Taj will recruit. He'll be at Melo meeting (with Noah)

[LoveDaBoo]

The Taj issue is not something the Bulls came up with last week or today. They have been consistent about not trading him and there has been no credible rumors other than fancy internet plans.

Eh, we offered Taj for Love, why wouldn't he be available for Melo, worst case.

Yeah, but as I said, no need. Melo can stare them down and say any of 3 options are basically equal, but with the Bulls option, they get assets. They have to take what they can get at that point, and there's no need for it to be Taj. A future first and the King's pick. Or he signs somewhere in Texas. Chew on that, Phil.

[Mech Engineer]

The Taj issue is not something the Bulls came up with last week or today. They have been consistent about not trading him and there has been no credible rumors other than fancy internet plans.

Eh, we offered Taj for Love, why wouldn't he be available for Melo, worst case.

I should have been clear. I meant in the Melo acquisition scenarios. For Love, I agree there have been reports of that offer. Even there, initially it was a bunch of assets including Taj and then suddenly it became a trade package. With so many fan blogs/rumors and even legit sites/reporters picking up from these fan blogs on the fear of being late to the party of news reporting....it is tough to really know what's going on.

[bearadonisdna]

First year salary of 17.62 gets him 20 million in year 4. hard to believe that would be enough.

Oh its enough. The real question is what the bulls have to do to make that happen and it doestn have to involve taj or butler.

MDJ
Randolf
Smith
Snell
Unguaranteeds can all make that nice 17.62 number a reality right. Only problem is finding a team to take them on.

They can't get to 17.6 million without getting rid of Butler. They're at 16.4 if they keep Butler (along with Rose/Noah/Gibson/Dougie).

to a lot of guys wondering the bulls cap situation in this thread , me and magila had a conversation about it earlier in this thread. Calculated and checked for accuracy. It holds up.

[RastaBull]

IF the Bulls were to try and sign him outright...what's the policy on adding bonuses? Like how much can you add for something like making the All-Star game (something that is all but given for Melo)...and would that be counted in the cap limit we can offer him?

[ChiCitySPORTS#1]

IF the Bulls were to try and sign him outright...what's the policy on adding bonuses? Like how much can you add for something like making the All-Star game (something that is all but given for Melo)...and would that be counted in the cap limit we can offer him?

They cap it out. It would be negligible, and wont tie into whether or not we can sign him for more. Bonuses iirc are counted towards the cap --Like Taj and Jo's bonuses

[Rerisen]

IF the Bulls were to try and sign him outright...what's the policy on adding bonuses? Like how much can you add for something like making the All-Star game (something that is all but given for Melo)...and would that be counted in the cap limit we can offer him?

Bonuses are only included in the cap initially if they are considered 'likely to be met' and the determination for that is if they met the requirement the previous year. So if we set All-Star, it goes on the cap since he was an All-Star already.

Ideally, it should be something we (or he) thinks he can attain by joining the new situation, IDK 1st team All-NBA, or Finals MVP, but that he didn't meet last year.

The maximum in incentives is a percentage of the contract per year, 15%, so amounts to about 3m in a 20m deal.

[Harmoo]

You can't gloss over this, its the key point. Bulls fans are the only people in the basketball world that might have complete faith Rose is just going to be the same player.

I'm not glossing over it but the fact is, even Rose at 60% is better than no Rose, and unless you expect Rose to be kidnapped or hit by a train in this off-season, you can't ignore his presence or think it a negative.

To everyone else looking at the team, and possibly players we don't know, his status is a huge question mark. He could be the next Brandon Roy or Arenas post injury, we just don't know.

Right, because a 100% healthy athlete will magically turn into a guy that has degenerative arthritis and another guy that has severe micro-fracture in his knees as well as deteriorated cartilage.

I'm not aware of a single case in which a player recovered 100% from their injury, had no risk factors, completed rehab and was unable to return to the court in a meaningful manner. (Excluding those that got fat and refused to stay in shape)

Technically speaking, Rose is probably the healthiest NBA player in the game today.

The Heat will still be an easy top Eastern team, and the comparison regarding them taking less money to form was referencing 2011, when Wade wasn't an old man. They were projected as automatic favorites and some were projecting historic things, like 70 wins.

I'm not sure what you're talking about here. The Heat are good but they have gotten clearly worse over the years and are showing significant signs of slowing down because of Wades decline. They will remain a top-3 team in the East.

That won't be how our team is looked at just because Melo joins it.

I'm not interested in how some slackjawed casual fan sees the Bulls. The fact is, Melo+current Bulls is more than enough to propel them to top-2 in the East, let alone top-3.

[Wingy]

Go Taj! Go Jo!

I hope Derrick is saying one thing publicly, but doing something else behind the scenes...otherwise...dunno. I'm just completely turned off by his unwillingness to get with reality. The not my job stuff. Please. Enough. The franchise, teammates and many fans have stuck by you through everything. It's time to grow as a leader and do something you're not comfortable with for once.

[bearadonisdna]

lol hey guys doesnt noahs bonus give us even less room for melo. Its designated as likely bonus further eating into our cap room , maybe thats where people are getting the 15.8 from. Going to melo trying to sell S&Ts if they arent already on table could turn off melo. Overcomplicated. 15.8 mil is still only in the occurance the bulls can ship out MDJ, snell, smith, Randolph. Its looking bleak financially.

Wow how did this happen.

[Rerisen]

I'm not interested in how some slackjawed casual fan sees the Bulls. The fact is, Melo+current Bulls is more than enough to propel them to top-2 in the East, let alone top-3.

I don't think you are really getting the point I made. Which is Melo coming to the Bulls is a lot less of a sure thing for winning than the big three were at the time, on top of Melo having to take a much bigger paycut to initially commit, and if that commitment isn't big enough to threaten NY into S&T.

[WinCity]

lol hey guys doesnt noahs bonus give us even less room for melo. Its designated as likely bonus further eating into our cap room , maybe thats where people are getting the 15.8 from. Going to melo trying to sell S&Ts if they arent already on table could turn off melo. Overcomplicated. 15.8 mil is still only in the occurance the bulls can ship out MDJ, snell, smith, Randolph. Its looking bleak financially.

Wow how did this happen.

But but but Taj is going to recruit him! That will overcome the fact that keeping Taj costs Melo millions!

[Harmoo]

I'm not interested in how some slackjawed casual fan sees the Bulls. The fact is, Melo+current Bulls is more than enough to propel them to top-2 in the East, let alone top-3.

I don't think you are really getting the point I made. Which is Melo coming to the Bulls is a lot less of a sure thing for winning than the big three were at the time, on top of Melo having to take a much bigger paycut to initially commit, and if that commitment isn't big enough to threaten NY into S&T.

Oh that's obvious, I wasn't arguing that.

I was just perturbed by your insinuation that the Bulls wouldn't be a guaranteed top Eastern team with Melo even without Rose, let alone with.

[Rerisen]

I was just perturbed by your insinuation that the Bulls wouldn't be a guaranteed top Eastern team with Melo even without Rose, let alone with.

Maybe it wasn't worded clearly. I think we would be one of the top 3, but certainly not the favored best without D-Rose at full strength.

The difference relative to the Miami situation again, is that while they have fallen off since 2011 (maaaybe, pending actions this FA), the West has not fallen off. So even if we put together a East favorite on paper by adding Melo and assuming full Rose health (debatable thing to do), we don't look quite as worthy for a player to sacrifice things for as in that situation. Where those guys sacrificed much less actually.

The projections weren't that far off for them either. If not for a LeBron mental breakdown in the first Finals, they could easily be sitting with a three-peat out of it.

[Shill]

The projections weren't that far off for them either. If not for a LeBron mental breakdown in the first Finals, they could easily be sitting with a three-peat out of it.

Conversely, if not for Boston no-showing in game 6 of the 2012 ECF and Ray Allen's miracle 3, that experiment might've yielded 0 titles.


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[kingkirk]

Perhaps I'm in the minority here but Taj attending, to me, means we are uber confident in a S&T being able to be negotiated.

Whether that includes Boozer to the Knicks, to a 3rd team or via amnesty, I am not sure, however this news has instilled more confidence in me.

I see others have said this has weakened our leverage, but I disagree.

I'm reading between the lines, but no way do the FO do this without having something lined up. Orlando clearing space further adds to my confidence, as does our relationship with Utah.

[Payt10]

Perhaps I'm in the minority here but Taj attending, to me, means we are uber confident in a S&T being able to be negotiated.

Whether that includes Boozer to the Knicks, to a 3rd team or via amnesty, I am not sure, however this news has instilled more confidence in me.

I see others have said this has weakened our leverage, but I disagree.

I'm reading between the lines, but no way do the FO do this without having something lined up. Orlando clearing space further adds to my confidence, as does our relationship with Utah.

Also, the Anthony Randolph thing. Something tells me they know something we don't..

[nitetrain8603]

Perhaps I'm in the minority here but Taj attending, to me, means we are uber confident in a S&T being able to be negotiated.

Whether that includes Boozer to the Knicks, to a 3rd team or via amnesty, I am not sure, however this news has instilled more confidence in me.

I see others have said this has weakened our leverage, but I disagree.

I'm reading between the lines, but no way do the FO do this without having something lined up. Orlando clearing space further adds to my confidence, as does our relationship with Utah.

Also, the Anthony Randolph thing. Something tells me they know something we don't..[/quote
That we're not getting Melo?

[Payt10]

Perhaps I'm in the minority here but Taj attending, to me, means we are uber confident in a S&T being able to be negotiated.

Whether that includes Boozer to the Knicks, to a 3rd team or via amnesty, I am not sure, however this news has instilled more confidence in me.

I see others have said this has weakened our leverage, but I disagree.

I'm reading between the lines, but no way do the FO do this without having something lined up. Orlando clearing space further adds to my confidence, as does our relationship with Utah.

Also, the Anthony Randolph thing. Something tells me they know something we don't..[/quote
That we're not getting Melo?

That they already have came to some sort of verbal agreement with the Knicks that they would do a sign and trade.

[greenl]

If not for a LeBron mental breakdown in the first Finals, they could easily be sitting with a three-peat out of it.

Or a one peat- given the San Antonio brain cramp in game 6 of the 2013 Finals. Replay the last 4 minutes of game 6 100 times- and the Spurs probably win 95 of them. You can't play the "they should have game" the Heat have two- which is what they deserve. No more- no less. As Bill Parcells once opined about a different sport- you pretty much get what you deserve.

[NecessaryEvil]

If not for a LeBron mental breakdown in the first Finals, they could easily be sitting with a three-peat out of it.

Or a one peat- given the San Antonio brain cramp in game 6 of the 2013 Finals. Replay the last 4 minutes of game 6 100 times- and the Spurs probably win 95 of them. You can't play the "they should have game" the Heat have two- which is what they deserve. No more- no less. As Bill Parcells once opined about a different sport- you pretty much get what you deserve.

True...

The only clear advantage they've had is playing a inexperienced OKC team whom they steam-rolled.

Other than that, it has NOT been easy for the Big 3..which is why Riley is going to bring in Carmelo