After what seemed like a month of speculation, Carmelo Anthony finally confirmed today that he will be staying in New York to play with the Knicks. It would appear he’ll be signing a 5-year deal worth more than $122 million, but less than $129 million. As a result, the Bulls look to be close to acquiring Pau Gasol. They’ve been saying all along that Gasol is their “plan B” if they miss out on Anthony, but I’m not entirely sure why.
First, let’s get this Carmelo stuff out of the way. He had stated a while back that he simply “wants to win.” The Knicks and Bulls emerged over the past few days as the only possible destinations for Anthony to sign, with the Bulls being the clear-cut better team of the two. Yet Anthony chose to stay in New York. Maybe it was a decision he made based on his family and the fact that he is from New York, or maybe it was a decision based on money. Honestly, I’m going with the latter.
If he really wanted to win, he would be signing a contract with the Bulls today to team up alongside Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, and Taj Gibson. Instead, he’s re-signing in New York where he has no chance to win a title this year, and most likely for the next few years to come. If it was really going to come down to where he would make the most money like it would appear it did, then why was his decision dragged on for so long? I don’t get it. Moving on.
All reports indicate that the Bulls are finalizing a deal to acquire Pau Gasol sometime very soon. Whether it’s via a sign and trade with the Lakers or signing Gasol outright, they should have him within 24 hours. My questions is why are they doing this?
Gasol is a good offensive big man, but he is lackluster on defense and is getting up there in age (34). To me, he seems like a slight upgrade from Carlos Boozer and that’s it. This also makes me wonder exactly what the Bulls plan on doing with Taj Gibson now.
I was under the impression that the Bulls organization wanted Gibson to be their starting power forward this upcoming season. He certainly deserves to be. However, assuming Gasol is a Bull next season, he will most likely be the starting power forward, thus meaning Gibson will be back on the bench. It makes zero sense to me why the Bulls would want this scenario. Gibson is probably a step or two behind Gasol on offense, but his defensive game is one of the best of any big man in the league. Overall, Gibson is a better player today than Pau Gasol and I cannot understand why the Bulls seem to want Gibson back on the bench. Quite honestly, if I were Gibson, I’d be requesting a trade as soon as this Gasol deal becomes official.
So let’s assume the Bulls get Gasol. They’ll still be lacking a true number two scorer to go along with Derrick Rose. Maybe Doug McDermott can be that guy, but he’s just a rookie and you can’t count on a rookie to do too much for you. Maybe Nikola Mirotic can fill the role, but again, he’s never played a game in the NBA. The Bulls will no doubt be a better team than they were in 2013-14, but I question whether or not they’ll have the roster to make it by the second round of the playoffs, let alone the Conference Finals.
There are still some solid free agents available, and the Bulls presumably will have some money to spend now that they won’t be getting Carmelo. It’s possible they can still upgrade their roster, but I wouldn’t classify them as a serious threat to come out of the Eastern Conference next season just yet. Losing out on Carmelo really hurts, especially since LeBron James is back in the Central Division.
As for Gasol, I suppose only time will tell how that move pays off. Personally, I think it’s a mistake and simply a knee-jerk reaction to not getting Carmelo Anthony. In the minds of the Bulls’ management, I think they saw Gasol as an opportunity to get the next biggest name available, and it may come back to haunt them.
Cue the Dagger 