McGraw: Bulls SG issues

[Future Coach]

What you need to remember is that there are 30 owners, so you have many more small market guys stuggling, compared to a few big markets, that can support large payrolls. The players can not be able to hold out as long as the owners. There will be big changes, and a couple owners that are willing to pay more will get voted down, with the majority willing to hold out missing an entire season if neccessary to get parity, with profitablity for most the teams.

I think this is faulty logic for 2 main reasons:
(1) small market teams risk losing the majority of their fan base if they hold out for a whole season. This reality became apparent in the last holdout and with the NHL. The small market teams which are already struggling will in all likelihood be struggling even more the longer the lockout drags out, while the big market teams really won't take too long to get back to normal.
(2) you are neglecting the very important option of increasing profit sharing. Profit sharing is the sole reason that several MLB franchise still exist (Pirates, Marlins, A's, etc). I'm not sure on the exact percentage of payouts with the current profit sharing agreement, but my guess is that it can certainly be increased.

Also, for the owners that are in financial trouble, it isn't owning an NBA team that is making them lose all their money but rather their non-NBA investments. Take the former Hornets owner as a recent example, a man who made his fortune in speculative investments including hedge funds and proceeded to overextend himself in many business ventures banking on the idea he would continue to make millions upon millions with his investments. Then the stock market crashes and guess who starts going into debt. The NBA, and the Players Association especially, needs to take this example as a lesson and push to restrict non-NBA investments for owners, at least enough to ensure that franchises are solvent for multiple years into the future. To not do so is just asking for history to repeat itself. Of course there is the small hurdle that much wealthier owners enjoy bringing in those interest payments when they grant loans to the less wealthy owners.

[dice]

Also, is any CBA agreement going to come to pass which is going to go drastically against the best interests of certain key owners/franchises and their best interests? I tend to think not.

the very existence of a luxury tax tells me that parity/widespread financial health is more important to the league than key owners. ask mark cuban about how much his best interests have been coddled

if it takes significantly reducing the cap to keep low-income franchises viable the league is gonna do whatever it can to get that done

The "league" really is the ownership in such regards. Stern is hired and represents the owners first and foremost.

but all the owners are pulling him in different directions. he's historically catered to the smaller franchises

There is a fine line between representing the interests of the lesser-heeled franchises, and representing the cash-cow franchises of the NBA. It's dangerous to go too far in either direction. You don't want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Let's face it, the Lakers, Bulls, Knicks, and Celtics are a lot more important to the fortunes of the NBA than the Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Bobcats, and Hornets

totally agree. and i think the lux tax is a bridge too far

[old rem]

to me mayo is a lot like chauncey billups in stature and game. chauncey when finally put in the right situation to develop his niche became a studly player who affects the game greatly. and its never been with stellar athleticism. mayo fits this, but is an inch taller and can develop into what we need out of that spot. i refuse to judge him based on his usage by a stupid coach of the second worst run franchise in the nba. this is why we can get him at less value. he will for some team play all star or borderline allstar ball.

also, this nonsense about his defense needs to be stopped. if you watched him in college, when he played for a coach that preached defense, he was a great and willing defender. when he has no defense to back him up, sure he wont look as good. i guarantee he would be a better defender for us than for bogans, under the demanding tutelage of thibs.

We have a winner.

Mayo will cost more...cause he IS worth more. S Jax won't cost a lot in trade chips but will cost salary...however....Mayo is young,Jax is not. JR Smith...is flawed,you're as well off starting R Brewer or looking at the " Best Of The D League" JRS may win you games...will lose you games, is generally a loose cannon without much "team guy". Yeah...you can get him semi cheap.

If you are after an upgrade, Mayo can be along term upgrade. Jax may be the most upgrade RIGHT NOW,but Chi ought to be thinking window of opportunity.

[kyrv]

to me mayo is a lot like chauncey billups in stature and game.

We have a winner.

Billups was the best player on a title winning team and an all-star. Mayo has miles to go to even start sniffing that.

I don't think we have a winner. That's aiming really super duper high in my opinion.

Mayo's next step is proving he is a solid NBA starter on a decent team. Forget all-star, forget best player on a title team, just, solid NBA starter.

[Hold That]

Wizards are trying to dump Blatche, anyone would be interested in a Blatche and Cartier Martin(6'7 SG who's a very good three point shooter) for C.J,Bogans and Taj? Just pick up a back up PG somewhere, but it works under the cap..

We would upgrade at the two spot with a player who stretches the court in Martin, even though we lose Taj, Blatche gives us another weapon off the bench who's on a friendly contract, we might have a hole at PG, but Lucas would fill in momentarily until we sign a D leaguer or possibly get another one in a trade..

[chadrucf]

Wizards are trying to dump Blatche, anyone would be interested in a Blatche and Cartier Martin(6'7 SG who's a very good three point shooter) for Bulls 1st and Taj?

Nope. I'd much rather hang on to what we have.

[DanTown8587]

Once we get close to the deadline (and Noah is returning) I feel better about sending out a guy like Taj, a 1st and other pieces to get OJ. In fact, would give up the Charlotte pick and Taj to get OJ, but once I see Noah is close to a return. The Bulls have no reason to rush a deal and if they did that deal today, it would kill them in the standings to play Scal and KT that many minutes.

[Bulltalk]

Once we get close to the deadline (and Noah is returning) I feel better about sending out a guy like Taj, a 1st and other pieces to get OJ. In fact, would give up the Charlotte pick and Taj to get OJ, but once I see Noah is close to a return. The Bulls have no reason to rush a deal and if they did that deal today, it would kill them in the standings to play Scal and KT that many minutes.

That's funny, but I take just the opposite viewpoint in your reasoning. I think we need an upgrade sooner rather than later in fear that we may slide a little bit before the end of February in relation to those particular teams chomping at our heels.

Just a different point of view, that's all.

[ikeziskash]

Chad Ford says that Houston is shopping Kevin Martin. Should we add him to the list of Bulls targets?
http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... ade_talks/

[BULLHITTER]

Billups was the best player on a title winning team and an all-star. Mayo has miles to go to even start sniffing that.

very true; but he didn't start his career that way. as i recall he was a top 4-5 pick by boston, who gave him to minny, who somehow flipped him to the pistons. i imagine he was full of potential, much like mayo and had been disappointing until he found his niche under larry brown. seems i recall him stating he did a lot of developing and maturing in minny, but the point is mayo and he have much in common in a parallel sense.

the bulls could be picking up mayo at a point in his career that is his turning point, a la billups.

its a risk; all trades are. i suppose it boils down to how big the bulls balls are, AND whether they talent based decisions trump business ones.

[kyrv]

Billups was the best player on a title winning team and an all-star. Mayo has miles to go to even start sniffing that.

very true; but he didn't start his career that way. as i recall he was a top 4-5 pick by boston, who gave him to minny, who somehow flipped him to the pistons. i imagine he was full of potential, much like mayo and had been disappointing until he found his niche under larry brown. seems i recall him stating he did a lot of developing and maturing in minny, but the point is mayo and he have much in common in a parallel sense.

the bulls could be picking up mayo at a point in his career that is his turning point, a la billups.

its a risk; all trades are. i suppose it boils down to how big the bulls balls are, AND whether they talent based decisions trump business ones.

He could be like Billups. Or he could be like the 90+% that start out not good and stay that way.

I'm going to predict that Mayo won't be the best player on a title team.

[BULLHITTER]

I'm going to predict that Mayo won't be the best player on a title team.I'm going to predict that Mayo won't be the best player on a title team.

way to go out on a limb;:lol: .....with balls like those, the bulls might have a job for you....

has it been suggested by anyone, much less the bulls, that his acquistion by the bulls puts him in that category? also even with his pay bump, would that put him in a "best player category"?

the point was that billups' change of scenery in TWO places had a lot to do with his development. him being the best player on the pistons isn't really relevant, no? i'm guessing the bulls risk involves them believing mayo may very well be the beneficiary of coming to the right team at the right time to reach HIS individual potential, which for the bulls is a young, secondary or tertiary offensive option, a solid backup point, and someone who can hit shots and defend, all things billups was believed to have the potential to do.

[kyrv]

I'm going to predict that Mayo won't be the best player on a title team.I'm going to predict that Mayo won't be the best player on a title team.

way to go out on a limb;:lol: .....with balls like those, the bulls might have a job for you....

has it been suggested by anyone, much less the bulls, that his acquistion by the bulls puts him in that category? also even with his pay bump, would that put him in a "best player category"?

the point was that billups' change of scenery in TWO places had a lot to do with his development. him being the best player on the pistons isn't really relevant, no? i'm guessing the bulls risk involves them believing mayo may very well be the beneficiary of coming to the right team at the right time to reach HIS individual potential, which for the bulls is a young, secondary or tertiary offensive option, a solid backup point, and someone who can hit shots and defend, all things billups was believed to have the potential to do.

I agree with the change of scenery, most definitely. The comparison to Billups doesn't make sense, and only serves to sidetrack the discussion (imo), as demonstrated here.

Definitely think he needs a change of scenery.

Definitely know he's not Billups and never will be.

[BULLHITTER]

The comparison to Billups doesn't make sense, and only serves to sidetrack the discussion (imo), as demonstrated here.

disappointing high pick, traded around until he found his niche, then reached his potential....yea, i can see how that might've sidetracked you.....mayo and the current climate isn't anything like that.

Definitely know he's not Billups and never will be

i guess your scouting gm'ing acumen will have to suffice for you then.

[kyrv]

The comparison to Billups doesn't make sense, and only serves to sidetrack the discussion (imo), as demonstrated here.

disappointing high pick, traded around until he found his niche, then reached his potential....yea, i can see how that might've sidetracked you.....mayo and the current climate isn't anything like that.

I see what you did there. You hand pick a couple of things out of dozens, well hundreds, that make Billups who he is. Nice.

Definitely know he's not Billups and never will be

i guess your scouting gm'ing acumen will have to suffice for you then.[/quote]

Thank you for stating that I have scouting gm'ing acumen, although it's not really necessary in this case, so not really relevant. If you are spending time figuring out if Mayo is going to be Billups - we can save you some time.

[Sonny_D1]

Houston has a glut in the backcourt, and Battier is expiring. Houston wouldn't do Deng for KMart but maybe expanded to something like this:

Deng, JJ, Watson, Asik for KMart, Battier (or something along those lines)

I think KMart's game would fit in great with this team.

Posted this yesterday and now it looks like Houston is "entertaining" offers for KMart.

If we expanded the above trade to include Taj (or the 1st) maybe we can get back Hill and Hayes?

Deng/Taj/JJ/Watson/Asik for KMart/Battier/Hill/Hayes.........a pick somewhere too?

[RyGuy24]

Posted?

Expanding on Tuesday’s column about how the Bulls might improve at shooting guard, I think Houston’s Courtney Lee can definitely be added to the wish list.

Memphis’ O.J. Mayo is their top choice and Denver’s J.R. Smith is a likely No. 2, with neither situation likely to heat up until closer to the Feb. 24 trade deadline.

Lee is probably their top fallback choice. The former Western Kentucky star is averaging 7.4 points and shooting 45 percent from 3-point range, serving as a back up to Kevin Martin.

How to pry Lee away from the Rockets is tougher to figure. Do the Bulls give up Taj Gibson? No. The Charlotte draft pick from the Tyrus Thomas trade? Probably not.

Another factor is Houston has won five in a row and is back to a .500 record after a slow start this season. Right now, it’s difficult to see how the Bulls could get Lee without giving up something valuable in return.

The Bulls are having conversations with a number of teams and I’m sure dozens of scenarios have been discussed. This is the time of year when teams typically test the waters to see what might be possible at the trade deadline.

There have been rumors about the Bulls and Charlotte’s Stephen Jackson, but I think Jackson and Detroit’s Richard Hamilton are pretty much out of the question because both have two expensive years left on their contracts.

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/5021

[panthermark]

Lee makes a lot of sense....for the following reasons:
$1.35M
$2.23M
$3.22M (QO)

Low salary....low salary....low salary....
We know the MO of this FO...
But that is OK, I'm cool with Lee. I just don't want to overpay to get him....which is what we will have to do....

[snickerspr]

What would it take to get B.Rush in a Bulls uniform? He's perfect for us! 44-46% from the field & 3 ...12ppg in 29mins.

[bullsnewdynasty]

I don't think Brandon Rush is a guy good enough to give up assets for.