Chicago Bulls won't pay Amare the max; would pay Bosh

Mike McGraw dropped this bombshell on the Bulls fan base

Boozer or Amare Stoudemire.

That raises another question: If the
Suns have discussed moving Stoudemire to Golden State or Houston, why
aren't the Bulls getting involved? They probably would if Stoudemire
when Stoudemire becomes a free agent next year. They'd feel better
paying Bosh that kind of money.

This doesn't take the Bulls completely out of the running for Stoudemire, but it probably ends the chance of them trading for him and signing an extension at the time of trade.   It also makes it unlikely that the Bulls sell the farm to get him if they won't immediately extend him.   More or less, it makes the Bulls a long shot even if Amare is traded.

I'm okay with that.   For all of Stoudemire's upside, I'd be scared to death about having him on a six year 115 million dollar contract which is roughly what he'd have at a max extension.   His play was horrible last year, and he now has two significant injury concerns with the eye and with the knee. 

On top of that, he played poorly last season relative to what he has past performance.  His PER dropped seven points, his shooting percentage dropped 5%, his rebounding percentage dropped 2.3% from the previous season and 5% from his career highs (though that was due to Shaq most likely).  

He may have just been fed up with the situation, but he clearly wasn't a guy trying hard.   He may be the Vince Carter of PFs in that sense.   I would understand grabbing him and maxing him out to keep him, but I also understand staying away from him at that price.   It could completely doom the next six years if it doesn't work out.

That being said, it seems awfully unlikely we'll have the horses to get Bosh in a trade so expect the Bulls to enter this upcoming season in similar position to where they are now.


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  • I'm completely fine with going into the season with the current lineup. The team we have now is still pretty damn good and so young

  • How do you feel about an all star SG instead of PF? We have a nice deep front court now, so wouldn't it make more sense to target guys like Wade and Joe Johnson next year? Is the attention paid to a back court of Rose and one of those guys enough to make our solid but average front court adequate to contend?

    What's the best case if we trade Hinrich or lose Gordon this year? The FA class is weak, but there are some interesting guys. Marquis Daniels, and to a lesser degree Luther Head could replace Hinrich backing up the 2 (focusing defensively), but we'd still need a backup PG. I'd also be interested in seeing what a change of scenery would do for Von Wafer. But since the Jamal Crawford trade, I just don't see anyone I'd want as more than a 3rd option in FA this year.

    It seems to me, if we lose Gordon it's going to be very tough to replace him this year, and if we sign him we'll at the very least have him as a trading piece down the road. If we trade Hinrich, we damned well better get a competent SG and PG (or combo) in the deal, or we're similarly in trouble. With both of them in place, we have decent depth, but if someone gets injured...

  • I agree that in Atlanta he dominates the ball, but he fit very well into the Phoenix system as a spot up shooter and alternate handler. I think he'd do great in a system where Rose penetrates, and if he can't find anyone slashing, kicks out to Johnson. Johnson either shoots, penetrates, or relays to someone in the middle. My question is if he'd be able to give up being the man to go back to a system with a serious shot at winning with his addition.

    I strongly disagree that he doesn't play strong defense. In Phoenix during the early Nash era, he was one of the strong points defensively along with Marion. He doesn't play physical defense, nor elite defense, but he stays in front of his guy and doesn't give up or get distracted. I haven't seen him play as much in Atlanta, but Draft Express agrees with me, so I imagine it's still the case.

  • Any idea why my hyperlink tags are showing in the preview, but dropping from the final post?

    Here's the Draft Express link for Joe:

  • Even though D-Wade is a great player, wouldn't you be reluctant to sign him if you're the Bulls because it's slightly redundant to have both derrick rose and dwyane wade?

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