I've posted previously regarding the Bulls and the 2010 free agency market. I would love to add either Bosh, Boozer, Johnson, Wade or Ray Allen (depending on who else we sign) to our roster. I've always thought that Dirk Nowitzki, who is also a free agent this summer, will sign with Dallas and most likely, remain a Maverick for his entire career.
The Mavs lost to the Spurs by ten points Thursday night, ousting them from this year's post season. Once again, Dallas disappointed those who follow them. This is no where near as bad of a loss as when they lost to Golden State (8 seed) in 2007, but still pretty disappointing, considering the trade for Caron Butler prior to this year's trade deadline.
I thought the addition of Caron was a great one. It finally gave Dirk Nowitzki another potential All-Star to their starting lineup. The Mavs didn't perform, once again, and had an early exit from the playoffs. Dirk is a championship-talent player and deserves to advance deeper in the post season than he has. Mark Cuban has proved year after year that no matter what additions he makes to his roster, he still can not produce a championship contending team.
Here's where the Bulls come into play. What if Dirk signed with the Bulls? The team's starting lineup would consist of Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Dirk Nowitzki, Joakim Noah and a shooting guard, maybe Kirk or another free agent/trade. Dirk would provide Derrick Rose with the scorer he has been looking for since Ben Gordon departed to Detroit. He is the best shooting seven-footer to ever play the game, and with his size and skill, the Bulls can contend for a championship. His ability away from the basket is unbelievable. He hits shot after shot and can put a team on his back at any time.
Gar Foreman should definitely consider Dirk and not assume he'll always be a Maverick, because as we all know, the NBA is a business more than it is anything else. D-Rose, Kirk, Deng, Dirk and Joakim is a championship caliber starting lineup. Yes, very diverse, but very talented.
My Most Wanted Power Forward Free Agents:
1. Dirk Nowitzki
2. Chris Bosh
3. Carlos Boozer
My Most Wanted Shooting-Guard Free Agents:
1. Dwayne Wade
2. Joe Johnson
3. Ray Allen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A few things:
ReplyDeleteFirst, that Dallas team has been built to win for a while now. I think that Dirk is an incredible player. One of the best to ever (yes, ever) play in the NBA. However, at some point, you have to point the finger at him if he cannot get his team deep into the postseason (besides the championship run year). Great players are also great winners. If Dirk does leave, it could very well be a situation where he's essentially forced out by Dallas because they'll come to the realization that they cannot win with him.
Additionally, the reason they cannot seem to win with Dirk, is the same reason I would have trouble seeing the Bulls win with him. He is a small forward stuck in a power forward's body. GREAT for statistics and matchup problems. However, not a great formula for a winning team. Every championship team since 1999 (with the exception of the Pistons in 2004) have had a dominant low-post scorer. Someone who can play with his back to the basket and shoot above 53%. (The list in order of most recent goes: Gasol, Duncan, Shaq, Duncan, No one on pistons, Duncan, Shaq, Shaq, Shaq, Robinson). Dirk is not a dominant player with his back to the basket. Additionally, he is not a defensive post presence the way any of those guys are. Dirk takes the majority of his shots from 15 to 23 feet (8.1 attempts per game, yes I am a nerd and looked it up). He takes 18 shots a game (also the most in the entire NBA), and 1 of those is a three in each game. That means that half of his shots are face up jumpers. Just an opinion, but it's real hard to win NBA games, especially in the playoffs, when you lack post scoring.
Now onto the biggest problem in offering Dirk a contract, his age. Dirk turns 32 in the summer. Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer are 26 and 28 respectively. All three players will demand similar money, and similar length of contracts. So the real question becomes, are you willing to pay Dirk Max, or near Max money for him to play in Chicago until he's 35 or 36? That mistake has been made before, a lot... the fact of the matter is, that most NBA players, especially big guys, hit their decline around 32-33. Bosh and Boozer (not to mention even David Lee if you can get him cheaper) are in their primes. Give me Bosh or Boozer's career in their 20's over Dirk's in his 30's.
Don't forget about rebounding as wel:
Dirk averaged 7.7 rebounds per game this year, and hasn't been above 9 boards per game in 5 years.
Bosh and Boozer haven't been below 10 rpg in 4 years.
All that said, Dirk is still an incredible player and will be a top-10 player for at least the next 2 years. If I'm Garpax, this would be my christmas list:
PF:
1. Bosh
2. Boozer
3. David Lee
4. Dirk
SG:
1. Wade
2. Joe Johnson
3. Ray Allen
Now realistically, we can sign one max contract (which will be overpaid for unless it's for Wade), and then one cheaper player (someone in the 7-9 million range). Bosh seems unlikely, because he has hinted Miami is his top choice, and the Raptors would like him to do a sign and trade in any situation to ensure they get something back. The Bulls do not have anyone that would interest Toronto, because they will not take Deng or Hinrich's contracts in a sign and trade for Bosh. However, I really like the idea of Boozer and Ray Allen. It makes sense financially, and would make us championship contenders. Rose, Allen, Deng, Boozer, Noah is a great lineup.
Ultimately, I think we get 1 guy... I see it being Joe Johnson, but I guess summer will tell. Hopefully we don't end up getting desperate and overpaying someone like Rudy Gay or David Lee if we don't land anyone on your list. No matter how it pans out though, next season should be a lot of fun to watch.
Alright Bauer Im gonna get my say in here. If you want to see the best case scenario, the bulls must move Kirk or Deng. You get rid of one, and all of a sudden the options become huge. If Wade stays in Miami, the obvious move would be a sign and trade with the Hawks for Joe Johnson. With that, the bulls still have room for another max free agent, or a few great role guys. Wade would be awesome, but I really don't think him and Rose can coexist, as im starting to believe down to the last few seconds, rose driving is the best situation for the bulls vs a Wade jumper. So now you get Johnson, and the bulls have the decision to bring in either just Bosh/Boozer, or you can go with a combination of Lee, Tmac, Reddick, Harrington, CDR, or Matt Barnes, bearing any of them being available.
ReplyDeleteSelman, I agree with you on Dirk's age and having him sign a max free agent. You convinced me, kind of. I'd rather have Bosh than Dirk. But I disagree with you on a couple points. Pau Gasol is not a dominant post player. He is weak. Bynum is obviously more of a threat down low than Pau. If the Bulls were to sign Dirk, they wouldn't be signing him to put the team on his back like Dallas has pretty much done throughout the last few years of Dirk's career. The Bulls still have D-Rose - a top three point guard in my opinion once you put another talent around him. Joakim is not enough of an offensive threat to say he is a talent surrounding D-Rose. You put Dirk in their starting lineup and not only do you provide D-Rose with a shooter, but you also put more size on the floor, creating the matchup problem you mentioned. Plus, if you put another All-Star on their team, surrounding Luol Deng, there is the chance that he gets better. He sees more open shots and developes a consistant 10-15 foot shot.
ReplyDeleteThat brings me to your point, Jeff. You are speaking as a more realistic fan. But, why do you have to move Kirk or Deng? We can dump Joe Alexander, Hakim, Janero Pargo, Clint Richards, Acie Law and even Flip Murray if we have to. That's more than half the guys on the team. Personally, you keep Kirk for sure. Not only for sentimental value, but his presence on the court is great. He's very basketball-intelligent and knows when and when not to shoot the ball. From the list of guys you mentioned, I would gladly welcome David Lee. T-Mac may retire and that fact that he's even considering retirement makes me stay away from him, 100%. JJ Reddick is intriguing. He's obviously got the stroke but is he going to develop anymore than he has? I'd rather keep Kirk instead. Harrington would be pretty solid, obviously no Boozer/Bosh/Dirk, but a nice addition. A CDR signing, in my opinion, would be decided solely on his potential. He's only been in the league two year and we have seen how great he can be or how much he can struggle. I like Barnes. He's a defensive presence and can shut down the best in the game on any given night. His offense is there, but nothing to write home about. Summer will be very interesting, to say the least.
The reason you trade Kirk is because once you bring in a Joe Johnson or Dwayne Wade, Kirk's value diminishes, especially with what he is making. Which is why what I was saying is with Kirk's contract, you can afford multiple role players such as a JJ Reddick and such because all those Bulls players you mentioned are all free agents. We can retain players like Miller and Warrick on the cheap, but minus any additions at this point, the team would be made up of Rose, Deng, Noah, Taj, Kirk, and JJ(James Johnson). Besides that, no one is locked. You trade a guy like Kirk and the Bulls have another 9 million to spend this summer. I think Deng is the contract that the Bulls would love to move, but I think teams will find that value in Hinrich more attractive. Making such a move would allow the bulls to possibly look like :Rose, Johnson/Wade, Deng, Noah, then an addition of either Boozer, Bosh, Amare, Dirk, or Lee followed by a bench of players like Taj, JJ, Miller, Warrick, Redick, Barnes, CDR, and maybe an Acie Law, plus whoever the Bulls receive in a draft.
ReplyDeleteJeff, trading either Hinrich or Deng is near impossible at this point. No team would take on Deng at 11 mil, or Kirk at 9.5 mil... It's funny to see what we paid for them. Here's some perspective that kills to read: Rudy Gay will likely make in the 11 mil range this summer, and Ray Allen will demand less than Hinrich makes haha. However, I'm siding with Jeff on this one Bauer, if we can trade them, get rid of them. I love them both as players, but those contracts are killers. If we were able to dump one of their contracts, we have enough room to sign a max contract and a near max contract.
ReplyDeleteBauer, almost every guy you mentioned on the Bulls is already gone this offseason. They only have 6 players (I believe) signed beyond this year, and I've heard no one thats unsigned is getting a contract offer. And BauWeez, Gasol is the most talented big man in the league in my opinion (skills-wise). Then again, I'm a Laker fan. However, his skills in the post are unmatched by just about every 7 footer.
With Utah playing really well, it's starting to seem like Boozer might have a reason to stay there. By the way, we ALL forgot about Amare. haha. He's very much on the market to land on a new team. Move him above Boozer and below Bosh.
I did not forget to mention Amare. Just like every trade deadline and offseason, he ends up staying in Phoenix. I still think he will stay in Phoenix. But, who knows? After all the chirping I did about Gasol, he would end up with a huge play to oust the Thunder from the playoffs. That was pretty impressive. I still disrespect his game, but he has the potential and sometimes shows that he has the ability to be a top postman in the league. But, I do not like him as a player. Nothing personal, I'm just not a fan.
ReplyDeleteIf we can get a dominant power forward, (Bosh, Boozer, Dirk, or even Amare) I will gladly take Ray Allen as the Bulls' 2-guard.