Can the Bulls Land Finley?

[Road Rage]

New article over at realgm.com

The Link

If you ask Chicago Tribune writer what the Bulls should do with their lottery pick his answer is quick and to the point: trade.

With Charles Oakley now out of the picture the Bulls are now the youngest team in the league, led by the ‘potential brigade’ in Jamal Crawford, Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry. The only signs of veterans on the roster all come from Indiana, with forward Jalen Rose and guard Travis Best coming across in a mid-season trade and Fred Hoiberg signing as a free agent a few seasons back.

The Bulls have the equal best chance of gaining the first overall pick in the NBA draft with the Golden State Warriors, so surely a player like Jason Williams or Yao Ming would help this side? True, but Smith writes that if the Bulls add another rookie to this squad then they can forget competing in the next three years. ‘Watching the Eastern semifinals, there's no reason to believe the Bulls can't be there next season if they just stay away from another rookie,’ writes Smith.

This is the point where all Bulls fans start rooting for the Sacramento Kings. The Dallas Mavericks are already a deep team with foreign ties, a team already competing against the best. Against the Kings, however, they have been sorely beaten inside, Sacramento scoring 56 of their 115 points inside the paint. They have had no answer to the Kings size, and one more loss could get the Mavs thinking change.

In Smith’s scenario, dependant on the Bulls getting one of the top two picks in the draft, Chicago selects Ming and trades him to Dallas along with Marcus Fizer for Michael Finley and Raef LaFrentz. ‘Dallas has plenty of offense, and certainly could spare Finley for the chance at a big-time center,’ adds Smith.

Landing one of the top two picks could be a task of it’s own, the Bulls owning a 42.5% of landing either. In comparision they also own a 40% chance at landing the number 4 or 5 pick as well, showing that it is an open market.

But, as Smith continues, should the draft fall the right way and a deal is struck the Bulls could then use their exception to sign a player like the Clippers Jeff McInnis, giving them a lineup of McInnis, Finley, Rose, Chandler and LaFrentz to start the season. Backing them up they could have Eddy Curry, Eddie Robinson, Trenton Hassell, Jamal Crawford and Travis Best.

It might only be a pipe dream, but at least it shows the Chicago faithful that there still is hope.

RealGM Note: There are several problems with Smith's suggestion. First, if the trade were to take place before July 1, 2002, the players' 01-02 salaries would be used for trade purposes. The Bulls, like the Mavs, are currently over the cap. More importantly, LaFrentz cannot even be traded at this time because he is in the last year of his contract.

Now, if Smith is suggesting this trade to take place after the July moratorium (mid July 2002 at the earliest), then there are several other problems. The Bulls, if they renounce the rights to Best, Oakley, and all other free agents then Kruase could get anywhere from $5 to $7 million in play money in the best case scenario (and with the salary cap staying the same or increasing slightly).

However, Dallas would have to sign and trade LaFrentz to Chicago... which will likely exceed the mid-class exemption of about the $4.5 milion he could get on the free agent market along with Finley's nearly $12 million salary..... the Bulls would have to throw in the Berto Center to make the numbers work under the CBA. (Note, Krause has not been rumored to be offering the Berto Center in any deals... yet.)

[Razor]

No. And by the way, sweet dreams.

[MavKikiNYC]

<< With Charles Oakley now out of the picture... >>



Somebody remind me. Is there bad blood between Nellie and Oak from Nellie's NYK days? Oak seems like just the TYPE of player the Mavs could use to start with. True, he never had much on offense, and may not have anything left, but defensively and physically, the Mavs could benefit a ton from someone like him come playoff time.

[Drbio]

No way the mavs trade Finley...unless the return is overwhelming. And the Bulls just cannot overwhelm.