Barring trade, keep 2nd round pick or sign FA such as Tre Jones?

[League Circles]

Coby ain't no building block. He's improved, but he's just a microwave scorer and his next deal WILL be inflated af. No, I don't need a guy who would ideally be the third guard off in the rotation stuck on a fat contract. Trade him while you still can!

I'd trade him also, for a return that helps us improve, which I think is unlikely.

Yes he could become overpaid on his next deal, but that's almost always the case with every player. I wouldn't trade him this summer solely for that reason. Value contracts aren't sustainable IMO.

[Red8911]

Make a couple of trades to keep both Tre Jones and the second round pick.

[sco]

Make a couple of trades to keep both Tre Jones and the second round pick.

I just don't see a guy we'd want being around at 50 in this draft...I think there could be a decent guy left around 31-33 if we want to move up. That said, I think we'll be hard pressed to develop a second rookie. If we can't use the 2nd in trade to dump some our non-rotation guys, maybe we can trade it for a future 2nd.

[sco]

Separate question, how much are folks willing to pay Jones? I look at Jones as an Ayo replacement, but if he costs much more than $10M, hoping Ayo was just having a bad year and he rebounds after his shoulder heals is the better bet. If we do sign Jones, I'd be pressing hard to trade Ayo during the offseason or at the deadline.

[jnrjr79]

Why do we torture ourselves with Vuce every time? The FO guys are slow. At what age can we finally let Vuce go and develop a young big instead?

There is always some version of this post. "This guy totally sucks, how come we haven't unloaded him?"

[pipfan]

I think we are ok
1. Let Jones walk
2. Draft Newell or Fleming
3. Trade Port pick for #24/Dieng (OKC doesn't need 2 rookies, and saves $ here, plus adds a future pick)
4. Buyout Carter

White/Ayo/#24
Giddey/Ball/Terry
Matas/Huerter/Phillips
Dieng/Fleming or Newell/PWill (let these guys battle with Phillips for minutes)
Vuc/Collins/Smith

Go into the season and see how it goes. By the deadline our expirings might have value
Next summer we make more moves

[MrSparkle]

Separate question, how much are folks willing to pay Jones? I look at Jones as an Ayo replacement, but if he costs much more than $10M, hoping Ayo was just having a bad year and he rebounds after his shoulder heals is the better bet. If we do sign Jones, I'd be pressing hard to trade Ayo during the offseason or at the deadline.

I think Jevon money in this dead market is fair. I really hope Bulls don’t overpay him. Of course anybody could offer him the MLE, but his numbers were not good for the year, and the season ending surgery shouldn’t be some kind of excuse or bonus. Had exactly 10 good Bulls games (8 mediocre ones, and a poor Spurs season). He’s also a lower MPG rotation guy. If that’s enough sample size for AK to give him a long term core deal, then he is drunk.

[Andi Obst]

Also, if you don't offer your 2nd round pick an nba contract (non two-way), don't you lose your rights to them?

You do. But the 45th pick getting a two-way is pretty normal these days.

[TheJordanRule]

Why do we torture ourselves with Vuce every time? The FO guys are slow. At what age can we finally let Vuce go and develop a young big instead?

There is always some version of this post. "This guy totally sucks, how come we haven't unloaded him?"

Please don't lump my posts in with that basic hater mindset. I certainly don't think Vuce sucks. He's an obvious plus on the offensive side of the ball, and a good rebounder on top of that. That said, perhaps you would even admit that Vuce is not a fit with the youth movement, especially not for a roster with such obvious defensive deficiencies. I don't hate Vuce, but I don't get why he always has to be part of the team! GET HIM OUT!!!

[Stratmaster]

Barring trade..... the team is screwed and we have running back more of the same results from the last 5 seasons. So lets hope they can find trade partners. In fact, if you have to use #45 and/or Coby to help facilitate a trade for anyone not named Giddey, Matas you do it. Personally, the guys I want to see back on this team next season are Giddey, Matas, Smith and Ayo. But if you need to use Smith and Ayo to facilitate unloading other players, you do it.

So you want to just trade Coby to get rid of him? That could easily be accomplished. Crazy, but easy to do.

Who do we need to unload other than Patrick?

To your first question, where did I say that? As to your 2nd question, I answered it in the inverse in my last sentence.

[WesPeace]

Separate question, how much are folks willing to pay Jones? I look at Jones as an Ayo replacement, but if he costs much more than $10M, hoping Ayo was just having a bad year and he rebounds after his shoulder heals is the better bet. If we do sign Jones, I'd be pressing hard to trade Ayo during the offseason or at the deadline.

I think Jevon money in this dead market is fair. I really hope Bulls don’t overpay him. Of course anybody could offer him the MLE, but his numbers were not good for the year, and the season ending surgery shouldn’t be some kind of excuse or bonus. Had exactly 10 good Bulls games (8 mediocre ones, and a poor Spurs season). He’s also a lower MPG rotation guy. If that’s enough sample size for AK to give him a long term core deal, then he is drunk.

2 yrs deal and 8-9M per...

[WesPeace]

Also, if you don't offer your 2nd round pick an nba contract (non two-way), don't you lose your rights to them?

You do. But the 45th pick getting a two-way is pretty normal these days.

2nd rounder can be young euro player and we can keep him in Europe for one or two more seasons..

[League Circles]

Barring trade..... the team is screwed and we have running back more of the same results from the last 5 seasons. So lets hope they can find trade partners. In fact, if you have to use #45 and/or Coby to help facilitate a trade for anyone not named Giddey, Matas you do it. Personally, the guys I want to see back on this team next season are Giddey, Matas, Smith and Ayo. But if you need to use Smith and Ayo to facilitate unloading other players, you do it.

So you want to just trade Coby to get rid of him? That could easily be accomplished. Crazy, but easy to do.

Who do we need to unload other than Patrick?

To your first question, where did I say that? As to your 2nd question, I answered it in the inverse in my last sentence.

Your bolded comment reads to me as "I don't value Coby at all, so if there's a trade I'd otherwise want to do even without him, but he's needed to get it done, I'd do it".

Why do we need to unload anyone other than Patrick? Everyone else is expiring. There's a difference between not valuing guys and actively wanting to get rid of them, which in a non-cap space situation like us this summer, is akin to saying you'd give everyone but Giddey, Matas, Smith and Ayo away for nothing and take your chances remaking 3/4 of the roster in free agency this summer. I just want to make sure I understand you correctly.

For me, only Patrick and maybe Vuc would I give away for nothing right now.

[Dan Z]

What if another team offers Tre a decent contract? I don't see why he'd stay here.

[dougthonus]

Barring trade, and assuming we re-sign Giddey, we'll have 14 out of 15 guaranteed deals locked in for next year:

Vuc
Collins
Smith
Matas
Patrick
Phillips
Giddey
Huerter
Terry
Ball
Ayo
Coby
Carter
#12

In this scenario, for the 15th and final spot, would you rather keep whoever we take at #45, or sign a free agent such as Tre Jones?

I know it can depend on the specific players obviously, especially for free agency, so this is in some ways more of a money/contract question. Obviously we can probably get a better player in FA, but if we want that guy to potentially be a long term piece, we'd need to offer him multiple years, compromising our FA options in the future, and probably at least marginally hurting our 2026 pick position.

I suppose another option that I think is unwise is to cut somebody like Carter, Terry, Vuc or Phillips to add an extra spot.

I think I lean towards keeping the pick, assuming the contract is as minimal as possible.

Thoughts?

If #45 is with us through camp, and we like him, offer him a two way deal. Odds are really low that he'd pass on that and then risk trying to catch on to a different team or go to Europe at that point because all the rosters have been finalized.

You can then delay this decision to offer a real contract until after the trade deadline and get more experience with the player.

[dougthonus]

What if another team offers Tre a decent contract? I don't see why he'd stay here.

Outside of a significant injury prior to him signing, it's hard to imagine a scenario where this is the best spot for Tre. We have so many guards that it makes no sense for us to be the high bidder and from an opportunity standpoint it's unlikely we'd offer the most playing time on a "prove it" type deal.

[Stratmaster]

So you want to just trade Coby to get rid of him? That could easily be accomplished. Crazy, but easy to do.

Who do we need to unload other than Patrick?

To your first question, where did I say that? As to your 2nd question, I answered it in the inverse in my last sentence.

Your bolded comment reads to me as "I don't value Coby at all, so if there's a trade I'd otherwise want to do even without him, but he's needed to get it done, I'd do it".

Why do we need to unload anyone other than Patrick? Everyone else is expiring. There's a difference between not valuing guys and actively wanting to get rid of them, which in a non-cap space situation like us this summer, is akin to saying you'd give everyone but Giddey, Matas, Smith and Ayo away for nothing and take your chances remaking 3/4 of the roster in free agency this summer. I just want to make sure I understand you correctly.

For me, only Patrick and maybe Vuc would I give away for nothing right now.

I wouldn't give away anyone for nothing. Well... PWill certainly but he is just such an outlier with his negative impact for 18 mil a season.

I think I started by saying that "barring trade" you're screwed. That may be where we are talking past each other. I am not answering the question posed in the OP, because I reject the assumption. My point was that Coby has value. So you trade Coby for better quality and higher salary. I don't think Coby is a starter on a great team (he would be an elite scorer off the bench) but I still recognize the value of his current contract. You add other players to make the salary work. So you end up with a better player while shedding a couple of guys you don't want on the roster anyway. As you said, "everyone else is expiring" and are incidental for a team who wants Coby and also wants to shed some salary after this season.

If I answered the specific question it would be a simple answer. Sign Tre (likely better than anyone you take with the pick).

[Dan Z]

What if another team offers Tre a decent contract? I don't see why he'd stay here.

Outside of a significant injury prior to him signing, it's hard to imagine a scenario where this is the best spot for Tre. We have so many guards that it makes no sense for us to be the high bidder and from an opportunity standpoint it's unlikely we'd offer the most playing time on a "prove it" type deal.

I look around the league and teams such as Dallas and New Orleans both have injuries to their starting point guards. If Tre isn't expensive I could see either team offering him a contract and decent opportunity.

Milwaukee is another team that comes to mind.

[kodo]

Separate question, how much are folks willing to pay Jones? I look at Jones as an Ayo replacement, but if he costs much more than $10M, hoping Ayo was just having a bad year and he rebounds after his shoulder heals is the better bet. If we do sign Jones, I'd be pressing hard to trade Ayo during the offseason or at the deadline.

I think Ak already made the decision by giving Lonzo $10M; it's zero. You can't keep all 4 extra PGs Lonzo, Ayo, Carter, and Tre all making $7M to $10M each. Tre played because both Ayo & Lonzo were injured all season and he was better than Jevon, but you can't allocate serious money to the backup of a backup of a backup. That's where your 2-ways and rookies should be in the roster.

[sco]

Separate question, how much are folks willing to pay Jones? I look at Jones as an Ayo replacement, but if he costs much more than $10M, hoping Ayo was just having a bad year and he rebounds after his shoulder heals is the better bet. If we do sign Jones, I'd be pressing hard to trade Ayo during the offseason or at the deadline.

I think Ak already made the decision by giving Lonzo $10M; it's zero. You can't keep all 4 extra PGs Lonzo, Ayo, Carter, and Tre all making $7M to $10M each. Tre played because both Ayo & Lonzo were injured all season and he was better than Jevon, but you can't allocate serious money to the backup of a backup of a backup. That's where your 2-ways and rookies should be in the roster.

You make a good point. That said, someone noted the idea that we signed Ball with the notion of trading him in the offseason. Honestly, a healthy Ball, should such a thing exist is exactly what our starting line-up needs.