I like Budinger as a FA target. I believe Kevin Martin is a FA, and would love to see the FO go after him too.
As Bulls fans we probably need to get used to the idea that, because the team is beyond the luxury tax line, the team is simply not in a position to sign even mid-tier free agents. The Bulls have to go after "ring-chasers," but it's unlikely that they'll be able to beat out the Heat, Spurs or Thunder for the best of these players.
Something I still haven't settled on is how the new player acquisition equilibrium will play out in the new CBA. Of course you're right that the Bulls are probably going to stick with their core and then sub out the bottom half of the roster year by year. Gotta nail those draft picks. However, it really, really looks to me like the middle of the road FA's have all been pushed to the bottom of the barrel so our choices might not be as bad as they appear. Especially when you have a core of 4 All-Star caliber players. Hopefully it should be fairly easy to plug in decent players and make them look good. I think Buddinger is my preferred FA target at the moment. Can hit outside shots and provides a semblance of offensive spark that's unique on the team. I'd love Kevin Martin but he seems like a pipe dream. I imagine the draft will allow us fans to craft our preferred offseason moves with a little more granularity.
Amnesty Boozer. Trade Deng for any top tier player with similar salary you want. FA? Trade for him via S&T. No excuses. If Houston signs DHoward, they might do a resigned Kmart + Asik for Deng trade.
If they amnesty Boozer, they lose a good player and still don't get under the salary cap. I don't see the sense in it. Trade Deng if you can get a better player. Houston can't do a S&T involving KMart 'cause he's not on their team (OKC).
Right about Kmart, my bad. I'll give you a better trade. Amnesty Boozer. Trade Deng for S&T'd Tyreke Evans and Jason Thompson. That absolutely works. We get our FA (Evans). We get a replacement for Boozer who's pretty good in his own right, younger, and can play backup C, too. And the Chairman can count more pennies.
BTW, I really like Boozer. He was 2nd on the team in scoring (per 36), 1st in rebounds (tied with Noah), missed 3 games, and was a huge factor in our team's overachiever record and making it to the 2nd round. We're going to gain Rose, but lose all the non D Leaguers on the bench (Rip, Belinelli, Nate). Our best bench player is likely to move into the starting lineup. Our bench is going to be Taj, Kurt, and the D League / vet minimum squad. Brutal. Simply amnesty of Boozer makes no basketball sense, tho The Chairman pockets more money if we do. We would get the MLE to replace Boozer, which isn't likely to be a fruitful venture. We'd end up with Taj starting, and the worst bench in the NBA. Consider the Sacto deal, tho others might be there to be had. Thompson is on a 5 year deal starting at $5.2m, peaking at $6.8m. He's 6'11" and 250 lbs. He's suited to play PF and C. Between him, Noah, and Taj, you fill the two spots with 48 quality player minutes. Evans is just 23, and is 6'6". He's played both guard positions and SF for Sacto. You have an 18.1 PER SG to pair with Rose until they both get old. Worst case is you play him some SF to spell Jimmy Butler, who emerged as a more than capable replacement for Deng. Rose, Evans, Butler, Taj, Noah. Your bench is Kurt, Thompson, the draft pick, and whoever you sign with the MLE. Heck, maybe we can draft a SF and resign Nate. Maybe Belinelli, too. We'd also be right at the cap, before using the MLE. Well below the LT. Deng is going to make $14.2M next season. Minus Thompson's $5.2m leaves about $9M to pay Evans. It works. Sacto does it because they have Isaiah Thomas at PG, Marcus Thornton at SG, ad Deng gives them an All Star at SF. They're deep at PF and C without Thompson.
Yeah the Bulls are basically looking at vet minimums, right? Budinger isn't going to be a vet minimum signing no matter how crushing the new CBA is. Taking this thread off topic, I've been done with Boozer for a while. I recognize that he's a pretty good player, but he can't get his shot off in the playoffs against a team that plays good defense (Heat, Thunder, Spurs, etc.) That's really all that matters. Taj is better, and will continue to better than Boozer in the playoffs, rendering him worthless for all intents and purposes.
https://twitter.com/chicagobullsbot/status/346946361956134912 So are the Bulls will even try to re-sign him?
He scored 21, 14 (12 boards), and 26 (14 boards) the last 3 games of the Heat series. 16.4/9.6 for the playoffs (incl. Brooklyn)
Denny, he shot 42% in the series, and that includes the games after the Heat really stopped playing premier defense. Boozers a stretch four who can't get his shot off against quicker competition.
The Heat set out to stop him. They didn't figure Nate would beat them game 1. Who else did the Bulls have? Noah? Butler? Taj? He shot 23-49 those last three games, series tied 1-1. .469. Nate, btw, went 11-40 those games. Noah 8-23. Belinelli 9-24. Taj 6-21. Perimeter defense was tough on the guards.
FYI http://nesn.com/2013/05/dwyane-wade...os-boozer-bulls-discover-guts-are-not-enough/ Carlos Boozer, who has been in Chicago fans’ doghouse for years, posted a remarkable turnaround this season and spent chunks of the Eastern Conference semifinal series as the best player on the floor not named LeBron. Joakim Noah made a mockery on Rose’s continued absence by playing through painful plantar fasciitis. Jimmy Butler almost literally never came off the court. Nate Robinson did what Nate Robinson does, shooting the Bulls to victory one night and essentially shooting them into defeat the next night. Deng subjected himself to a spinal tap, for crying out loud, in an attempt to get back on the floor. We hear those things are pretty painful. We hope we never find out. In other words, no, Wade was not going to take it easy on Wednesday. Perhaps his team would have found a way to make do without him, but when the Bulls battled back from an 18-point deficit and refused to go away in the fourth quarter, the Heat were happy Wade was in the lineup. After Boozer missed a free throw that would have pulled Chicago within one point, Wade was there for a floater to give the Heat some breathing room. When Butler tried to get off a 3-pointer with Miami protecting a five-point lead, Wade was there to block Butler’s shot. When Norris Cole missed a jump shot on the ensuing Heat possession, Wade was there for a putback dunk. When Boozer appeared to corral Battier’s miss with 45 seconds remaining, Wade was there to knock the ball off Boozer and out of bounds. (Wade probably hacked Boozer on they play but, hey, nobody is perfect.) If not for Wade making those plays, the Heat might not have gotten their 94-91 victory and they might not be moving on to their third conference finals in as many years.
Don't mean to get in the way of a good dispute, but even with DRose coming back, the Bulls figure to be less than an offensive juggernaut. Boozer's a legit offensive threat...regular season and the playoffs. A more potent and reliable offensive threat than potential replacements including Jason Thompson. I don't amnesty him because it makes the team worse.
If you keep Boozer, you man the PF position with him and Taj. Kirk is your bench with who? The question ultimately is whether the team would be better off with Taj and Thompson at PF, plus whatever the full MLE and $5M TPE for Korver gets you. Along with a significant upgrade at SF, and Jimmy at SF in place of Deng.
Taj and Kirk are two of my bench players. Offer Belinelli 2 years for $4.8mil. The MMLE should get you another decent bench player. The TPE might get another. Teague and Malcolm Thomas will be on the bench as well. Probably bring Mohammed back. The bench'll be OK. The Bulls don't need to amnesty Boozer or trade Deng. With regard to the latter, do it if it makes you better.
