Rhyder

This actually means two things:

#1. I like the signing, particularly if it is a two year $4 ish million with a team option for a third year (if allowed).

#2. Using the bi-annual exception means we are hard capped at a $74 million payroll. This means we are not matching Asik. I would expect the Belinelli signing after Omer officially signs his offer sheet, which I believe was supposed to be today.

Belinelli, not Radmanovic, would be the Kyle Korver type replacement. Not as good a shooter, but better than Kyle in all other aspects of the game.

yodurk

Belinelli would be a good player to fill the Korver role. For half the cost, heck yeah I'll take it. He is arguably just as good. Not quite as good a shooter as Korver (nobody is), but still a very good one and he can actually handle the ball a bit.

So let's say this, the Darko thing, and Radmanovic actually takes shape, our bench compared to last year becomes:

11-12...........12-13
Watson --> Hinrich
Korver --> Belinelli
Brewer --> Butler
Gibson --> Gibson
Asik --> Milicic
Lucas --> Teague
Scalabrine--> Radmanovic

In general I'm just not seeing much of a downgrade on the bench here, and for less money I can't really complain if this is what we end up with. The only one that worries me at all is Asik to Milicic; talent levels on D are comparable, but I worry that Darko just doesn't give a rat's *** alot of the time. Besides, the success of this team comes down to how healthy and productive can our starters be in the playoffs (different topic I am not addressing here).

seifer0406

he sucks

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Firefight

This a the perfect signing considering the circumstances. The season is still a wash, but the team is going to be competitive. Defensively, we won't be as strong, but we actually might be a better on the offensive side...(besides the obvious of missing Rose.)

Glad Asik is going to walk and the potential of a Taj extension is close. Things are shaping up to look promising in 2 years... Young role players, the potential of Euro PF coming over, and significant cap space to add a #2... and maybe a trade involving the Charlotte pick.

Diable

It's pretty sad that we can't produce enough Shooting guards in this country to send Marco back to his country.

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thebizkit69u

Didn't we say this 2 years ago lol.

One thing that people don't really think about, is the locker room presence guys like Brewer, Watson and Korver had on this team. While on the court the drop isn't significant, Korver, Brewer, Watson and even Scalabrine were loved in the locker room. We are talking now about replacing them with 3 guys who can barely speak english and/or don't relate to anyone of our stars and basically 2 rookies who haven't shown anything. Hinrich is a stabilizing presence in the locker room, but he also represents and old regime and a time when the Bulls dint compete for a chance to win a title.

This team is a jumbled mess, with an arrow pointing side ways that is slightly starting to dip.

Rhyder

Word is we signed him to a 2-year $3.8 million dollar deal. Looks like we are shaping up for consolidation trade this year or major FA players after the 13-14 season.

Rhyder

Contract is official and it is only a 1-year deal. Apparently, Hinrich is the only guy we committed money to past this season.

Foye is going to Utah. Can't think of another combo guard that we have been targeting, so Patrick Beverly may indeed get a shot unless Brewer can't find a team and we sign him to the minimum.

Hinrich / Teague / Beverly
Hamilton / Belinelli
Deng / Butler / Radmanovic
Boozer / Gibson / Thomas
Noah / Mohammed

This could be our 12-13 squad.

Going out vs. coming in:
Korver >= Belinelli
Asik > Mohammed
Watson < Hinrich
Brewer = Butler ?
Lucas III < Teague

Offense and talent are slightly upgraded. Defense is a bit downgraded. Athleticism goes up. Chemistry is the big question mark.

Job

The rebuilding has begun.

yodurk

IMO, this move is being underrated. Belinelli is a really solid 3-pt shooter. Consistent 39% with high volume...and he's just 26 yrs old. For one year and $2M bucks, I'll take him easily over some of the other ridiculous deals being thrown around the league.

Rhyder

Agreed. We didn't have to use the bi-annual exception, and I think we could have fanagled our salary to stay below the LT threshold had we not.

I would have preferred him on a two-year deal at that price, but perhaps Marco was only looking for one as he is seeking his first long-term contract.

Rhyder

How would you rebuild the Bulls with five outgoing players and about $5 million dollars to sign free agents. Or keep one of those outgoing players and have $3 million to spend?

It seemed like they were pursuing a lot of different avenues for trades. This has been the most loose lipped offseason on that front that I have seen. People are frustrated that nothing got done.

The reality is that roughly 25% of our payroll and best player is out most of the season.

Firefight

The Bulls are handcuffed this year, for various reasons... They are going to stay competitive withthe moves that they have completed this off-season. It is now obvious the plan is to develop young talent (Teague/butler),and maintain cap flexibility. They are accomplishing this while we wait for Rose.

Now we can resign Taj, have cap space to land a number 2 after next year, and hope that the chips fall arrest with Mirotic and that Charlotte pick. Good off-season with all things considered. There was no move out there that would of put us over the top...

Good Hope

The signing on the Bulls' site now.

I'm looking forward to what he can do in thib's system. He seems to have the Nocioni like spark, which we could use from time to time.

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"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Heb. 11:1

There are better things to hope in than the Bulls, but its fun to try, anyway.

FutureBullsDr

Watson < Hinrich (in this system we should see more productivity from Kirk compared to what he brought to ATL)
Korver > Belinelli (Korver will always be a one dimensional 3pt specialist, but he's one of the best at that role)
Brewer = Butler (hopefully)
Gibson = Gibson
Asik > Nazr (obvious)
Lucas = Teague (I don't know enough to comment)
Scalabrine < Radmanovic (at least Vladdy can do something positive on the court like make a random 3pt shot, possibly on a consistent basis)

Going cheap may not have killed us after all.