Gar: We were offered top 10 picks for Mirotic

Discussion in 'Chicago Bulls' started by TomBoerwinkle#1, Jul 21, 2014.

  1. TomBoerwinkle#1

    TomBoerwinkle#1 Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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  2. TomBoerwinkle#1

    TomBoerwinkle#1 Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    CHICAGO -- Bulls general manager Gar Forman admitted Friday that he was offered top-10 picks in last month's draft for the rights to European star*Nikola Mirotic.*

    "To be honest with you, we were offered a couple picks in the top 10 for his rights," Forman said on ESPN 1000's "Waddle and Silvy Show" on Friday. "So I think he's a pretty high-level player. He's got a chance to develop into one. He's 6-foot-10, he's got a motor. He can play inside and out and he can shoot the 3-ball, so that's a good skill set to have as a young player."*
     
  3. transplant

    transplant Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    I think he woulda said top-5 if it was true...6-10 is very believable.

    I'm glad that they kept Mirotic.
     
  4. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    We have no idea how good Mirotic will really be. Same is true of the draft picks.

    However, consider that we'd have MLE money to spend (minus the cap holds), plus the three draft picks. #10 (or better), #16, #19.
     
  5. transplant

    transplant Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Though Mirotic got signed to a 1st year equal to the full MLE, I thought he got signed with cap space rather than the MLE.
     
  6. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    MLE money. Minus the cap holds for the three picks.

    Not the MLE, but roughly $5.5M minus cap holds. We don't know the size of the cap holds because it's different for #10 than it is for #9.

    Room exception, too, which we used.
     
  7. Bullsville

    Bullsville Intelligent Bulls Fan

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    Let's assume we would have taken McDermott if we had traded Mirotic for a top-10 pick, that's how they got him. And let's assume since we were offered "picks" (plural), it couldn't have been #10, it was #9 at the lowest.

    So instead of Mirotic and $7,128,764 in cap space, we could have had #16 and #19 and $10,001,000 in cap space.
     
  8. such sweet thunder

    such sweet thunder Member Staff Member Moderator

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    Or the Bulls could have had Nick Stauskas and Doug McDermott . . .

    I've got to say, you guys have probably grown tired of hearing drone on about Mirotic's arrival date for years now. But if the 9th pick was on the table, in this deep, deep draft, I think it was a mistake not to move him. The Ninth pick would net you Nick Stauskas. Can you imagine that type of upgrade to the starting lineup? Mirotic is a talent, to be sure, but he's not a natural fit in Thibodeau's schemes like Stauskas. And Stauskas would have been an allstar if he was drafted by the Bulls. Hell, he still might be, even with Sacramento's horrid track record for developing talent to battle against.

    Noah, Gibson, McDermott, Stauskas, Rose -- I think that's a well balanced team with bitchn' defense, tons of shooting, adequate handling, and nice star power. Stauskas balances that all out.

    Yeah, I can understand why Thibodeau may have been rolling his eyes at Mirotic, if GarPax really did have the option of acquiring Stauskas.
     
  9. Bullsville

    Bullsville Intelligent Bulls Fan

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    That's a good point, it could have been Stauskas and McDermott... but no way they fit Thibs' system.

    You really think Thibs would have benched Butler to start these guys together? JMSO, but no freaking way.

    Thibs knows the importance of having offense in the front court as well, obviously, or he wouldn't have started Boozer for 4 straight years when Taj was the better player for the last two. In 2012-13, Boozer played 10 minutes per game more than Gibson.

    So I don't see how Stauskas fits Thibs' schemes better than Mirotic, not when we already have Butler and McDermott.
     
  10. Vintage

    Vintage Defeating Communism...

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    Can someone explain the comment about Thibs rolling his eyes about Mirotic? Does he not like Mirotic?
     
  11. such sweet thunder

    such sweet thunder Member Staff Member Moderator

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    My interpretation was that he wasn't aware that Mirotic was going back to Montenegro at the beginning of this off season to work out with his own trainer, instead of staying at the Berto Center.

    Seems like that's a possibility. I'm a little surprised Thib's wasn't aware of Mirotic's off season plans. There really must be no communication between him and Garpax.
     
  12. such sweet thunder

    such sweet thunder Member Staff Member Moderator

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    I do. Stauskas is an athlete. I actually think his defensive is going to be very above average in the near future. And pairing Rose with Butler just puts too much pressure on him. You need to pair Rose with a player who can take over the point during stretches while he works himself back into the game.
     
  13. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Thibs doesn't bench offensive players for defensive ones.

    He's a great offensive coach. He started Boozer, not some defensive stud. He started Dunleavy, too. If he wanted defense, he'd have played Snell and Jimmy together much of the time.

    Rose never was a great defender and he played him, too.

    Given a lack of capable offensive players, he'll slow the game way down and focus on defense. But I think he'd rather have a McBuckets capable offensive player that he can work his defensive schemes with as well.
     
  14. such sweet thunder

    such sweet thunder Member Staff Member Moderator

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    And for being a bad defender McBuckets is kind of a perfect player for Thib's defensive schemes. Thibs is looking for smalls who can guard bigs and bigs who can guard smalls, right? I don't hate the idea of McDermott switching onto opposing power forwards and centers while the Bulls' bigs recover. He's going to be good at that.
     
  15. Vintage

    Vintage Defeating Communism...

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    I really am curious as to which teams where hot after Mirotic. Part of me wonders about Sacramento. I wonder if they wanted him as a stretch four to pair up with Cousins.
     
  16. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    Sam Smith. But the quotes are Van Gundy. Later on, you have to wonder if a Van Gundy vented about the Bulls' focus on profit on behalf of his friend.

    http://blogs.bulls.com/2010/06/thibodeau-hired-to-coach-bulls/

    The guy has been so good for so long that he’s been taken for granted,” Jeff Van Gundy told the Newark Star-Ledger about Thibodeau, his longtime assistant. “Tom now has this thing where he’s known as a defensive guy, which he’s great at — not good, great. But he also is very good offensively. And it’s the reason why I hired him initially in New York — his work with individual players. He had incredibly good offensively ideas. His work with Yao Ming still gets overlooked because Yao is hurt a lot. But in Yao’s last full year, he was an MVP candidate, 25 and 11.”

    Thibodeau has gotten a reputation as a so called defensive guru, which is a bit unfair because you have to have the players. And while he did have Kevin Garnett in Boston, no one ever accused Ray Allen or Paul Pierce of being defenders previously in their careers and they’ve both been principal starters for one of the NBA best defenses the last three years, and at the most vital wing positions where there is the best talent.

    The so-called knock on Thibodeau has been that he’s too intense, so would not relate well with players. But with Thibodeau up for serious head coaching consideration this season his players have been effusive in praise. And Van Gundy also noted the irony of guys being condemned because they don’t work hard enough and here’s a guy who supposedly works too hard.

    And while Thibodeau is highly regarded for his defense systems and schemes, even Kobe Bryant credited him in a recent interview for helping Bryant develop his offensive game when Bryant was growing up in Philadelphia and Thibodeau was a 76ers assistant.

    As the son of former 76ers Joe Jellybean” Bryant, Kobe had access to 76ers facilities and said of Thibodeau: “He started drilling me, NBA basketball drills, when I was 14. So he kind of has inside information on what I like to do because he taught me most of the stuff.”

    Added Bryant: “I’ve been facing his defenses here for some time and they’re tough – very, very tough. Every single team he’s been on has had great strategies and physical defenses.”

    And Van Gundy’s point about Thibodeau and Yao was significant, if often overlooked.

    But before his injury which kept him out all last season, Yao had become one of the most efficient and effective offensive players in the NBA. Thibodeau is a renowned worker who has put the job before everything in his life. Friends says he owns little but a car as he spends all his time working with players and on the game. During his time with Van Gundy in Houston, Thibodeau traveled to China in the summers to work with Yao and developed a strong teacher/student relationship with him and Yao long has been an advocate.

    ...

    “And he understands the balance you need for winning basketball,” said Van Gundy. “You see that with the teams still playing, teams that balance offense and defense.”

    Van Gundy admitted his friend was discouraged some after the Celtics won in 2008 and he didn’t get a head coaching chance, but he persevered, which is the kind of trait a coach needs to carry a team through the tough parts of seasons.

    “Like any good coach, Tom believes in certain principles without regard to who is on the team,” said Van Gundy. “Play hard, play smart, play together, defend, rebound, take care of the ball. But he will design a system that plays to the strengths of his best players and try to hide their non strengths. I think his time in Philadelphia, New York and Boston has prepared him for the magnitude of the job.”
     
  17. Bullsville

    Bullsville Intelligent Bulls Fan

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    Right now, I’ll go back tomorrow to Madrid. My family is there. I will take my family to Montenegro all summer and practice there with my personal coach and after that, I want to come back to Chicago, maybe in August, depending on what Coach wants. To practice, to prepare myself, I know that I need to be here early and I want that. I know that I have a lot of things to prepare, to be here early and bring my family to meet the new players, teammates and city. So I want to be here early.”

    I'm surprised that anyone would think that Thibs keeps track of where every player will spend every day of the off-season. Especially within hours of signing their contract.

    Especially considering that as far as I know, there isn't a single player who spends the entire off-season at the Berto Center.

    Especially when the player just had a baby and his wife and child are still in Europe and he needs to go there to move them to Chicago.

    But hey, maybe Thibs doesn't like Niko, and he's pissed that he's going back to Europe to get his family, I can't say for sure either way.

    Does anyone know which guys are working out at the Berto Center right now?
     
  18. Bullsville

    Bullsville Intelligent Bulls Fan

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    That's fine, we'll just agree to disagree.

    I can tell you are incredibly high on Stauskas, which is your right, but I'm pretty sure he'll never make an All-Defensive team in his career.

    I also don't see Stauskas ever "taking over the point for stretches", but we'll see how he does in Sacramento.
     
  19. Bullsville

    Bullsville Intelligent Bulls Fan

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    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1302857-omer-asik-is-the-answer-for-the-houston-rockets-at-center

    The Chicago Bulls valued Omer Asik so much that they offered him the most they could under the collective bargaining agreement.

    As reported by the Chicago Tribune, it was $24 million over four years
    , including a rare player option at the fourth year. However, the prospect of starting, while having a shorter contract with the Houston Rockets, was too enticing.

    Asik told the Tribune: "I'm very thankful the Bulls gave me the opportunity to start my NBA career in Chicago. It's a great organization in a great city with great fans. It was a great place to be introduced to the NBA because the organization has created a culture of competitiveness and teamwork, good lessons to learn."
    ======================================================

    http://houston.culturemap.com/news/...-star-for-faking-injury-holding-team-hostage/

    Van Gundy noted that Asik used to be "one of my favorite players"

    "He's basically holding the Houston Rockets hostage because he's not starting," Van Gundy said of Asik in a recent national TV rant. "I don't care what anyone says — he's still not unable to play. And it's wrong."

    As Van Gundy notes, the maladies suddenly started crippling Asik after the Rockets scraped that new Twin Towers idea and enraged Asik by pulling him from the starting lineup. This spurred a new round of trade demands from the Turkish center.
     
  20. Denny Crane

    Denny Crane It's not even loaded! Staff Member Administrator

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    I read the post to mean a couple of teams with picks in the top 10. Not multiple picks in the top 10 for Mirotic.

    Only the 76ers had two top 10 picks.
     

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