Somebody needs to tell
the Bulls all this winning is messing with the rebuild plan, the exact contents
of which seem to have been leaked to certain members of the Chicago media. The same day a sports’ columnist advised
readers not to lose sight of the big picture—and Bulls’ management not to hold
onto certain veteran players—Nikola Mirotic hit eight three-pointers in a 119-107win
over the Pacers on Friday night. That’s
ten wins in twelve games, for anyone who’s counting.
I did a quick check to
see that the 6’10” Mirotic doesn’t turn 27 until February. But given the unforgiving nature of rebuilds,
that marks him as a veteran who has to go.
So, again I ask, in exchange for what?
If Mirotic (alone or with another under-30 Bulls’ veteran like Robin
Lopez or Justin Holiday), is shipped to a good team in exchange for draft
choices, the odds are the draft choices won’t be all that high, unless the good
team has a #1 choice from a bad team. If
I recall correctly, the Bulls were hoping to get a #1 from the Celtics, who had
it from a deal with the woeful Nets, in exchange for Jimmy Butler, but that
never happened. Teams just don’t want to
give up high draft choices.
Then what? Trade Mirotic in a salary dump? He doesn’t make all that much at $27 million,
and who exactly would you be looking to sign later on? Not another Dwayne Wade, I hope. Trade Mirotic for mid-level draft picks? OK, but there’s no real guarantee there. Anyone remember Marquis Teague? I didn’t think so. Trade him for bench players? Anyone remember Cameron Payne?
What the Bulls should
do is sit tight through the next two games, against the Wizards and Trail
Blazers, Sunday and Monday, respectively.
Both teams are above .500, and Washington in particular has been a tough
opponent the past few years. If the
Bulls drop both games, then tank away.
If they split, don’t be in such a rush to make any deals. And, if they should happen to win both games,
they might want to consider the rebuild more done than not. Just sayin’.
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