drosestruts wrote:MikeDC wrote:drosestruts wrote:Can Noa play center?
Anthony Davis was 6'10", 222 lbs, with a 7'5" wingspan and 9'0" standing reach coming out of college
Noa is 6'11", 204 lbs, 7'1" wingspan and 9'1" standing reach
Chet Holgren was 7'0". 195 lbs, 7'6" wingspan and 9'6" standing reach
I'd guess he evolves to that, but it's probably not until 4-5 years down the road. And even then, it's not necessarily the case that we want him playing center full time. But it's nice to have the option for some of the time.
To me, getting a somewhat realistic center prospect is probably our most obvious need (beyond just the generic point that we need stars).
I would still cut Vuc and sign Kai Jones (currently playing in Turkey) today if I were magically the GM.
I really dislike watching Vuc, but still try not to be a hater, but he honestly serves no purpose. He's not helping us in the short-term, at his age there is no long-term, and he's not going to return anything of value in a trade.
There's no point to him being here.
I realize he's not blocking minutes for anyone with a big upside (Collins and Smith seem to be what they are), but he doesn't play the style the team wants to play.
Respectfully, common sense left the discussion about Vuc a while ago.
If I were running things, I wouldn't have given up as they did to get him and I would have re-traded him and definitely not resigned him.
But he is on the team and they're trying to win games, so yeah.
It's a mistake for people to let their dislike of the team's direction and goals to seep into their understanding of reality. But that's what fans do.
In this case that means:
1. Vuc is not a great player, but he's probably still a slightly better player than Collins overall, and he's earned the right to start until he's clearly outplayed. Which nobody has done. Leave off the hyperbole, and he's got his uses. It's also just not true that he doesn't play the style the team wants to play. What they want to play isn't just "run", it's also "pass", and "feed transition" and "space the floor". I can't believe I have to defend this guy who I very much don't like, but the Bulls will miss his shooting, his ability to get a rebound and throw a good pass to start the play, his ability to move the ball pretty quickly, and Giddey will miss having a competent big to throw it to, because he generated more assists throwing to Vuc than to anyone else.
All that doesn't mean he's great or even that I want him on the team, but if you are a team trying to win games, which the Bulls definitely are, cutting Vuc to add Kai Jones isn't even in the universe of what they're considering.
2. If you want to look at the small sample size of the post all-star break last season and say Collins is great, well, the Bulls still had a higher Net +/- per 100 possessions with Vuc than they did with Collins over the same period.
3. Collins needs to demonstrate he can shoot somewhat competently and not be a TO and Foul machine. He's a better defender than Vuc, but people just don't want to hear, regardless of the evidence, that Vuc's defense, while below average, isn't WORST IN TEH LEAGUE LOLZ. There are plenty of guys that are worse, and for the regular season, it just doesn't matter too much.
4. Smith is a quintessential tease, especially if you watch superficially. You watch a game thread and people are acting like he's the second coming and going into histrionics a bout why he isn't playing and then you look and you see a sub 30% three point shooter who's chasing blocks and rebounds and pretty consistently out of position to do the right thing on defense. Maybe in a couple more years he'll be passable, but it's not as if Donovan is the only coach that's decided he's a bit player.
The right move for the Bulls is to play Vuc, and if the best we can do is get a couple seconds at the deadline, then trade him for that. I'd also be looking at getting pick(s) by trading him for longer salary because the Bulls don't have much to work with in free agency anyway.
That is the single most obvious point, I think. The best move they have in the long-run here is to collect a pick by getting some team out of the tax. Vuc by being a $20M expiring contract, is there best means to do that.
If they just cut him, they absolutely are shooting themselves in the foot, because they no longer have the opportunity to do this. It'd be, pardon my French, **** stupid.
