I'm a big Taj Gibson fan. IMO he's a defensive stud, and has been for a while now, and his offensive game has improved significantly this season. He's on the first year of a 4-year, $33mil contract extension. Trading him for an expiring contract frees up an additional $8mil of cap space for this offseason. Many feel that, when Nikola Mirotic becomes the Bulls PF of the future beginning next season, Gibson becomes a costly luxury backup. Others feel that, understanding that 2014-15 should be a precious Derrick Rose prime year, Gibson is not only valuable insurance against Mirotic deciding to stay in Europe, but also insurance against the possibility that Mirotic may not be all he's cracked up to be...at least not in his first NBA season. Also, trading Gibson or Noah, now or this offseason is probably a pre-requisite to making Carmelo Anthony a competitive free agent offer. So do you trade Gibson now? The easy answer is to wait until the offseason and see where things stand, but sometimes when you wait, you're too late. Me? I don't trade him now primarily because I'm not ready to go all in with Mirotic and because I believe that all the Carmelo talk is just that...talk. What do you think?
I really like Taj a lot. He's been our 6th man for several seasons, all of those winning ones. I do think he's been a major factor in those winning seasons. That said, he really is limited to the PF position. He plays small when playing C, so the Bulls don't even play him there. Boozer is shorter, but ends up playing C when Noah sits because he at least has some bulk. So yeah, we're paying a lot for the backup PF (or starting PF) position only. I certainly wouldn't trade him for cap space right now. We'd be playing Nazr 40 minutes because we have nobody else. Ideally, we'd also wait to see if Mirotic is even willing to come over. In my line of work, if something is broke, you have to make a change to fix it. That is, things don't simply get better without intervention. If "broke" is defined as not making the finals, then something has to change. I have warmed up to going after Melo. I look at Kobe and see he played 38 MPG at age 34, scored 27.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 6 APG and a 23 PER. Why can't Melo continue to play at his high level through age 34, too? I WOULD trade Taj now to NY as part of a Melo deal.
If you can get Melo and it takes trading Taj to do so, you do it. You can get another Taj with a mid to late 1st round pick or on an MLE type deal. Rose-Melo-Noah is a seemingly solid core and you build around it.
Teams are inquiring about Taj as we post this thread! And while Hinrich and Mike Dunleavy have been churning in the trade rumor mill for more than a month, Taj Gibson’s name is the one that is picking up, and could determine how serious the Bulls are in clearing space for a max contract to land the likes of a Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James. According to a source, the Lakers, Wizards and Bobcats have each inquired about Gibson, but they were preliminary talks in which the Bulls did not like the return. If they do move Gibson, however, it will definitely signify how determined the Bulls are to give Derrick Rose a second superstar to play along with. See more- http://www.suntimes.com/sports/25302606-419/taj-gibson-could-be-on-bulls-trading-block.html
just playing with the trade machine Gibson <->Blake & Hill http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=kzvm674 Gibson <->Veseley, Seraphin, Harrington http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=manm2r2 Gibson, Kirk, Dunleavy <-> Gordon, Pargo, Tolliver http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=luvq92l
Should the Bulls trade another veteran before the deadline? http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/chi-vote-should-the-bulls-trade-another-veteran-before-the-deadline-20140201,0,691923,post.poll
Taj seems to be one of the names "insiders" say are most likely to be moved by the deadline. Not hearing the Bulls aren't talking, just that they haven't heard the right offer.
If they do this, they better have it as a lock that Melo is coming to Chi. Easier said than done I'm sure.
I agree KK4E. Melo had better have given his ok. If Gibson is in the package, Melo can play some PF for us as he has for the Knicks.
Trade him now? No. If Nikki M becomes that elusive unicorn 2.0 let's listen to offers but he would still be a valuable asset even then. He can be Mirotic's rainbow.