By Josh Redetzke
6/10/08

2008/09
Chicage Bulls Payroll: $47.5 million
2008/09 Estimated NBA Salary Cap: $58 million
Roughly: $11.5 million under cap

 

The
Good:

What a difference a year makes. The Bulls won 49
games last season and appeared to be easy candidates for a top seed
in the playoffs. Instead, they got off to a bad start, fired coach
Scott Skiles, and floundered to just 33 victories. The basketball
gods must have felt sorry for them since they bestowed upon Chicago
the number one pick in the draft. This is an excellent chance for
the team to reverse its fortunes and add a franchise player (Derrick
Rose) to the line-up.

Drew Gooden played pretty well after joining the team during the
Ben Wallace trade. He averaged 14 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.3
blocks in the last 18 games before missing some time due to an abdominal
strain. If Gooden isn’t part of Chicago’s future plans,
his $7.1 million salary for next season makes him a very tradable
asset, especially since it’s the final year of his contract.

The
Bad:

The Ben Wallace embarrassment thankfully didn’t
last long in the Windy City. The disappointing forward never came
close to his old, dominating self. Unfortunately, in order to get
rid of him, the Bulls had to take Larry Hughes in return. His contract
is slightly cheaper and the same length as Wallace’s, but
that doesn’t mean it’s any less awful. Hughes still
hasn’t learned how to shoot effectively. He averaged just
38% from the field this year. He also isn’t nearly as versatile
in his rebounding and passing as he used to be. At $12.8 and $13.6
million the next two years, Hughes will be severely overpaid. No
wonder Cleveland was so happy to get rid of him.

In the first season of a new five-year, $47.5 million dollar contract,
Kirk Hinrich took a step back. His scoring average dipped five points
to 11.5 and his shooting percentage fell to a sub-par 41%. Now,
with the possibility of Rose joining the team, Hinrich might have
to be traded to make room at the point. His contract isn’t
ridiculously expensive to trade, but with four years left and Hinrich
coming off a poor season, the Bulls would be selling on the low
end of his value. Perhaps they will let the tandem exist together
for a while and bring Hinrich’s value up before looking to move
him.

Andres Nocioni also started a five-year contract last season, this
one worth about $37.5 million. Nocioni is an excellent role player,
but just like Hinrich, after signing the big contract his numbers
took a hit. For now, I’ll place the blame on a rough season
that gave everyone’s stats at least a small decline. However,
I’d like to see a little more production out of Nocioni for
that kind of dough.

The
Future:

The biggest decision for the Chicago Bulls this
summer might not be who they draft but how they handle resigning
their two best players, Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. Both are excellent
young players and restricted free agents who will command a fairly
decent price on the market. If Chicago signs both to contacts similar
to Hinrich, they will have roughly $50 million wrapped up in just
five players the next two seasons. In other words, say goodbye to
any cap space for a while. If you are winning 49 games and getting
to the second round of the playoffs every year, then it is simply
an acceptable hazard that comes with success. If you are winning
33 games and participating in the lottery every year, then it is
disastrous.

We must also consider that the $50 million in players does not include
a competent center. Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah might be good contributors
in a few years, but Drew Gooden is really the only dependable frontline
player that they have and he might not be around for very long.
A recent marijuana charge by Noah further dampens the situation
and casts some doubt about his career. Chicago might be forced to
make some major moves this summer to reshape its team for a better
future. That includes possibly trading Gordon or Deng along with
Hinrich to get a talented center and save a little money. The decisions
they make in the next few months will have major ramifications down
the road. It’s time for John Paxson to make up for the whole
Tyson Chandler-Ben Wallace debacle.

Free
Throw:

Despite being in 9th place before the lottery, the
Bulls moved up to the top overall pick which was poetic justice
as teams like Minnesota and Memphis would have been rewarded for
tanking their seasons. Unfortunately the biggest culprit of tanking
(Miami) won the second overall pick.

Grade:
B-

Main
State of the Cap Page

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