Dan Z wrote:I look at the moves AKME made this off-season and when I specifically think about Caruso, DeRozan and Ball I wonder why more teams didn't go after them?
I guess they didn't see the same value in those players that AKME did. I know when he made those moves I wasn't sure about them, but looking back I'm glad the Bulls have a front office that didn't want to spend years rebuilding.
It could be a couple of things. NBA GMs, just like NBA fans, have differing opinions on players. Ball, specifically, I suspect was viewed very differently by a lot of different GMs. Just like he was here. And really, Ball’s not a great fit on a lot of teams. I’ve been high on him since UCLA and after seeing him completely change his shot in the NBA downright fell in love with him as the perfect fit next to Zach and what this roster needed. But I can see a lot of teams considering him to not be a good use of money considering his unusual type of old school point guard play.
Caruso had interest and multiple offers. But it appears from snippets he wanted either the Lakers or the Bulls and the Bulls offered more years.
DDR is the real head scratcher. He was being talked about both before and after the Bulls signed him as some sort of veteran riding into the sunset who would be a nice role player. Which made no sense considering he continued to play at an incredibly high level in SA and, in fact, had added to his game. It appears the whole league and every member of the media who covers the league had a groupthink brain cramp on him inconsistent with the evidence. Never did make much sense. Not that I expected him to play at an MVP level like he is right now. But still, there was no reason for anyone to think he was no longer an Allstar level player.