The Bulls have gotten plenty of advice since Joakim Noah dislocated his shoulder over the weekend. The injury will sideline the popular veteran for four to six months and may signal the end of his career in Chicago.
Noah was headed for free agency this summer anyway, and nearing age 31, he has seen his role on the team diminish. The ninth-year center out of Florida started just two games this year and is averaging 21.9 minutes of playing time, the lowest since his rookie season. As a result, his numbers across the board — 4.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game — are down dramatically from his best years.
As soon as the news broke about Noah’s condition, columnists started submitting their prescriptions to fix the Bulls. Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com advocated a full-scale roster shakeup that included moving Pau Gasol — who can opt out of his contract in July — before next month’s trade deadline. Steve Rosenbloom of The Chicago Tribune agrees, saying the team should also deal away Derrick Rose if possible. Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com (Insider only) advocated keeping Gasol to give Chicago a shot in this year’s playoffs and predicted more playing time for 6’11” rookie Bobby Portis. Sam Smith of Bulls.com saw the incident as an opportunity for the Bulls to negotiate a short-term deal with Noah while other suitors might be scared away by the injury.
This leads me to today’s question: What would you do if you were running the Bulls instead of Gar Forman and John Paxson?
Would you try to unload as many veterans as possible and rebuild around Jimmy Butler and the younger players? Or would you keep the veteran core in place and make a move to attempt to win this season? And how hard would you try to re-sign Noah when he enters free agency?
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.
I’d rebuild around Jimmy Butler and I’d try to trade Rose, Gasol and Gibson. Bring in a few talented young player who would mess well with Portis and Butler. Perhaps OKC would consider Giving up Payne and Kanter for Gasol and Noah(for his contract). Gasol could really help OKC get to the finals.
Boston’s another team that should consider handing over a few assets for Gasol.
boston is the example of a team that would not give up anything of value for gasol. why would they? he’s old, hes not going to push them near contention, marquee FA’s are coming to Boston because he’s there, etc.
I don’t see OKC making that deal unless they really want to get rid of Kanter. And at that point, is 4 years of Payne and Kanter worth one year of Gasol? Gasol would help that team, but I don’t think he’s that much of an upgrade over Kanter where it makes OKC more likely to win a championship. Maybe if Chicago gives up more value (first round pick or one of Snell/McDermott/Mirotic) then OKC might consider it.
As a bulls fan I’m in favor of moving Gasol and Rose, but I wonder if there is a decent return available out there. Is there a team who feels they have no shot at getting a star that is willing to gamble on Rose returning to his former self? Is there a title contender willing to part with a young player in order to pick up Gasol? I don’t see it.
Yeah, this is the conundrum.
The vets are badly injured (Noah), have a long history of injury (Rose), are old (Gasol) or geared for yesteryear’s interior game (Gibson). They’re not worth a lot. The Bulls won’t get a valuable pick in ’16, and probably have too much talent to improve drastically (unless there’s a Giannis type pick for them at ~#20) in ’17.
So I think they should make moves to trust Rose’s legs, build on Jimmy Butler’s leadership and swap some vets (Gasol, Gibson, Noah) to get more athletic. Target a couple players, maybe Horford and bring D-Wade home for a 2 year deal and see if you can do some damage.
I think the bull should stand pat and wait until next season to make some moves… it doesn’t make sense to make any moves this year because they will not likely be able to contend for a title anyway… Just sign Joakim Noah to a short-term do you continue to monitor Derrick Rose and if he’s played doesn’t improve look to move him next year when you have a full complement roster and also the players get to play more to improve their trade value
They might as well stand pat, take advantage of the opportunity to get Bobby Portis more minutes, and see what happens when Mike Dunleavy gets healthy. Noah wasn’t contributing that much this year, anyway. They could venture a Pau Gasol or Taj Gibson trade if a great offer comes along, but I’m not sure that any reasonable offer for either of them would get this team that much farther toward a championship. The better time to reboot would be in the summer.
The Bulls organization should realize that this is not a championship team and won’t be without significant change. While making deals during the season or after the season is essential, no one will likely bring a major upgrade. All deals, in any event, should be made with an eye towards the long-term future. Making deals to chase a championship this year will end up in a waste of assets.
All players should be available. I wonder whether a Gasol to NY deal for Jerian Grant, Early, and Seraphin makes sense. (The Bulls might have to toss a 2d rounder in there). Grant has the possibility to become a very good rotational guard in the league–someone the Bulls could really use. NY gets a player Phil Jackson loves, and creates a real chance for a playoff run. Robin Lopez is there, but Gasol is much better and the commitment is short.
I also think some deal built around Taj–maybe to OKC for Payne and others might work–makes sense. In any event, Derrick Rose is going nowhere. No one is taking that contract off the Bulls hands.
Finally–and I know this might be met with both laughter and derision–but the Bulls need to determine whether they can win with a team built around Butler in the next three years. If the answer is no, then they need to consider what they could get for him. There is almost no match in value out there. However, a trade for the top pick in the draft (or even top two) might justify such a deal. I can’t see Brooklyn or Philly doing that, but I can see a scenario in which the Lakers make that trade.
The hard part, in any event, is for the organization to take a long look at this team and not delude itself into believing a Jeff Green or Matt Barnes or Jamal Crawford will make a difference.
Lakers would trade their top 3 pick and randle for butler as a conversation starter
Top 3 protected pick*. They could very well lose that pick. It makes no sense for the Bulls to give up the best two way shooting guard in the game for a pick that might go to the sixers and Randle. Plus, the Bulls have Portis, why would they want Randle?
That’s too much for Gasol considering he can walk at the end of the year and the fact that Gasol doesn’t make them a serious contender (let’s be honest, the most likely teams to win it all should be either the Cavs, Spurs or Warriors). For a team still rebuilding a bit, getting rid of young players to possibly contend one year and be eliminated in the first round is not worth it.
There is no one-for-one swap that matches Butler’s value, but a top 3 pick is not worth Butler both ways. Chicago would probably want more quantity coming back and the other team is probably not in a spot to contend where giving up a top pick justifies getting Butler back. A deal centered around one or two mid-first round picks (whether current year or future years) and one or two promising young players might be more beneficial to Chicago and the other team involved.
I agree that it is probably too much. However, the Knicks have another young PG that they like a little more than Grant (Galloway) and they have Melo under a huge contract to win now. The other two players beyond Grant are trade filler. So, I don’t think you can dismiss the Knicks sense or urgency to make the playoffs as a legitimate basis to make a deal like this. Plus, the Knicks will have Gasol’s early bird rights if they want to try to extend them. Jackson tried to sign Gasol when the Bulls were able to sign him. I just think its worth kicking the tires on, and not completely out of the question.
See how Rose finishes out the season. Build around Butler…Bulls desperately needs a two way athletic SF like (Rudy Gay or Jeff Green). I’m willing to trade Gasol (or Gibson)… Gasol is just always a step late defensively….seen enough. Bobby Portis is it, just needs to see the floor.
Its hard for me to pick people to trade. B Jennings would be good but for what. Getting ariza would be good. Asik might be moveable. At the same time being a fan of the bulls i think not having so many big men is going to make the bulls bigs better. Taj will start shooting more, niko will know he has to step up and bportis will learn to let the game come to him more. Then u have gasol, d rose and butler who can all step up when it counts anchoring the team. Last year after injury d rose was shooting fade aways in LeBrons face and burning shumpert when he switched on him. Butler is better this season to and honestly LeBron has gotten worse so who knows. Only thing is they lose rebounding but golden state just killed them even tho they’re undersized. If dunleavy wasn’t hurt we’d be even better
why would u trade derrick rose the best player they had since Jordan and build around jimmy butler that’s a terrible decision jimmy butler not that good to build around hes a dam role player derrick rose is still the young MVP in history u guys are not real bulls fan if u trade d.rose u got to be from Chicago to really understand
I’m from Chicago, and I love DRose. However, he is not the same player that he was four years ago and there is no denying it. He can still be effective but he is no longer a true impact star. Both the numbers and the eye test show it. Its tragic, but its true. Nevertheless, as I said, there is no one willing to take on that contract so he will remain in Chicago.
D Rose is no longer an MVP caliber player, any person who watched the Bulls can see that. Also I wouldn’t say Jimmy Butler is a role player. If role players drop 40 and 50 point games, I’ll glady fill my team with “role players”. And I might be in the minority, but I still think D Rose’s MVP was a fluke. He had good numbers, but the big selling point on his MVP was that his assist numbers were up and his three point shooting got better (considering he took I think it was close to 150, if not more, three point shots than the previous year, that number better be higher than the previous year). LeBron that year was 2nd and had another LeBron-esque year that had won him MVPs in previous years, so there was really no reason for him to not win the MVP that year.
The bulls are in a good place. They just need consistency. They’ve beaten the best of teams. Spurs, Cavs and OKC. They just need Dinleavy back. If they are going tip make a move it’ll be Gibson. Move him for a wing that can shot and defend. If they keep Gibson though no harm no foul. They just need to stay consistent and they can win the whole thing. Offense has improved and defense has always been there.
I see why so many fans can’t or will never be GM. First off you are not trading Rose and trading Pau will be stupid too. Unless it is a deal that is worth it. Probably won’t be. Derrick is plating better especially since he got rid of that Damn mask. The Bulls have two problems both can be fixed. Consistency and at the 3 position. Some games they bring some they dont. They are going to have to do something about the 3 position. Sorry to disappoint some people out there but Mike Dunleavy is not the answer. You need a guy you can probably get like a Markieff Morris from Phoenix who is big, strong, can shoot, defend, and play 3 or 4. He will be easier to get just because he doesn’t want to be in Phoenix. Let’s be honest you going to have to go through Cleveland in the east and he gave LeBron James fits last season. The Bulls will have money next year with Pau opting out and Noah a free agent. No point of trading a guy and you can only get a second rounder for him. Be Smart people
What is not being smart is maintaining the unjustified belief that this team is a serious contender. Can it win a couple of games in a series against Cleveland, San Antonio, or Golden State. Probably. Can it win four? Nothing that we have seen over the last two years indicates it can. If you watched Golden State dismantle Cleveland last night you would acknowledge that. If the Bulls organization clings to the belief that it can contend and makes short term moves like getting mid-level malcontents like Markieff Morris, within 2-3 years, the Bulls will be a mediocrity that will be stuck in that twilight zone where it just gets into the playoffs but gets knocked out right away. Unable to win, and unable to improve because it can’t get high end players.
I would trade gasol only if I could receive value back. Not a couple of second round picks. I would part with him for a late first-round pick or a young controllable talent. As far as D.Rose goes I would let him play out the rest of his contract as they are not going to get good value back for him with his injuries. I think is still a player that can transcend in a playoff series and the more him and Jimmy play together the better they will be. Hoilberg’s system is built for those two to succeed. Its not like the bulls are going to get Durant, Cousins, etc…
The fact that the Bulls won’t win a championship this season is the reason they should make a move. Get the new players in now to learn Hoiberg’s system and get ready for next season.