The Bulls will have to look elsewhere for big man depth, because Brad Miller has agreed to a three-year, $15 million contract with the Houston Rockets.
Losing Brad is a pretty big bummer, but there was no way the Bulls were going to tie up $5 million per year in cap space in a 34-year-old backup center who played most of last season like he had one foot in an NBA retirement home. And there was no way Miller could be expected to turn down a payday like that.
Still, I’ll miss his slick jump shot (even if he took a few too many of them), his pinpoint passes (even if he forced a few too many of them), and those cunning head fakes that enabled him to make a determined if slow and awkward drive to the hoop.
You know who else is going to miss him? Joakim Noah.
According to Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com: “The pair struck up a bond after Miller was traded back to the Bulls in the middle of the 2008-09 season. They could usually be seen joking around about something in the Bulls locker room and Noah consistently referred to his buddy as ‘The Duck.’ The Bulls had hoped to bring back Miller to continue to serve as a backup center/mentor to Noah.”
Ah, but if wishes were fishes, the world would be an ocean.
In a text message to ESPNChicago.com, Noah said: “I learned a lot from Brad. It’s going to be very different with him not around. He’s a real professional. I wish him nothing but the best. We’re going to miss the bash brothers.”
We certainly will.
Now, in addition to a backup point guard, the Bulls are going to have to shop around for another big man. It’s going to be pretty tough to find somebody who does everything Miller did.
Well, that’s a shame. I always liked Brad Miller and I think we have him to thank for helping Joakim become a more mature (most of the time) accomplished player. I wish we could have kept him around, but if wishes were chestnuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas.
We do have Noah’s back-up in Omer Asik, who the Bulls are apparently pretty high on. We traded 3 second-round picks for his rights a couple years ago, and at this point it’s time to see what we got for our investment. He’s 7 feet tall, plays good defense and can finish around the rim and rebound. Sounds to me like he’s Joakim Noah’s long lost Turkish brother. I say we give him a chance.
At a loss. I couldn’t figure this one out when it broke and I still can’t. 5 mill for 2 seasons (3rd is partial accrd to sources) isn’t too much for a capable 7 ft back-up big man with skill and savvy. Sure he was “slow-mo” but he still got to the basket and he helped run the offense with his rare distribution skills at his size. What’s more, I think his addition to chemistry can’t be calculated in dollars and his presence in the playoffs was key.
First Kirk for nothing but cap space and now Brad for nothing at all. There are no quality FA’s left to spend on so what’s the point of not retaining Brad? (and don’t even give me anything about Asik – I’m with Missouri on that one) You can argue they want to keep room to extend Noah and Rose but I don’t see Riley worrying too much – they figured out how to do it (“hey guys, you can make bank or have an actual team around you if you sign for less”).
This offseason was up in the air till this. We didn’t get a big fish but at least we got Boozer. Now with Brad gone I call this offseason a big disappointment.
Pretty sad to see Miller go, but I personally don’t think he is worth the $15 million for three years at his age.
The Bulls definitely need to find someone to replace him though as a servicable backup. Unfortunate given the few FAs available. No NBA experience for Asik, so he is a question mark, not who I want starting if no goes down again. Personally, I would like to see them go after Shaq as he is certainly much better than anyone else available. At this point it appears many teams are backing away so we can get him at discount and it would prevent another East team from getting him. He would certainly help against Orlando come playoff time. I don’t really see much risk with him and he is still productive.
Overall pretty happy with the additions, but going to miss veteran leaders like Kirk and Brad, need to address those holes at backup PG and C.
5 years for 3 years is too rich of a deal for an aging Center. Look I REALLY enjoyed having him on the team but I don’t think he would be worth more than 3 to 4 million for a 2 year deal. Three years at 5 million is too long of a deal. I don’t think we should panic. The front office has done a pretty good job this off season at trying to address all of our needs which were many at the end of last year. I know most would disagree but we never had a shot at the 3 cowards in Miami. And the other signings in my view have been good in talent as well as the money paid for the talent.
Strong consensus is that Brad Miller is not worth $5mil a year (to bulls fans and the Bulls org.) But, he sure is worth that to the Rockets.
The Bulls now have a good 7 man rotation (5 + Korver and Gibson). A few of the current players can float in and out of two positions (PFC, PFSF, SFSG) but Rose is the only PG.
The Bulls’ 7 man cycle is not strong enough to contend. A consistent shooting, ball handling guard is needed to back up Rose.
I hope that is why the Bulls didn’t jump on B. Miller.
Looks like we are on the verge of getting C.J. Watson from the Warriors. Great pick up his salary wont cost us much more than 1 million this year. He is aggressive on defense and gets a lot of steals not to mention being young and coachable still. I have to admit I have been impressed with the moves the Bulls have made and continue to make we look to be a very very competitive team this year I can’t wait for the season to start!!
I wish Brad nothing but the best (except when he plays the Bulls)
It would be nice to bring him back to the coaching staff when he retires.
We just traded for CJ Watson from the Warriors for a 2011 2nd round pick.
Roster so far to my knowledge:
PG: Rose, Watson
SG: Brewer, Korver
SF: Deng, JJ
PF: Boozer, Gibson
C: Noah, Asik
This means 3 more spots to fill.
I’m liking this lineup, maybe we’ll sign shaq as a back up center for cheap. lol.