Taj Gibson privately isn't too thrilled about the prospect of continuing to be a reserve forward, according to sources. But Gibson has been an upbeat, team-first player who values winning and chemistry too much to make it an issue or distraction. The Chicago Bulls signed Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic this offseason. Read more http://www.csnchicago.com/bulls/bulls-taj-gibson-remains-underrated-crucial-success
Gotta suck for Gibson (or suck as much as it can for a guy who's under 30 and making $8 mildo per annum). Melo coming here would have been ideal for him. Instead, the Bulls had to settle on adding Gasol, a big who will compete with Gibson for minutes. Pretty ironic that, despite the fact that Gibson is a much better player today than he was when he came into the league, it could end up that the only season he was a starter was when he was a rookie.
The guy was drafted #26 and has played 5 seasons. He has a fine 15.0 career PER for a backup. He's being well paid, and gets to play. I don't think 15PER and 9/6 per game for his career make him what we want at the starting PF position. Gasol may be old, but he's a 18/9 guy for his career with a 21.5 PER for his career. Those are superstar or near superstar kind of numbers. Last season at 19.3 PER is good enough he should easily start for us.
Do you think Taj is the 75th best player? Those lists are always fun as an exercise. (My biggest takeaway is that I think Anthony Davis might be the third best player in the league.) As far as Gibson goes, I thought it was interesting that SI had him ranked 75th when they have Ibaka at 18. Both of those players score and rebound at almost an identical per/minute clips. Both are terrors on defense. Ibaka's block numbers are better but that has a lot to do with system. I actually think Taj is a better defender -- Ibaka just throws himself out of position way too often. The real advantage Ibaka has over Gibson, as far as I can tell, is that Ibaka can shoot the ball consistently from mid-range. Ibaka hit at .490 from 10-16 feet, and .457 from 16-3pt. That's pretty darn good. Gibson meanwhile was at .399 from 10-16 and .397 from 16-3pt. I guess there's two ways to look it at: perhaps the list is wrong and the writers at SI don't have a good grasp of both players. The second way more interesting possibility is perhaps the writers are correct and that shooting is so important in the league right now that having a consistent jumper is worth ranking a player at 18 instead of 75. It's probably a mixture of both. But would Thibodeau have stuck with Boozer in the starting lineup last season if Gibson provided consistent shooting? Would Gasol even be on the team right now? I think the answer to both those questions is no.
Taj played himself into 6MOY contention last season. I don't see him as being that close to Ibaka in talent. What he lacks, though, he makes up for with effort. Obviously. Taj led the team in FG% last season at .479. Seems good, but for a PF, .479 is really on the low side. FWIW
Gotta love the guy. Zero primadonna in him. Gibson's made himself into a very good and fairly complete basketball player. He would be a valuable member of any NBA team.
I kinda feel bad for Taj, the Bulls told him he would start, but then Gasol happened, which was a reaction to not getting Melo, so I can see why he'd be pissed off. He will still get quality minutes though. I could see him traded by the all star break if he gets any interest, because he really wants to start.