NBA Offseason 2014

NufcNavan

Paully D wrote: »

FFS, the Bulls obsession with Hinrich is maddening.

I thought Marquis Teague would have become the backup PG before he was traded. What did you think of his game Paully D.

NufcNavan

Brett Poirier NBA ‏@BrettNBA 8s

Luol Deng has committed to the Miami Heat, reports @ShamsCharania.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 13s

Free agent forward Luol Deng has agreed to a two-year, $20 million deal with the Miami Heat, league source tells Yahoo Sports.

The Heat are a playoff team, but they aren't getting out of the east again. 4-5 seed.

Their gaping hole at the point suddenly matters now. Norris Cole and Napier is as bad a combo as you'll find anywhere.

Paully D

Deng gets the $10m that the Bulls offered him last year matched anyway. The Heat should be a #4 seed with Bosh, Wade and Deng.

NufcNavan wrote: »

I thought Marquis Teague would have become the backup PG before he was traded. What did you think of his game Paully D.

Very, very little to be honest. In fact, he was terrible.

He appeared to have it all from an athleticism viewpoint, but his shot was horrendous, so bad in fact that only 7 players in the shot clock period of the NBA have shot less than he did on the same amount of shots in 2013-2014 (24%) per Basketball Reference, cited in this article which also states he was the worse ranked player in the entire league in PER rating.

NufcNavan

Paully D wrote: »

Deng gets the $10m that the Bulls offered him last year matched anyway. The Heat should be a #4 seed with Bosh, Wade and Deng.



Very, very little to be honest. In fact, he was terrible.

He appeared to have it all from an athleticism viewpoint, but his shot was horrendous, so bad in fact that only 7 players in the shot clock period of the NBA have shot less than he did on the same amount of shots in 2013-2014 (24%) per Basketball Reference, cited in this article which also states he was the worse ranked player in the entire league in PER rating.

Yeah, he was an interesting player out of the draft but doesn't look like he'll ever match the level of play as his brother.

HigginsJ

Mixed feeling about Melo coming back. Obviously will make the Knicks a play off contender immediately but a 5 year deal for a 30 year old is a lot. He is set to earn $30 million in the last year of his deal. It's a big gamble by Phil Jackson but impressed by what he has done so far.

Nuri Sahin

Paully D wrote: »

Deng gets the $10m that the Bulls offered him last year matched anyway. The Heat should be a #4 seed with Bosh, Wade and Deng.

Big call. I think they'll finish around 6th depending on how many games Wade plays.

Nuri Sahin

HigginsJ wrote: »

Mixed feeling about Melo coming back. Obviously will make the Knicks a play off contender immediately but a 5 year deal for a 30 year old is a lot. He is set to earn $30 million in the last year of his deal. It's a big gamble by Phil Jackson but impressed by what he has done so far.

I was quite looking forward to seeing what Phil would do without Melo, tbh.

ButtersSuki

Paully D wrote: »

FFS, the Bulls obsession with Hinrich is maddening.

Well he is the perfect team oriented guy for a coach like Thibs, makes perfect sense to me. Think Gasol will be a very good addition, possibly - and I know some of you will laugh at me when I say this - an even better acquisition than Melo would have been for this team in that he rebounds and can play D too as well as contributing solidly offensively from scoring and passing perspectives. The East will at least be a little more competitive next year with the moves that have taken place.

Nuri Sahin

The Houston Rockets have not matched Parsons offer sheet. He is now a Dallas Maverick!

Paully D

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Well he is the perfect team oriented guy for a coach like Thibs, makes perfect sense to me. Think Gasol will be a very good addition, possibly - and I know some of you will laugh at me when I say this - an even better acquisition than Melo would have been for this team in that he rebounds and can play D too as well as contributing solidly offensively from scoring and passing perspectives. The East will at least be a little more competitive next year with the moves that have taken place.

I know why they like him, don't get me wrong I do too. He's a great guy, very team focused, has taken less money than he could have got elsewhere to stay but I'm completely focused about what he brings from a playing perspective and he's not what the Bulls think he is. They think he is, and I quote, "an ideal complement for Rose." That's just not the case IMO.

RE: Pau -I'd much rather have missed out on him and got Melo, but I read an interesting article today about the Bulls stocking up on bigs, Pau/Noah/Gibson/Mirotic. It's worth a read, here's the link. Some points from it:

In all there are nine categories, five on offense and four on defense, which make up at least 10 percent of their plays on each side of the ball. Gasol is significantly better in seven, slightly better in one, and Boozer is better in one, defending the spot up.

And that one area is the most dependent on team defense. Boozer played on an elite defense, and the Lakers defense was essentially a hot mess all year, finishing 29th in points per game and 28th in defensive rating.

The area where there is the greatest difference on both sides of the court is the pick-and-roll. The next biggest difference, again on both ends, is in posting up. Those are the two most important areas for the power forward.

Without question, Gasol is a demonstrably significant upgrade over Boozer, and he comes at way less than half the price. He is not another Boozer.

The other thing, and perhaps the hidden beauty to the Bulls' thinking here, is the pairing of Joakim Noah with Gasol in the paint. Among forward/centers last season, the two were first and third, respectively, in assists per game. That’s quite a passing tandem to have up front.

In Gasol and Noah, considering both sides of the ball, leadership and basketball IQ, the Bulls have arguably the most complete tandem at the position in the NBA (though the Los Angeles Clippers with Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan would argue they have the best). When you factor in Taj Gibson coming off the bench, that’s quite a trio. And the best part is they cost just $27 million.

_____

In other words, as he explains, right now small ball is all the rage. So you have people going out and dropping ridiculous sums of money on players who can facilitate that style. But because of that, traditional big men are getting brushed aside. That’s how you get a guy of Gasol’s caliber for $6.5 million while Avery Bradley is going for $8 million.

What wing was available for $6.5 million who was going to put the Bulls over the top? Vince Carter? Paul Pierce?

You’re already going to have a hard enough time trying to “out-wing” LeBron James to a championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t do it with Kevin Durant. The Indiana Pacers couldn’t do it with Paul George. So, the Bulls are certainly not going to do it with $6.5 million.

They’re just not going to copycat their way to a championship. Their best chance is to innovate their way to one. It’s better to be the next team everyone else is copying.

The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t the Miami Heat, but they have the similar strengths and weaknesses. They have great players at the perimeter and are weak in the interior.

The Bulls can’t beat the Cavs playing small ball, but they can beat them by making them pay for playing small ball. And that appears to be the strategy. Pound them inside. Then when they pack the paint, hit them with shooters. And when they come out to the paint, have Derrick Rose shred them with drives. And if they trap Rose, feed the bigs inside.

The reason other teams struggle beating small ball with an inside-out game is the inside game isn’t there. With the Bulls bigs, it is. And with the passing and ball movement that’s available to them, they can be awfully creative, although now that’s the challenge that Tom Thibodeau faces.

And the smartest part of this strategy is that with bigs like Noah and Gibson, who can defend the perimeter exceptionally well, Chicago can play big while defending small ball equally well.

In other news (edit, I just saw Nuri posted it above), Houston decline to match Parson's offer from Dallas which gives the Mavs a line-up of - Felton, Ellis, Parsons, Dirk and Chandler. They should be a good side to watch.

D2D

Shocked at Houston not matching Parson's offer sheet from the Mavs, now who do they go for with the cap space they have?

NufcNavan

Dare_2_defy wrote: »

Shocked at Houston not matching Parson's offer sheet from the Mavs, now who do they go for with the cap space they have?

They already got Ariza. I presume he will slot in for Parsons.

It also means that with the Mavs out of the running for Lance, there is one less suitor for him. Looking more likely that he will take the offer the Pacers put on the table for him.

nerd69

Paully D wrote: »

RE: Pierce - how mental does that Nets trade look now (even though it still looked mental at the time)? Three unprotected first round picks for one year of Pierce (along with being able to swap first rounders with the Nets in 2017 if they so wish) and likely just two years of KG. If Ainge can hit on those first round picks that might go down as one of the worst trades ever.

also on top of those they just traded the pierce trade exception for yet another first, tyler seller and marcus thornton.

Nuri Sahin

Adrian Wojnarowski @WojYahooNBA
Yahoo Source: Chris Andersen reaches agreement on deal to return to the Miami Heat.

So basically everyone stayed loyal, but that one dude

I was hoping someone like a Golden State for example would make a move for him, as they really, really need a backup to Bogut.

Paully D

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

So basically everyone stayed loyal, but that one dude

I was hoping someone like a Golden State for example would make a move for him, as they really, really need a backup to Bogut.

Heat vs Cavaliers in a playoff series would be great fun!

padraig_f

Report: Bulls reach three-year, $17 million deal to bring Nikola Mirotic over

Cool. Nice bit of offense added, between McDermott, Gasol & Mirotic. Snell is shooting lights-out from 3 in Summer League, and of course D. Rose's return.

ButtersSuki

Houston have gone from looking like a team going in the right direction and willing to spend to get there to looking like they're in change of the "Gareth Brukes" concert. Some serious daft moves on their part in the last few weeks which completely erase all the good work done in previous years to acquire Howard and Harden. Giving up Parsons through their own stupidity is the icing on the cake.

padraig_f

Good summary of the Bulls off-season moves, and the logic behind them:
And that's why there's no Lance. Bulls off-season explained

Things look about wrapped up now, apart from vet minimum guys. I'd have preferred Augustin to Hinrich too, but it's not a huge deal.

BQQ

padraig_f wrote: »

Good summary of the Bulls off-season moves, and the logic behind them:
And that's why there's no Lance. Bulls off-season explained

Things look about wrapped up now, apart from vet minimum guys. I'd have preferred Augustin to Hinrich too, but it's not a huge deal.

If Rose can come back and be the real Derrick Rose by the playoffs, I fancy the Bulls to win the East.

Noah and Gasol together will be kryptonite for the Cavs, Heat and even the Pacers if they manage to offload Hibbert

buyer95

The Pundit Arena basketball team, which includes me and another guy will be interviewing former Irish born NBA player Pat Burke in the coming days. We are currently composing questions, and I thought I would throw it up here to see if anyone had any suggested questions. Butters I believe you have said before on here that you played with Pat so your imput would be greatly appreciated.

Post your suggestions here please
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=91271667#post91271667

For Forks Sake

padraig_f wrote: »

Good summary of the Bulls off-season moves, and the logic behind them:
And that's why there's no Lance. Bulls off-season explained

Things look about wrapped up now, apart from vet minimum guys. I'd have preferred Augustin to Hinrich too, but it's not a huge deal.

I'm delighted we went nowhere near that idiot. Has anyone offered him a deal yet (apart from the one he turned down from Indiana)?

Paully D

Chicago give Orlando two 2nd rounders to take Randolph's salary in a salary dumping move. Essentially, it means to move up and take McDermott in the draft, the Bulls have given up two 1st's and three 2nd's.

He better be exceptional! :pac:

Nuri Sahin

Paully D wrote: »

Chicago give Orlando two 2nd rounders to take Randolph's salary in a salary dumping move. Essentially, it means to move up and take McDermott in the draft, the Bulls have given up two 1st's and three 2nd's.

He better be exceptional! :pac:

Jesus, how far Anthony Randolph has fallen..


He was the main piece Knicks got when they sign and traded Lee to the Warriors. He was making $1.8 million and it takes TWO 2nd round picks for someone to take his contract and he's going to be waived. Some fall.

padraig_f

Paully D wrote: »

Chicago give Orlando two 2nd rounders to take Randolph's salary in a salary dumping move. Essentially, it means to move up and take McDermott in the draft, the Bulls have given up two 1st's and three 2nd's.

He better be exceptional! :pac:

Looked good last night, just summer league, but the 3-point line's the same distance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oddzZNtxs7g

I liked that his number is '3', surprised more NBA players don't pick that one!

Nuri Sahin

Worth checking out this. Posted the best ones below.

Full article -Here’s What The NBA Would Look Like If Every Star Went Home























Wizards, Bulls, Knicks, Lakers and Clippers above the rest.

Felexicon

That Hornets perimeter would fun to watch

NufcNavan

Wizards would win that league.

Paully D

Imagine that Bulls team if it was healthy. Rose and Wade backcourt, the best up and coming young player in the league in Davis, Marion adding versatility and top defense and then throw in one of the top rated players out of this years draft for good measure.

*drool*

Soby

Some plays tonight by wiggins. Nice spin and dunk and a lovely block on Noel

ButtersSuki

padraig_f wrote: »

Looked good last night, just summer league, but the 3-point line's the same distance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oddzZNtxs7g

I liked that his number is '3', surprised more NBA players don't pick that one!

Watched that full game - some very nice touches and looks from Dougie. Looks the real deal. That said, he was very open for some of the shots he got but technique wise at least he has excellent form. Looks more promising on one look that I had expected.