FavreFan wrote:
Well they did lose to Dallas their first year because of their lack of size, and probably will lose again this year in the Finals because of the same problem.
But we both know that's a unique circumstance, and if you're drawing up a blueprint on how to build a team and one of the requirements is "get LeBron James", you're gonna fail 29 out of 30 times. If a team wants to trade a top 5-10 player for Noah, I would probably do it. But nobody will do that. Simply put, Noah is more valuable to the Bulls right now than he is around the league, so trading him would be illogical.
Edit: Conversely, Deng is probably more valuable to another team than he is to us right now, especially with an expiring deal and the emergence of Butler. So trading him now would be optimal.
They did struggle in their first year, despite going to the Finals, for issues that did include size but also went beyond just size, so I don't know if the Dallas win can only be attributed to Miami's lack of size. As for this year, after winning like 67 games, including 27 in a row, I think they only way they lose is if Wade sucks.
But I think you're right about the special circumstances.
I can see how Noah may be more valuable to the Bulls than anyone else, but at the same time everyone is looking for size, and I would assume GMs look at Noah first for that reason. Butler has made Deng expendable, but on the other side, wouldn't it be nice to have both Deng and Butler around? Top shelf perimeter guys like James, Wade, Durant, Westbrook, possibly Harden if the Rockets get Howard, and Anthony figure to give the Bulls the most problems in late playoff matchups, so having two defenders like Deng and Butler would be a nice luxury to have if you can keep both and still transform the roster.