ESPN: Bulls "determined" to NOT trade Deng

[Bulls_Fan]

This thread is Exhibit 245 why Paxson is a terrible GM and needs to go.

Hopefully between now and the trade deadline he gets his head out of his ass.

[kdapiton]

Well we literally can't "win now"

The main fear I have is putting all of our eggs on the fact that we'll draft a franchise changing star. First, we may not get the pick, second, he may bust.

We lose Deng and either of those two happen, I don't like the potential step back we face then.

"Win now" means to me that we don't put lots of hope on the uncertain. We tank now because it's the only way to get something positive out of this season.

Is there a chance that our rookie becomes a stud? Of course. Is there a chance that he becomes a championship starter next year? Probably not.

Someone brought up the problem of drafting Parker while Deng is here. I say we deal with that when it happens. It's a hell of a problem to have.

[Mech Engineer]

Bulls "determined" to maintain a championship core around their returning MVP.

You may believe in all your heart that DRose will never be the same, but there's a lot of medical science that says that this meniscus injury should not have one iota of an impact on his ability to play basketball. Yes, there will be rust. But there also is Rose's will, which should not be underestimated. Most importantly, it makes sense for the Bulls to be optimistic about Rose's recovery because, if Rose cannot recover to his all-NBA status, then all this talk about what to do with Deng and the others is all just talk about what piece of luggage to bring on the Titanic. Because if Derrick is not the same, then the Bulls, saddled with paying $20 million per year to a non-superstar, will have no chance of winning a championship, or doing anything else signficant, until Rose's contract ends. So the most sensible thing for the Bulls to do is to hope that Derrick can make it all the way back. There's plenty of time to blow things up if that does not happen. It won't be pretty, and there's no reason to do it unless you are sure that the old plan of building a championship team around Derrick won't work.

That's the key. If Derrick is done or a shell of his former self, then the Bulls are back to the early 2000s and there is nothing to worry about winning championships. The best thing they can do is to tank with Deng. Just send him to South Sudan for a humanitarian project because they are having some problems over there.

[TheBigSqueeze]

Well we literally can't "win now"

The main fear I have is putting all of our eggs on the fact that we'll draft a franchise changing star. First, we may not get the pick, second, he may bust.

We lose Deng and either of those two happen, I don't like the potential step back we face then.

"Win now" means to me that we don't put lots of hope on the uncertain. We tank now because it's the only way to get something positive out of this season.

Is there a chance that our rookie becomes a stud? Of course. Is there a chance that he becomes a championship starter next year? Probably not.

Someone brought up the problem of drafting Parker while Deng is here. I say we deal with that when it happens. It's a hell of a problem to have.

The problem with that is, with Deng here we probably aren't bad enough to get Parker. A couple of wins here and there could be the difference between pick 5 and pick 10 simply because this conference is so abysmal. It's so abysmal that if we go on even a 2 game winning streak we're right back in the playoffs, and for someone who's hoping for a high pick in this loaded draft that's scary.

[Ice the knees]

BTW, we throw out the term "Compete for a championship" when we haven't escaped the second round in three years and the one year we did make the conference finals we lost in 5.

Maybe this team, as it's currently constructed, isn't a title contender and never really was.

I think this is important to remember. I think if this team stayed healthy they were again a 60 win team and right in there with Mia and Ind. However, like you said, the cores guys have only experienced the ECF once. Since, Indiana has gained conference championship experience with the current champs. The Bulls are no longer the up and coming team looking to build off of experience...Honestly, they lack a bit of experience both as a team that plays together and a team that is competing for a championship (when was the last time Bulls have had a consistent starting 5...Garpax may want to keep this group together, but the players have not played together much at all in the last 3 years)

Miami knows how to win a 7 game series. They are just the best. But Indiana is now in the process of learning. And lets say the Bulls get by those two teams. The West has two teams competing right now that have played in the Finals in the past 2 finals. Spurs and Thunder.

The Bulls were going to be a good team, competing for the #1 seed. However, there was going to be a lot for them to overcome and it was no sure thing that this was a championship core. To me keeping Deng and bringing over Mirotic is just as risky as trading Deng. I think trading Deng hedges the bet a bit for me though. Gives the Bulls some wiggle room going forward

[VolumePoster]

Adding Mirotic and two first round picks (in an unbelievably stacked draft) to a core of Rose, Deng, Noah and Jimmy?

#swoon

[VolumePoster]

Also: we've shown that we are COMPLETELY CAPABLE of the stealth tank, even with Deng.

[kdapiton]

Well we literally can't "win now"

The main fear I have is putting all of our eggs on the fact that we'll draft a franchise changing star. First, we may not get the pick, second, he may bust.

We lose Deng and either of those two happen, I don't like the potential step back we face then.

"Win now" means to me that we don't put lots of hope on the uncertain. We tank now because it's the only way to get something positive out of this season.

Is there a chance that our rookie becomes a stud? Of course. Is there a chance that he becomes a championship starter next year? Probably not.

Someone brought up the problem of drafting Parker while Deng is here. I say we deal with that when it happens. It's a hell of a problem to have.

The problem with that is, with Deng here we probably aren't bad enough to get Parker. A couple of wins here and there could be the difference between pick 5 and pick 10 simply because this conference is so abysmal. It's so abysmal that if we go on even a 2 game winning streak we're right back in the playoffs, and for someone who's hoping for a high pick in this loaded draft that's scary.

You know what..

If that's our biggest problem, then I say "whew"

I'm not worried one bit about us losing. I really don't think this team is good enough anyways, since we were losing to really bad teams even with Lu and Kirk. Of course, what you're saying is possible, but I'd take my chances.

Besides, he'll get hurt again anyway

[MalcolmXing]

This thread is Exhibit 245 why Paxson is a terrible GM and needs to go.

Hopefully between now and the trade deadline he gets his head out of his ass.

I think its Gar.

[Bulls_Fan]

Adding Mirotic and two first round picks (in an unbelievably stacked draft) to a core of Rose, Deng, Noah and Jimmy?

#swoon

Keeping Deng around means our pick won't be as bad as we hope it can be.

We are then married to Deng and his long contract. The injury bug has bitten him quite a few times already. What will be it like when he is 33?

[Bulls_Fan]

This thread is Exhibit 245 why Paxson is a terrible GM and needs to go.

Hopefully between now and the trade deadline he gets his head out of his ass.

I think its Gar.

Paxson makes the big decisions on this team. The BUlls hierarchy is Gar doing all the menial day-to-day GM tasks. Meanwhile, Paxson is the one making the real decisions.

[SpinninHouse]

Well, I guess we reject each others premise then. In my opinion, even if healthy this group wasn't coming close to winning a title. But the term "if healthy" is totally irrelevant because this is our fourth consecutive year being destroyed by injuries. At this point, saying "if healthy" is the equivalent as saying "if better."

"If the Bulls players were better at basketball, we'd win the NBA title." We won't because they are not better. We won't because they have never been and never will be healthy. Same thing.

Good point. At the top of the "if healthy" worries is Rose. If we're calculating odds, I think there is an improbability the Bulls will ever win a title in the Rose era. But it's possible with the re-signing of Deng even if unlikely. It's also possible but improbable to win a title by tanking and trading away pieces (other than Rose, I don't think most of the tankers want to dump him too). We'll likely never really know which plan would have been better. However, if the FO picks the re-sign Deng route, I'm OK with that. I don't think it's a bad choice considering the available options.

The bolded is so depressing, but so true. I think maybe the highest moment in the Rose Era was the 20th year anniversary of the 1991 championship team against Utah at the UC. I was at that game and I remember Michael Jordan addressing the crowd. He said he we'd be raising more trophies with this roster. In my heart, I thought for sure we would.

But alas, it wasn't meant to be.

[mj234eva]

Could just be leverage for trade talks. But if true you have to sign him. There is no in between here.

If Cowley is right that they're "$5-6M apart" I don't understand how they expect to re-sign him.

All it takes is Mark Cuban landing his jet in Chicago with a 4/60 contract and Deng is outie. It just seems like a dumb chance to take, especially if there's interest from several teams. There could be a scenario where Deng is the best player available at the trade deadline. Why not take advantage of that?

Them being 5-6 million apart is a pretty scary thought...

I assume the Bulls already value Deng pretty highly...I doubt they'd ask him to take much of a pay cut, if any at all...So, I believe they're offering him something around 11 or 12 million per.

5-6 million apart means he's looking for 16-18 million in my assumed scenario...And that's just stupid money for him.

5-6 million might not be that much if we're talking over the life of the contract. For example, say the Bulls extension offer was 3/39 over the summer, and Deng's people were thinking more along the lines of 3/45. That's not that far apart.

[TheSuzerain]

The only reasonable way for us to get the second star that we desperately need is the tank. Getting that second star is more important than anything for this team going forward (well that, and Rose's rehab).

Frankly, Deng isn't worth the damage he will do to our lotto chances.

[MalcolmXing]

This thread is Exhibit 245 why Paxson is a terrible GM and needs to go.

Hopefully between now and the trade deadline he gets his head out of his ass.

I think its Gar.

Paxson makes the big decisions on this team. The BUlls hierarchy is Gar doing all the menial day-to-day GM tasks. Meanwhile, Paxson is the one making the real decisions.

No every indication alludes to Gar treating himself like he's the reason for the Bulls 'success'

[Chicago-Bull-E]

Keep Deng would be a disaster. It means you've let him walk for nothing, or you've resigned him at a contract that he wants. How often in negotiations does the player come down to the teams number in the nba? There are too many bloated contracts to count.

[transplant]

Well, when you've been reading article after article that contradicts your view of the way things ought to be, it's nice to see at least one that agrees with your POV. Thanks, ESPN. 'preciate it.

What's happened so far this season has absolutely sucked, but the only reasonable plan for the Bulls to compete for a title in the next 5 seasons is to start with the assumption that DRose will return as a stud NBA player. If that's the cornerstone of your plan, you either re-sign Deng or trade him for another player that has as much utility as Deng has for a Rose-led team. I'm certainly open to such a trade, but I haven't seen many proposals that meet the criteria.

[HomoSapien]

If that's the cornerstone of your plan, you either re-sign Deng or trade him for another player that has as much utility as Deng has for a Rose-led team. I'm certainly open to such a trade, but I haven't seen many proposals that meet the criteria.

If you've made the decision to try to resign Deng, then it only benefits you to do so right now and work out an extension. The Bulls have much to lose by waiting till the offseason (i.e. losing Deng for nothing) while little to gain by playing poker ($2-3 mill).

[JohnnyTapwater]

It's leverage gentlemen ...

[Jeffster81]

Adding Mirotic and two first round picks (in an unbelievably stacked draft) to a core of Rose, Deng, Noah and Jimmy?

#swoon

Would Thibs play Mirotic and the two first rounders?