games is 0.9. His career PER is 8.5. According to the handy dandy reference guide, that ranks him between “Definitely Renting” and “Next Stop: D-League.” He’s a big man who does virtually all of his scoring around the basket and yet has compiled career True Shooting and Effective Field Goal percentages below 50.

Oh, and his Basketball-Reference similarity scores liken him to such end-of-the-bench immortals as Alan Ogg, Greg Kite, Mike Smrek and Stojko Vrankovic.

Heck, Fesenko didn”t even know Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer aren’t Bulls anymore.

Bottom line: he’s a big, warm, beefy body with six fouls.

Follow him on Twitter if you dare.

The post Bulls giving Kyrylo Fesenko a chance appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

But that consistency will be gone this upcoming year, with many of the wins possibly going with it. The Bulls got rid of almost their entire Bench Mob, save for Taj Gibson. C.J Watson, Omer Asik, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver and John Lucas are all gone. All of the starters will be back, with the exception of Derrick Rose who will miss much of the season recovering from his ACL injury (Luol Deng could also miss time).

Let’s take a look at who is going and who is staying on this Bulls team, and what that could mean.

Who’s gone?
Omer Asik: Omer Asik is probably the toughest bench player to say goodbye to, at least for me. His defense was game-changing, even if his stamina was nonexistent. Asik’s 92 defensive rating was best on the team and his ability to alter shots while not fouling was better than most centers in the league. But with that great defense also came terrible offense and even worse hands. Asik posted the worst offensive rating on the team (97), lower than even Brian Scalabrine. The poison pill contract from Houston made it so that the Bulls would really have to invest in Asik, and the worst hands in the NBA. For a guy who played just 14.7 minutes per game, that $15 million in year three was too much. But Chicago is definitely going to miss his defense off the bench, and will miss him even more so if Joakim Noah goes down with an injury. They will also surely miss his eerie similarity to Linguini from Ratatouille.

Ronnie Brewer: Ronnie Brewer’s second year with Chicago was worse than his first, but Brewer still brought defense and intensity whenever he was on the floor. Much like Asik, Brewer was a great defensive player that didn’t have much offensive talent. He started the season shooting really well (64 percent from the field, perfect from deep in four games in December), only to quickly regress to the mean. Ronnie’s end of the year numbers were as ugly as his jumper looks. Brewer finished the year shooting just 42.7 percent from the field, and 27.5 from three (both worse than 2010-2011). His offensive rating and defensive rating also fell this season compared to last one. His defense rating was only slightly worse, going from a 98 to a 99, while his offensive rating fell seven points, to 103. Brewer’s true shooting percentage fell from 51.8 in 2010-2011 to 46.5 this season.  He was a great slasher on offense, but he didn’t have a good jumper and was also really great at missing open dunks. He was let go because the Bulls think they have a replacement in second-year player Jimmy Butler. With Asik and Brewer, the Bulls were often looking to play to a 0-0 tie while these guys were in. Brewer’s defense will be missed, but Butler could fill in the role quite well (we will get to him in the next section).

Kyle Korver: The women of Chicago are taking this one incredibly hard. Kyle made the ladies swoon with his looks. And made Stacey King freak out every time he hit a three pointer. Korver was never anything much more than a shooter though, and for a few stretches last season, he wasn’t even that. His 101 defensive rating was one of the worst on the Bulls (he did beat Rip Hamilton’s 104, though; so there’s that). But his offensive rating (120) was tied for best on the team, with Joakim Noah. He shot 43.5 percent from deep, and his 57.5 effective field goal percentage was best on the squad. Unlike the first two guys, Korver didn’t excel at defense, but with the other bench players, this deficiency was often covered up. Korver was the perfect player to pair with Rose: a deadly spot up shooter that you never wanted to leave to help in the lane. But Rose wasn’t healthy much, and John Lucas III just doesn’t strike the same fear into opponents when he is driving down the lane. Speaking of which…

John Lucas III: JL3 was an enigma to me. Going into the year, he wasn’t expected to play many minutes, but things changed with injuries to Rose and Watson. He wasn’t terrible for a third string point guard that’s under six feet tall, but he had his problems. One of those issues was that his X button seemed to be stuck, rendering it nearly impossible for him to pass. And his small frame also didn’t do him any favors on defense, except when he became a hurdle for LeBron James (tune into the Olympics, as Lucas is rumored to be the second hurdle in lane four of the 200 meter hurdles!). Basically you never knew what you were getting from Lucas. He might shoot 28 times and score just 25 points against the Wizards, go 3-11 in a losing effort against the Blazers, or he may go 9-12 with 24 points in 26 minutes in a win over the Heat. Lucas had the utmost confidence in himself and was hustling at all times. He did more than most people expected out of a guy who played just ten minutes in the entire 2010-2011 season. Of point guards that played more than 25 games, Lucas had the ninth highest usage percentage, a little much for a third string guard. JL3 dribbled and shot too much, which was extremely frustrating, but brought a lot of excitement because of those two things as well. And it wasn’t always his fault that he shot so much, considering he wasn’t playing with the most adept offensive guys in the league. I hope JL3 gets minutes in Toronto, because he’s always fun to watch.

C.J. Watson: Watson started 25 games last season because of injuries to Derrick Rose averaging 9.7 points and 4.1 assists. Those are solid numbers, but Watson’s decision making was always iffy. Taking bad jumpers and making questionable passes were all part of the C.J. Experience. He was a good back-up point guard overall, and did a solid job trying to be a starting point guard for 25 games and fighting through injuries. In the end Watson was still a point guard that shot just 36.9 percent during his two years in Chicago (JL3 shot 39.9 percent, for comparison). He was a big reason the Bulls finished the season with the best record, but the Bulls didn’t want to pick up his $3.2 million option. That was an interesting decision, because Rose will be out most of this season, and Watson has experience leading this team. I guess someone had to leave to make room for the return of Kirk Hinrich.

Who’s staying?
Carlos Boozer: I will be holding a “Carlos Boozer was amnestied!” party when it happens. All are invited. You have to draw on your hair. From the “I Would Have Bet All My Monies Against This” department: Boozer was the healthiest Bull last season, starting all 66 games. He averaged 15.0 points on 53.2 percent shooting and 8.5 rebounds on the year. Solid numbers, but with Boozer there always seemed to be something missing. He almost exclusively shoots his jumper/fadeaway now, rarely going to the basket. According to HoopData, Boozer had 4.2 attempts at the rim per game last year, down from 6.0 attempts in 2010-2011. His attempts from 3-9 feet fell as well, while his attempts from 16-23 feet rose from 3.0 attempts per game in 2010-2011 to 4.6 last season. Boozer gets  lot of criticism (a lot of that from me), but 15 and eight is solid, even if he can’t play defense.

Jimmy Butler: Butler is the reason Brewer was expendable. He did his best Brewer impression, shooting 40.5 percent from the field, but did average 10.9 points per 36 minutes, which is solid. And after his great summer league, expect him to build on his rookie year, with his expanded minutes.

Luol Deng: Deng had his first All-Star season last year, even though his scoring dipped (15.3 last season, down from 17.4 in 2010-2011) as well as his field goal percentage (41.2 percent, down from 46 percent). Pre-All Star Break, Deng was averaging 15.9 points per game on 42 percent shooting, and 40.6 percent from three. Those numbers fell to 14.8 points per game on 40.2 percent shooting, and 33.6 percent from deep. Maybe that was fatigue from the scrunched schedule (and Thibs’ refusal to let Deng rest more than three minutes per game), or more likely, Lu battling through the wrist injury. Deng’s numbers may have been down slightly, but Thibs still leaned on Deng heavily. Lu played 39.4 minutes per game, by far the most of anyone on the team (Rose played 35.3 minutes per game, and the next closest was Joakim Noah at 30.4 minutes per game). His three point percentage did rise, from 34.5 percent to 36.7. He’s also been playing well for Great Britain during the Olympics, while playing almost all of those games as well. Lots of trade rumors surrounded Deng near the trade deadline, but he is still on the team, and will probably play heavy minutes once again this season. He may still need surgery on his wrist, which could spell an ugly start to the season for the Bulls.

Taj Gibson: The lone Bench Mob member that will be with the Bulls, is also the best Bench Mob member. The frontcourt of Gibson and Asik was scary good, protecting the rim and changing shots better than most starting frontcourts. Asik will be missed, but Gibson will continue, and now will be paired with Nazr Mohammed. Gibson’s 96 defensive rating was third best on the team, and his 109 offensive rating was top five as well. He shot 49.5 percent from the field last season, better than 2010-2011. Gibson’s percentage from 10-15 feet rose from 28.8 percent in 2010-2011 to 37.2 percent last season. His shooting at the rim and from 3-9 feet also rose slightly. Gibson is in a contract year, and will be getting a big contract soon, so hopefully he put in one of those great contract years that many guys do. The problem with Gibson, is that, going into his fourth season in the NBA, he will be 27 years old already. He may not have much room for growth, but if he improves his midrange jumper, he will soon be the starter at power forward for a team (hopefully for the Bulls, when they re-sign him and amnesty Boozer).

Rip Hamilton: Rip was supposed to be the answer at shooting guard, but was very much not. The 34 year-old Hamilton was rarely healthy, playing in just 28 games. When Rip was healthy, he shot 45.2 percent, his best percentage since 2007-2008. His passing was impressive, and his motor on offense added an interesting wrinkle in the Bulls’ offense. Ultimately though, Rip’s defensive rating of 104 was worse than his offensive rating (101), so the Bulls were losing when he was on the floor. His 13.2 PER also means he was a below average player. And if you weren’t sure if he had a poor season, you can look to earlier this summer when no one wanted to trade for him. Maybe if he is healthy he can get some sort of rhythm this season, but it’s safe to say Hamilton will be gone after his contract expires next season.

Joakim Noah: Not only were Jo’s defensive numbers good (96 defensive rating), but his offensive rating was tied for best on the team (120, with Korver). Although his points, shooting and rebounding numbers fell slightly, he recorded the highest PER of his career (19.6). He’s currently still recovering from an ankle injury that forced him out of the playoffs, and scarily, was still bothering him enough to keep him from participating for France in the Olympics. Noah missed just two games this regular season though, a big jump from missing 24 in 2010-2011. Jo’s defense and hustle helps the Bulls a ton and they’re going to need him to be healthy more than ever this year. Boozer and Noah, who played together a lot in 2011-2012, actually started to mesh, which was a good sign after a shaky (and injury plagued) first season together. Noah shot just 21.7 percent from 10-15 feet, but Finger Gunz  shot 43 percent from 16-23 feet (up from 33 percent in 2010-2011).

Derrick Rose: The only guy that’s untouchable on the roster had a tough season last year. He couldn’t get healthy, and then…well we all know what happened. Rose is going to be out for most of the next season, and won’t be 100 percent for a while after that. He is a hard worker, so he should come back just as strong, but it’s scary to think his career may have been altered by one awkward landing. Rose will be just 24 when this season starts and 25 when he (should) return to full health. He’s still approaching the prime of his career, and has time to reach that potential he was destined for.

What it means:
The Bulls’ bench helped them get a lot of wins in the regular season. They didn’t help as much in the playoffs, but were integral filling in for injuries and outplaying the opponents’ bench to stretch a lead or claw back into the game. There is no doubt Chicago will miss these guys. The injury to Rose only makes the outlook for this season more grim.

Jeff Van Gundy thinks it will be a good season for the Bulls if they win half their games. I have to agree with this, considering Rose’s absence, Deng could miss the beginning of the year, and Carlos Boozer is the starting power forward (just kidding, kind of). After two great season under Tom Thibodeau, Bulls’ fans are in for a tough one this year.

All of these moves are, apparently, part of a grand plan that the Bulls have decided upon. That plan is to hit free agency in 2014 with lots of cash and hope to land a big name free agent. That doesn’t make a ton of sense for two reasons. First, the Bulls haven’t had great luck in free agency, and banking on a free agent to sign with you, over the other 29 teams, isn’t a safe bet. Secondly, the 2014 free agent class isn’t really great. Oh, and a bonus reason: basically throwing away two full seasons for a possible free agent doesn’t seem like the best basketball plan. But it sure is a great financial plan!

Chicago had the type of team that was supposed to contend for titles for years to come. But Rose’s ACL injury changed all that. Now it seems the Bulls will struggle during 2012-2013, and are planning on conceding the 2013-2014 season as well. They may never reach that podium that they seemed so primed for just one year ago.

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From ESPNChicago:

The Chicago Bulls are working on a deal to sign guard Nate Robinson, but nothing was official as of early Monday evening, according to sources familiar with the situation.

A report by SI.com reporter Sam Amick cited Robinson’s agent Aaron Goodwin as saying Robinson will sign with the Bulls “barring unforeseen problems.”

Robinson also tweeted a picture of himself wearing a Bulls No. 2 jersey.

(I’m not going to get into how that was Norm Van Lier’s number and should be retired in his honor…)

If the Bulls spent this offseason finding ciphers for the bench players they let walk or traded away — C.J. Watson became Kirk Hinrich, Jimmy Butler replaces Ronnie Brewer, Marco Belinelli takes over for Kyle Korver, and Nazr Mohammed is your older-and-creakier Omer Asik — then little Nate will take over the John Lucas III memorial “bench scorer without a conscious” role.

I suppose you could argue that Robinson is actually an upgrade from Lucas. Last season with the Golden State Warriors, Nate appeared in 51 games, averaging 11.2 points, 4.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 23.4 minutes a night.

And although his shooting wasn’t great — 42.4 percent from the field and 36.5 percent on threes — he was reasonably efficient at what he did, compiling a PER of 18.0.  For comparison’s sake, that would have ranked fourth on the Bulls behind Derrick Rose (23.0), Carlos Boozer (19.7) and Joakim Noah (19.6)…and ahead of valued guys like Taj Gibson (16.9) and Luol Deng (14.1).

Of course, it remains to be seen whether Robinson — an athletic and aggressive scorer who likes to pound the ball and launch shots whenever possible (and sometimes when not possible) — can function within Tom Thibodeau’s methodical offense. Remember: Nate played 55 games for the Celtics between the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, and Thibs was an assistant for C’s in 2009-10. During his time Boston, Nate canned only 32.8 percent of his triples and 36.0 percent of his long two-pointers.

It’s no coincidence that Robinson’s best scoring seasons were with the Knicks and Warriors…free flowing offensive systems that gave him the freedom and opportunity to shoot at will. I’m not sure that will be the case for him in Chicago.

Then again, Lucas had that 28-shot game against the Wizards last season, so who knows.

This move does have me scratching my head a bit. According to the ESPNChicago story, Robinson would back up Hinrich at point guard while Rose is rehabbing his knee.

What about Marquis Teague?

With Rose out a large chunk (if not all) of the season, there probably won’t be a better time to get the Teague significant minutes. If the season is going to be something of a wash, why not develop the rookie as much as possible? Most coaches tend to go with vets over rookies, and that was certainly the case with Butler last season. I’m guessing Thibodeau will be more likely to bring Nate in off the bench over Marquis.

But hey, it’s all guesswork at this point.

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That’s no longer an option.

According to ESPNNewYork:

Swingman Ronnie Brewer will be joining the New York Knicks, according to his agent, Henry Thomas.

Thomas would not disclose the terms of the deal, but it’s reportedly a one-year contract and likely for the veteran’s minimum of $1.4 million, which is all the Knicks could offer.

With Jimmy Butler’s stellar play in the NBA Summer League and the team’s other signings and proposed signings (Kirk Hinrich, Marco Belinelli, Nazr Mohammed, Vladimir Radmanovic), it has become reasonably clear that Brewer wasn’t coming back.

Of course, with the Bulls looking for decent players on the cheap, you’d think they could have coughed up the vet’s minimum for a guy who had played hard and well for them the past two seasons.

Then again, this might simply be a sign that they want to give more minutes to Butler to hasten his development.

Update: ESPNChicago published Ronnie’s goodbye tweet to Chicago and Bulls fans:

S/0 to Chicago the city, fans, and players. The organization was great and everyone I’ve come across as well. On to the next chapter.

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The Bulls on Tuesday officially will announce they have declined to match Omer Asik’s three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet from the Rockets, sources said, paving the way for multiple signings that began Monday with Kirk Hinrich.

This isn’t too surprising. The structure of Asik’s offer — which included a “poison pill” third-year salary of just under $15 million — was both ridiculous (considering he struggled to average 3.1 PPG last season) and prohibitive (because it would have pushed the Bulls into the luxury tax and limited their ability to sign free agents down the road).

I know some fans have interpreted this move as a further sign that Bulls management and ownership are a bunch of miserly, tightfisted, penny-pinching cheapskates. And it has opened GM Gar Forman to some mockery for his statement that: “Our decisions this summer will be basketball decisions, not financial decisions.”

But you know what? This was both a financial and a basketball decision.

Sometimes they’re the same thing.

Did Omer Asik make the team better (if primarily on the defensive end)? Absolutely.

Is Omer Asik going to be worth $15 million three seasons from now? Absolutely not.

In the short term, losing Asik will hurt and make the Bulls a little worse. But management won’t have to work around that $15 million cap-killer when shopping for free agents prior to the 2014-15 season…and that will make the Bulls a little better. Maybe a lot better depending on how things turn out.

Now let’s look ahead.

According to Johnson, Hinrich will be signing a two-year deal worth about $8 million, and his signing will be officially announced today during a 2 p.m. press conference at the Berto Center.

Hinrich said (via a statement): ”I’m very excited to be back in Chicago and to wear a Bulls uniform once again. I look forward to getting back out on the court as a Bull, and contributing to the team in any way I can.”

Bulls GM Gar Forman said (also by way of statement): ”We are pleased to be able to bring Kirk back to Chicago. His ability to play both spots in the backcourt will help us immensely this season. Kirk’s tenacity and passion for the game complement our style of play, and we look forward to seeing him back in a Bulls uniform.”

Expect Kirk to be the team’s starting point guard until Derrick Rose returns from injury. After that, he’ll likely back up both Rose and shooting guard Richard Hamilton.

Furthermore, Chicago native Nazr Mohammed will be signing for the veteran’s minimum ($1.3 million) and free agent shooting guard Marco Belinelli is expected to sign for the bi-annual exception (a bit less than $2 million).

According to ESPNChicago:

By using the bi-annual exception, the Bulls hard cap themselves at $74 million for the season. As ESPN salary cap expert Larry Coon has stated, the hard cap may preclude the Bulls from making any major in-season acquisitions. They will have to add minimum salaried players to fill out the roster.

ESPNChicag’s Nick Friedell provides a succinct breakdown of what this means:

While the organization hasn’t come out and said they are in a holding pattern for the next couple seasons, it appears they are building towards making a push at the free agency class two summers from now. At that point, Luol Deng’s contract comes off the books and Carlos Boozer figures to be amnestied. Those two moves would give the Bulls $30 million of free cap space as the team tries to go after another major star to pair with Rose either via trade or free agency. Aside from Rose, the only other players on the Bulls roster then figure to be Joakim Noah, who signed a five-year, $60 million dollar extension which kicked in last season; Gibson, who is already in the process of discussing an extension with the Bulls which figures to earn him close to $8 million a year; and Butler and Teague, both of whom will still be under rookie contracts. The Bulls could also decide to bring foreign import Nikola Mirotic over to the NBA if both sides feel he is ready, or package some of those assets, along with a Charlotte Bobcats first-round pick from the Tyrus Thomas deal, to acquire another star.

This fits with what I’ve been saying for the past few weeks. The Bulls are about to embark on a couple “placeholder” seasons. They will be competitive and well-coached but won’t have the firepower necessary to compete with the league’s elite teams (Celtics, Heat, Lakers, Spurs, Thunder, etc.). They are taking steps backward in hopes of a brighter future down the road after Rose is back and fully recovered.

For fun, here’s a free agent list for 2014.

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