Woj: Afflalo traded to Portland

[logical_art]

There's really no reason for him to be a SF ever again except in emergency stints.

I'm fairly certain a couple people already posted stats of him playing SG and SF this year and they are virtually the same.

*Edit, found it

Yeah I mentioned that in the PG, they are virtually the same.

Many correlated Butler's slump with him starting at SF without Mike. But its easy to forget Butler plays the 2 and 3 every game regardless of where he starts, in playing next to Kirk, or 2 guard lineups with Rose and Brooks. And cumulatively he's done fine at SF.

Here is that original page

http://www.82games.com/1415/14CHI5.HTM

Right because playing SG without Dunleavy as the only legit SF on the team has been essentially the same as playing SF for Butler.

And that's the whole point. We need to pair him with a legit SF so that he'll be guarded by guards and not SFs more often.

[coldfish]

The Bulls have a very good team now. Odds are pretty good that it won't be as good 3 years from now. I'm not even getting into other situations like Thibs likely leaving. Keeping Mirotic for that time instead of cashing him in for talent today might not be prudent.

Well, if Thibs leaves or/is forced out it means the team has failed at a fairly reasonable level for a major shake up.. 2nd round exit, getting handled easily in the ECF's (if they lose in a hotly contested 6 or 7 gamer to the Cavs and the Cavs win it all, is that acceptable for this season and enough?) Not sure what the bar is, but it won't be good and bringing in a new coach with a new system and a veteran core that has been drilled the Thibs way for half a decade, only means a likely tear down and rebuild. With one (or both) of Rose and Noah not getting re-signed, Taj gone, Pau 35, 36 (and even 37 years old). The team building around Jimmy, Niko, Doug?, Snell? .. draft picks? I mean, yeah... who are our bigs going to be other than Niko? PG?.. so many unknowns.

Regardless, if Thibs is not the Bulls coach on opening day next season our chances at winning it all during the Rose era have gone down to slim and very very slim. That is just the reality of it. So, for everyone clamoring for Thibs to be gone and Fred Hoiberg or some NBA re-tread to take over, just be careful what you all wish for. It might not be the pretty picture you envision it to be and actually could be painful for a while.

So, let's just win it all this year and not have to worry about any of this.

Bulls fans have a rather warped view of the NBA as a result of the dynasty. What many fans saw is Collins do fine as a coach and then Phil come in and take them to the next level. What people tend to miss is that the dynasty Bulls were one of the greatest sports teams of all times in any sport. You had a tremendous number of things line up perfectly for that to happen. Very, very few teams just go out and hire the next Phil Jackson. More often than not, its the next Vinny Del Negro. Beyond that, it wasn't just Phil Jax. It was Winter and Bach too. The Bulls seem very much against having highly paid, talented assistants nowadays and aren't too high on paying vet coaches big money. They would really have to pull an about face to go from Thibs to some higher level coaching staff.

....

Getting back to my points. Maybe everything works out great and the Bulls continue to be a contender for 5-6 more years. I'm not going to completely discount that possibility. I'm just pointing out all the things that make it statistically unlikely. Keeping things like picks and non contributing young players is basically planning on it being successful which isn't a good bet.

[RyanJamari]

The Cavs could be a juggernaut in a year or two. Their arrow is pointing up a lot faster than ours recently.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

They need to resign the majority of their roster, and Lebron is now into his 30s.

I’m not interested in perpetuating theories about how their window and chances have improved whilst the Bulls sit here, not dealing for Afflalo or anyone else, and in turn simultaneously shutting their own chances down.

Your theory seems to just be the reverse one with the Bulls though, that we shouldn't make a move now because our peak is going to be in some x number of years. While with the age of Gasol, Noah, MDJ, and Taj, and Rose's injury concerns, I don't really see why we are going to have a better chance in a few years than now.

The most important thing to do is draft well!! The Bulls have to keep hitting on draft pick and moving players at the right times. At some point in the next 2 years we are going to have to move Taj.

[kingkirk]

Looking likely that Afflalo is Portland bound...

[Tweet]
https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/statu ... 3005947904[/Tweet]

[kodo]

AA, Batum, Matthews, Lillard...that's quite a perimeter on both ends of the floor.

[Tenchi Ryu]

Looking likely that Afflalo is Portland bound...

[Tweet]
https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/statu ... 3005947904[/Tweet]

Contender right there....

That starting line up is filthy.

[Rerisen]

Chin up. At least he isn't coming somewhere else in the East.

[TheJordanRule]

Chin up. At least he isn't coming somewhere else in the East.

He was one of the most dubious options to solve our issues. Don't sweat it. Especially since the FO can land Harris or an NBA starting wing that isn't a rental.

[Jordan45822]

WojYahooNBA: Denver has traded Arron Afflalo to Portland, league source tells Yahoo.

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[Jordan45822]

WojYahooNBA: Blazers will send Will Barton, Victor Claver, a future lottery protected 1st and a second-round pick to Denver for Afflalo and Alonzo Gee.

WojYahooNBA: Thomas Robinson goes to the Nuggets too, source tells Yahoo.

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[TyrusRose2425]

We were never really in the Afflalo sweepstakes anyways

[6_Rings]

smh are we even in ANY sweepstakes?

[Rerisen]

Move further talk to the trade deadline thread.