baseline bum
11-25-2013, 12:38 PM
Derrick Rose Done for the Season, Leaving the Chicago Bulls With Only One Choice (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/derrick-rose-meniscus-reattached-chicago-bulls-only-one-163100000--nba.html)
With the Point Guard Out, the Direction of the Franchise May Already Be Decided
COMMENTARY | Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is out for the remainder of the season, according the team's official Twitter feed.
Once the despair accompanying that word dissipated, practicality set in and the solution became clear.
The Bulls need to immediately pull the plug on the 2013-14 season and make the changes that were going to take place this offseason right away.
Without Rose playing at an MVP level, they won't make it past the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. That much is a fact. Just look at last season.
Sure, they are good enough to win between 45 and 50 games. And, sure, that could be good enough to secure the No. 3 seed in the postseason. Then what? As Johnson correctly noted, "The Bulls aren't a championship-caliber team without Rose." Getting past either the Indiana Pacers or the Miami Heat without him is not going to happen, so why hold on to false hopes.
Without a legitimate shot at hoisting the NBA Finals trophy this season, the Bulls need to cut ties, save cash, and get ready for the 2014-15 season.
Players, payroll, and the repeater tax
There simply isn't a scenario that exists where soon-to-be free agent Luol Deng is in a Bulls uniform next year. His representation already told the Chicago Tribune that there won't be any negotiating during the season, via ESPN.com, and he will be far too expensive once he hits to open market to re-sign. The time to trade Deng for an expiring contract and a draft pick is now.
The same can be said for Taj Gibson. Assuming there is no salary relief involved; finding him a new home would save the team "roughly $20 million this year alone," according to SBNation's Mark Deeks. And it goes without saying that general manager Gar Forman should exercise the amnesty provision of the collective bargaining agreement on Carlos Boozers' contract.
The dollars associated with these contracts take on added importance because of where the Bulls currently sit in relation to the tax threshold and the punitive damages associated with the repeater tax.
It is all quite confusing, but beginning next season, if a team goes over the salary cap multiple times, there will be a dollar-for-dollar fine known as the repeater tax that will be added to the incremental luxury tax already in place. Deeks breaks down the new penalty in fine detail in his article, but the point is that the Bulls paid a luxury tax for the first time last season and are well on their way to paying it again. Without a championship, the cost of doing business will become prohibitive.
In concert, these moves would leave the Bulls with just over $41 million in committed salaries against the cap on the books for the 2014-15 season, two first-round draft picks (potentially three if the Bulls end up with the top 10-protected pick they received from the Charlotte Bobcats in the Tyrus Thomas trade), and the ability to immediately return to competitiveness.
Now Forman could ignore the reality of the situation and take advantage of an exception built into the CBA for disabled players that would allow them to sign (or trade) for Rose's replacement at 50 percent of his salary. Given the uncertain status of the above-mentioned players and the financial implications of such a move, though, bringing another player in at this point is pointless.
The Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson noted before Rose had his surgery that "the reshaping of the roster, widely assumed to transpire next summer" could be accelerated depending "on for how long Rose is sidelined."
Well, he's gone for the rest of this season and the "reshaping" should begin immediately.
With the Point Guard Out, the Direction of the Franchise May Already Be Decided
COMMENTARY | Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is out for the remainder of the season, according the team's official Twitter feed.
Once the despair accompanying that word dissipated, practicality set in and the solution became clear.
The Bulls need to immediately pull the plug on the 2013-14 season and make the changes that were going to take place this offseason right away.
Without Rose playing at an MVP level, they won't make it past the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. That much is a fact. Just look at last season.
Sure, they are good enough to win between 45 and 50 games. And, sure, that could be good enough to secure the No. 3 seed in the postseason. Then what? As Johnson correctly noted, "The Bulls aren't a championship-caliber team without Rose." Getting past either the Indiana Pacers or the Miami Heat without him is not going to happen, so why hold on to false hopes.
Without a legitimate shot at hoisting the NBA Finals trophy this season, the Bulls need to cut ties, save cash, and get ready for the 2014-15 season.
Players, payroll, and the repeater tax
There simply isn't a scenario that exists where soon-to-be free agent Luol Deng is in a Bulls uniform next year. His representation already told the Chicago Tribune that there won't be any negotiating during the season, via ESPN.com, and he will be far too expensive once he hits to open market to re-sign. The time to trade Deng for an expiring contract and a draft pick is now.
The same can be said for Taj Gibson. Assuming there is no salary relief involved; finding him a new home would save the team "roughly $20 million this year alone," according to SBNation's Mark Deeks. And it goes without saying that general manager Gar Forman should exercise the amnesty provision of the collective bargaining agreement on Carlos Boozers' contract.
The dollars associated with these contracts take on added importance because of where the Bulls currently sit in relation to the tax threshold and the punitive damages associated with the repeater tax.
It is all quite confusing, but beginning next season, if a team goes over the salary cap multiple times, there will be a dollar-for-dollar fine known as the repeater tax that will be added to the incremental luxury tax already in place. Deeks breaks down the new penalty in fine detail in his article, but the point is that the Bulls paid a luxury tax for the first time last season and are well on their way to paying it again. Without a championship, the cost of doing business will become prohibitive.
In concert, these moves would leave the Bulls with just over $41 million in committed salaries against the cap on the books for the 2014-15 season, two first-round draft picks (potentially three if the Bulls end up with the top 10-protected pick they received from the Charlotte Bobcats in the Tyrus Thomas trade), and the ability to immediately return to competitiveness.
Now Forman could ignore the reality of the situation and take advantage of an exception built into the CBA for disabled players that would allow them to sign (or trade) for Rose's replacement at 50 percent of his salary. Given the uncertain status of the above-mentioned players and the financial implications of such a move, though, bringing another player in at this point is pointless.
The Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson noted before Rose had his surgery that "the reshaping of the roster, widely assumed to transpire next summer" could be accelerated depending "on for how long Rose is sidelined."
Well, he's gone for the rest of this season and the "reshaping" should begin immediately.