RealGM

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:14 am**

Bulls Exploring Sign-And-Trade Options

It’s no secret that the Chicago Bulls are searching for a starting shooting guard. They’ve reached out to a number of free agents, but sources close to the situation say that the Bulls are also exploring the possibility of a sign-and-trade for either Jamal Crawford or Arron Afflalo.

Chicago has been in contact with representatives for Crawford and Afflalo since Wednesday morning, and now the team is “getting creative” as they try to land one of the highly coveted guards. The Bulls will contact the Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets to see if either team is interested in a sign-and-trade deal, and sources believe Chicago will offer a package that includes Ronnie Brewer among others.

Prior to last season, the Bulls attempted to trade for Crawford, but Hawks’ general manager Rick Sund wasn’t interested in moving the veteran shooting guard. Now, Chicago will try once again try to land Crawford, who is an unrestricted free agent. Crawford has also received interest from the Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns among other teams.

Unlike Crawford, Afflalo is a restricted free agent so the Nuggets will be able to match any offer sheet he signs. The Bulls are very high on Afflalo and would love to trade for him, but Denver really likes the 26-year-old as well. Afflalo can contribute on both ends of the floor – he’s an excellent perimeter defender and continuing to expand his offensive arsenal. Many other teams have expressed interest in Afflalo, but his status as a restricted free agent makes acquiring him much more complicated.

Outside of Crawford and Afflalo, the Bulls have been in contact with representatives for Caron Butler, Josh Howard and Nick Young. Chicago wants to address their shooting guard position and it appears they’ll have a number of options to consider once free agency begins on December 9.

Ronnie Brewer? I'll pass on the $9 million that's owed to him.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:35 am**

Ronnie Brewer and the Cats pick?? Asik & the Cats pick??(What a deal that would be) Asik & Korver?? Korver & Cats pick?? Heck Asik alone would be great..

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 8:37 am**

I don't see it working though I wish it could.

We could send Jamal for Brewer and Asik if Jamal is going to get Marvin like money which I think he probably will, but I don't see Chicago sending us Asik and not having a backup C. The reason they want to do a sign and trade is because they are over just like we are.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachi ... Id=832zr9d Marvin is substituted for Jamal since I think the contracts will be similar.

How can we get them Zaza is the question? I think they would send us Brewer and Asik for Jamal and Zaza but the thing is you can't do that. We can't send Zaza and Jamal in a sign and trade situation. Jamal has to be traded alone if I'm not mistaking.

Also, the Bobcats pick is top 14 protected so that means the Bulls probably will not be receiving this year unless you think the Bobcats are going to make the playoffs, which I doubt. Even if the Bulls offered there 1st and Brewer that may not be enough to get this franchise to take on Brewer's salary and I agree. It is not worth it unless it is Brewer and Asik and that is not happening because they need a backup C. On the flip side, if it is Brewer and the Bulls 1st for Crawford and you think there is a bigger deal to be had out there then maybe that 1st round pick is something that holds a lot of value for you because we can't trade our 1st this year because we did not have one last year. I mean Brewer and Asik would be a great deal that will not happen because they will not have a backup C, but Brewer and there 1st holds value also, especially if you think there is a big deal out there to be had like Zaza, Kirk and 2 1st round picks for Bogut

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 12:10 pm**

CHI wants us to help them fit Jamal into their team salary structure, seeing as how they can't just sign him outright for what he'll ask for. But we'd be doing them a HUGE favor by taking Brewer ... we just don't need him .... they don't either, actually.

Sund needs to hold firm on getting us something of value if we help them out -- and by that I mean Asik. I can't imagine what else they'd have of value to entice us to help them sign Jamal, who'd be great with Rose.

Asik or go fish.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 12:47 pm**

i think most CHI fans are smart enough to know that Asik will have to be apart of the trade, especially if the Hawks are willing to take on a bad multi year contract like Brewer or Korver. Hawks have no problem in letting a 32yr player who is on the decline walk (rather than taking on Brewer's bad contract)

not only would Asik finally give the Hawks the 7 footer that the team needs, but it could also possibly give the Hawks more trade ammunition for a Dwight or Paul trade.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 2:58 pm**

You'd think so, but that's not what I gather when I read their board. They want Afflalo - badly - and think Brewer is all we deserve for Jamal.

I'd be tickled to acquire a defensive 7fter for the price of a player I thought was gone, anyway.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 3:32 pm**

Yeah check over on their board, either they don't want Crawford or they think he should come for the mle.

Though they really really want Afflalo.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 4:06 pm**

The thing about any S&T for Jamal is we are very limited in how much we'd be willing to take back in salary. The team isn't going to pay the luxury tax to help Jamal land with a contender. It's going to have to be a meaningful return and Ronnie Brewer isn't it although his contract isn't bad because his last year is not guaranteed if he's waived next summer making him essentially an expiring contract.

There is another cap possibility. Lets say that Jamal signs for 7M (or 8M) a year with 4.5% raises and is bundled with another guard who won't be in a position to help use for part of the season, Kirk Hinrich. We could take on $10M in salary at minimum if dealing with a team like Chicago or Orlando. If that $10M is spread across 3 players then the Hawks would be at 11 players for under 67M thus staying under the tax threshold for the minimum 13 players. We actually could take back around 11.5 - 12M total if the last 2 spots are Benson and a rookie free agent. My logic is that we'd need to augment the backcourt anyway. If you add Zaza then we'd have to take back 13.2M

Jamal, Kirk, Zaza for Asik, Brewer, Watson, and Korver would give us 12 players at 67.5 (counting Benson). We'd have about 3M to invest in a veteran big to help the lineup. Watson, Brewer, and Korver can all be waived or bought out cheaply to clear the books the next summer.

Jeff Teague/CJ Watson
Joe Johnson/Ronnie Brewer/Pape Sy
Josh Smith/Marvin Williams/Kyle Korver
Al Horford/Magnum Rolle
Omer Asik/Keith Benson

We'd actually be beneath the cap or right at it next year meaning we could likely resign Asik.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 5:45 pm**

Just fyi on Brewer, after this season he has an team option. So he is basically an expiring contract for next season.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 5:54 pm**

jc23 wrote:Just fyi on Brewer, after this season he has an team option. So he is basically an expiring contract for next season.

he is still a waste of space

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:00 pm**

basic21 wrote:
jc23 wrote:Just fyi on Brewer, after this season he has an team option. So he is basically an expiring contract for next season.

he is still a waste of space

cool.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:19 pm**

Brewer is far from a waste of space. He's a good wing defender, and decent in transition.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:21 pm**

As I stated earlier Jamal must be traded alone per rules of a sign and trade. He can't be bundled with Zaza and or Kirk. They can make seperate trades to get it done but it would be extremely complicated and would have to match up money wise because both teams are over the cap. Very unlikely the deal happens even though Brewer and a 1st is not a bad deal and Brewer and Asik would be great.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:25 pm**

Brewer's not much of an offensive threat, however.

Bottom line: if we're going to help CHI (and an outside shooter like Jamal fits well with Rose) win the East, we need something of value TO US back.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 9:41 pm**

It needs to be Asik or bust, Chicago really needs a shooting guard to get over the hump in the east and Crawford fits the bill, and I doubt Denver gives them Afflalo in a S&T, and Crawford isn't going anywhere for the MLE no matter what Bulls fans think. So if we're going to give them a player that will fit their need we deserve a player that will fit our need aka a center, Asik is perfect I've wanted him since day 1 he's a great rebounder and defender which is exactly what we need.

Posted: **Mon Dec 5, 2011 11:07 pm**

Something to add to the discussion: I'd think that the ASG would prefer CHA's 1st over Asik if it came down to one or the other. CHA is a mess right now and I think they'll be happy to "blow" a couple of seasons to rebuild. That pick is protected (14/12/10/8) until '16 so we can assume that we'll have until at least the '14 draft and could hit the '16 draft with 2 chances at the lotto. For an outfit looking to sell, having some fungible assets that can help a new owner remake the team might be more attractive than acquiring a 25 yo 7' prospect. It'd be 1 thing if we knew that Asik would be the key in getting to the next level as a team, but that's a hard sell to say that someone with less than 1000 NBA minutes logged and had less minutes last year than Kurt Thomas is that guy when the outfit you're trying to sell this to has $100M's on the line.

To put something down, I'd think that the ASG would prefer something along the lines of Brewer (option year = our choice of expiring or not too expensive wing if he fits in well here), Bogans (replacement for Hinrich until he comes back and a cheap expiring which could aid in deadline deals), + CHA's protected 1st over a package such as Korver (or Brewer) + Asik. Just a thought...

Posted: **Tue Dec 6, 2011 5:04 pm**

Bulls fan coming in peace.Maybe expand the trade to Korver(patrially unguranteed),CJ Watson(expiring),Bogans(expiring),CHA 1st,Bulls 2012 1st,Bulls unguaranteed contracts of Pargo and JLII for Crawford and Kirk Hinrich.

Posted: **Tue Dec 6, 2011 5:59 pm**

dafunky1 wrote:Bulls fan coming in peace.Maybe expand the trade to Korver(patrially unguranteed),CJ Watson(expiring),Bogans(expiring),CHA 1st,Bulls 2012 1st,Bulls unguaranteed contracts of Pargo and JLII for Crawford and Kirk Hinrich.

Nothing there is of value outside of the CHA 1st. I'm most certainly not willing to also just toss in Hinrich so the Bulls now have a complete backcourt + bench.

Posted: **Tue Dec 6, 2011 7:52 pm**

dafunky1 wrote:Bulls fan coming in peace.Maybe expand the trade to Korver(patrially unguranteed),CJ Watson(expiring),Bogans(expiring),CHA 1st,Bulls 2012 1st,Bulls unguaranteed contracts of Pargo and JLII for Crawford and Kirk Hinrich.

Jamal Crawford must be traded alone per the rules. You can't sign and trade a player anyway other than alone. Those contracts don't match up.

Posted: **Tue Dec 6, 2011 10:32 pm**

again I don't think this deal happens without us getting a center aka Asik.

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