Butler4thewin wrote:sh0ck wrote:BloodyQ wrote:
You almost have to gut the whole bench for a guy like that. You know they would be asking for Portis, Valentine, Zipser, Lopez, Mirotic, and the pick.
Or you can just wait until he opts out in 2018 when the Bulls have a ton of cap room.
So in 2018 how do you think our roster would look and how much cap room ?
I think it depends on whether the FO makes a move this off season, which they have already told us they weren't planning to
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/03/03/gar-forman-future-salary-cap-space-vital-in-bulls-plan-moving-forward/.
Seeing how the FO has flip flopped on this team all year long, I could see them trying to add a piece (or trade for Melo) if the Bulls make a deep push in this year's playoffs. Say the Bulls pull of this 1st round upset, find a way to win in the 2nd round (very unlikely), and put up a good series against LeBron in the ECF. GarPax might just say "Screw it" and use their 23-27 million dollars under the cap to overpay a "good not great" player to hopefully contend in 2017-2018 while resigning RFAs Felicio and Mirotic.
Say the Bulls flame out in the 2nd round, I could see them saying, "Boston was a fluke," and just bringing the same team next year (depending on Mirotic's price) without adding any major piece (outside of the #16 1st rounder and #38 2nd rounder).
In scenario 1,
Bulls would have limited cap space to add anyone in 2018, since any deal to a new player will certainly extend more than 1 year. And picking up Melo's shorter deal still bleeds into 2018-2019. Say they pick up Melo's deal in this year's off season (which has 2 years left, one of them being an opt-out in 2018-2019). I highly doubt Melo opts out of his final year of 28 million dollars, but if he does, the Bulls could maybe get him to sign a smaller annual deal with more years. Wade and Rondo will be off the books. Without Wade/Rondo/Melo, the Bulls would only have Jimmy/RoLo/Denzel/Grant/Portis/Zipser/Payne for a total of 46.42 million dollars. With Melo that total comes to 74 million (which leaves 31 million in cap space if you renounce Wade/Rondo). However, if Mirotic/Felicio was kept on board, that figure is most likely in the teens (rough estimates of 15 million for the both). So most likely those dollars would be spent keeping Rondo and Wade at reasonable prices (even if Melo opted out and restructured).
In scenario 2,
If the Bulls stand pat in 2018, they will have 46.42 million (also dependent on Mirotic/Felicio's RFA contracts). This gives them 59 million under the cap to offer a max level contract Paul George, while maintaining the mini-Bird rights to resign Wade and Rondo. Another interesting development could be in New Orleans, where the Boogie Cousins and AD experience has an opportunity to
This gets tricky however, because more factors would have to fall into place.
1. Pacers would have to not trade Paul George and continue the current disappointing trend (likely), or Paul George gets traded to a non-contender only to leave them (unlikely).
2. Bulls would have to recreate the magic of this post season with Wade and Rondo another year older to allure Paul George to sign with the Bulls, while the younger players develop to fill bigger roles.
3. Paul George would have to NOT qualify for the DVPE, or turn down a TON of dollars to sign with a contender.
4. Wade would have to agree to come off the bench (at 37 years old, this seems like a reasonable request).
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Big props to the guy. I guess Manu's right there, too.