…the Bulls have inked Brian Scalabrine to a non-guaranteed deal, making any potential trade for Anthony redundant. I mean, there’s only so much shooting and scoring a team needs, right?
It’s just as well.
The Denver Nuggets were willing to trade Carmelo to the Bulls, but only if Joakim Noah was included in the deal. As ESPN’s Chris Broussard tweeted, the Bulls aren’t currently willing to part with their wacky-haired big man.
Thank God.
TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott wrote a pretty comprehensive list of the benefits and costs of flipping Noah (along with, most likely, Luol Deng) for Anthony.
For me, the key reason not to do it is this: You can wager big bucks that new coach Tom Thibodeau wants to craft a finely tuned defensive squad. He can probably do that with Noah as the anchor, and Deng and Ronnie Brewer on the perimeter. But what could you expect from a core of ‘Melo, Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer with Omer Asik clogging the paint?
I shudder to think.
And anyway, while I love Anthony’s scoring ability, I love Noah’s intangibles even more. But don’t take my word for it. Take Scottie Pippen’s:
“You don’t want to lose a guy like Joakim and have a guy like Carmelo come here. Hey, he might not like it here. Next year he may be wanting to get out of here and go play somewhere else. I think it would be a huge gamble for the Bulls. It could set them back or it could push them up. I like Joakim, so for personal reasons I would probably keep him.”
But wait, there’s more:
“I think you have to say that he is one of the top two players on the team as far as value,” Pippen said. “He brings a lot to the table. You can’t forget that this kid is a winner, who is coming off his college career [with] two championships [at Florida]. He still wants to win, and he plays very hard. He’s not the most attractive player in terms of [style] out on the basketball court. He gets the job done, and he plays at a very high level. You can call him a poor man’s Dennis Rodman. He’s a presence out on the basketball court.”
There you have it. If Scottie said it, what more do you want?
Any time you can ink Brian Scalabrine to a non-guaranted deal, you HAVE to do it, right? Then again, I just envisioned Scal in a Bulls uniform, and I’m sorry, but that’s just TOO much red…
I got a feeling that bulls are preparing kurt, asik, and scal for the center position. Then trade deng, noah and bobcat draft pick for melo. If this happen then it will be the bulls ass that is on the line. Our interior defense will go KABOM against the celtics, magic lakers !!!!!! Hope that gar and pax do not make this blunder. GO BULLS…..!!!!!!
How is a poor man’s Dennis Rodman better than Carmelo? Carmelo would sign an extension if traded or there wouldn’t be a deal so some of Scottie’s concerns would not matter. If we need Scottie to affirm that Noah is one of the top two players on the Bulls, where would he put Carmelo on the Bulls, considering he is one of the top 10 players in the NBA?
Hey, we needed our human cigar for blowout wins didn’t we? There’s no better human cigar than the Irishman!
Two, count em, Two Simmons references!
Carmelo and his “team” are killing Denver’s leverage with these tantrums. Theyre gonna have no choice but 2 accept some low ball offer, and i hope that can be deng + gibson
The Scalabrine signing could mean either of two things, 1st, Melo is coming and Gibson, JJ, Deng and a first rounder is going to Denver, 2nd the Bulls just finished their roster by adding an experienced PF to complete a rotation of Boozer, Noah, Gibson, Thomas, Asik and Scalabrine. Remember Thibs knows Scalabrine’s strengths and weaknesses. Either way the Bulls are now stronger.
I swear, no bulls fan should cry if things dont go as plan,I like Noah but people are truly overating this guy. He would be fairly easy to replace, I think fans got some type of emotional attachment to this dude.
It’s quite obvious I’m a Simmons fan. His articles in that crazy series against the Celtics were awesome to read as he slowly realized how great (despite how much he hated him) Noah and Rose were going to be.
On a side note, is this just for camp and there’s still a chance he gets cut or did we still have a roster spot open?
If there is a chance you can get ‘Melo on your team, you have to try and get him. Of course you don’t want to give up more than you are getting. And giving up Noah plus Deng is too much. Giving up Deng plus Taj would hurt the bench, but you could pick up Dampier or another serviceable big man to replace Taj and the Bulls would be a legitimate contender. If you could pick up ‘Melo for Deng + expendables, the Bulls would come out way ahead. I like Deng a lot but with ‘Melo, Rose, Noah and Boozer, I feel we can contend with any of the East big three, Heat, Magic or Celtics. With Deng I see us struggling to get past the second round.
However, I see Chicago at best a number three option for ‘Melo behind Knicks and Nets and maybe even fourth behind Houston as the Rockets can offer Kevin Martin, (only 3 yrs $36 mil, Jared Jafries expiring contract and NY’s 1st round pick)
I think most Bulls fans agree that if you have to give up Noah in a deal for ‘Melo, then the deal is not worth it. The Bulls should do just fine with the team they have, thank you. According to the list of top players by position compiled by Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo Sports Ball Don’t Lie, the Bulls have a player ranked 8th or better at the PG, PF, SF and C positions. Just for comparison, ‘Melo is ranked 3rd among SFs and Deng is ranked 8th.
What does Scottie Pippen know about defense and intangibles?? lololol
‘melo sucks.
next!
I’m sick of reading these articles on BY THE HORNS where you gloat about us not being able to get Carmelo Anthony but yet a month ago or so you made an article that the Bulls have to do whatever it takes to get freakin Rudy Fernandez as if that is the missing piece to a Title. Seriously do some of you want the Bulls just to be 1st/2nd RD at best or do you want to step up to being a Championship Team which is what I want?
@Dave, was that sarcasm? bcuz pippen is arguably the best defender of all time. and reports now r that the nuggets understand that bulls r not giving up noah. and r seriously considering accepting an offer of deng, gibson and a future draft pick! lets hope they accept it. then we compete with the heat and magic for the number 1 seed
Even if we got Melo, how in the world could the Bulls afford him, Rose, and Boozer with all the other guys too? Hey Rose, remember when we drafted you first overall, made you the new face of the franchise, and you started selling jerseys like crazy? Take a pay cut please.
That’s easy for Pippen to say considering he was a sidekick for 90% of his career due to the tragic death of M.J. father, which would have made it his entire career.
Melo isn’t viewed as a star sidekick with intangibles like McHale was to Bird for example.
Melo is the type of player you build a team around, which means he’s amongst the elite players of today’s game. Noah is a complementary player at best with a skill set that can be replaced far quicker than a player of Melo’s caliber.
As of now I only see a good team, not a championship team in the Bulls.
Overall, I believe we can get Melo without losing Noah, especially if Melo is trying to win a ring now, opposed to going to N.Y. or N.J. where they are still deep into the rebuilding process.
Starting 5: Noah, Boozer, Melo, Brewer/Korver, Rose.
Not only will we win multiple championships, we will beat the heat in the process placing L. James decision amongst the worst decisions ever made in sports history.
Chicago would make lebron james look like a damn fool without a single question whether the Bulls win the NBA title in 2011 with Noah or carmelo anthony.I say we keep Noah in the mix with D’Rose because we never traded Pippen in the mix with Jordan and we Bulls know how that turned out and we Bulls fans know how this will turn out,especially if Noah stays in the Windy City.GO BULLS BABY!!!!!
Lobos, without the best ever “side-kick” the Bulls would not have won a single championship. While MJ was the G.O.A.T. Pippen was arguably the defensive G.O.A.T. MJ & Pip were ying/yang without the pair there was no dynasty.
Melo has been on some pretty good teams and has not won a championship. I think that Rose is also the kind of player that you build a team around. I am not sure that you can build a “team” with two centerpieces. Superstars do not leave their teams, they make them better. Mere all-stars become vagabonds in search of championships. The lack of commitment to defense and the numbr of shots h takes per game bring into question whether Melo can be a “Team” player. He seems to put an “I” in team. Personally I do not want him in Chicago, I am willing to wait for this “TEAM” to mature, which it will.
The longer the Nuggets take to make a deal, the less they will get, because their time is running out. Today I might offer them Deng, JJ and a draft pick, in Feb. I would offer them Deng and a draft pick, and in June I would offer them only Deng. I would definitely not give up Noah or Gibson, they are crucial to the Bulls success this season and into the future. Personally I feel the same way about Deng, in my opinion he is a top 5 SF when you look at both O&D, Deng does not need to be the “go-to-guy”, the Bulls have Rose for that, (which he proved last year) and there is only one ball.
@mike Reinsdorf has been saying for years that he would pry open that wallet if we had a championship caliber squad. So save up Jerry! that luxury tax is gonna be a mutha
@TJ
I’m not trying to call you out but where did you read these reports. Can you post a link?
It’s not a matter of us overvaluing Noah. It’s more of people overrating what Melo brings. Sure, he can score and makes your NBA 2K11 team look amazing but he lacks a lot of intangibles that would make him an elite top 5 player. He’s more of a ‘Super’ All-Star than a superstar.
If we trade Noah we have nothing in place as a Center, lose a great deal of rebounding, have virtually no defense (with Deng gone as well) in exchange for maybe 8+ more PPG. Plus Melo isn’t exactly clutch at the end of games. All of these things don’t make a championship team and short of some team gift wrapping a Center to us a la Gasol we wouldn’t be a championship team in the long run either.
@thirdsaint
I agree with everything you just said except for the clutch part. You couldn’t be more off on that.
http://www.82games.com/0910/CSORT11.HTM
He’s been in the top 5 production for 48 minutes of clutch time for most of his career. Those are his numbers from last year. His FG% was low last year in clutch time (43%) but the year before it was 57%. Think about how crazy that number is. Everyone knows he’s getting the ball, the best perimeter defender on the opposing team is going to be all over him. He was probably double teamed for a large portion of those possessions and he still put up 57% in crunch time. All things considered that 43% doesn’t look all that bad either. He’s been right up there with Bryant LeBron and Dirk in these categories for most of his career. He’s been fun to watch in the last few minutes of a game for most of his career. He would also offer more then just the 8ppg over deng. He’s a much much better ballhandler and passer then Luol. I think the amount of attention he’d receive on the offensive end would help turn DRose into a monster. I agree that he’s a knucklehead and his defense sucks and we shouldn’t give up Noah and Deng for him. We’d basically be the GS Warriors on steroids. No defense at all. But if there’s a way to do the trade and keep Noah I hope they pull the trigger.
Any posters claiming that Noah is “easily replaced” are smoking dog biscuits. He is the second most important player on this Bulls team. I believe he will be a matchup problem in a “flex” based offense this year as well as being the anchor of the team on defense.
Melo on the other hand is nearly a wash with Deng if you factor all aspects of their games. Melo would not fit it in to the probable Bulls offense and Deng should benefit and flourish due to Boozer pulling defenders in the paint.
Finally some people seeing the light on the ‘melo idea. No one’s saying he isn’t a scoring machine. What we’re all saying is that he doesn’t fit on this team. He just isn’t what we need right now.
@Lobos, In my opinion Melo is not a player to build a championship team around like players such as Bryant and Wade. Why? Because he lacks some of the drive to make every aspect of his game the best they can be and he does not try hard enough to make his teammates better. He is one of the best scorers but with his athleticism he should be one of the best defenders which he is not. He is not a lock down defender like most “superstars” are. His passing ability is not that special either with a career 3 assist per game average. Most if not all players considered to be centerpieces of championship caliber teams that are not Power Forwards or Centers pass the ball much better than Melo does. For example LBJ another SF averages 7 APG, Wade 6.8 APG, Bryant 4.7 APG. All are near 2 APG more than Melo which is a lot considering he only averages 3 APG.
Again I need to emphasize it is not about Melo being better than Noah. It is about what is best for the team. If we lose Noah that leaves us starting K. Thomas with Asik playing a lot of minutes as well. We could not be contenders spread so thin at Center. I would rather have Deng and Noah then just have Melo for that reason.
That being said, I think we have a shot at getting Melo without including Noah from the information I have been reading. I think we should offer Deng, Gibson, and a first round pick. Leaves us thin at PF but Melo is talented and could learn a lot from a coach like Tibs. Plus we rid ourselves of Deng’s contract that no other team would ever want a part of and replace it with Melo’s. We would be able to trade Melo and get some real assets if we needed to in the future.
Hey Dave I think that if somebody knows about defense & intangibles is Scottie Pippen
@Lobos – There seems to be a great willingness to just view Real Life Teams as Fantasy Teams.
Miami has won the next 10 Championship’s by just putting their shoes on the court. Why? Simple, that combo using the best individual aspects of each player makes a great Fantasy Team, so by popular consensus they are awarded the 82 games 0 loss + the Championship.
Real world, people have bad hair days and good hair days. People get fired up / out to knock you down because everyone says all you need to do is put your shoes on the court to win. Real world, everyone has an ego. Ego’s can be like the proverbial “Good Intentions” (The pathway to Hell is paved with good intentions).
Melo, has had a lifetime to have a team built around him and he has not delivered the goods.
Taj, step back from your Stat Sheet and take a good look at him at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year. One years worth of playing. I do not know what you see, but what I see is a man that gives the game his all, never stopped evolving/learning. A man that lives to play the game and doesn’t wait for it to be given to him on a silver platter.
Me, I don’t give up either Taj or Noah. No sir, I don’t give either one up because there is no stat for Heart, Love of the Game and a will to be better that you were.
I SAY F**K Melo!!!
The Bulls don’t need him people!!!
If the Bulls are still looking for another potential scorer beside Rose and Boozer, they should go after Rudy Fernandez.
Trust me people, his price will come out least then Melo! When Portland finally decide to gives up and give him what he wants. (to be traded to another team!)
Now that the Bulls sign Brian Scalabrine we can offer him, James Johnson and the Bulls 1st round draft pick from Charlotte to Portland.
Plus the Bulls really need more of SG scorer then a SF and the good thing about Rudy Fernandez is that he can play multiple positions: PG, SG and SF.
@DJ, I put Fernandez in the same boat with Melo, the Bulls do not need either one. Fernandez is a potential cancer. He will not be a starter, not solid enough on defense. That means he wil probably get less than the 24 minutes he got in Portland. I would do the Melo deal for Deng, JJ and a 1st rounder, in my opinion that is all he is worth. Melo is not a superstar, he is a very good all-star, and Lucas III and Scalabrine fill the holes that the Bulls had.
This is a bit off the topic of Melo, but if the bulls are willing to sign scalabrine (granted its a non-gauranteed contract hopefully meaning he doesnt make it out of camp) saying its to address the need for another big, why would they not try to pursue Eric Dampier or other big body FAs. Dampier will be a big that can contribute to the team more than scal. He was still under contract when they brought in kurt thomas but if hes willing to take a minimum contract with the heat i dont see why the bulls arent in play for him as well. Dampier can provide size and defense that K Thomas and Osik cant match when guarding the big centers of the league (Shaq,Howard,Bynum, etc.)
ARE YOU SERIOUS DJ???????? Did you not just see the complaint I wrote on the stupid “I don;t want Carmelo but please lets trade the whole ship for Rudy Fernandez” things? I mean yes F*** Melo, he’s only a near 30 PPG scorer, a top 5 Player in this league, and would only get better with a Defensive minded system and a great PG to set him up and make it even easier for him—screw that I would rather have Rudy Fernandez who barely got off the bench for Portland and AVG. only 8 PPG and has Defense that is way worse than what you people think is Melo’s Defense (since yall are delusional enough to act like Melo sucks big time at Defense when he just needs a Defensive oriented team to make him better). Obviously Rudy Fernandez is a better shot at a title than Melo (rolling my eyes now).
@BoppinBob
Pippen was a defensive beast, but his offense was suspect to say the least, and let’s not forget that T. Kukoc presence was one of the most frustrating situations in Pippen career cause he started to cut into Pippen’s playing time and his role as Robin to M.J. Batman.
My point is simple, PLAYERS WITH A DEFENSIVE SKILL SET ARE EASIER TO REPLACE THAN PLAYERS WITH AN OFFENSIVE SKILL SET.
I consider players such as M.J. & Pippen hybrids of their time due to their defensive & offensive skills, but the difference is M.J. was great at both, Pippen was only great at one (defense).
M.J. would have won multiple championships with or without Pippen.
@Savage
You’re making this to easy.
Carmelo Anthony #15 SF»
2009-10 STATS
PPG RPG APG
28.2/6.6/3.2
LeBron James #6 SF
2009-10 STATS
PPG RPG APG
29.7/7.3/8.6
Dwyane Wade #3 SG
2009-10 STATS
PPG RPG APG
26.6/4.8/6.5
Tuesday is the begining!!!! Go Bulls
@ Boppinbob,
I kind of agree with you but, Rudy Fernandez is not a cancer type of player. Trust me, if the Bulls do manage to get him, he will see more minutes here then in Portland.
By mostly playing 20-30 minutes at the SG position and playing 10-15 minutes at the PG and SF position. Remember we are really not that deep in the PG position and we all know Rose will play 30-40 depending how close the game is.
And if you add up those minutes together he will play around 30-35 minutes per game. Especially if someone gets hurt with a huge injury which not lol.
which I hope not lol.*
@LOS LOBOS
Not quite so easy.
2009-2010 Offensive and Defensive Rating (pts per 100 possessions when a player is on the court)
Melo: 110 offensive, 109 defensive
Lebron: 121 offensive, 102 defensive
Wade: 113 O, 103 D
So because Melo’s defense isn’t all that great and he shoots more shots to get the same level of points, he’s a wash for his team, as evidenced by Player Efficiency Rating as well.
Melo:22.2
LBJ:31.1
Wade:28.0
Melo’s just not in their league.
Rudy Fernandez will lead the Bulls to the Title in 2011 LOL.
@LOS LOBOS, Pippen offense was suspect? PPG ’91 – 17.8, ’92 – 21.0, ’93 – 18.6, ’94 – 22.0, ’95 – 21.4, ’96 – 19.4, ’97 – 20.2, ’98 – 19.1. While it is not MJ type scoring anyone would be glad to have Pip’s scoring consistency on their team. Kukoc did not take minutes from Pippen, Pippen was a 3 and Kukoc was a 2/3/4/5. Minutes/game for both Pippen and Kukoc while they played together; ’94 – P 38.2, K 24.1, ’95 – P 38.2, K 31.9, ’96 P 36.7, K 26.0, ’97 – P 37.7, K 28.2, ’98 – P 37.5, K 30.2. Kokuc was Pippen’s Robin the first 2 years they played together and when MJ came back Kukoc became the third option or Batman’s butler. You should check your facts before you make statements that are erroneous. Kukoc backed up both Horace Grant and Pippen his rookie season and replaced Grant at PF when Grant left for Orlando. When MJ came back and the Bulls added Dennis Rodman at PF Kukoc became the 6th man during the 2nd three-peat.
i think the bull are fools not to trade for MELO
If the bulls get melo the heat can hang it up right now the bulls cant go against the heat with what they hv but with melo we can beat the heat paxon and pippen is blind and crazy u can get a garbage man from anywhere