A Decent read by Sam Smith. I'll give the Bulls stuff for next year. Other thoughts aren't horrible.
http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/smith_120514.html...As for the Bulls, there are going to be a lot of hard decisions going forward even assuming Rose does recover well and quickly. One is the payroll, which already is around the projected luxury tax line. Will the Bulls spend into the luxury tax even if they aren’t sure how much of next season Rose can play? Should they? It wouldn’t seem to make sense. The tax is estimated at about $70 million. Here’s a look at next season’s payroll already committed:
Derrick Rose...... $16,402,550
Carlos Boozer.....$15,000,000
Luol Deng..........$13,305,000
Joakim Noah.......$11,300,000
Richard Hamilton .$5,000,000
Taj Gibson..........$2,155,811
Jimmy Butler.......$1,066,920
........................$64,230,281
That doesn’t include the team options for Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer and C.J. Watson, which total $12,570,000. And then there’s restricted free agent Omer Asik, whom the Bulls want to retain and might have to match an offer up to $5,000,000. So if the Bulls bring back just this core group, they are well into the luxury tax. Certainly things can change with trades. Maybe someone takes Hamilton’s salary as it is for one year and a small buyout, which could leave room for someone else. You have to be under the salary cap to recruit a top free agent. Even if the Bulls amnesty a player, they would not be far enough under to go for a top free agent. They could use their mid-level exception of about $5 million, but that brings in luxury tax considerations and makes that player cost $10 million, in effect. Currently, the Bulls are third in the NBA behind Miami and barely behind the Lakers for the most payroll committed for next season.
Here’s a look at the roster:
Derrick Rose: He had his surgery over the weekend and no one can say for sure when he’ll return or how it will work. The estimates range from Christmas to being out all season. Even when Rose returns, the history of ACL injuries is you don’t regain your full level until the following season.
Chance to return: 100 percent
Joakim Noah: He’ll play in the Olympics for France and his sprained ankle should be fine, though the Bulls believed after he was hurt he’d be out a month. His name will come up in trade rumors (here comes the Dwight Howard stuff again in July), but he’s still the defensive heart of the team. “I personally believe this group can compete against anybody, the Heat, anybody,” said Noah. “Derrick is going to come back. Like Thibodeau always says, ‘We are very privileged people doing what we love to. Let’s go out there, get better this summer. Come back hungrier than ever and make a run.’” Noah was the team’s leading playoff scorer with Rose out, though Noah only played three games.
Chance to return: 85 percent
Carlos Boozer: It was another disappointing last game. Boozer averaged 13.5 points and 9.8 rebounds on 42 percent shooting in the playoffs. He had a big Game 5 and then poor Game 6. His salary makes him basically untradeable in this new more frugal NBA era and he will not be part of amnesty. “I just want to come back a better player all around, inside and out, offensively and defensively, a better leader. Continue to improve as a player,” said Boozer.
Chance to return: 95 percent
Luol Deng: He’ll play for England in the Olympics and said he will then decide whether to have surgery to repair his torn wrist ligaments. Deng has been upset people have questioned him playing in the Olympics, given England gave his family shelter from the war in Sudan. If he has surgery, he probably won’t return until December. His name will come up in trade rumors as well, though because of the uncertainty about his surgery, there is less chance of anything happening. Still, he won’t be out that long. He averaged 14 points and 8.3 rebounds in the series with the 76ers, though he had a big final game.
Chance to return: 80 percent
Richard Hamilton: He was injured more than half the season amidst questions about whether he was pacing himself for the playoffs. He did average 13 points in just 28 minutes as the team leader per 48 minutes other than Rose. But it seemed coach Thibodeau never became comfortable with him after all the regular season time lost and he sat out numerous fourth quarters.
Chance to return: 50 percent
Taj Gibson: He averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in the playoffs, both above his season averages, and displayed the aggressive play that was a team trademark. He is up for an extension and has one more season until he becomes a restricted free agent when he’ll be in high demand.
Chance to return: 90 percent
Jimmy Butler: The rookie didn’t play much this season and just four minutes in the playoffs. But the Bulls are high on him and have him targeted for the rotation next season off the bench.
Chance to return: 95 percent
Ronnie Brewer: He had an up and down playoffs, falling out of the rotation one game and then having a big Game 5. He is probably most vulnerable not to have his option picked up, as Butler plays his sort of defensive, hustling game. “Whatever happens, whatever the management does you have to live with and move on. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it here. The fans welcomed me and the team let me play my game. It would be ideal if they brought me back, but if it was my last game as a Bull, I left it all on the floor. I played as hard as I could every night and I hope everyone remembers me for that. They said they’d do everything they possibly can to bring me back. They are men of their word. All I can do is try to get better for next year and help this team out more than I did this year.”
Chance to return: 15 percent
C.J. Watson: He had a nice season starting 25 games for Rose. He shot a career low from the field, but was good on three pointers. Then he had that disastrous close to Game 6. He shot just 24 percent in the playoffs and 25 percent on threes after almost 40 percent in the regular season. He also is on a team option, though at $3.2 million the lowest of the three among he, Brewer and Korver. “I think we’re fine,” Watson said. “Getting everyone healthy is the key. With Derrick we’re all right to win games offensively and defensively. I’m not sure (what management will do). Hopefully, we’ll all be here to have another run at it. Hopefully, we’ll all be healthy and leave it up to management. Everyone was injured this year. It was a difficult year because we never had a healthy team all year.”
Chance to return: 20 percent
Kyle Korver: He had a good season, ranking in the top 10 in three point shooting again, but suffered a foot injury late in the regular season that worsened in the playoffs and he basically was unable to play in Game 6, though the team declined to discuss specifics. Korver is one of the league’s best perimeter shooters and an improving defender, so there’ll be good a market for him if the Bulls let him go. “We went in every day as a team believing we would win a championship,” said Korver. “We really went for it. We put everything into it every day. So it makes it a really tough finish. This team has a really bright future. Obviously, we need Derrick to come back healthy and strong, which we all think he will. There are some really great pieces. They told me they’d like to bring me back, but (I know) it will come to dollars. It’s a privilege to wear a Bulls uniform. It’s really an honor. I watched the Bulls growing up. To be part of an organization like that is great. The Bulls are first class in every way, great people, organization, culture and a great place to play basketball. Chicago is an amazing place for sports. Obviously, I’d love to be back, but we’ll see.”
Chance to return: 30 percent
Omer Asik: He is a restricted free agent, which means the Bulls can match just about any offer. There are some circumstances in which he can be offered more than a mid-level, though it’s tough to see a team using just about all its cap room on a guy who averaged 3.1 points this season. Though he is more valuable. Assuming the Bulls match, they could consider trading Noah. And Asik along with Brewer and Boozer were the only players to play all 66 games. Though you’d have to get a big scorer to make up for Asik’s lack of offense. It seems too complicated and unlikely.
Chance to return: 80 percent
John Lucas III and Brian Scalabrine are minimum salary free agents, though the Bulls can match on Lucas. He may get a higher guarantee and probably is more likely to be gone than Scalabrine. Though he didn’t play in the playoffs, Mike James would be worth another look as a backup point guard for a minimum if Lucas leaves.
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