Well, the 2009 NBA draft is now behind us and there have been a number of big moves around the league, but nothing involving the Chicago Bulls. One thing stands out from the draft and I am sure many Bulls fans thought of it after the Bulls drafted Taj Gibson. Having already picked up James Johnson with the 16th pick the Bulls then draft another power forward. There have been rumors that Tyrus Thomas might be traded, so was the Bulls decision to draft two power forwards a sign that a Thomas trade is in the works? Let us take a look.
I for one think Tyrus Thomas is a great player but is too small to play the power forward and not a good enough ball-handler to be a star small forward. He is the classic tweener. He can jump out the gym and could very well be the most athletic player in the NBA. It would seem he would be a perfect fit alongside a point guard like Derrick Rose, right? He has worked hard on his shot and has become a fairly good shooter from around 17 feet but the problem is he can not seem to shake a player off the dribble and then drive to the basket. If only he had a better basketball IQ and some better handles around the rim. He is an enigma and therefore a hard player to just give up on.
The problem now is that the Bulls have way to many tweeners. Luol Deng is a small forward but plays the PF position at times because he does not have great speed but does have length. Tim Thomas, Tyrus Thomas, James Johnson, and Taj Gibson along with Deng is just way to much depth. Something has got to give and with Ben Gordon maybe leaving the Bulls really need a starting shooting guard unless they plan to use John Salmons there which could work nicely.
If the Bulls lose Ben Gordon then they will most likely keep Kirk Hinrich to backup both Salmons and Rose. This would give them solid depth at the guard position. Vinny could start either Captain Kirk or Salmons at the 2 spot depending on what team they face. The Bulls could pick up another true point guard as well for depth or just keep Hunter around if he does not retire. Rose will be playing 40 minutes a game this season for sure. I think the Bulls will be fine with or without Gordon. Infact if Gordon stays and Luol Deng is 100% heathy this leaves John Salmons the odd man out and Salmons should be starting. Hinrich is not as good as Gordon overall, but he is a great floor leader, playmaker, and defender.
This brings me to the small forward spot. If healthy Luol Deng is a 18 and 8 player and maybe better so he needs to start. I could see James Johnson filling the backup role very nicely behind Deng. Johnson is athletic and a solid shooter. He is not a great defender but is Deng? I could see Johnson playing a solid 15-20 mionutes off the bench. He has size and strength to play right noe in the NBA.
We will come back to the power forward spot in a minute but first let us look at the center spot. I do not know about you but I feel good about Joakim Noah as a starting center in this league. He is not the big back to the basket center that wins championships, but really how many of those types of Centers are there? Not very many. Infact Yao Ming, Shaq, and Dwight Howard are the only true giants in the NBA right now and Ming is hurt and Shaq is old. The fact of the matter is that Noah is a good center in todays game. What he really needs is a back to the basket scoring power forward to share the paint with him. You also could do much much worse for a backup center then the savvy veteran that is Brad Miller. I think the Bulls are solid in the center position for now. The gaping hole to me is at the power forward spot.
Tyrus Thomas is a shot blocking, rebounding, energy player and that might be it. He makes bad choices with the ball and I am in fear every time he is on the floor at the end of a close game which ironically not often. Vinny sees it too. Tyrus has limits. He is not a good man to man or off the ball defender. He is good for a few amazing blocks a game and somecrazy dunks but that may be it. Noah, while not nearly as athletic is ten times smarter and knows when to get rid of the ball. Tyrus loves to force low percentage shots in the paint at that cost the Bulls games. When he tries to blow past a defender he simply does not have the skills to do so and often just plows them over and gets called for the offensive foul. We could do better then Thomas. Tyrus could fit well on a different team like the Warriors or Knicks. Tim Thomas is an expiring contract that othe teams may bite on. He is still a good shooter and can hit some big shots, but again he is not a post player and can not drive to the hole very well. We could stand to lose Tim Thomas as well. Taj Gibson is at best an energy player and defensive stopper. He is very much like Tyrus in that his Basketball IQ is below average. Gibson is a garbage minutes player.
I really do not understand why the Bulls took Gibson at the 26th spot of the draft. Blair was still there and while fat and slow he is a back to the basket player that would have been a steal at 26. If Tyrus is traded then the Bulls could have started Blair in place of him and had a scorer in the paint. Think Big Baby Davis here. I am not saying that Blair is the answer to anything longterm, but he would have made much more sense then Taj. The only thing that makes sense is that Blair's knees are really that bad off.
So how do we solve our power forward issues. Well after drafting two power forwards I would say that Gar Forman has a plan. I think Chris Bosh is off the table this summer but maybe a mid-season trade with Toronto could still happen. The Bulls could just offer Bosh a contract in the summer of 2010 when he becomes a free agent. I still think the Bulls can make a trade this summer and fix the PF mess.
One idea I had before was a trade with the Knicks for David Lee. I still contend it is worth looking at. Tim Thomas and Tyrus Thomas in a sign and trade for Lee might just work. Mike D'Antoni could start Tyrus at the 3 spot if he wanted to alongside rookie Jordan Hill. that could be an exciting team and if the Knicks could work out a deal with the Timberwolves for Ricky Rubio then the Knicks could become a very fun team to watch. The Bulls would get a solid blue collar power forward that can post up and rebound. I think the Bulls could get by with Lee and Noah. There would be a ton of second chance scoring and physical play. If then Bosh goes on the market before the trade deadline the Bulls could package Brad Millers expiring contract with Joakim Noah and maybe land Bosh. That line up would look like this:
PG- Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich
SG- John Salmons, Kirk Hinrich
SF- Luol Deng, James Johnson
PF- Chris Bosh, James Johnson, Taj Gibson
C- David Lee, Aaron Gray
Not to bad. In the end us fans will have to see just what happens, but I do smell something in the works. I could also see the Bulls going after a player like Chris Kaman. The Bulls could then slide Noah into the power forward spot. The Clippers have to get rid of some bigmen with having just drafted Blake Griffin. Bulls could make a similar trade for Kaman as they would for Lee and the Bulls might be able to pry a future draft pick out of the Clippers hands.
I do not know about you, but I can not wait to see what happens this summer.
