In What Direction Are the Bulls Headed?

[Baseline Runner]

For the last couple of years the Bulls seemed to be one of the most promising young teams in the NBA. Now they seem to be going nowhere, stuck somewhere between a rebuilding team and a mediocre playoff team. Their two best players, Deng and Gordon, are uninspiring perimiter players who don't do much more than shoot, although they are very good at it. Their young players like Noah and Thomas should be decent players but nothing great. And now they have Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden, two incompetent players with big contracts.

[magicfan4life05]

im not sure exactly what direction, but they got a lot younger, and they are fun to watch again...i think their gm will get a allstar caliber player this offseason with some of the assets they have

[Texas Longhorns]

They are going into rebuilding mode. They aren't going to win a title with the team they have right now. They will probably trade Gordon and someone else in a deal in the summer time. They are only going to get better though, unless they make a stupid trade.

[Cevap]

they're like a hamster running on that wheel. if they give ben 10+ million i'm gonna laff

[INKtastic]

im not sure exactly what direction, but they got a lot younger, and they are fun to watch again...i think their gm will get a allstar caliber player this offseason with some of the assets they have

What assets? Their payroll next year is about about $60 million (unless they renounce Deng or Gordon) and Drew is their only significant expiring contract next year.

[Bucky O'Hare]

They're running in place. Hinrich has proven to be nothing more than average, and Deng isn't "blossoming" into the franchise player most thought he was. They need to find that someone special with their (likely) lottery pick.

[magicfan4life05]

-= original quote snipped =-



What assets? Their payroll next year is about about $60 million (unless they renounce Deng or Gordon) and Drew is their only significant expiring contract next year.

I think deng, gordon, noah, thomas, duhon, gooden, and sefolosha have good trade value i dont know about you, i think they can package that get something in return...they are in a much better situation then they were before the trade imo

[Basileus777]

Nowhere. They have a team full of role-players, young ones, but role players none the less. Their best player is a 6th man. Luol Deng is a 3rd option, a jump shooting SF who is passive and mentally weak.

Considering they have a cheap owner who won't pay the luxury tax, the Bulls need to make a trade in order to get anywhere. Unfortunately for them, Paxson is a coward who overvalues his own players.

[Cevap]

they'll trade you all of them for dwight

[Chubby Chaser]

I have no idea what's going on with this team. They need to decide who's going to be the starters also. They have like 8 people sharing minutes in the rotation. If I was coaching the team, I'd definitely get Tyrus Thomas 30 + minutes a game to develop. Thomas has the tools to turn into a franchise player once he fully develops.

[dWadeOwnzYou]

The problem is that they didn't get Kobe when they had the chance b/c the GM loves Deng too much...a borderline all star at best.

[legacyinthemakin89c]

They are going to be big players this offseason. To be honest, I could see them trying to run an uptempo offense next year and trade Gordon and Noah for a Jermaine O'Neal.

A lineup of:
Hinrich/Duhon
Hughes/Thabo
Deng/Nocioni
Gooden/Thomas
O'Neal/Gray

Thats obviously not including draft picks or free agent signings, but I think they can really improve this offseason.

[Jemini80]

they are looking for Doc trying to get up to 88mph so they can undo the Chandler for PJ Brown trade and never sign Ben Wallace

that off-season set them back years. They will turn it around though if they play their cards right, some idiot (Isiah) will try to do a sign-and-trade for Ben Gordon. They could probably get Marbury or Rose's expiring plus Lee for him (unfortunately this is very realistic because Isiah is not the brightest tranny lover).

[boogydown]

The failure with Chicago is puzzling this season. All the players lost confidence coming into this season. The biggest issues are

- Coaching Issues
- Inconsistent Lineups
- Inconsistent Players
- Poor Performances
- List Goes On

It's like all the players grew up 10 years, and started aging. Not one player on this team has improved since last season.

This offseason could completely flip around though as they could easily pick up one or two elite players such as Arenas and Brand.

Arenas (15 mil) for Gordon Gooden 1st Pick
Brand (15 mil) for Hughes, Nocioni, Noah
Hinrich for B. Davis (12 mil)

Lots of options.

[HOTCARL_o]

The problem is that they didn't get Kobe when they had the chance b/c the GM loves Deng too much...a borderline all star at best.

We did have a deal which involved Deng, and I'm assuming Gordon. But Kobe's stupid clause which makes him a GM thought we were sending the Laker's too much.

[JES12]

North....from Dallas to Indy

[TheOUTLAW]

If the Cavs were having so much trouble trading Hughes I can't imagine that the Bulls would be able to package him so quickly for Brand. He is a bad contract and I don't see anyone taking him off of the Bulls hands.

[jax98]

After the trade was made, we became the youngest team in the league. We're going to let Ben Gordon test the market, and if he isn't satisfied with offers from other teams, we can have him back at a fair price.

The Larry Hughes/Drew Gooden trade wasn't made to acquire them. It was made to get rid of Ben Wallace. So despite popular thoughts and rumours, Larry has no affect on the Gordon situation.

We're also not totally screwed up just yet. It's been reported that there is heavy interest in Andres Nocioni. A package of Andres Nocioni & Drew Gooden ($7.1M expiring) next season could bring a nice player to the table.

Joakim Noah & Tyrus Thomas are also being overlooked. They have both played a lot better than Ben Wallace all season long, but haven't gotten any burn. Now that they're starting, they have to become consistant and be ready for a lot of minutes. This will be worth it.

Assuming we re-sign Ben Gordon & Luol Deng while removing Andres Nocioni, our rotation could be very solid next season:

C Joakim Noah/Aaron Gray
F Tyrus Thomas/Drew Gooden
F Luol Deng/Thabo Sefolosha/Larry Hughes
G Thabo Sefolosa/Ben Gordon/Larry Hughes
G Kirk Hinrch/Ben Gordon/Larry Hughes

Add a top 18 (If we end up on a hot streak and make the playoffs) draft pick to the bench, and that's a team.

A future note: Even though we traded Ben Wallace, who we had an idea of trading as a $14.5M expiring in the same year as LeBron, Wade & Bosh can opt out, we still have that chance with Larry Hughes since his contract expires the same year. So our long-term plan isn't ruined.

[ropjhk]

They need to trade for a superstar. They missed out on Garnett, Kobe, Gasol and who knows who else. They are going nowhere with their current roster, and if they stay the course they'll be in rebuilding Plan G.

[Flash3]

They need a superstar player, as was echoed above me.

The team, at one point in time, was a team FULL of role players, basically.

They don't have that 1 player that can consistently take a game/series over, night in and night out.

But, right now, they are a mess, or so it seems....