Of the Bulls four training camp signings, Derrick Byars stood the most obvious chance of making the team. With his good size, solid defense and fine jumpshot, he sort of fitted the profile of what we've been looking for for 8 years; a big shooting guard who plays strong defense and rocks a complimentary three point shot. He's what Thabo Sefolosha was supposed to be, albeit without the ability to rebound in traffic. As rookie minimum pick-ups go, Byars is pretty good.
(The only other one with a chance was Chris Richard. But he's gone on to be really bad.)
Derrick Byars' chances of making the team
In addition to the defense and jumpshot that we already knew he had, Byars has demonstrated a solid skillset, shown some poise and grace unbefitting of a rookie not named Taj, and has also shown to be relatively mistake-free. He has averaged 8.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in 22.5 minutes per game, shooting only 40% from the field but 46% from three point range, and although he's not even really a two guard, he's masqueraded as one quite nicely. We've even relied on him for some clutch play, although he didn't exactly come through there.
But here's the thing; despite the fact that he's a decent player, a good fit for our needs, and as cheap as a player can be ($457,588), Byars is still fighting an uphill battle to make the team.
The Bulls only have 13 players on their roster, and two of them are Lindsey Hunter and Jerome James. Hunter may be great off the court, but he's about as bad as you can get on it, and James is of no use neither on or off the court. In terms of playing personel, this essentially puts the Bulls down to 11 acceptable players, and one of them (Aaron Gray) is injured already. Before we've even played a game, we're down to 10. That's not good.
And yet despite having only 13, the Bulls have pretty much spent all their cheese. After Aaron Gray re-signed for his qualifying offer of $1,000,497, the Bulls had themselves a payroll of $68,844,383 for only thirteen players, all of whom are guaranteed. That leaves them measuring in at only $1,075,617 underneath the luxury tax threshold, enough for either one minimum salaried veteran or two rookies. Spending any more than that would necessitate a cost cutting move to keep the bulls under the tax again, something which won't be easy to do. And as they demonstrated last year with the Hunter, Linton Johnson and DeMarcus Nelson signings, the Bulls like to keep what little shred of salary flexibility they have left in the event of mid-season emergencies.
Do they really want to take away all their flexibility just for Derrick Byars? Probably not.
Counting in Byars' favour are his cheap price and the Bulls' precedent for carrying redundant young inactive list players. They didn't do it much last season because they'd ran out of money, but between Tommy Smith, Eddie Basden, Martynas Andriuskevicius, Jared Reiner, Demetris Nichols and Luke Schenscher, the Paxson-era Bulls have not been afraid to keep on a cheap young fringe NBA player simply for the hell of it. Byars would be much the same sort of addition, and with his apt fit on the roster, that's three reasons to keep him.
However, counting against him is the depth chart. Last night, the Bulls played against the Bucks with only three healthy big men, one of whom was Chris Richard. After Taj Gibson got into foul trouble and Joakim Noah hurt his knee a bit, we were stuck with a lineup that featured Richard at centre and Deng at power forward. While this was a worst case scenario - Brad Miller would have been available were it a regular season game - it's also a scary glimpse into a possible future. With James not in the picture, Gray out until further notice, and Miller the wrong side of 33, the frontcourt depth is a bit sparse. Even when fully healthy, we're still short of some depth up there.
Counting in Byars' favour is the lack of frontcourt depth available on the free agency market. If we discount Chris Richard - and we should, because he's not an NBA talent and shouldn't have an inside track on a spot just because he has a media day picture - then perhaps the big man options available at the moment are seminal names like Calvin Booth, Dwayne Jones, David Harrison, Stromile Swift or Pat Burke. Going beyond that only reveals even worse candidates; Lorenzen Wright, Jelani McCoy, Robert Swift, or the insatiable Cedric Simmons. Players that might be waived from other team's training camps include luminaries such as Jarron Collins, Darryl Watkins, Melvin Ely, Jake Voskuhl and Paul Davis, but at that point it's become desperate.
(Personal favourites in no particular order; Courtney Sims and Garrett Siler (both currently with the Hawks), Stromile Swift, Jared Reiner (currently with the Timberwolves) and Dwayne Jones. But that's just my opinion, you choose your own.)
However, counting against Byars is the fact that Richard has played so much in preseason. He's not played well at all, totalling only 2 points, 19 rebounds and 17 fouls in 83 minutes of action, but the fact that he's had to play as much as he has reaffirms the need for one extra big body. And since we can only afford one extra player, a big man might win out.
Aside from some clutch free throws, Byars has done about as much as he could have done to win a spot. He's demonstrated a solid all around game, and I hope he makes it. But the odds are still long.
19 Comments
MrHappy said:
I'm rooting for him to make the team.
He plays with good energy and has solid fundamentals. I think he could eventually be a decent role player for the Bulls averaging around 10 points and 5 rebounds, much like a Shane Battier. He's been right around the numbers the whole preseason.
If he can get one or two more shots to fall for him, combined with the same hustle and maturity he's been showing, then I don't see any reason why the Bulls shouldn't keep him. As long as they are under the cap, the money won't tie them down. Having another big-guard on the roster, who can effectively play multiple-positions couldn't hurt.
Let's see what he does against Minnesota and go from there.
MrHappy said:
Solution:
They should keep Derrick Byars because he's only going to get better and they should find another big or two, who they can sign to a few 10-day conracts, until Aaron Gray gets back healthy.
MrHappy said:
Oops...
Although the 10-day contract was a nice idea, I don't think it can be done until January 5th. Either way, I think the Bulls should keep Derrick Byars because of his effort, maturity and potential. It seems to me that they have okay depth in the frontcourt, even without Gray healthy.
Ty Thomas - PF
Joakim Noah - PF/C
Brad Miller - PF/C
Taj Gibson - PF/C
James Johnson - SF/PF...though he's a better SF
That's enough depth. How much was Aaron Gray playing when he was healthy anyway?
souleater7 said:
Yeah I agree Byars should make the team because if Salmons does go down again the Bulls back court becomes pretty bare and very short. Not only that he's a pretty nice player and cheap.
Doug Thonus said:
I don't know how big a deal the depth is.
Guards:
Rose, Hinrich, Salmons, Pargo, Hunter. You've got a huge drop off from the first 3 to the 4th guy and then the 5th guy isn't giving you anything.
Big men:
Noah, Miller, Tyrus, Gibson, Gray
Three of those guys are out right now, but only Gray has a serious injury and even he's scheduled to be back late November / early December? Also, while Noah, Miller, and Tyrus aren't as good as our guards, the 4th and 5th men are more talented than Pargo/Hunter, so there's less incentive to bring in a 6th big IMO.
I think the injuries are why Chris Richard hasn't been cut yet, but I don't think they'll impact our decision on where to put a 14th body if we get one.
Also, of the three guys not listed above (Deng, James Johnson, and Jerome James), Johnson and Deng could both contribute some minutes at PF in a pinch or injury situation whereas there is no one else who's really going to play guard.
Mark Deeks said:
That's still only 5 bigs. Almost no one runs with only 5.
Doug Thonus said:
James Johnson's at least a hybrid big though, and Deng could potentially play big as well.
Doug Thonus said:
Though you're right 5 pure PF/Cs is probably lower than normal. Of course, the Bulls are actually carrying 6 once you count James.
I think few teams would go with four playable guards either, unless you count Hunter as playable.
In the end, the Bulls are hamstrung by trying to keep 13 players and having two of those 13 provide basically no value.
MrHappy said:
Doug and Mark,
Like I said, the Bulls have 5 healthy players that can play PF.
- Thomas, Gibson, Miller, Noah and if needed Johnson
They also have 3 healthy players that can play Center.
- Noah, Miller and Gibson
Their weakness isn't depth on the front-line, it's size in backcourt. Rose is 6'3", Hinrich is 6'3", Hunter is 6'2", Pargo is 6'1' and Salmons is 6'6'. If Salmons gets banged up, they won't have any legit SG, who can defend the perimeter. Hinrich can, but he's more of a PG with size. Bigger guards can post Hinrich up and shoot over him. Derrick Byars has the strenght and height to prevent some of that. He is a needed commodity.
Outside of that, I can see him taking a similar path to the NBA as Kelenna Azubuike has done. If you remember, Azubuike was a pretty good player at Kentucky. He had a bad draft day experience and found himself in the D-League. After playing good there, he got picked up by the Golden State Warriors. He averaged 7pts. and 2rbs his first year, then 8pts. and 4rbs. his second year, and last year he went for 14pts. and 5rbs.
There is no reason, if Derrick Byars is giving the opportunity with the Bulls, he can't progress to the same level. He has the attitude, work ethic and skillset to do just that.
Bigway said:
Seems pretty obvious that the biggest(not literally, that would be James) mistake is having Hunter on the roster at all, they should have paid him as a coach if they thought he was so valuable.
They could replace Hunter with 2 minimum players, who might at least be servicable in an emergency situation.
This seems like a short-sighted cheap decision by the Bulls.
Mark Deeks said:
If Hunter doesn't want to be a coach yet, they can't make him. We don't know what impact has behind the scenes; we're told that there is one, but as outsiders, we have no quantifiable way of measuring it. The Bulls clearly think there's enough of one to have given him $1.5 million over the last two years. We have to trust that they're right, because Hunter has no use as a player any more.
MrHappy said:
It's in Derrick Byars hands. He has to make them want to keep him. The money is there. He just has to produce.
The Goal: 10 points and 5 rebounds each game out.
(production, hustle and fundamentals)
Mark Deeks said:
Byars never averaged 5 rebounds in college, and only barely managed it in the D-League last year while averaging 38 minutes per game.
MrHappy said:
So what?
MrHappy said:
He's put up three 5 rebound games this pre-season. It's not like it's out of his reach. That's the kind of numbers he should shoot for game in and game out, considering his LIMITED role on the Bulls roster.
Like I said before, he needs to look towards players like Shane Battier and Kelenna Azubuike for expectations and inspiration. If he could model his game after those two guys, he'll do just fine in the NBA.
MrHappy said:
Mark,
Just to add to my point. Your criticism of Derrick Byars' rebounding is naive to say the least. He averaged roughly 18 ppg, 5 rpg and 3 asp in 37 minutes last year in the D-league. That my friend is a very good season and stat-line.
Consider this. Luol Deng in his best season with the Bulls put up 18 ppg and 7 rpg in 37 minutes back in '06-'07. John Salmons in his best season with the Bulls/Kings put up 18 ppg and 4 rpg in 37 minutes last season. Those numbers look pretty similar to what Derrick Byars did in the D-league.
Granted the D-League isn't on the same level as the NBA, but good stats are good stat no matter what league he was playing in.
Mark Deeks said:
My "criticism" of Derrick Byars involved me saying that he's only ever averaged 5 rebounds per game by playing almost 40 minutes to do so. This is something you've subsequently confirmed. So I fail to see what I'm being naive about.
Newskoolbulls said:
For once i am not worried going into the season with the bigs we have. As for the guards I am worried. Hunter is just here for vet leadership and Pargo has looked horrid so far. A injury in the season to Kirk, Derrick, or John and we could be screwed.
MrHappy said:
SOLUTION:
The Bulls should pay Derrick Byars the minimum to be the 13th man of the roster and pay Lindsey Hunter his $1.3 million dollar salary to be the 14th man on the roster, as well as give him the unofficial title of player-coach.
To use a football analogy, isn't he Derrick Rose's quarterback coach?
This plan makes the most sense!!!
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