Are the Bulls waving the white flag for this season? Or even tanking?

[cman88]

from what i gather from reading comments on various bulls articles from fans, their owner is cheap...the fact that the Bulls are the only contender who have yet to go into the luxury kind of affirms this IMO.

the Bulls are even playing hardball with Thibs on giving him an extension

cutting their bench was a financial decision as its easier to get rid of guys like Korver and CJ watson than get rid of boozers horrid contract. 

why the bulls didnt aggressively go after OJ Mayo last year or this off-season I dont get...he would be PERFECT for them. another ball handeler who can create his own shot and is young

[Lucky17]

from what i gather from reading comments on various bulls articles from fans, their owner is cheap...the fact that the Bulls are the only contender who have yet to go into the luxury kind of affirms this IMO.

the Bulls are even playing hardball with Thibs on giving him an extension

cutting their bench was a financial decision as its easier to get rid of guys like Korver and CJ watson than get rid of boozers horrid contract. 

why the bulls didnt aggressively go after OJ Mayo last year or this off-season I dont get...he would be PERFECT for them. another ball handeler who can create his own shot and is young

Well, OKC has never paid luxury tax either. But that's a result of getting the most bang for their buck from rookie contracts.

But, considering the size of their market, you would think that Chicago could go into the luxury tax to acquire that last piece to vault them to the top. Seems like every year, Chicago is linked to a high profile target at the deadline, with the pieces to acquire him, and yet they pass.

To answer the OP, the Bulls are in mourning this (lost) season.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

Do they have the amnesty available to use on Boozer?

[Who]

from what i gather from reading comments on various bulls articles from fans, their owner is cheap...the fact that the Bulls are the only contender who have yet to go into the luxury kind of affirms this IMO.

the Bulls are even playing hardball with Thibs on giving him an extension

cutting their bench was a financial decision as its easier to get rid of guys like Korver and CJ watson than get rid of boozers horrid contract. 

why the bulls didnt aggressively go after OJ Mayo last year or this off-season I dont get...he would be PERFECT for them. another ball handeler who can create his own shot and is young

Well, OKC has never paid luxury tax either. But that's a result of getting the most bang for their buck from rookie contracts.

But, considering the size of their market, you would think that Chicago could go into the luxury tax to acquire that last piece to vault them to the top. Seems like every year, Chicago is linked to a high profile target at the deadline, with the pieces to acquire him, and yet they pass.

To answer the OP, the Bulls are in mourning this (lost) season.

Chicago's owner has said that he is happy to pay the luxury tax for a title contender but is unwilling to do so for a non-contender.

This is the first time in the luxury tax era that Chicago have been a title contender. So of course they haven't paid it before.

[RyNye]

The Bulls aren't going to be great next season. Noah and Deng will carry them pretty far, but I would put money on them not exceeding 40 wins. 36 seems realistic.

[ChefEricT]

This could be like when the Spurs were a good team and David Robinson got hurt.  Ended up with the top pick, took Tim Duncan and the rest is history.

[cman88]

This could be like when the Spurs were a good team and David Robinson got hurt.  Ended up with the top pick, took Tim Duncan and the rest is history.

the thing is, with Thibs as the coach, and assuming health..a lineup of Hinrich/Rip/Deng/Boozer/Noah with Gibson off the bench is likely still good enough to make the playoffs...

so they arent goign to be bad enough to nab that "impact player"

[LooseCannon]

This could be like when the Spurs were a good team and David Robinson got hurt.  Ended up with the top pick, took Tim Duncan and the rest is history.

It wasn't just David Robinson that got hurt on that team.

[lightspeed5]

sorry but thibs got #1 last time with no rose. what makes you think he cant make the playoffs without those bench scrubs he had?

[Celts Fan 92]

no rose most likely all season, Deng missin a few months wit wrist surgery they got rid of a majority of their "bench mob" nd Carlos Boozer is their numba 1 option. yea its  gon look uglier then a Master P sneaker next year. IMO they gon tank dis year get a lottery pick amnesty Boozer nd try to land free agents. they might overachieve since Thibbs is da coach but i expect em to miss da playoffs

[guava_wrench]

Smart to not pay luxury tax this season with Rose so questionable. Go all in next season. Pick your battles.

[More Banners]

This will be a major test of the Boozer signing.  Hinrich will probably start, which will open the floor for Boozer, which means good numbers on a .500 team.

With cap space having the value it does and some nice 2013 FA's out there, I'd give away Boozer with the amnesty, let Deng and Rose rest/heal until they're 100%, and have the best possible pick and most possible money/flexibility next year.

It's not often that teams get a chance to ctrl+alt+delete for just one season, then return to contention significantly improved.

Unless they go Boozer for Howard...

[Fan from VT]

Smart to not pay luxury tax this season with Rose so questionable. Go all in next season. Pick your battles.

Agree. He tore his ACL in the playoffs; that's optimistically a 1 year recovery, and even at the 1 year mark he probably won't be himself. Probably not worth paying the tax when he may not even be around in the playoffs let alone be back to the level they need him to be to be a contender.

[More Banners]

Smart to not pay luxury tax this season with Rose so questionable. Go all in next season. Pick your battles.

Agree. He tore his ACL in the playoffs; that's optimistically a 1 year recovery, and even at the 1 year mark he probably won't be himself. Probably not worth paying the tax when he may not even be around in the playoffs let alone be back to the level they need him to be to be a contender.

Would it be worth dumping Boozer for nothing and going all-in to  restructure the top of the roster next year and get a better pick, too?

[slamtheking]

they seem to be giving up on this year so dumping salary would seem like a prudent move.  they won't be bad enough to miss the playoffs so they're not a lottery team.  not to mention that the next draft is considered pretty weak so unless they get a really high pick, next year's draft (i.e. tanking) isn't going to do them a lot of good.