Bulls Notes: Butler, Hoiberg, Hinrich
Jimmy Butler‘s recent criticism of Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg‘s laid back demeanor has rankled Derrick Rose‘s camp, but the swingman has the full support of veteran big man Pau Gasol, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun Times writes. “I don’t mind those comments,’’ Gasol said, when asked about Butler declaring himself the team’s leader this season. “I think those comments are positive. Those comments and attitudes don’t raise my eyebrows. I think it’s good certain guys want to take ownership and say, ‘Hey let’s go.’”
“There was some positives and some negatives to that situation,’’ Gasol said of Butler’s public statements regarding the team. “It’s a good thing to say, at some point, enough is enough, something’s got to happen, something’s got to change, and you’ve got to say something and stir the pot a little bit. But some things also need to stay directed indoors and not be exposed outside.’’
Here’s more from out of the Windy City:
- The Bulls are committed to Hoiberg, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports said on “The Vertical” podcast (audio link via Twitter at one-hour, one-minute mark), and Wojnarowski suggests that if Hoiberg doesn’t pan out, it jeopardizes the jobs of executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson and GM Gar Forman.
- Point guard Kirk Hinrich has been a calming influence for the Bulls and one of the few constants for the franchise the last few seasons, Jake Fischer of SI.com writes in his profile of the player. “He’s been a warrior for the franchise,” small forward Doug McDermott said of Hinrich. “He’s been a really good player and put it all out on the floor. He deserves a lot of credit.”
- While he remains an elite passer at the center position, Joakim Noah‘s broken shot mechanics and resulting lack of confidence in his offensive game have made him a liability on the court, Tom Ziller of SB Nation writes.
Bulls Make Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson Available
The Bulls are determined to find an upgrade at the wing and feel like they need more shooting, and they’re open to trading either Joakim Noah or Taj Gibson for the best possible wing player available, executives from around the league have told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, as he said on “The Vertical” podcast (audio link via Twitter at one-hour, three-minute mark; transcription via Blog a Bull). Noah, poised to hit free agency this summer, said today that he’s expected to miss two to four weeks with a “slight tear” in his shoulder, a comment that came after Wojnarowski recorded his podcast. Gibson, signed through next season, has higher value on the trade market, a Western Conference GM said recently to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
Jimmy Butler caused a stir with his recent criticism of coach Fred Hoiberg, but he’s well-entrenched on the wing with a new five-year contract. Tony Snell is shooting 38.7% from 3-point range as the replacement starter for the injured Mike Dunleavy at the other wing position, but he’s averaging just 5.6 points in 22.8 minutes per game. Dunleavy still appears to be a month or two from returning to play in games after a recent setback in his recovery from back surgery.
Wings are in high demand around the league, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks said to Wojnarowski on the podcast. The Timberwolves have reportedly made shooting guard Kevin Martin available, and the Bulls were apparently among the teams interested in him last season, though it’s unclear if they’re still eyeing him or if they’d be willing to relinquish Gibson or Noah for the career 38.5% 3-point shooter who turns 33 in February. Multiple reports have indicated that the Clippers are thinking about trading Jamal Crawford, though he’s a career 34.9% 3-point shooter who’s hit on only 30.9% of his attempts from behind the arc this season. The Nuggets are reportedly dangling Randy Foye, though he’s posted only 5.9 points in 20.0 minutes per game with 28.0% shooting this season.
Noah, who’s averaging a career-low 4.5 points per game, is making $13.4MM this year, while Gibson, a recent addition to the starting lineup, has an $8.5MM salary for this season, with $8.95MM coming his way in 2016/17. Chicago is a taxpaying team, so the Bulls can only take in 125% of the salary they trade away, plus $100K, unless they bring in players with contracts that fit within the minimum salary exception. The Bulls, who haven’t made a trade since July 14th, 2014, don’t have any trade exceptions.
Which wing players do you think the Bulls could reasonably acquire for either Noah or Gibson? Leave a comment to let us know.
Joakim Noah Out Up To A Month
Joakim Noah said he’s been told he’ll miss the next two to four weeks because of a “slight tear” within his sprained left shoulder, an injury he suffered in Monday’s loss to the Nets, as Noah said to media today, including Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com and K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter links). The potentially month-long timeframe confirms Tuesday’s speculation from coach Fred Hoiberg after the team said Noah would be re-evaluated in two weeks.
The ailment is the latest frustration in a tough season for the 2016 free agent whom Hoiberg benched. He made his first start of the year in Saturday’s loss to the Knicks, recording a season-high 21 points to go with 10 rebounds, but he went back to a reserve role Monday before the injury. The ninth-year veteran is averaging a career-low 4.5 points per game, and his 22.3 minutes per contest are his fewest since his rookie season. Still, he’s been reluctant to criticize Hoiberg even as he’s shown signs of frustration with his reduced role.
Noah’s absence temporarily alleviates a frontcourt logjam for the Bulls, who’ve been trying to find time for promising rookie Bobby Portis while still keeping Noah, Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic involved. Still, the injury surely does little for Noah’s trade value, which has appeared relatively soft. One Western Conference GM told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that he thinks Noah is poised to leave Chicago in free agency this summer, though Gasol has said he’s “very likely” to opt out.
The Bulls are also dealing with a long-term injury to Mike Dunleavy, who still appears about a month or two away from game action. They nonetheless are without the volume of injuries necessary to trigger an extra roster spot via the hardship exception. They can’t get a disabled player exception unless one of their players is expected to miss the rest of the season, and while two players among the 15 on their roster are without fully guaranteed contracts, both are big men, another indication that Chicago is unlikely to make a roster move to compensate for the loss of Noah.
How do you see the rest of the season playing out for Noah? Do you think the Bulls will trade him? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround: 12/22/15
Bulls swingman Jimmy Butler has made some sharply critical comments about new coach Fred Hoiberg‘s laid back coaching style, a move that reportedly didn’t sit well with Butler’s teammates or the front office. “I believe in the guys in this locker room, yeah,” Butler had said after last Saturday’s loss to the Knicks. “But I also believe that we probably have to be coached a lot harder at times. I’m sorry. I know Fred’s a laid-back guy and I really respect him for that, but when guys aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do, you got to get on guys. Myself included. You got to do what you’re supposed to do when you’re out there playing basketball.”
According to Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com, the Bulls are having difficulty adjusting to Hoiberg’s style after years of defensive-minded “taskmaster” Tom Thibodeau. Both Butler and Hoiberg are in the first year of their respective five-year deals, which makes any potential discord between Butler, the team’s star, and the new coach a dicey and uncomfortable proposition.
This bring me to the topic for today: Should the Bulls look to trade Jimmy Butler given his recent remarks and the rift that is reportedly developing between he and his teammates?
While there is little doubt that Butler is the team’s best player, it can be a chemistry killer if the face of the franchise isn’t on board with the coaching staff’s program. Butler has also reportedly rankled his fellow Bulls with his propensity to do his pregame warm ups on his own, a practice that caused Joakim Noah to have a talk with him recently, according to K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Friedell had suggested that Butler’s remarks may have signaled “the beginning of the end” of his time in Chicago, though the controversy has seemingly died down since this past weekend.
But what say you? Were Butler’s remarks about Hoiberg out of line, or do they have merit? If you believe that the swingman was correct in his assessment, do you think he was justified in voicing his frustrations publicly? Would the Bulls be better served trying to deal Butler if a significant return could be garnered, or should the front office take the player’s comments to heart and look to make a change in the coaching staff? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Bickerstaff, Noah, Smith
Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley is a big supporter of interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff and hopes the team plays well enough to nab Bickerstaff the position on a more permanent basis, Mark Berman of FOX 26 relays (via Twitter). When asked what it would mean to him if Bickerstaff was officially named head coach, Beverley said, “Oh, everything. He’s been great. We’re very close. [He] holds everybody accountable. No one’s bigger than the team. Our defensive principles and defensive intensity have definitely gone up since [he became interim coach]. It wouldn’t surprise me if he will be our head coach for years to come. That wouldn’t surprise me. We’re playing for him. Of course we play for ourselves. Of course we play for our family. We’re playing for him, for him to be here and the rest of the coaching staff.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Bulls center Joakim Noah is expected to miss at least two weeks of action due to a sprained left shoulder, according to the team. Noah underwent an MRI today and will be re-evaluated in two weeks, but coach Fred Hoiberg noted that Noah could be out longer than that, Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago relays. “The initial diagnosis, the shoulder sprain and the initial recovery is two weeks or rehab, then he’ll be re-evaluated. That’s what I’ve been told,” Hoiberg said. “Maybe two, maybe four. I just don’t know yet.” The big man is averaging 4.5 points and 8.8 rebounds for Chicago on the season.
- Offseason signee Jason Smith has upgraded the Magic‘s bench on both ends of floor, and his strong play has coach Scott Skiles thinking about expanding Smith’s role, John Denton of NBA.com writes. “I always felt like he was a very good team defender and we felt like in a solid defensive system he’d be very good,’’ Skiles said of Smith. “He’s really protected the rim for us and he’s been very good at moving around and communicating. He’s been very valuable for us.’’
Central Notes: Hoiberg, Cousins, Jackson
The decision to move from Tom Thibodeau to Fred Hoiberg in the offseason wasn’t about ginning up the offense, Bulls GM Gar Forman said to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com, who heard from team sources who say several prominent Bulls players have asked Hoiberg to reinstall elements of the offense Thibodeau ran.
“Fred put in a lot of ball movement, but we have a lot of guys who hold the ball a lot,” Joakim Noah said to Lowe.
Chicago would have had Warriors leading assist-maker Draymond Green had Thibodeau and his staff gotten their way in the 2012 draft, coaches have said to Lowe, but instead they wound up drafting Marquis Teague at No. 29, allowing Green to slip to the Warriors at No. 35. Chicago has an otherwise strong track record at the end of the first round of late, with 2011 30th pick Jimmy Butler the clearest example, Lowe notes. See more from Chicago:
- The Bulls deny that they’re interested in DeMarcus Cousins, Lowe writes in the same piece.
- Andre Drummond played a key role in helping Reggie Jackson feel comfortable in Detroit following the trade that brought in the point guard last season, as James Herbert of CBSSports.com notes amid a feature on Jackson, who re-signed with the Pistons in the offseason. “We had dinners after games,” Jackson said. “It became that. Then it became we played video games, trash talk a little bit about who’s winning here, who’s winning there. Just hanging out all the time. I forgot I had an apartment of my own, I had my own condo — I just basically was at Dre’s all the time. We had practice together and then we would go play the game together, eat together, just hang out. We’d be up all night, end up just talking the game, trying to figure out what we have to do to get better and to try to figure out how to be a dominant force in this league.”
- The signing of Mo Williams threatened to cut Matthew Dellavedova out of playing time at point guard, but he wrested the interim starting job from Williams during Kyrie Irving‘s absence and continues to play a key role now that Irving is back, observes Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Dellavedova, who re-signed with the Cavaliers for the value of his qualifying offer this summer, is again set for restricted free agency in the offseason ahead.
And-Ones: Silver, Howard, Bradley
The controversial rules regarding intentional fouls will not be changed this season, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post via email. Silver said he wouldn’t take action in midseason to prevent teams from employing “Hack-A” strategies, in which poor free throw shooters are fouled before the two-minute mark of a quarter. But the issue will be revisited when the competition committee meets in July, Silver added to Bontemps, who also conducted a phone interview with the commissioner and touched on a variety of topics.
In other news around the league:
- The Mavericks shouldn’t even consider a trade for Dwight Howard, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News opines. Howard’s drama queen act and reputation as a coach killer isn’t worth the risk of bringing him aboard, Sefko continues. The Rockets center is also getting more brittle by the season, so the Mavs should not waste their cap space and trade assets on him, Sefko concludes.
- Celtics shooting guard Avery Bradley is currently 20th in steals at 1.6 per game but Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy says that doesn’t measure Bradley’s true impact as a defender. The Celtics force a league-best 17.9 turnovers per game and Van Gundy credits Bradley for making that happen. “It’s a very, very aggressive defensive team,” Van Gundy said. “Bradley and [Jae] Crowder in particular are really aggressive defenders and when they have [Marcus] Smart, that gives them another guy that can really get after you on the defensive end of the floor. Bradley is one of the best pressure defenders in the league and sort of spearheads the whole thing.”
- Bulls shooting guard Jimmy Butler does not regret the critical comments he made about first-year coach Fred Hoiberg, John Jackson of the Associated Press reports. Butler ripped Hoiberg for being too soft on his players over the weekend, then met with his coach to discuss his concerns. Butler believes he needs to be more of a team leader, Jackson adds. “[I was] a little frustrated after a loss, yeah, but then again, I put a lot of it on myself now because I have to lead better,” he said. Center Pau Gasol said he doesn’t mind Butler’s comments, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. “I think it’s good that certain guys want to take ownership and say, ‘Hey, let’s go,’” he told Johnson.
Bulls Notes: Butler, Hoiberg, Gibson, Noah
Jimmy Butler insisted today that he wasn’t calling out Fred Hoiberg when he made a series of pointed comments implicating the coach after Saturday’s loss to the Knicks, notes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). The swingman said today that he accepts that he has to fit into Hoiberg’s offense, an issue that’s reportedly raised concern, and that the coach doesn’t have to change as a person, even though he would like to see him demand more, as Johnson also relays (Twitter links). Hoiberg agrees that he can get on his players more than he has and said that he didn’t find Butler’s remarks from Saturday hurtful, according to Johnson (Twitter links). See more on Butler, Hoiberg and other Bulls amid the latest from the Windy City:
- Taj Gibson would net the Bulls a greater return in a trade than Joakim Noah would, but the Bulls have resisted the idea of trading Gibson the last two years, a Western Conference GM told Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. A market does exist for Noah, the GM also said, though he thinks the center is poised to depart Chicago in free agency this summer anyway, as Deveney details.
- Chicago has major locker room problems, and while acrimony doesn’t exist, a lack of camaraderie does, a league source who spoke to Deveney for the same piece said. Butler, whose lone-wolf approach reportedly leaves others feeling alienated, said today that after talking to his teammates, he believes they accept his leadership, even as he admits he has to be a better leader, observe Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com and Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com (All Twitter links).
- Doug McDermott has taken a leap forward this season, and he credits a significant part of that to Hoiberg, who attended the same high school as he did, Friedell notes. “He runs stuff for me,” McDermott said. “He gives me that confidence. He’ll run stuff for me and when you’ve got Derrick [Rose] and Jimmy out there you need a floor spacer and I know I’m going to get shots with those guys eventually just because they draw so much attention.”
Central Notes: Butler, Hoiberg, Pistons, Love
Jimmy Butler and Fred Hoiberg met Sunday, a day after Butler made sharply critical comments about the coach, and they had what a source who spoke with K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune called a “good talk.” Bulls management likes the work it’s seen from both of them, and with both in the first year of respective five-year deals, neither is going anywhere, Johnson posits. Still, some around the Bulls are dismayed about what they perceive as Butler’s selfishness and perplexed about why he’s reluctant to embrace Hoiberg’s offense, Johnson hears. The former 30th overall pick often warms up on his own, which rubs others the wrong way and prompted Joakim Noah to have a talk with him, a source said to Johnson. Butler’s sympathizers contend that he’s just frustrated that there aren’t many who work as hard as he does, Johnson adds. See more on Butler amid the latest from the Central Division:
- Butler is simply embracing the gritty attitude most would want out of a superstar, argues Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago.com, who points out that the swingman hasn’t said Hoiberg can’t coach or that the team made a mistake with his hiring.
- Any trade proposal to the Pistons would have to represent a marked upgrade in terms of talent for the team to bite, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy cautioned, as Aaron McCann of MLive.com notes. “I like the chemistry and character of our group,” Van Gundy said. “We won’t make lateral moves or marginal moves because continuity is important.”
- Kyrie Irving‘s return from injury Sunday challenges the Cavs to keep Kevin Love engaged in the offense to the degree that he has been so far this season, observes Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Love felt confident as he re-signed with the team this summer that his second season in Cleveland would be better than his first, when he appeared an afterthought at times next to Irving and LeBron James.
Central Notes: Jennings, Irving, Harris, Butler
After playing in his first game in nearly 11 months Saturday, Brandon Jennings was among three players recalled from the D-League today by the Pistons, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. Jennings, who suffered a ruptured left Achilles January 24th, was sharp for Grand Rapids with 11 points and 12 assists in 27 minutes, according to Rod Beard of the Detroit News. “He’s looking good; he’s still trying to get acclimated and get back,” said Reggie Jackson, one of several Pistons teammates who attended the game. “You see the burst and the flashes and we all know the player he can be. … He’s someone we’re going to need when he gets back.” Beard speculated that Jennings could return to NBA action December 26th or 29th. Reggie Bullock and Darrun Hilliard were also recalled from Grand Rapids.
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Jennings’ decision to use Grand Rapids as part of his rehab process may help change the way the D-League is used, writes Peter J. Wallner of MLive. Other players have practiced with D-League affiliates when coming back from injuries, but Jennings is the first big name to use the minor league similar to the way baseball players do. “I think this the tip of the iceberg and is the way the league should be used,” said Grand Rapids coach Otis Smith. “… For them [Pistons] to have the forethought or comfort to have him play with us is beneficial to them, but really sends a message and is beneficial for this league.”
- The Cavaliers are also getting an injured point guard back, as Kyrie Irving is expected to play today against the Sixers, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. It will be his first action since fracturing his kneecap in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. “There is no specific reason on why now,” Irving said. “… I finally got the full clearance from my doctors and our training staff, and that’s all I needed.”
- The Cavaliers have recalled Joe Harris from their D-League affiliate in Canton, the team announced today. He has appeared in 10 games with the Charge, averaging 16.4 points, and five with Cleveland.
- The Bulls have internal concerns about Jimmy Butler‘s “hesitancy” over the offense installed by new coach Fred Hoiberg, tweets K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. The tweet comes in the wake of critical comments Butler directed at Hoiberg Saturday night.