First of all, this guy is not a top 5 talent. If he was, he'd go in the top 5. It's been shown that teams are willing to draft someone high(Rubio, Jonas Valanciunas) even if they know it may take a year or two to get them here. Obviously, this guy could become a future all star but a lot can change in 2-4 years. It's more likely that this guy never plays for the Bulls rather than becoming a top 5 level talent.

Also, the Bulls window is now. I have no idea what the team will be like in 4 years but getting as much help as possible right now is better to me. Taj Gibson was a similar pick. This draft was bad because of the talent at the top but there are plenty of productive players who will be from that pick and later on. The Bulls didn't give themselves a chance to get one. Instead, they have to hope that 4 years from now that this guy develops into a great player.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

This Euro pick does give the Bulls flexibility to find a guy that can help them now. They don't have to tie up salary in a guy who might not produce. The same goes for any rookie drafted after the lottery. Now you can get a 'known' quantity or take a chance on a guy that can produce. So let's assume he's healthy after his tendon surgery but would you rather have Kelenna Azubuike or Shelden Mack backing at the 2.

If Azubuike is the big free agent splash this summer, I am going to be very disappointed. I'd rather they stick with what they have.

_________________

When healthy, Azubuike is better than anything they got at the 2 now.

That is more or less sticking with what you have, unless some idiot gives him a MLE or something nuts.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

well, the winning bet is the over. What a boring draft.

Joe Dumars and David Kahn are still NBA GM's, so anything is possible. If Isiah comes back to the Knicks, he could probably get a max deal.

_________________

I'd rather take the chance that a young player was undervalued or adjusted really well to the NBA like Taj Gibson vs. getting someone we know is nothing great. You never know if you'll get a George Hill at 26. It's obviously possible that they fail but are they really that expensive at the bottom of the first round?

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think J Richardson would be a good fit here. I believe that he would be available.

Usually the successful teams can stash a player away while the crappy teams are overly concerned with showing their fans something right away. I have no problem with the pick.

Also the 2016 contract doesn't matter. The Bulls have money and any time they feel it's time to buyout his contract they can. Even rubio's contract wasn't that much, and Mirotic isnt Rubio.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Richardson now or Richardson 5 years ago? Now he's a standstill shooter who tries on D but I think he's on the downhill slide.

As for Hill, the Bulls could have tried to trade for him it seems.

I don't think Marcus Thorton is realistic, but Aaron Aflalo would be a perfect fit with the Bulls. He's also already much better than Mack, Azabuike, or JRich. Better 2 guard than George Hill. He can be had for the MLE I would think

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Thornton is going to get overpaid after his explosion in Sactown.

And the Kings can do it, along with other teams. That's why I didn't think it was realistic. Someone's gonna overpay him dramatically

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

J Rich can still get it done. He gives us the outside shooting presence at the 2 spot but can create off the dribble and play consistent D. It was obviously pointed out to us that we need a balanced player who can play O and D instead of the two man rotation that we had at the 2 in the playoffs (Borgans or Brewer/Korver)

Maloof's are broke. They can't pay for him. Maybe in a S&T, but not to keep him on the roster.

The big concern with Rich is his dropoff AFTER he got traded to a contender last season. His declining athleticism is making his overall dropoff that much more accelerated. I don't think he's a consistent enough threat from outside these days to fill our need

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

He ranked #37 in 3 point percentage with shooting a shade under 40%. he still averaged 15ppg. He payed 80 out of 82 games so he is still durable. Like someboyd said, the window is now and I think that can be said for him as well so the motivation is there for both. Gotta strike while the iron is hot.

Why is the window right now?

Affalalo fits with this group way better skill set and age wise

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I'm listening to the draft coverage that was on the score last night and Goff didn't mind the Nolan Smith pick but didn't understand the Nikola Mirotic pick?

Really?

Because the next step up is the championship and anything less is going backwards now. I think J Rich's veteran play can provide more leadership in the locker room. Afflalo doesn't give them any presence in that regard.

Fran Frichella said he was a top 5 talent. I read elsewhere that he was a top 7 talent. I think those guys know more than you.

And there's a big difference between taking a guy in the lotto who is going to be overseas for a year as opposed to a guy who is going to be overseas for 4 years. No one in the lotto has the balls or job security to take a gamble on a guy like that. Hence, he drops into the 20s despite his mid lotto talent. Very few GMs have the lifetime job security of Pax to afford to take such a player.

As for the Bulls window, its now but its also 5 years from now. With Rose, Deng, Noah, Gibson its not like that window is slamming shut in a year or two.


The absolute worst thing this team could've done was come out of this draft with two guaranteed contracts stuck at the end of the bench next year. As you said, the window is now and they would be going into the season with a big handicap if they were only suiting up a 10 man roster with 2 useless rookies at the end of teh bench.

This draft was bad and could very well end up being one of the worst in league history. The odds of landing a player in the late 20s who would help a contender are very slim. The odds of this Euro coming over in 4 years and helping a contender are also pretty slim, but at least with this route you don't have to waste a roster spot to find out.

This pick was about as low risk high reward as you could get and I'm a huge fan of it.

_________________

What locker room presence did he have with Orlando? If that's what we need I bet Adrian Griffin is still available. Not to mention with Noah, Rose, and vets like Kurt Thomas, etc we don't need Rick's voice, we need his jumper. And AA's jumper is better.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

No, they didn't, because he would have been drafted in the top 5 or 7 if he were. What they said was that he projects to be a top 5 talent in 2-4 years. That means almost nothing because those projections change all the time. See Jeremy Tyler who was a lock for a lottery pick two years ago. He may not even make a team now.
No, it's more that 4 years is too far in the future to project them. The Bulls have had multiple foreign picks who have never played on the team.

I guess we'll see how productive the 12th man next year is. This Bulls team is not a finished product. They have flaws. The Heat are only going to get better too and the Bulls are behind them.
I'll bump this thread when we finally know who the 12th man on the team is and we can decide if having him on the team was worth giving up on the potential, even if unlikely, of getting a George Hill type player who can work himself into a quality player.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Rick your last point im pretty sure is invalid. The last two guys in Chicago's rotation will never make a difference in the team's outcome, regardless of who it is.

The additional roster spot allows a young, very successful, talented team to allow a veteran MLE to "win now" while also "gifting" the Bulls a possible lottery talent in a few years. Either way this isn't the NFL draft and late first round picks aren't anything to lose sleep over

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

It's not invalid. In fact, it's very important. You can hide two rookies in those final spots for cheap and give them a chance to develop.
If they get someone who is still a capable contributor then that's good and they did well. If it's John Lucas instead of a rookie that may actually develop into a good player then I think that's not a good choice.

People are way too hung up on this "possible lottery talent" stuff. The Bulls will be lucky if this guy ever even comes over and plays for them.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Oh, Dr. Ken.

_________________

Not bad, IMU.

_________________

Those coaches in Australia know what I'm talkin' about.

_________________
My Maserati does 186.