Are you okay with the Bulls building two teams at once?

[MGB8]

The sad part is that, like the failed pursuit of Lebron, Melo stringing the Bulls along probably cost the team greatly.

If Melo had up front said - I'm willing to leave NY, but only for a MAX contract, the Bulls would have known that they were out of it.

At that point, I wouldn't be surprised if they had indeed traded our 2nd first round pick for Afflalo, as opposed to looking into Stephenson. Any remaining FA money would be aimed at either trying to get Pau, or, more likely, Niko.

At 16 we probably would have taken Nurkic if there were serious concerns about Noah, and we wouldn't have dropped Smith. We would still have re-signed Kirk and signed Aaron Brooks and Etwan Moore. Probably not Nazr with Smith still on the team.

The roster would be:

PG: Rose, Kirk, Brooks
SG: Afflalo, Moore
SF: Butler, Dunleavy
PF: Taj, Niko
CC: Noah, Nurcik, Smith

Pau has been big for the Bulls so I'm not sure that we'd have a better record, but we'd probably have less extreme ups and downs due to better balance.

[spectacularmove]

Given Derrick's injuries, we are always walking on thin ice when it comes to "win now".
Keep the options open.

[TheStig]

Notice I dont have Doug.

If we knew we were going a different route and we knew Noah had surgery, we would have drafted the best Center available.

Thats why I had Nurkic.

How exactly would that work? The draft was before FA. IE we didn't know who we'd get in FA. Melo or Pau or a third option. Infact, the hard play was for Melo after we drafted Dougie. Pau was a secondary move.

All I can say is that teams like ours - the organized ones- do not operate in isolated buckets.

There is a continuum of strategy that all of the various components draft+offseason moves fall into.

Yes, it was clear they drafted BPA and really wanted Dougie instead of going for need. So again, I don't see them taking anyone other McD.

[jumpstart]

When you try to do two things at the same time you get neither done well.

What other contender has rookies contributing?

Isn't us having a rookie contribute a good thing? It seems arbitrary, given that "contribute" rather than "rookie" should be the key word. Good basketball is good basketball. Niko's per36 numbers are strong for a veteran, let alone a rookie. If there's a problem with him, my argument would be that that its insufficient usage rather than the opposite.

agreed, but its also fair to note that he's started playing in the Euro league in 2008 up until 2014. I think its clear he's ahead of your typical rookie coming out of college. Which is a great thing for us!!

[Mech Engineer]

Given Derrick's injuries, we are always walking on thin ice when it comes to "win now".
Keep the options open.

That's true. When Derrick was drafted, Paxson was all about building with Derrick as the main piece and that probably became a bigger goal after his MVP season.

It is not so anymore. Even if Derrick comes back to being a top 5 player, as a GM....you cannot build only to complement him. You have to think of the alternate. Will it change once Derrick plays 2 years of playoff basketball at a high level?

IMO, the two injuries in succession caught them blindsided. It is tough enough to plan around one big injury but two injuries at different times set you back. It would have been better if Derrick had both the injuries at the same time if it was going to happen.

[DanTown8587]

Wilson Chandler is also on the block. I like Afflalo more but Chandler has a friendlier contract.

You almost have to trade Taj in that scenario. Considering the max that Jimmy is gonna get.

A 3 team trade is the way to go.

We will have to get back another asset for sure.

You can do MDJ, Snell and Bairstrow plus a pick for Chandler. He has a team option for next year where he doesn't make much more than the MLE. You can always move Taj in the off season for a better return if you need to or just cut Chandler or keep both.

I don't know how Jimmy's extenstion will go. He's hit a slide and was well outperforming his career averages. Players typically regress toward the means. If he's not a max player than you can keep everyone.

We can talk about Snell and how terrible he is but I don't know if I'm ready to venture into a playoff game with Brooks, Hinrich, off the street FA as my backup wings.

I also fail to see how Denver is getting better by trading Chandler (who is on a cheap deal + another year) for basically no value assets except a pick.

The only deal that might make some sense if you're trying to make the team better is to trade Noah (as a hedge against him not getting healthy), get back a competent fourth big man + a starter on the wing

OR

You trade for a low cost option like a Wes Johnson who can play the 3 and keep your top eight guys.

[DanTown8587]

It's quite hilarious that people use Jimmy's outbreak and then say "if only the Bulls would have done this instead" and then completely fail to realize that before this season, any expectation that Butler would be an efficient 15 point per game scorer, let alone the 20 he's close to getting, would have been a wish.

We also don't know how much Jimmy benefits from playing next to Gasol and having a big man teams can't simply leave.

[TheStig]

You almost have to trade Taj in that scenario. Considering the max that Jimmy is gonna get.

A 3 team trade is the way to go.

We will have to get back another asset for sure.

You can do MDJ, Snell and Bairstrow plus a pick for Chandler. He has a team option for next year where he doesn't make much more than the MLE. You can always move Taj in the off season for a better return if you need to or just cut Chandler or keep both.

I don't know how Jimmy's extenstion will go. He's hit a slide and was well outperforming his career averages. Players typically regress toward the means. If he's not a max player than you can keep everyone.

We can talk about Snell and how terrible he is but I don't know if I'm ready to venture into a playoff game with Brooks, Hinrich, off the street FA as my backup wings.

I also fail to see how Denver is getting better by trading Chandler (who is on a cheap deal + another year) for basically no value assets except a pick.

The only deal that might make some sense if you're trying to make the team better is to trade Noah (as a hedge against him not getting healthy), get back a competent fourth big man + a starter on the wing

OR

You trade for a low cost option like a Wes Johnson who can play the 3 and keep your top eight guys.

I'd rather have Mirotic backing up the SF in limited minutes behind a guy like Chandler than counting on Snell to back up MDJ for a lot more minutes. I'd also venture to say we can sign a guy like Prince when he gets cut for more depth.

Furthermore, the Nuggets aren't looking for equal value. They are looking for a pick or young player similar to what they got for Mozgov. I think MDJ, Snell, Bairstow and a 1st does it.

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Hearing the Nuggets are shopping Wilson Chandler (one year remaining, team option for '15-'16) hard as they continue getting future assets.

[Peelboy]

I'd rather have Mirotic backing up the SF in limited minutes behind a guy like Chandler than counting on Snell to back up MDJ for a lot more minutes. I'd also venture to say we can sign a guy like Prince when he gets cut for more depth.

Just curious - but why is it MDJ+Snell v Chandler+Mirotic rather than MDJ+Mirotic v Chandler+Mirotic. I'm all in with you on Mirotic backing up at SF over Snell, just not sure Chandler v MDJ does much (and what it does isn't worth dealing anything meaningful).

[musiqsoulchild]

I'd rather have Mirotic backing up the SF in limited minutes behind a guy like Chandler than counting on Snell to back up MDJ for a lot more minutes. I'd also venture to say we can sign a guy like Prince when he gets cut for more depth.

Just curious - but why is it MDJ+Snell v Chandler+Mirotic rather than MDJ+Mirotic v Chandler+Mirotic. I'm all in with you on Mirotic backing up at SF over Snell, just not sure Chandler v MDJ does much (and what it does isn't worth dealing anything meaningful).

In my ideal world, thats how things would shake out at SF:

Dunleavy (24) / Niko (14) / Jimmy (10)

With Doug taking Jimmy's minutes upon return.

[TheStig]

I'd rather have Mirotic backing up the SF in limited minutes behind a guy like Chandler than counting on Snell to back up MDJ for a lot more minutes. I'd also venture to say we can sign a guy like Prince when he gets cut for more depth.

Just curious - but why is it MDJ+Snell v Chandler+Mirotic rather than MDJ+Mirotic v Chandler+Mirotic. I'm all in with you on Mirotic backing up at SF over Snell, just not sure Chandler v MDJ does much (and what it does isn't worth dealing anything meaningful).

No particular reason. I just slid Mirotic in since their would be less minutes left with a full time starter vs a limited starter like MDJ.

I'd make a play for a guy like Prince or Garcia to have a real vet SF on the roster anyway.

[Madison]

Interesting thread.

Players built to win now only:
Gasol (34 years old)
Noah (30 and major knee issues)
Gibson (turns 30 in June)
Brooks (1-year deal)

Players built to win now and/or later:
Rose
Butler
Mirotic
McDermott

The Rose-Butler-Mirotic core could be very solid in 2017 and beyond. Add a few pieces to that and the Bulls could be in contention for a long time. Note, this is fully dependent upon Rose becoming a very good-to-great player again.