Chicago Bulls Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Rumors: Bulls, Sloan, Pargo, Dunlap

October 23rd, 2012 at 7:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA GMs were polled recently about their thoughts on the upcoming season, and one of the more intriguing revelations is that the Pacers received more votes to win the Central Division than the Bulls, who have finished with the league's best record two seasons in a row but are now without Derrick Rose. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is unfazed by the prediction, as Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com notes. Here's more from around the Central.

It doesn't look like both Donald Sloan and Jeremy Pargo will make the opening-night roster for the Cavs, according to Bob Finnan of The News Herald, who believes Sloan has the best chance to survive cuts (Sulia link). That's a little surprising, since Sloan's deal is without a guarantee, while Pargo has a fully guaranteed deal for $1MM this season.
With the Cavs' first regular season game just a week away, coach Byron Scott said the only players guaranteed a starting spot are Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reports.
Mike Dunlap seemed like an out-of-nowhere hire when the Bobcats tabbed him as their new coach this summer, but Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets that the Bulls interviewed Dunlap for their coaching job in 2008, when they hired current Clippers boss Vinny Del Negro.

Odds & Ends: Green, Mohammed, Raptors, Magic

October 23rd, 2012 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's check out a few Tuesday afternoon odds and ends from around the NBA:

So far this preseason, Jeff Green has been what the Celtics thought they were getting when they acquired him from the Thunder two years ago, says Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau says offseason addition Nazr Mohammed came "highly recommended" and that he has lived up to expectations so far, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), the Raptors have made an addition to their pro personnel department, hiring former Hawks assistant GM David Pendergraft, who played a large role in Atlanta's drafts under former GM Rick Sund.
Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com wonders if the Magic's plans could be affected by whether or not the Thunder extend James Harden.
In an Insider-only piece, ESPN.com's Chad Ford identifies a few of his top prospects for 2013 draft that don't play at major-conference schools.
Jamar Smith, who was cut from Celtics camp, is drawing interest from multiple clubs in Italy, according to a pair of articles from Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.

Odds & Ends: Gibson, Kirilenko, Hawks, Rockets

October 22nd, 2012 at 2:42pm CST by Luke Adams

With just eight days until the NBA regular season officially gets underway in Cleveland, Miami, and Los Angeles, let's round up a few updates from around the league….

While Taj Gibson is hoping to get a long-term extension worked out with the Bulls, he's preparing for any outcome, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
Discussing his free agency with Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld, Andrei Kirilenko explained that a number of factors went into his decision to sign with the Timberwolves: "I’m not just looking at one thing. Here, I found that all the pieces fit together. The contract is great, don’t get me wrong, but the team has made a big improvement from last year, and you know it’s a team on the way up, not on the way down or stuck. They’re growing up."
The Hawks aren't sure whether they'll keep 13, 14, or 15 players on their roster, as coach Larry Drew tells Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Of the team's 16 players currently under contract, Vivlamore suggests Anthony Tolliver, Damion James, and James Anderson are the three on non-guaranteed deals. Tolliver's contract was previously reported as being fully guaranteed, so it's unclear exactly what his situation is.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey appeared on KBME in Houston and discussed offseason additions Carlos Delfino and Omer Asik, as Eric Schmoldt of Sports Radio Interviews documents.
With Spurs coach Gregg Popovich having indicated that Eddy Curry and Derrick Brown are the frontrunners for the team's final roster spot, Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News gives the edge to Curry.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel isn't sure if there's a place for Joel Anthony on the Heat's current roster and wonders if a trade might make sense.

Central Rumors: Bulls, Walsh, Hammond, Pistons

October 21st, 2012 at 12:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls figure to have a tough time repeating their success of the past two seasons with Derrick Rose injured and most of their key reserves playing elsewhere. Still, they have the advantage of playing in the NBA's easiest division, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, who believes they'll be able to tread water and come up with 46 wins, likely enough for a playoff berth. If Rose is back, a higher seed probably won't want to see Chicago in the first round, but until then, here's the latest on a few teams trying to benefit from the Bulls' misfortune.

Donnie Walsh is back in familiar surroundings as Pacers president of basketball operations after a stint in the Knicks front office, as Harvey Araton of The New York Times examines in a lengthy feature. Walsh admits his recovery from spinal cord surgery, which forced him to meet with LeBron James unprepared and in a wheelchair, affected the team's pitch for the superstar in 2010, and the 71-year-old doesn't envision himself as a long-term solution for the Pacers.
Though he's not expected to give Brandon Jennings a long-term extension this month, Bucks GM John Hammond is confident his backcourt of Jennings and Monta Ellis can work, and sees the Pacers and Jazz as small-market models to follow, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe details. "The goal today is not to make trades," Hammond said. "The goal today is to try to find a way to keep some of these young pieces together and build with this young nucleus but continue to keep a fair salary structure that will give us flexibility to change and improve this team."
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press looks at how the Pistons are moving against the small-ball trend.
The Pistons' rotation is starting to take shape, as Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News examines.
A more competitive on-court product this season is critical for the business side of the Pistons, argues Tom Walsh of the Detroit Free Press.

Central Notes: Cavs, Pargo, Bulls, Pacers

October 20th, 2012 at 10:15am CST by Zachary Links

The latest out of the Central Division..

Cavs coach Byron Scott says that he could conceivably carry three point guards on the roster, but it would appear that he will only keep either Jeremy Pargo or Donald Sloan, writes Jason Lloyd of the Beacon Journal. The Cavs still have to cut two more players before the start of the season, but those cuts aren't expected to come until after Tuesday's preseason finale. Sloan is on a non-guaranteed deal while Pargo is guaranteed $1MM.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, Marko Jaric appears to be a long shot to make the Bulls, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. The guard saw just 52 seconds of playing time in the team's preseason win over his former team, the Timberwolves.
The Pacers are young and have a promising future ahead of them, but it's also not difficult to see them finishing second in the Eastern Conference this season, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. With intriguing pickups such as Gerald Green, Danny Granger & Co. will look to improve on a team which had the Heat on the ropes in last year's conference semifinals.

Odds & Ends: Nets, PEDs, Radmanovic, Invitees

October 18th, 2012 at 11:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

Newsday's Roderick Boone says the Nets are a work in progress, but passes along praise from Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "It's like this is a whole new franchise," Rivers said. "It feels like they just plucked this team out of the space, and all of the sudden they've got a hell of a team in our division that wears black uniforms. It's unbelievable. I don't know if they could've done anything better. This is terrific." The Nets also drew admiration from Kevin Garnett, but Brooklyn coach Avery Johnson believes all the talk is just a psychological ploy from the team that's won the Atlantic Division five years in a row, calling it "a straight setup," as Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News documents (Sulia link). As the gamesmanship intensifies and the regular season draws closer, here's more from around the league.

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency called upon the NBA to institute testing for human growth hormone, and says there are "gaps" in the league's measures to prevent the use of performance-enhancing drugs, Henry Abbott of ESPN.com reports.
Bulls offseason signee Vladimir Radmanovic is having trouble adjusting to the physical demands of playing for coach Tom Thibodeau, and might not be a part of the team's rotation come opening night, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld sizes up the chances each team's training camp hopefuls have of making the opening-night roster.
Micheal Eric and Kevin Jones haven't seen much playing time in preseason games, which makes practice all the more important for the pair, both of whom are trying to make the Cavaliers on non-guaranteed deals, as Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer chronicles.
Vince Carter appears to be the favorite to assume the sixth-man role that Jason Terry played for the Mavericks before departing via free agency this past summer, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside identifies six intriguing prospects who are likely to be available in the D-League draft, including Phil Jones, who was in camp with the Timberwolves earlier this month.

Heat Rumors: LeBron, Lewis, Chalmers, Blatche

October 18th, 2012 at 6:05pm CST by Chuck Myron

A report by Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com suggesting the Lakers could go after LeBron James in 2014 went out like something of a hurricane watch for South Florida today, and Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com adds to Miami's anxiety, tweeting that the Bulls, too, would go after King James when he comes available. Of course, it makes sense that plenty of teams covet the three-time MVP, and Friedell believes the Bulls rank below the Heat and Lakers on LeBron's wishlist (Twitter link). While the threat that he might leave someday is indeed present, LeBron remains under contract with the Heat for at least two more seasons. As Miami focuses on the present, here are the latest Heat-related rumblings:

James denied knowledge of Windhorst's story earlier today, responding, "What story? The Marvel Comics story?" when asked about it by reporters, including Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
Winderman argues that, given Rashard Lewis' minimum-salary contract, any contribution the team gets from him this season should be seen as gravy for a team that already had a successful offseason with the signing of Ray Allen.
In the same piece, Winderman also suggests Mario Chalmers could become a trade candidate if fellow point guards Norris Cole and Garrett Temple impress.
The Heat kicked the tires on Andray Blatche this summer, but despite his emergence as the league's fourth leading scorer in the preseason at 17.0 points per game for the Nets, Winderman doesn't believe Miami is missing out, since Blatche would likely have been glued to the Heat bench.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says Dwyane Wade is ahead of schedule as he recovers from offseason knee surgery, Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida reports (Sulia link). The last we heard, Wade was hoping to be ready for opening night.

Bulls Cut Kyrylo Fesenko

October 18th, 2012 at 4:55pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls have waived center Kyrylo Fesenko, the team announced. His subtraction brings the roster to 15 players. The move was expected, since the Bulls, who are under a $74.307 hard cap this season, couldn't afford to keep him for opening night without getting rid of one of their guaranteed deals. They'll be eligible to re-sign him on November 19th, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports points out on Twitter, when the veteran's minimum-salary will pro-rate down to a figure the Bulls can manage.

The 7'1" Fesenko was signed on the eve of training camp to a minimum-salary make-good deal without a guarantee. He spent the final month of last season with the Pacers but appeared in only three regular season games, scoring eight points in 17 minutes. He didn't get into any of Indiana's playoff games, though he saw extensive postseason action in 2010, in the middle of his four-season tenure with the Jazz.

Once he clears waivers, Fesenko will be free to sign with any team, so there's no certainty that he'll be back with the Bulls this season. Marko Jaric and Ryan Allen remain with the Bulls on non-guaranteed deals, but they seem destined for the same fate as Fesenko.

Taj Gibson Hopes To Retire As A Bull

October 18th, 2012 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Taj Gibson is entering the final year of his rookie contract and could become a restricted free agent next summer, but it doesn't sound as if he's overly eager to explore his options on the open market. According to Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com (via Twitter), Gibson has said he'd like to spend the rest of his career with the Bulls, and is "hopeful" that the two sides will work out a contract extension this month.

We've heard plenty of updates this month on Gibson's contract situation, with most reports suggesting that the big man is likely to land a new deal with Chicago before the October 31st deadline. Yesterday, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported that he expected the Bulls and Gibson to agree on an extension, with Carlos Boozer likely being amnestied down the road.

When Ryan Raroque of Hoops Rumors examined Gibson's case for an extension, he suggested that a deal worth about $6MM annually could work for both sides. If the Bulls could lock up the 27-year-old for three or four years at that price, it'd be a coup for the team. I wouldn't be surprised if Gibson landed a slightly bigger payday, perhaps in the neighborhood of $30MM overall.

Stein On Extension Candidates, Boozer, Paul

October 17th, 2012 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

Earlier this week, TNT's David Aldridge shared the latest rumors and rumblings he'd heard about this year's fourth-year extension candidates. ESPN.com's Marc Stein follows suit today, and while much of what he's hearing is along the same lines as Aldridge's updates, there's still enough new info that it's worth rounding up the highlights….

Despite chairman Jerry Reinsdorf's apparent aversion to early extensions, it's still likely that the Bulls and Taj Gibson work something out this month, and that the team will eventually release Carlos Boozer using the amensty clause.
An extension for Ty Lawson remains more a question of "when" than "if," sources tells Stein.
The Raptors seem to "want to be wowed" by DeMar DeRozan in the 2012/13 season before committing to him long-term.
The Bobcats aren't expected to lock Gerald Henderson up to an extension unless the terms are very team-friendly.
Although the Hawks like Jeff Teague, they'll likely hold off on committing future cap space to a point guard until they're 100% sure they can't lure Chris Paul to Atlanta.
Extensions for Darren Collison and Rodrigue Beaubois can safely be ruled out as the Mavericks attempt to preserve next summer's cap room.
Stein also believes Stephen Curry and James Harden are likely to be extended, and that a new deal for Jrue Holiday is possible. However, he classifies the rest of this offseason's extension candidates as unlikely to receive long-term contracts by Halloween.