featured-image

Ask Sam | Sam Smith opens his mailbag | 05.02.2014

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or its Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Bulls and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

Even though the Bulls clearly struggled with the slowly improving Wizards during the regular season, would this playoff loss rank up there with the losses to the Warriors in the 70's and the "Hubert Davis" Knicks in the 90's as disappointments? Tired legs? Maybe. The lack of a player who can "create his own shot"? Can even a 100% percent Derrick Rose (a giant question) and the ghost that is Mirotic help our offensively challenged heroes?
Frank Lux

We've long been told that Taj was unlikely to improve much because he was already 24 when he was drafted. After a down year after signing his extension, however, he absolutely emerged this year -- not a star but, like Noah, a star role-player.
His defense has remained all-league worthy and he's developed some nifty post-up moves. But the most important development came with the increased consistency of his mid-range jumper, which he shot with great confidence all year.
My question for you is if you see Taj attempting to add a corner 3 to his repertoire. We've seen Bosh add it and Paul Millsap has been dropping threes on the Pacers all series. Do you think Taj is capable of stepping back behind the line? Is this something he should look to add over the next few years?
Jack Murphy

Can you explain the situation with Donald Sterling? As I understand, he is the owner of the Clippers. How can Adam Silver say that he can't walk into the Clippers stadium, or participate in team decisions. I'm not at all saying what Sterling said was ok, but what gives Silver the authority to say Sterling can't attend his own team's games? He owns the team, right? I figure Silver could fine him, but not much else.
Kevin Wisser

I hope so much that the NBA celebs and the rest of them stop tweeting congratulations to Silver and start pleading with folks to get out and vote in the mid-terms. If not, the horror that powerful men like Sterling can and do inflict on the rest of us will continue to grow at an ever more rapid rate. Please LeBron, please, prod us to vote.
Jacob Snyder

I know you're a proponent of keeping depth and adding Mirotic to the mix rather than go for Melo, or at least that's the way it seems in your articles. My issue is for 4 years now Bulls fans and the organization know exactly what our issue is: No scoring. How anyone could choose a rookie over a top scorer like Melo is beyond me, however, I get the issues that bringing him over present: thinning out the roster, defensive liability etc... Either way we all know Rose needs a "Robin." Every serious team now has one; Portland, OKC, LAC, Miami... hell even the Wizards with Beal and Wall.
Mario Persico

I am proud of the team for all that they have given us this season, the team has nothing to hang their head about. My offseason wish for the bulls organization is avoiding Mr. Anthony at all costs if it means gutting the team and instead try to follow this plan: 1. sign Lance Stephenson in f/a Coach Thibs will do wonders with him and gives the another scoring option and creator off the dribble. 2. Bring in Mirotic. 3.Draft C. Early and A. Payne to add depth. 4.Re-sign Augustin or Hinrich.
Ron Smith

What a rough way for the Bulls to end the season, though I have to say they made it farther than most thought they would. I would like to congratulate them on playing hard and showing up. With that said its time to look to the 2014-2015 Bulls.
The consensus among most NBA writers is Boozer is done in Chicago and they Bulls need to bring in a scorer. The hot pick, as you among others have spoken about is Carmelo. While most people think that they can amnesty Boozer and try and get Melo to take a massive pay cut to bring him over, I don't see that happening. What I read today though is a sign & trade between the Knicks and the Bulls (maybe throw in a team or two to help with salaries) The trade I read about was the Bulls sending Boozer, Dunleavy and Brewer plus 1 of this year’s picks and a future pick (maybe the one that's protected we got from the Kings via the Cavs for the Deng trade) for Melo and J.R. Smith. The Knicks aren't getting much back but they get 2 first round picks which they are seriously lacking right now, a Boozer contract that is expiring which they can either hold onto and let expire or try and flip around the deadline for some other players and Dunleavy and Brewer who can be used as trade pieces in the future and getting rid of J.R. Smith’s contract which is better than letting Melo walk and getting nothing in return.
Alex Pauley

So I generally have been with you in believing it always is good for a team to make the playoffs. But honestly after this series, what benefit came from it?
Marc Dadigan

Do you think the Bulls would ever consider amnestying Derrick Rose if he continues to get injured? Kind of like what the Blazers did with Brandon Roy. I think Rose is a phenomenal athlete, but I think he needs to be smarter if he wants to enjoy a fruitful career. I know he wants to go full speed all the time, but it may be time to play smarter and not faster.
Chris Derlyn

If you believe the Bulls season is not just about the destination but also about the journey, this year was a big success. The Bulls were a joy and privilege to watch this season. On many random nights in Dec., Jan. and Feb. the Bulls provided smiles and entertainment. Joakim became a triple-double threat, Taj morphed into an upper echelon power forward, and D.J. escaped NBA nothingness to provide some wonderful moments. Nonetheless, I am surprised with how badly the Bulls were outplayed for all 5 playoff games. Not because I did not think Washington was good. They showed how good they are. But because of how little the Bulls did to stop them. Many good NBA playoff series provides some push and pull, one team dominating a game followed by the other team coming back. This series provided none of that. It was close for the first 3 games, but at no point did I feel the Bulls were ever in control. Washington scouted better, made more adjustments, and just outplayed the Bulls all series. I am not saying the Bulls did not compete or play hard, but clearly Washington was on another level. Why in your opinion did the Bulls not reach that level this series? And if the answer as I suspect is not being able to match Washington's athleticism, where does that put the Bulls going forward?
Ron Goldberg

A bittersweet day for Bulls fans. It's hard to believe it's over after our team proved again and again that nothing could get them down or stand in their way. I'm very proud of the grit, tenacity, and professionalism of this squad. And thankful for a wonderful season. Day 1 of the offseason. What do we do with Carlos Boozer? I believe he should stay, but it is obvious now that Taj should be the starter. Can Carlos handle that knock? If so, he'd be an extremely potent offensive weapon off the bench. I also think we should try to resign Kirk, D.J., and Greg Smith. A second unit of Augustin, Hinrich, Snell, Boozer, Smith would strike fear into many coach's hearts (starters being Rose, Butler, Dunleavy, Gibson, Noah). I know the season has just concluded, but I'm already very excited for next year!
Matthew Mikulice

Assuming their plan a (Melo) doesn't happen. And Mirotic stays overseas another year. What do you think about the Bulls acquiring Greg Monroe in a sign and trade? Perhaps for Gibson. Or picks or whatever. Solid scorer. Will have to overpay with a max or near max deal but he is young and could pair well with Noah and Rose and company.
Mike Kay

A rumor the Lakers reaching out to us for permission to speak to Thibs. What do you think?
Mike Sutera

D’Antoni should've stayed in PHX.
Kieron Smith

I'm not understanding the criteria of Sixth Man of the Year, but Jamal Crawford started 24 games of the 69 games he actually played in this year in the regular season. That’s more than 1/3 of the games he played. While Gibson played all 82 games and only started 8 games. Just doesn't make sense that the award would go to a player that played 13 less games and started 1/3 of his season.
Rocky Rosado

I did not like the ways fans have reacted toward Boozer. The guy is a pro, have never been a distraction. he has never been a great defender that's for sure but he certainly is not the reason of the Bulls early exit.
Ali Hill

Do you see OKC trading Westbrook this off season if the Thunder loses to the Grizzlies. It seems that KD is subtly sending a message of the problems he has with Westbrook as a floor leader in postgame interviews. Regarding his touches down the stretch. Could KD demand a trade out of OKC if they do not trade Westbrook this off season.
Van Eaton

Why hasn't there been any talk about Paul Gasol. He's 33, unrestricted and averaged 17 points this past season. It seems like bigs take longer to develop but manage to keep their game longer. A wing can lose a step but seven footers don't shrink. What about a 3 year contract for him where you know you get 2 good ones and hope for the best in the final year?
Chris DeMay

Forget Melo. It'd better to get 2 good players for the price of 1 super star. Bulls should turn their focus onto Trevor Ariza and Kyle Lowry. Both can defend and score and would make perfect students of Thibs. Even with Rose, Lowry can easily average 35mins a game as he plays much bigger than his size. DJ was great for us in regular season but we learned he isn't much beyond it. Ariza can offer so much more than Dunleavy who's just too inconsistent.
Bambi Choy

While I'd prefer Anthony's fit with the Bulls, Love seems much easier to accomplish: he's cheaper and younger than Anthony and the assets the Bulls can offer should be at least as favorable to MIN as NY. The TWolves must know if they play out next season they'll lose him for nothing. He's too young to worry about 4 years vs. 5 as he'll be young enough, health willing, for another big contract extension after this one so MIN's only leverage is to trade him now.
Jeff Johnson

I'm not impressed by Phil's NY start. Phil has been making multiple public comments about the need for Carmelo to "sacrifice" money. On separate occasions he's compared him to Tim Duncan (who took less money to come back to the Spurs), to the Miami Heat trio, and he's also referred to Carmelo's past promises. Am I right in thinking that Phil should learn to shut up now that he's an executive? Saying these types of thing in public only serves to pressure the employee, and why would he want to do that? If I were Carmelo, I know Phil's public statements would annoy me, and neither Pop nor Riley ever laid it on like this publicly in their executive roles. Is there some strategy that I'm missing?
Alejandro Yegros

It's easy to look back and think what the Bulls might be right now if not for Derrick's injuries the past couple years, but it's also interesting to think what the team might look like if they didn't swap LaMarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas back in 2006. Noah would still be a Bull, as his pick came from the Knicks. Jimmy Butler would still be a Bull, as he was the last pick in the first round, and Taj Gibson would have been available as well. With that kind of front court (and possibly Asik as well), the summer of 2010 may have been focused on wing help to assist Hinrich and Deng rather than Boozer, Stoudemire, or Lee (maybe a bigger push for Joe Johnson). The team probably would've been too good to get Derrick in the draft lottery, but for all intents and purposes they haven't had Derrick the past two years anyway. Of course they can't go back in time, but I wonder how much they regret making that trade.
Chris Feldman

I am impressed. (David) Stern would have let him (Donald Sterling) off the hook.
John Leichenko

So is it your feeling that if the Bulls strike out on Carmelo that they might make a panic signing or trade? Like overpaying for Lance Stephenson or trading for Eric Gordon? I've never been upset about Boozer, and if you look at his stats people 48 he's been very consistent since sign in here, but they did some overpay. I understand that's how free agency works, but my fear is they strike out again then overpay someone.
Jonathan Owens

I've been following you and reading your columns and mailbags since your tribune days. I however can't agree with you that I'm supposed to be excited with the current state of the Bulls. Things don't look good for the team, and it's doubtful they will be able to really compete for a championship for a very long time. I understand that you appreciate the season no matter if the team could win it all or not, but you are also and employed writer for the team. I respectfully disagree with your belief that you can still enjoy a team if they have no chance to win it all. Case in point would be the Milwaukee Bucks. There is no chance this team will ever win a championship. As a result they are not a fun team to watch. Sure it's great to take the kids to a one game a year when there is a great deal on seats, but I'm not ever getting into that team on any level. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I understand there are fun things to see along the way, but if you have no hope that your team even has a chance it removes some of the excitement for some of the fans, myself included, and I don't think we are stupid for feeling this way. Since Rose got hurt again, it's very difficult to get excited about this team. They cannot compete in the playoffs.
David Nab