jnrjr79

More at the link.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bull...-inflexibility

thebizkit69u

Pros

Spreads Floor for Rose
Legit 3 point threat
7 feet.
Saves money per year

Cons

Can't amnesty Bargnani
Poor defender like Boozer
Poor Rebounder
Injury Prone

On paper its kinda a wash, but I just don't see how this helps Toronto at all.

Firefight

This helps Toronto because they get a legit post player in Boozer. Bargnani is the slowest SF in the NBA, and is forced to play PF/C. His defense makes Boozer look like a lock down defender.

Now I'm not a huge Boozer backer. His defense and inability to play above the rim drives me crazy, but he is somewhat of a legit scoring option down low.
Bargnani brings zero to the table. He can hit an open jumper that extends to the 3pt line, but that's about it. A 7 footer that shoots 40 percent and grabs 4 rebounds a game? Horrible. He is so slow footed his help defense is literally non-existent.

I understand we save 5mil a year, but remember, we can amnesty Boozer if need be. Can't with Bargnani.

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thebizkit69u

How does paying Rudy Gay and Carlos Boozer nearly 35% of their cap get them any closer to a title? Thats a lot of money to commit for a team that realistically is a whiles away from being any good. Even if they become mediocre, how does giving up prime draft slots help?

This is why I'm not for the trade. Unless they see something in Bargnani that we don't see, I just don't get the trade much at all... Unless Reinsdorf doesn't believe in the Amnesty and would never think about paying a player to leave.

thebizkit69u

Well lets take a closer look at the contract situation.

Boozer age 31 has 2 years left paying him 15.3 and 16.8 million, both years guaranteed but would still be an amnesty option.
Bargnani age 27 has 2 years left paying him 10.7 and 11.5 with the last year being a player option.

Possible trades that could work would be

Bargnani and Landry Fields for Boozer and 2 expiring contracts like Radmonovich and Muhammad.
Bargnani and Kleiza for Boozer using trade exception.
Barganani and John Lucas for Boozer + trade exception.

Looking at the Barg/Lucas trade it probably makes the most sense. Lucas would have a team option in 2014, which would free about 1.5m. Add the savings from Bargnani over Boozer and its about 4.6m saved for 2014. Crazy scenario here, but lets just say the Bulls then amnesty Deng in his last year, that would free up another 14.2m, giving the Bulls almost 19m free to sign someone.... Guess who might be a free agent again... Lebron James. They could also just let Bargnani and Deng walk after 2014 and have a ton of money for 2015...

The more I talk about this trade, the more clear it becomes that a Boozer for Bargnani trade is a trade to maneuver the Bulls into another run at Free Agency. I'm not too excited about that since the Bulls usually fall flat on their faces during Free Agency.