[Salvaged Ship]

Boy oh Boy.

Curry at 19 years old is still going to have plenty of off nights and foul trouble.

The most important veteran the Bulls need is a back up center, not power forward.

If Baxter pans out you have Chandler, Fizer, and Baxter.

Bagaric is Curry's only back up. With Curry getting into foul trouble so much it could mean more minutes for Bagaric. Not a pleasant thought.

Instead of Manning, who can't play center, maybe Kevin Willis isn't that bad an option. At least he can play center.

Any other ideas?? Maybe Milwaukee wants Best bad enough and will give us Ervin Johnson for him. Not a great player, but a decent back up center.

 

[fear7]

The fact Chandler can play C helps us out. Ervin Johnson would be a really good backup but it would take more than Travis Best in a sign and trade. I wonder if a combo of Dali and Best would interest them?

If we can't get anyone then Wills would be a resonable backup. He works really hard in the gym but I have heard he can be a bit of a trouble maker. Can someone with more knowlege confirm this?

 

[pduh02]

Ervin Johnson be a decent back up better then Greg Foster!

But Fear is right it might take more then Best to get Ervin Johnson which rumor include Ham.

 

[Salvaged Ship]

I don't know.

Best in my mind seems to have more left in him then Ervin Johnson. A straight up trade doesn't seem too unreasonable.

Milwaukee will want to dump a salary. Does anyone know what Johnson makes? See if it could work cap-wise.

Ham to me is a waste of time. He is a small forward with a back up power forward game. The guy can flat dunk it though.

What does Ham make?

Pryzbilla would be difficult. If you sign Best to 5 million a year then trade him for Pryzbila would this screw up the mid level exemption?

 

[MikeDC]

Sign and Trades of Best to the Bucks

Looking at the players that the Bucks would realistically offer in a sign and trade deal, I see:

Ervin Johnson - apparently has this year plus two more on his contract. It's not an outrageous contract ~ $3M a year, but its a fair amount for a declining player. If we did a trade for him, he'd be traded for Best straight up or with Ham, IMO. I have to think that Krause would be leary of having him affect the cap, so I don't think this happens.

Greg Foster - Missed practically all of last year with back problems. I'm sure we'd be getting him for the veteran minimum ($1.4M), and probably a one year deal, so there is little risk if it turns out he can't play, except that we still don't have our backup big man. If he's recovered though, we can probably avoid going after Kevin Willis or Corey Blount. Since I'm figuring Best to get $3-4M, I would guess he'd be only PART of the return package.

Darvin Ham - would definitely be a part. We could fit him into the lineup for 8-12 minutes a night, I think, without causing ERob or Fizer major PT headaches. He's got the true SF size and better defensive skills than Rose and ERob. Situationally playing him against strong offensive players would be a real asset to us. He's a free agent, so he's have to re-sign a contract. For a guy playing 8-12 a night, the minimum $1.4M seems appropriate, but maybe we have to give him slightly more to match what Best is going to get. If the price is reasonable though, I might like to have him for greater than a 1 year contract.

Greg Anthony - Left the Bulls to make a playoff run (LOL!). With the Bulls having a slim, albeit slightly more realistic chance at the playoffs this year, maybe he'd be willing to come back. At the veteran minimum, if he's willing to return, he might make an good safety valve and mentor as a third PG.

If Best signs for something like $4M, which I think is a realistic possibility, then my guess is that we would get the last three of those guys back (Foster, Ham, and Anthony).

 

[Sicky Dimpkins]

Player Salaries 01/02

Buck bucks(salaries)

Ervin Johnson Profile

Usually teams don't trade big for small but since the Buck drafted 3 bigs(Sampson,Gadzuric,Haislip) this shouldn't be a problem. The Buck simply reallocate $ from a big to a small and let the young bigs get more playing time. Makes alot of sense to me.

Best made 3.375 mil last year. He could make:

3.375 mil x 1.2 = 4.05 mil

before he'd be BYC. If the Bull sign him at 4.05 mil to start and give him a 3 year contract with 12.5% raises(the incentive to have him sign) the yearly cost of Best would be:

02/03: 4.05 mil
03/04: 4.55625 mil
04/05: 5.12578125 mil

compared to the cost of Johnson of:

02/03: ~ 4 mil
03/04: ~ 4.5 mil
04/05: ~ 5 mil

This works straight up. No problem.

Johnson at least gives the Bull a vet who can provide defense and rebounding without being a threat to take playing time and points from TC & EC. I'd much rather have them practice against him than Fizer/Bagaric. 7'1" TC vs. 6' 8" Fizer

I never thought the Buck would want such a high quality backup point so I never considered them for Best but if they want him I like the idea of Johnson(horrendous FT% and all) even though I think TC should start to "get his feet wet" playing some 5(and therefore I actually think a 4 is more needed more than a 5). Foster and Ham(neither of which seem to be under contract) :no: .

 

[dkg1]

Not to sound too sound like I'm in a panic already, but TC and EC getting into foul trouble in the second preseason game might give Krause more of a sense of urgency to acquire a vet who can play the 4 and 5. It sounds like Bags is still a ways away from being a decent backup center.

 

[Sicky Dimpkins]

Last year:

Ham: 17.3 mpg, 56.9 fg%, 50.4 ft%, 2.9 rpg, 1 apg, .4 spg, .5 bpg, 4.3 ppg

Johnson: 20.5 mpg, 46.1 fg%, 45.5 ft%, 5.8 rpg, .3 apg, .5 spg, 1 bpg, 2.6 ppg

Personal fouls per 48/NBA rank:

EC: 7.2/10th
Ham: 7.0/13th
Johnson: 6.3/22nd
TC: 6.2/27th

3 of the 4 rebound and block shots well.
What's Ham's excuse?

 

[MikeDC]

Originally posted by Sicky Dimpkins
Last year:

Ham: 17.3 mpg, 56.9 fg%, 50.4 ft%, 2.9 rpg, 1 apg, .4 spg, .5 bpg, 4.3 ppg

Johnson: 20.5 mpg, 46.1 fg%, 45.5 ft%, 5.8 rpg, .3 apg, .5 spg, 1 bpg, 2.6 ppg

Personal fouls per 48/NBA rank:

EC: 7.2/10th
Ham: 7.0/13th
Johnson: 6.3/22nd
TC: 6.2/27th

3 of the 4 rebound and block shots well.
What's Ham's excuse?

I think his excuse would be that Ham is a 6'7" small forward, rather than a 7' tall PF/C.

Ham would be brought in for defensive purposes, not his stat sheet.