Yahoo!

In fact, Miami has been exploring a lot of possibilities, including, three sources told Yahoo! Sports, recent discussions with the Chicago Bulls on several trade scenarios that included Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for unsigned restricted free agent Ben Gordon, Larry Hughes and possibly Joakim Noah. Yet, those talks died within the past seven to 10 days and sources said there was no indication they would be restarted.

A bit too much, don't you think?

I've been going over what can happen during the off-season and, as expected, nothing out of the ordinary happened(obviously, beside drafting Derrick Rose). The Bulls roster remains practically the same one when the season ended. The new coach had, prior to the summer league, the same coaching experience than most of us. The trade market for Chicago remains something that is off-limits. The contract extensions will probably end up either in overpayed players or in an unjustified talent loss...

But besides all of the above, I was wondering what could be best for the Bulls right now. Paxson has said many times that he believed that one of this team's strenghts is depth. As we could see last year that was not the case. Still, we have a roster made up of, at least, 9 players that could/should/would like to play 25/30 minutes a night. As I've said before, the roster remains escentially the same. We lost a guard in the free agency and we added one via-draft (no, I'm not saying that Duhon and Rose are similar). So, we still have a logjam at guard positions and we king of have a logjam at power forward position now that Deng signed his extension and Nocioni will pretty much have to get his minutes playing at the 4 spot.

Now, this can be good or bad depending on the person behind the wheel of this team. I agree with Paxson that Rose should not be handed the resposibility of running a team right away. Not that he has to earn his minutes, he should be assured 20/25 minutes per game, at least. However, I don't think that Rose has to take all the pressure of being the leader of a team that, today, is at least mediocre.

So here are the two scenarios that I could think of regarding the remainder of the off-season.

1) Keep the roster pretty much as it is. That is, wait to see if Gordon comes to his senses and accepts a contract worth a bit less that his market value or just wait for him to sign the Qualifying Offer. Then, if a trade comes up, consider it, but only if it comes up. By the end of october, divide the team into two units. A "A" Unit of half court, big, and mostly white players: Hinrich, Hughes(the exception to the last requirement), Nocioni, Gooden and Gray. A "B" Unit of up tempo, athletic, and young players: Rose, Gordon, Deng, Thomas and Noah. Both unit should play more or less the same amount of minutes than the other, eliminating the issue of starters versus bench players. Both unit remain fixed throughout the year, unless a player is injured. In such case, Sefolosha, Nichols, Simmons or any other that may be signed down the road would substitute the injured player. This way, the Bulls would have two options when playing different teams. If the opposing team is slow, we start the athletic unit. If the opposing team is bad on defense, we use the half court unit. Or whatever the case it is and one of the units fits the bill better. The number of minutes a unit plays a game depends on the opponent.

2) Taking a chance in the trade market. I would really like to see Rose play tons of minutes in his rookie season. However, I stick to what I said, I don't think he should be the leader of the team just yet. So, why not pulling a 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 player trade for some former All-Star to surround Rose, Deng and,if you like, Thomas and Noah. I know it is not the best option out there but I wouldn't mind trading Nocioni, Gooden and Sefolosha for Vince Carter. Or Gordon and Nocioni for Andrei Kirilenko. You can get some established players whose contract expire by the time Rose is more or less developed. The Bulls can solve the logjam issues and take some pressure off Rose's shoulders by bringing some established with high expectations. I think a line up of Rose, Carter, Deng, Kirilenko and Noah is good enough to compete for the playoffs in the East.

I think that what this team is really lacking is some creativity. I don't think the Bulls are as bad as they were last year but I think they are still .500 team.

I hope Paxson really does something meaningful to improve the Bulls whether it is giving players a very defined roles, shortening the rotation, trading players or whatever...

GO BULLS!!

How about this?

Chicago sends Larry Hughes, Andrés Nocioni and Chris Duhon (sign 'n trade) to Utah for Andrei Kirilenko.

Miami sends 2008 1st round pick, Mark Blount, Jason Williams and Ricky Davis in exchange for Andrei Kirilenko, Kirk Hinrich and Thabo Sefolosha.

Philadelphia sends Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller to Chicago for Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Ricky Davis and Jason Williams

Your thoughts...?

Kirilenko is tired of Utah and Sloan and viceversa. That would leave them with a hole at the 3 spot and they already need a 2 guard. So, Nocioni and hughes can start at 3 and 2 respectively.

Miami gets two excellent defensive players to start alongside Wade, Marion and Mourning. That would be an instant contender in the east.

Philadelphia gets rid of Miller, which has been trying to do for a while now. Plus they replace the scoring of both with Gordon and Davis. "Pluser", they get a good prospect in Thomas to start in the future alongside Jason Smith.

Chicago gets the 2nd pick in the draft (i.e.Rose and Beasley), gets a big 2 in Iguodala and gets to keep Noah. Plus they still have Miller and Gooden to help develop both picks.

It is not a trade (or trades) that Paxson would likely pull for but maybe he reads BaB posts and he and VDN get inspired....

Your thoughts...?

   Hi guys!! This is my first FanPost so I hope you all find it at least interesting.

   Now, onto business... I was thinking and rethinking about the hiring of Vinnie Del Negro, our roster, our management, our 1st pick in the draft and all I came up with was: Now what? What should we expect?

   For starters, I believe hiring Vinnie Del Negro really retricts the way Pax & company can shape up the roster. I have read in many places that the Bulls might look for veteran help. Now, how many veteran players will come, listen and play for a rookie coach? (I´m not saying this to criticize Del Negro, it's just a fact) Furthermore, how many players of the current roster will listen and respect Vinnie? So, in my opinion, if Pax is going to look for help, the help should be in his early 20's.

   But then I came across another question: Are Pax and Jerry (and Vinnie) going to make major changes to the roster? Pax has a record of cleaning the roster up of players with questionable attitudes but has never really pulled a trade or a signing to improve the team (I know he signed Wallace but I trully believe he signed him to weaken Detroit rather than strengthen Chicago). So, is he willing to perform at least two trades?

   I think owning the 1st pick in this talented draft is a great opportunity to start some kind of rebuilding process for this franchise. I know it doesn´t sound very nice but think about it. The Bulls have some good players but none of them is great. The Bulls have several player for each position but none of them is a natural fit (except for Deng). Plus the Bull's new coach is a rookie in every sense of the word. I think it would be sensible to trade away anyone ecept for Deng and Noah (The only two players that I think are naturally fit for their positions) in order to build a starting line up of good, young players with a clear position on court and that fit into a playing system. Maybe we end up having a roster similar to Boston with no depth in the bench, but the core would be young. Plus, I woulnd't mind being where Boston is right now...

  Now, onto the posiibilities: 1) Pax remains the same Pax he has always been. That is: he is reluctant to break the core and just picks the best talent in the draft. Projection: He drafts Michael Beasley and introduces him as the low-post scoring option the Bulls were missing. Keeps the core intact and probably tries to unload Hughes and probably Gooden to clear the logjam both in the front and the backcourt. Plus, resigns both Deng and Gordon to long-term, probably overpaid contracts. 2) Pax understands that he has to improve the team and just assumes that for once he should start trading assets. That is: He drafts Rose. Now, it is definitely clear that he should package Hughes plus Hinrich and/or Gordon to get a low-post scorer and to clear up minutes for everyone in the backcourt. 3) (Not likely but you never know) Pax goes mad. That is: Pax decides that the best talent in the draft is Kevin love and trades down in the draft chart to get a veteran and Kevin Love. You figure the rest out.

   I'm not really sure what it would be the best thing to do. I myself see Miami trading the 2nd pick for a combination of Hinrich, Gooden, Sefolosha and Tyrus and a future pick. I kown it seems lopsided (we should take some garbage contracts like Banks, Blount, Williams or others) but I wold take the chance. From Miami's perspective, they get two starters to be the supporting cast of Marion and Wade. If Riley is actually interested in bringing Boozer the next off-season, adding the expiring contract of Gooden to Marion's one seals the deal. Miami clears up about 25 million dolars in their salary cap. Besides, Hinrich would be the perfect compliment for Dwayne Wade. Furthermore, I think Utah may be willling to trade Kirilenko. They need a shooting guard and, if Andrei leaves, a small forward. So, i would send a package of Hughes and Nocioni (plus something else) for the russian. I know he doesn´t fit in the Bulls roster but he might be more tradeble than both Larry and Noce.

   Those are just some ideas I wanted to share. May not be perfect but that's how I see it. I'm in favour of rebuilding. If Pax is agressive on the trading block, we can get something good to start from scartch and build a team that has many years to win an NBA Championship.

GO BULLS!!!