According to Mike McGraw, Aldridge wants the Bulls

[dice]

His TS% isn't bad though, He is a career mid 50. He is a jump shooting PF. IMO he is an ideal 2nd scorer. Rose and LMA is a nice 1-2 punch. You add shooters at the 2 & 3 and that is a squad.

that's sub-par for a big man. you don't give up solid assets for that

i'll reiterate what i said before for the newbies chiming in with the "but he's a #1 option in portland" argument: his numbers were no different when he was playing on a really good portland team with brandon roy as the franchise player

[BahamaBull]

LMA is a legit #2 next to Rose...And Noah is the perfect #3...I like Boozer coming off the bench playing against some scrubs...he always does well with scrubs

Just need to add some good shooters if this goes through...

[dice]

Aldridge true field goal percentage and raw field goal percentages are great. Where is this notion coming from he isn't efficient? Every single year he has been consistently efficient.

TS% is where it's at, buddy

TS% doesn't tell the entire story.

Guys like Corey Maggette and Kevin Martin have great TS% because they're crafty foul-drawers, but they struggle to get buckets when it counts.

wait, you can't craftily draw a foul when it counts?

[chadrucf]

How is Rose/Aldridge/Mirotic not the best core of any going forward in the entire NBA? Only clear duo/trio that could be close is Harden/Howard/14-15 FA.

LeBron/Wade/Bosh
Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka
Parker/Ginobli/Leonard/Duncan
Curry/Thompson/Lee/Bogut

I love Durant but I believe this is the season Derrick surpasses.

Well there's your problem.

[drosestruts]

Aldridge doesn't think Portland is a cool city? I now question is judgment. I'm only half kidding. He's a hell of a basketball player but it seems like he wouldn't be a good travel agent.

[BullsFTW]

Bulls Get: Aldridge & Thornton
Blazers Get: Asik, CHA Pick, CHI 2015 Pick
Rockets Get: #7 Pick & Hamilton
Kings Get: Deng

[chadrucf]

At this point, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a high volume, uber-efficient scoring power forward that we can realistically obtain without giving up something big. Kevin Love might fit that bill the closest, but if they ask for Noah we'll be having this same conversation about how he's "not that good."

It's because they don't want to find that player.

Really? Where are these players? If only making deals was as easy as it is in the trade checker...

[LobosJordan]

Precious and Aldridge is a great core. Right Dice. haha.

[xpmar9x]

No. Well, Ralph did say that everyone but Rose & Noah are available - so that means CHA pick, Mirotic, and everyone else are in play.

Man, I would love a: Rose-Matthews-Butler-LMA-Noah line-up.

In my idea of the trade, which is:

Cle gets: Deng + Rip
Chi gets: LMA + Matthews
Por gets: Waiters, #19, Gibson, Bobcats Pick, & '14 Chi 1st

We then follow-up with a free agency & draft like:
Vetmin: Nazr, Ronnie Brewer, & a PF (Jamison, Brand, or Wilcox)
MMLE: Belinili???
#20: Gorgui Dieng
#49: Brandon Paul
Amnesty Boozer

Rose (33) - Hinrich (15) - Teague
Matthews (33) - Hinrich (10) - Brewer (5) - Paul
Butler (35) - Brewer (13)
LMA (35) - VetMin (10) - Thomas (3)
Noah (33) - Dieng (10) - Nazr (5)

There's always the option of bringing back Belinilli for MMLE, but I think he'll fetch more $$ elsewhere. My above line-up is projected just around $62 mil. We have shooters in Hinrich/Matthews/Paul. We have defense all around. Ready for the championship to return to Chicago!

[Former Roy]

How is Rose/Aldridge/Mirotic not the best core of any going forward in the entire NBA? Only clear duo/trio that could be close is Harden/Howard/14-15 FA.

LeBron/Wade/Bosh
Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka
Parker/Ginobli/Leonard/Duncan
Curry/Thompson/Lee/Bogut

I love Durant but I believe this is the season Derrick surpasses.

Well there's your problem.

Young core's....for the future of the NBA, D-Rose is 24.

And if you don't think D-Rose could become as good, if not better than Durant, then that's YOUR problem. He's amazing and can only get better. D-Rose could put up 27 a game if he REALLY wanted to or if he was an SG instead. We are fortunate to have such a self-less point god amongst us.

[Red Larrivee]

And I'll be one of the "not that good" constituents.

Love is great, but he has no go-to move. If you need Love to get you a bucket, how does he do it?

He's not good in the post, he's not good from midrange, and he's not good off the bounce.

He's a very good three-point shooter and foul-drawer (partly due to his prowess on the offensive boards).

Again, Love is a great player. I just think Aldridge is a better fit.

What player are we waiting for short of LeBron James or Kevin Durant? Each player will have his flaws, it just matters on how you balance those flaws with other personel.

[chadrucf]

Young core's....for the future of the NBA, D-Rose is 24.

And if you don't think D-Rose could become as good, if not better than Durant, then that's YOUR problem.

Durant is younger than Rose...

He's amazing and can only get better. D-Rose could put up 27 a game if he REALLY wanted to or if he was an SG instead.

That's very possible, but he wouldn't do it with Durant's efficiency, and it wouldn't be desirable for the team.

We are fortunate to have such a self-less point god amongst us.

That's true.

[Shill]

TS% is where it's at, buddy

TS% doesn't tell the entire story.

Guys like Corey Maggette and Kevin Martin have great TS% because they're crafty foul-drawers, but they struggle to get buckets when it counts.

wait, you can't craftily draw a foul when it counts?

Not at the same rate.

Refs aren't as apt to bail guys out in the 4th quarter and in the playoffs. Plus there's a different level of defensive awareness and focus in those situations.

Gimme the guy who can get a bucket.

I understand the importance of drawing fouls, but I like the skills that are more tangible.

[jmajew]

The reality of this is that the Bulls will have to overpay to get him. Why people may ask? Simply because Portland does not have to trade him and other/smaller market teams will be willing to bring him for atleast 2 more years.

In reality Deng and #20 should be enough. Only reason, IMO, we'd have to give more than Deng is because LMA is a true second option and because he is almost 7 feet.

[mschmidt64]

On offense, LMA makes about 41% of those long shots. That means on average, he generates 0.82 points per attempt, which by definition means it is less effective. There are times where guys are called to take that shot as a bailout and in that case, a shot is better than no shot. However, the fact that he is getting assisted almost 80% of the time from that range shows that he is camping out there.

As far as Noah, people are underestimating his defensive impact. Thibodeau requires his big men to act like free safeties who run the defense. They call out assignments to their teammates. When you see Bulls players flying around on defense, its probably because a big man told them to. Noah said it took him some time to pick the assignments up. I can only assume that it would be the same with LMA.

Beyond that, Noah is quick. He might be the quickest 7 footer in the NBA. Given that the whole layered defense is predicated on big man help, this is really important to the defense.

I'll summarize it this way. Everyone wants to beat Miami. Miami features two slashers in Wade and Lebron that the Bulls specialize in stopping on the interior. If you harm Chicago's ability to perform help defense, you are going to have to have a massive increase in offense to make up for it and beat Miami. LMA, the way he plays now, isn't a massive upgrade in offense.

Note: I'm not saying no to LMA. I'm just trying to point out that he isn't a superstar. He is an upgrade, but if the price is too high, which it probably is, I think a trade actually dampens the Bulls' future.

Completely agree.

Which is why, while I like LMA, I would not give up our prime future assets for him (namely Mirotic and the Charlotte pick).

It's not about whether Mirotic or the Charlotte pick will be "better" players than LMA. It's about which future gives us a better chance at winning a ring. I think it's the more distant-future with more assets rather, than a near-future with LMA.

[DRoseCantStop]

Young core's....for the future of the NBA, D-Rose is 24.

And if you don't think D-Rose could become as good, if not better than Durant, then that's YOUR problem.

Durant is younger than Rose...

Durant's younger, but they're both the same age...

[Shill]

And I'll be one of the "not that good" constituents.

Love is great, but he has no go-to move. If you need Love to get you a bucket, how does he do it?

He's not good in the post, he's not good from midrange, and he's not good off the bounce.

He's a very good three-point shooter and foul-drawer (partly due to his prowess on the offensive boards).

Again, Love is a great player. I just think Aldridge is a better fit.

What player are we waiting for short of LeBron James or Kevin Durant? Each player will have his flaws, it just matters on how you balance those flaws with other personel.

Agree.

[Cowbulls]

Bulls get: Brook Lopez; Aldridge; Gerald Wallace
sent out: Noah; Deng; Boozer; 1st; Bobcats 1st

Nets get: Deng; Boozer; bobcats 1st; 1st
Send out: Lopez; Gerald Wallace

Blazers get: Noah
Send out: Aldridge

Who says no first.

[Former Roy]

The reality of this is that the Bulls will have to overpay to get him. Why people may ask? Simply because Portland does not have to trade him and other/smaller market teams will be willing to bring him for atleast 2 more years.

In reality Deng and #20 should be enough. Only reason, IMO, we'd have to give more than Deng is because LMA is a true second option and because he is almost 7 feet.

No it's because they have Nic Batum @ SF whom they just signed to an extention.

We also have to give up more because he's a 20-10 bigman & he's only 26.

[Kingjju4]

The Bulls need to get a deal done for Aldridge. IF they did that today, you could consider that their lottery... and well done!