Finestrg wrote:NardDogNation wrote:Finestrg wrote:I doubt Chicago lets Butler go. Dude's really coming into his own right now. But say they went the same way as the Knicks are going with Shumpert -- Jimmy Butler could be a FA after next season. Question -- Jimmy Butler or Nicolas Batum? Who do you guys like better? I know hindsight's always 20/20 although I did say it at the time -- too bad we couldn't have worked out something with Chicago for Melo. They wanted him. Something revolving around a pick or 2 and some of these players: Butler, Snell, Gibson, Mirotic, McDermott, E'Twaun Moore maybe...I didn't want to see Melo walk for nothing but I feel we could've gotten a halfway decent trade with Chicago to start over if we pressed it. I just have too many concerns with Melo -- his shoulders, his knee now and then will Phil ever be able to put together a good enough team around Melo while he's still at the top of his game? Don't wanna be a doom and gloomer but I really have my doubts..
I think it's circumstantial with Butler and Batum. You can't go wrong with either guy but since we have Melo, I'd go with Batum because he can be something of a point-forward, play a little 4 because of his length and stretches the floor more effectively. But like I said, you can't go wrong with either.
And I still wonder what we could've done with the Bulls if we negotiated a sign and trade for Melo. My asking price would've been Butler, Mirotic, Boozer (for cap purposes) and both their 16th and 19th pick. I would've thrown in Iman Shumpert and Prigioni too, just to even out the value on both sides. Had the draft order remained the same, that means we would've gotten Gary Harris (aka Bradley Beal 2.0) and Jusuf Nurkic, who will be one of the best big men in the league in a few years. That front-court would've been monstrous with Butler-Mirotic-Nurkic.....it gives me shivers just to think about.
Exactly. Me too. Could've gone with the full rebuild and started over from scratch. Not even from scratch -- a lot of these guys are good players, players we would've wanted to keep around and rebuild with...You know, if Melo holds up physically until the deadline, we still might be able to move him to a team like Chicago. Obviously, they would've preferred Melo as a straight up FA signing at the time -- but come on, they knew damn well going it that $80mm or whatever they we offering wasn't gonna get it done. You know they had to have been thinking S&T all along in the back of their minds. Now if so, they were probably prepared to take him on at his current salary--that would've been part of the deal...I just wonder how hard a S&T was explored (I don't remember reading anything concrete dialogue between Phil & Chicago, just a lot of speculation by all of us on what it would take). Tell you what, right now Chicago's 8-4 sitting atop the Central. If Chicago's right there come February, Rose is healthy, etc., maybe we can revisit something like this with them. We might still have a chance to hit the re-do button. I like all of the Chicago players we're discussing -- I even like this E'Twaun Moore -- I think this kid has a chance to be a pretty darn good lead guard in the NBA. He's like a bigger (6'4") more skilled, better version of Toney Douglas--better ball-handler, better shooter/scorer. Wouldn't be terrible. The beauty of it is that we'd get a chance to rebuild without any one player causing such a salary cap hindrance. I fear Melo's contract is quickly gonna achieve albatross status. Seeing him hobble around with the gimpy knee the other night--I really question how long he'll remain healthy and in top form. I feel like the window's slowly closing before our very eyes...When you think about it, dealing him off by the deadline and starting over might be the way to go. Chicago will undoubtedly still be a top team by the deadline. A very good team, a 50+ win team probably, but not really a championship team. They're not quite there imho...Melo could be exactly what they need. He may make even more sense to them by the deadline in a trade than he did this past off-season as a FA. Have to look over the Bulls' team salary -- this might be much more difficult to pull off now that they don't have Boozer around to include in a deal. That's the only thing. We may have missed our big opportunity with them. We'll see.. If not the Bulls, then who? Houston? Portland? New Orleans?
The thought of moving Melo to the Bulls at the deadline has crossed my mind BUT like you said, the numbers will be hard to match. And on top of that, I don't think the Bulls will have as much of an incentive to make a major midseason trade since they are clearly the best that the East has to offer. Even if they do falter at some point, what team is really going to be able to push them for the Eastern Conference crown?
Whatever the case, I'd be thrilled with a package that starts with Nikola Mirotic, Jimmy Butler and Doug McDermitt. Again, they could take Prigioni and Shumpert but those numbers will be nearly impossible to match unless Derrick Rose is included in the deal (who I'd be willing to take despite his injuries). That, however, could only happen if the Bulls become convinced that Derrick Rose is dead weight and that they could somehow acquire a replacement PG to fill the void (I'm looking at you Rajon Rondo!). But that would be one hell of a stretch.
Last offseason would've been the best opportunity to make that Melo deal to Chicago. I understand that Phil wanted to win but simply keeping Melo was no guarantee of that. I might be overestimating their abilities but I think that a core of Nurkic, Mirotic, Harris and Butler has the making to be a playoff team in their first year together. And moving forward, I think that they could become the toast of the East depending on what would happen with our 2015 pick and who we'd get to run point.
