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1. You think we should shutdown Noah for a while since this story came out that his injury will linger for the whole season? Brendan M

This story is coming from Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, and nothing against Cowley, but why is he the only one reporting anything about it? It makes me wonder if there not less to this story than he’s really saying.

I suppose there are reasons to speculate: He’s wearing a knee brace, and he’s on limited minutes. But until I see more than one source reporting it, I’m going to reserve a bit of skepticism on the report.

All that said, if Cowley’s right and it’s really bone-on-bone, and will be with him for his whole career, sitting him out for a while won’t help. Bear in mind I say that if with very little confidence in the report.

2. I saw the report that Butler probably won’t be extended by the deadline. Do you think the Bulls will keep him or should we get ready to say bye to him too? Katie S

I don’t really think there’s anything to worry about here. Some fans are really paranoid about the whole restricted free agent thing since the whole Omer Asik thing and worry that the same thing can happen with Jimmy.

But different rules apply with Jimmy. The same type of contract he was offered (wrongly labeled the poison pill), where the team making the offer can back-load and make it difficult to other teams to match, can’t be offered to Jimmy.

So any offer another team makes to Jimmy would be exactly the same with the Bulls. So it’s really just about how much he’s worth.

And that’s where things get interesting. Jimmy is easily one of the best perimeter defenders in the game right now, arguably even the best. But his offense has lagged behind. This preseason he blew up, though, and his last full game was the one where he went ballistic in the fourth quarter and became “Jimmy Jordan,” nailing the game-winning three at the buzzer.

Some of that was preseason. Some of that was offseason work on his game. Some of that was getting healthy. How much can be attributed to each is hard to say without watching him in regular season games.

If you assume he returns to his 2012-13 efficiency, he’s worth $11 million. If he averages around 15 points with a true shooting percentage of .580 to .600 (which is about his ceiling) and plays the same level of dense, a max deal is reasonable. That puts the upper end around $15 million.

If Jimmy does that, I have no doubt the Bulls ink him next summer before he even hits the open market. If it doesn’t, I don’t see anyone offering him a max deal.

And with the new TV Deal, I don’t see that kind of money being an issue for the Bulls, or for them to keep Noah.

3.  The bench was killer in opener against the Knicks. Do you think this bench unit could be better than the Bench Mob from a few years ago? Michael R

I don’t want to speak ill of the Bench Mob, but this group should be better.

The Bench Mob was truly great on defense, and that’s not hyperbole. Their second year together they gave up just 79.9 points per 100 possessions. I looked through all 14 years of lineup numbers available on Basketball-Reference.com’s  Play Index, and no other lineup with 150 minutes played is below 80.

So it’s probably valid to say that the Bench Mob was one of the greatest defensive benches in the history of the league (which on another note is why I always felt it was invalid to use on/off numbers to evaluate Rose’s defense).

But whoever they were playing was nearly as good on defense as they were, if you know what I mean. The current group might not be as great on defense, but I trust in the system, and I trust in the Taj. The Taj will always make defensive plays.

What you have with this group that you didn’t before though is scoring options. Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic are both valid scoring options, and both have shown too much ability to put the ball on the floor to just be labeled shooters.

Taj has improved his offense immensely since the original unit. Aaron Brooks and C.J. Watson are about a wash. And Kirk is Kirk. But even there, he’s getting compared with Brewer.

I really love what this second unit can bring. I feel like they’re essentially a second wave of starters, and that’s going to keep the starters’ minutes down and hopefully the minutes too.

4. Of all the new additions to the team, who do you think is going to be the biggest impact player this year? Sam G

No question, Pau Gasol. Those who try and equate him with Carlos Boozer are just not being reasonable. Gasol is on a different level than Boozer.

He has much more of a post-up game than Boozer. He actually has more range, and that corner three he’s hit a couple of times is really interesting. He blocked as many shots in his last season than Boozer did in his whole Bulls’ career.

And the work he and Gibson have done on the court together is especially nice. I think they pair very well. It’s hard to change the starting lineup because you can’t have Mirotic start over Pau or Taj because that would be weird, and you can’t have Noah come of the bench because you dn’t do that to an All-NBA center and Defensive Player of the Year.

But what you can do is have a staggered rotation like Thibs did where Noah sits early and Taj comes in. Then later on you sub in Noah and Mirotic for Taj and Pau. Then bring Taj or Pau (whoever is playing better) at the end of the half/game.

But that’s the value of Pau. He’s the starting power forward, but he’s also the defacto backup center, and the best in the league at that.

The post By the Horns Weekly Mailbag #1 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

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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.

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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.”

The post BbtH Mailbag- Post Deng Trade Edition appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

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Welcome back to the Bulls by the Horns weekly mailbag where we will answer some of your reader submitted questions about the Chicago Bulls and the NBA every Friday. If you’d like to submit your question to us please shoot us a message via our contact form or shoot a tweet to @AvikarSaini. Without further ado, let’s get to it:

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Charlotte is the 5th seed in the East. Do you think they’ll hang onto that spot so Chicago will get their draft pick this year?
Jesus E.

I doubt that the Bobcats will be able to hang onto the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference since htye have one of the league’s worst offenses (29th in points scored per game and 29th ranked offensive rating); however, I do think that there is a decent chance that Chicago could get Charlotte’s top-10 protected draft pick this offseason. The Bobcats currently have one of the league’s best defenses (2nd fewest points per game allowed and third ranked defensive rating) which will help them win a good number of games, despite the fact that their offense is anemic. Charlotte having the 3rd easiest schedule in the league this season the Eastern Conference being so bad definitely plays into Chicago’s favor.

With how bad the Bulls have been playing, it’s looking more and more like this roster is done and the Bulls are going to move some players. Who is the player most likely to be moved and to where?
Andrew H

Of all the players on Chicago’s roster, Luol Deng is most likely to be moved. The Bulls aren’t financially in a position to offer Deng the kind of contract he wants and because of that it looks like he’ll be gone this offseason. After experiencing what it was like to get nothing in return for Omer Asik, the Bulls have (hopefully) learned to take back what you can and not lose assets for nothing. Where Deng goes ultimately comes down to what the Bulls want in return for him. I personally believe Deng could end up with the Phoenix Suns because they need a wing player and are offering up draft picks. However that is pure speculation on my part and is based on no news reports or rumors, just my gut.

Waddle and Silvey asked “Would you rather have D-Rose or would you rather trade him for No. 1 pick, which probs would be Jabari?” on Twitter. What would you do?
Brett N

When I heard this question I thought it was an interesting question, but to me there’s only one way to go with this- trade Rose for the number 1 pick. I love Rose and all that he’s given to the franchise. I hope he recovers and can become the player he once was. But if given the opportunity I make that trade in a heartbeat. Rose isn’t guaranteed to become the player he once was (though I hang onto hope he’ll make a comeback), so his $20+ million contract could be a burden on the Bulls for the next few years. If Chicago could unload his contract and get a player like Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins (who look to be guaranteed stars in the NBA) for only $5 million per year, you have to make that trade.

Will the Bulls win another game this season?
Will Marsh (@IAmWillMarsh) via Twitter

With how bad things have been going, it looks so hard to believe they will, but I have confidence they’ll win some. They still have to play Miami and Indiana a few more times and always bring their A-game for them.

The post By the Horns Weekly Mailbag- 12/20/2013 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Image from Flickr via Pacdog

Welcome back to the Bulls by the Horns weekly mailbag where we will answer some of your reader submitted questions about the Chicago Bulls and the NBA every Friday. If you’d like to submit your question to us please shoot us a message via our contact form or shoot a tweet to @AvikarSaini. Without further ado, let’s get to it:

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I saw Bill Simmons proposed a trade of Carlos Boozer and/or Luol Deng to the Lakers for Pau Gasol and someone else. Any chance this trade will happen?
Conrad D

I don’t want to completely rule the trade out, but I’m fairly certain a Boozer for Gasol swap has as much chance as Simmons’s proposed Lebron James and Dwayne Wade to the Boston Celtics for Rajon Rondo, Gerald Wallace, and Kris Humphries trade- no chance whatsoever. Just like in years past the problem with any Boozer trade remains his contract. After signing Kobe to that hilariously large extension, the Lakers need Gasol’s expiring contract to come off the books if they want to go after another max player this coming offseason. By trading for Boozer’s max contract, the Lakers will have denied themselves the opportunity to go after one of the superstars. Mitch Kupchak is an incredibly smart general manager- he’s not about to shoot the team in the foot for Carlos Boozer.

Who are some trade targets the Bulls should target for next years team?
Via Twitter from @JonnyProfits

At this point and time it’s hard to say exactly who the Bulls should trade for for next year’s team given the unknowns regarding Derrick Rose’s level of play coming back, whether or not Deng will return to the team, if Boozer will still be around, if Nikola Mirotic will finally be brought over, and several other questions. I’ve written an article about how I believe the Bulls should target Arron Afflalo to play the 2-guard spot beside Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose. Others have suggested more short term fixes such as Kyle Lowry due to the abysmal point guard situation the Bulls are in.

A recent Marc Stein article talked about Tom Thibodeau maybe going to the Knicks. Do you think this will happen?
Nicole B

I think Marc Stein is on the right track that the Chicago Bulls and Tom Thibodeau will part ways sometime in the near future under a mutual agreement. And given that Thibodeau recently signed his extension and that Jerry Reinsdorf is too cheap to just fire a coach and continue to pay him, the Bulls will likely look to trade a top coach like Thibodeau for some assets. That being said, I can’t imagine the Bulls trading Thibodeau to the New York Knicks. As Kelly Scaletta will have pointed out in an article being published within the near future on Bulls by the Horns, Thibodeau will not want to go to the Knicks due to the giant mess that franchise is in. But in addition to that, I can’t imagine the Chicago Bulls will trade away Thibodeau for less than a few first round picks. Unfortunately for New York, they’re running a little short on those.

How’s it like not having Nate Robinson in your life anymore?
Via Twitter from @Moesquare

Depressing

The post By the Horns Weekly Mailbag 12/13/13 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Image from Flickr via Pacdog

Welcome back to the Bulls by the Horns weekly mailbag where we will answer some of your reader submitted questions about the Chicago Bulls and the NBA every Friday. If you’d like to submit your question to us please shoot us a message via our contact form or shoot a tweet to @AvikarSaini. Without further ado, let’s get to it:

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Since Rose’s injury Chicago has been named as a possible landing spot for Dion Waiters. What do you think of the idea of Waiters in Chicago? What kind of trade would it take to get him?
Aaron J

I’ll start off with the lasts question first. In my mind any trade sending Dion Waiters to the Chicago Bulls would likely involve Luol Deng in some capacity. The Cavs could use a wing player like Deng who can: 1) operate without the ball in his hands, 2) act as a complement to Kyrie Irving, 3) defend the perimeter against players like Lebron James. Because Deng is an expiring contract and could walk at the season’s end, the Bulls may have to include a little something extra like a draft pick. With that kind of price I’m not a fan of bringing Waiters to Chicago. While Waiters is the kind of player who can step onto the floor and control the ball to generate offense his efficiency is lacking, especially compared to Deng. According to Basketball-Reference Waiters is only shooting 41.2% from the floor on roughly 12 shot attempts per game while Deng is shooting 45.8% on about 15 attempts per game. According to Synergy Sports, Deng produces more points per possession than Waiters in the following categories: isolation players, post ups, cuts to the hoop, pick & roll as the ball handler, off of screens, out of hand-offs, and off of offensive rebounds. In addition to the worse offensive output, moving from Deng to Waiters would be a huge step back for Chicago on defense. All of this combined screams trading for Waiters is a bad idea for Chicago and does more harm than good.

Rose said that he may return this season if the conditions are right. What are these conditions and do you think he returns this season?
Ashley M

Under a new NBA rule passed this previous offseason, Derrick Rose had to address the media at a press conference yesterday regarding his injury. During the media event Rose said, “If I’m healthy and the situation is right, I’ll be out there playing,” effectively opening the door to a potential return this season despite the fact the Chicago Bulls front office stated he was done for the season. Presumably the right conditions for a return is heavily dependent on two things: 1) if Rose can play again by the end of March (at the latest) so he can re-integrate himself into the team and shake off the rust; and 2)if the Bulls can avoid the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs to potentially set them up for a deep playoff run. While both things can happen, based off of last season’s return process I can’t imagine Rose potentially rushing his rehab to come back this season. I hope I’m wrong and Rose can play at eventually 100% this year, but as it stands I’m skeptical.

What do you think of this trade? Bulls trade Boozer and their first-rounder to the Raptors for Kyle Lowry and. Tyler Hansbrough. The thinking is this would give Taj a chance to start with Boozer off the books this year and next. It would also fill the Bulls’ biggest need (PG) and make them a possible contender this year. As for the pick, the Bulls would likely still have Charlotte’s pick and Mirotic coming over anyway. Thoughts?
Gordon S

While I’m a huge fan of Kyle Lowry and would like to have him starting over Kirk Hinrich, I’m not a fan of this trade. While Boozer’s play is spotty and his defense can be terrible, moving Taj Gibson into a starting role and going from Boozer to Hansbrough is a major downgrade for the second unit big men. One of Chicago’s major advantages are the various combination of Noah, Boozer, and Gibson in the front court. Trading for Hansbrough gives that up. Also, I feel like moving Gibson into a starting role may be a little premature. While everyone is excited over his recent play it has yet to be seen if Gibson can sustain this kind of performance for an extended period of time. Finally, I don’t like the idea of giving up a pick in the deal. I like Lowry but in all likelihood he’s a rental since he’d move behind Rose on the depth chart if he were to stay. Essentially Chicago would be giving up Carlos Boozer and this year’s first round draft pick for Tyler Hansbrough- hardly a good deal for the Bulls.

When will Thibs [Tom Thibodeau] finally give up the hair battle?
@Moesquare via Twitter

Don’t count on it ever happening. Thibodeau’s motto for the past few seasons has been that the Bulls have enough to win. I’m fairly certain he uses a similar motto for his hair.

The post By the Horns Weekly Mailbag- 12/06/2013 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

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 the NBA. If you’d like to submit your question to us please shoot us a message via our contact form. This week’s mailbag is on a Wednesday, however subsequent mailbags will be moved to later on in the week. Without further ado, let’s get to it:

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Why won’t Thibs play the younger players on the team like Teague, Snell, and Murphy more meaningful minutes to help them develop? It seems useless that they just sit on the end of the bench not getting any experience.
Eric T

As we’ve seen over the past several years, Tom Thibodeau is a “go hard every night and win now” kind of coach. He expects his players to give it their all every night for all 82 games of the regular season and keep up that kind of performance throughout the playoffs. With this kind of mentality playing rookies or younger players in general doesn’t make much sense. More often than not, rookies prove to be a liability on the floor as they are more mistake prone. We’ve already seen one example earlier this season when first round draft pick Tony Snell played meaningful minutes against the Miami Heat. During his seven minutes on the court Snell repeatedly allowed his opponent to get to the hoop, missed defensive rotations, and committed a couple of stupid fouls.

I understand that the rookies can’t get experience and grow without getting some playing time. To this end I agree with you and am in favor of Thibodeau giving more minutes to Marquis Teague, Tony Snell, and Erik Murphy in games against some of the league’s worst teams. Chicago plays down to their opponent’s level anyways and doing so can only help the starters stay healthy for the long postseason run the team hopes to have. But otherwise I am fine with Thibodeau leaving the inexperienced players on the bench. Simply sitting, watching, and analyzing the game as it unfolds (as well as watching film later) aids the learning process and can help reduce the learning curve once a player does get some meaningful minutes.

What is going on with Derrick Rose’s performance lately? He played really well during the preseason but has been abysmal during these first nine games. In the nine games Chicago has played he’s shot more times than he’s scored points in five of them, his field goal percentage isn’t even 35%, and his 9.33 PER is tied for the worst on the team with Nazr Mohammed.
Cynthia W

Derrick Rose’s recent performance only enhances the notion that no one should put too much stock in to the preseason. Unless the organization or Rose’s camp is hiding information, there isn’t much to suggest that Rose’s struggles are due to anything more than rust. Thus far Rose has shown the same speed, agility, and first step he used to have prior to sustaining his knee injury and has increased his vertical jump. The knee is healthy and things in that regard look good but Rose has been away from the game for more than a year and a half. He needs time to get back into NBA form

A lot of Rose’s early struggles can be attributed to Rose simply trying to do too much by himself. Early on in the season Rose would drive into traffic to try to get a layup or would try a pull up jumper off the dribble rather than pass the ball to his teammates. The result has been a lower field goal percentage, more shots taken than points made, fewer assists than his career average, more turnovers per game, and a lower PER. However Rose has already made some improvements and will likely continue to do so.

What do you make of the reports of a rift between Thibodeau and Foreman coming to out over the past several months?
Phil H

Despite the two downplaying the reports, I do believe that there is a rift. With an intensely loyal coach like Thibodeau, you shouldn’t really go off and fire one of his best friends, tell him how to coach players, and seemingly impede how he works. Especially when he, as a coach, has already brought the team so much success in the past three years despite all of the adversity the team has faced. At this point I honestly don’t know what to make of the reports though and how things will play out in the future. All I know is that if either side doesn’t tread lightly (yay poorly made Breaking Bad references!), there will be blood.

The Pacers are looking dangerous this year. Do you think Chicago stop them in the playoffs?
Alex C

The season is young. The Pacer did get off to a hot start and have only one loss on the season to Chicago. Between now and the playoffs just about anything can happen. Players can get hot, cool off, get hurt, or get traded. As it stands I still believe the Bulls will have a better record than the Pacers at the end of the regular season and believe Chicago will make it further in the playoffs, but I do think it’ll all come down to one or two games in both situations. Regardless, with Indiana’s making their presence known in the East things definitely have become a whole lot more fun.

The post By the Horns Weekly Mailbag- 11/20/2013 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.