The Bulls will face an uphill battle next season as they find themselves without star point guard Derrick Rose for an indefinite period of time thanks to his torn ACL. Beyond Rose's injury, the Bulls could be without Luol Deng if he elects to undergo wrist surgery after playing in the London Olympic Games. The Bulls will face a series of decisions this summer as they hope to remain one of the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference after falling to the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs this spring. ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell has the latest news and notes out of Chicago…
- The Bulls are currently mulling their options over whether they should continue their relationship with C.J. Watson, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer. Watson seems the most likely to return as he knows the offense well and could do a solid job of filling in for Rose while he is out rehabbing. The Bulls may need to look elsewhere if they decide to match any offer for restricted free agent Omer Asik, who is expected to command $5MM per season.
- The timeline for Deng's recovery from wrist surgery is approximately three to four months, which if he plays in the Olympics would mean that he would miss the start of the NBA season. Deng is also scheduled to participate in an NBA-sponsored "Basketball Without Borders" trip to South Africa this August. A prolonged absence from the team will seemingly impact how the Bulls shape their roster this summer for next season.
- Don't look for the Bulls to amnesty Carlos Boozer this summer as Chicago will need to rely on his scoring next season if they hope to be competitive. Moving forward, it's likely the Bulls will rid themselves of Boozer's bloated contract, but such a move is at least a summer away. Boozer, 30, averaged 15.0 PPG and 8.5 RPG in 66 starts with the Bulls during the 2011/2012 season.
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Lots of guys in the league can average 15 ppg. Hell, Nick Young has done it, and he’s a free agent who’ll cost half of Booze. Amnesty Carlos, go after Williams, and package Noah, picks, and Mirotic for Howard.
Bulls cant sign any big time FA’s. Why would u amnesty boozer when u cant get a better replacement
If they “amnestied” Boozer, they would have, at least in theory, a max contract slot to throw out there. I also think they could duplicate Boozer’s raw numbers for the vet exception…and get someone who can play defense. I’d jump on the Orlando deal, although I didn’t include Deng, as I’m not sure they’d want an injured Deng included.
No, they wouldn’t. Rose isn’t on a rookie scale contract anymore and Noah’s new deal has kicked in too. Along with Deng, that’s roughly 40 million right there. Even if they amnestied Boozer, they would be at roughly 60 million for the team payroll, so unless they amnesty Boozer, cut Korver, Watson, and Brewer, they can’t sign anyone to a big deal.
the magic said they’ll do the trade with chicago but they want deng, noah draft picks, and mirotic for howard and turkogulo