Five months ago, the Bulls almost traded for Kurt Thomas. In fact, it was erroneously announced that they had. But even though they didn't get him then, they're now they're looking to sign him instead. In a tweet from Bucks reporter Gery Woelfel:
Bulls, Hawks among several teams to reach out to Kurt Thomas. Bucks have stayed in touch.
Trading for Kurt made sense and the time, and it still does. Chicago's centre rotation currently consists of only Joakim Noah and Omer Asik. Noah is of course the best player in the Western world, but Asik is unproven and raw. Outside of them two, the Bulls are looking at an out-of-position Carlos Boozer for centre depth. Or, worse than that, Chris Richard.
They could use one more insurance option, preferably a veteran. Kurt Thomas is definitely both of those things.
Thomas is now 37, and just completed his 15th NBA season. He is proving to be remarkably durable in the back end of his career, playing 77 games and over 1200 minutes last season for the Bucks, and proving he's still capable of some defense and rebounding when asked to replace Andrew Bogut down the stretch of last season. Thomas started at centre in Bogut's absence and averaged 5.4 points and 7.9 rebounds in Milwaukee's 7 game first round playoff exit against Atlanta. Not bad for a guy on a Zimmer frame.
Even at pension age, Kurt fills every need the Bulls might need in their frontcourt. He can't make a layup any more, and his offense is limited now to the jumpshot (which accounted for 80% of his field goal attempts last year; he got to the line only 20 times all year), but the jumpshot is as good as ever. Thomas shot an eFG% of 47% on jumpshots last season; to put that into some completely misleading context, Dirk Nowitzki's jumpshot eFG% was 48%. Further to that, Thomas's total rebounding percentage last year was 15.8%, right in line with his career average of 15.9%. Last season, only two Bulls had a higher percentage than that (Joakim Noah, 20.4%, and Aaron Gray, 17.8%).
For the minimum salary, Thomas would be a fine pick-up. If it costs anything more than that, then anything up to about $2 million for a year or two would suffice. Brad Miller provides the Bulls with considerably more offense, but he can no longer defend or rebound. Even at the age of 159, Kurt Thomas can still do both of those.
Filed under: Free Agency
Tags: chicago bulls, free agency, kurt thomas, Rumours
Not a bad choice but I think our priority should be Brad first.
I think they look at Thomas as a cheaper and legit option but Brad fits our structure and knows our players. I want him back.
Craig Smith would be a better option.
Craig Smith can't play centre.
I don't want him to play center.
PF - Boozer, Gibson and Smith
C - Noah, Miller and Asik
It gives the Bulls options, if they want to make a trade, say for MELO.
In which case, Gibson might have to be included.
What is Smith's incentive to sign here as a third string power forward? He is better than that and knows it.
I'm a HUGE Craig Smith fan. I'd love to see him on the Bulls, but I'm not sure how much he fits in.
But hell, trade for Jared Dudley, sign Sean Williams and maybe the three can do something and make up for my most crushing basketball loss ever.
So let gets this straight....the Bulls right now will have either Korver or Redick starting at the SG position? Awesome....Wade or LeBron will have a real tough time now!
Get Barnes or Brewer!!!! We already let Livingston go, he could of played minutes at the SG position as well....Bulls are idiots.
There are currently 8 players on the Bulls roster, and four months until games start. I'm pretty sure they're not finished.
Livingston got 7 mil...I don't know if he is worth that much capspace for backup PG when your main player is a PG.
But they need to get a veteran. I think the PG and Center positions need to have veteran backups rather than young guys.
They can settle down the team usually better than a young PG unless the young PG is super talented like the Hornets backup
7mil over 3 years? Do you know if thats the deal? I like Livingston a lot because i also think he could be a mismatch problem for a lot of teams. But now we will most likely just signed a backup thats about 6'2, 6'3 or so. Acie Law or Bouldin will probably get the gig. Bouldin is 6'5 that aint bad. Bulls need size in the backcourt imo
Acie Law sucks. He played one good game in 3 years.
Ya i wouldnt mind just grabbing a vet pg now too
Ya i dont really care for Law. Id say grab a shooter that can play backup pg. Re-sign Brad Miller too while your at it.
THIS IS MY VISION:
PF - Boozer, Gibson and Smith
C - Noah, Miller and Asik
It gives the Bulls options, if they want to make a trade, say for MELO.
In which case, Gibson might have to be included.
DONE DEAL:
Shaun Livingston is going to the Bobcats.
http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/18539497048
Let's bring back Acie Law.
WTF! The Bobcats are about to sign a possible starting PG! Why wouldnt we sign him....im telling you guys, if you havent seen him in a while, go to youtube an check out some highlights last year of him on the wizards...you"ll see why a lot of us like him.
Ya i can Craig Smith in that role. An im not saying Kwame Brown is a good player or anything, because i dont think he is. But for what we might need...he fits the bill. Boston is looking at him too...they know about big bodies when playoff comes around. 6'10 275 with athleticism could be a decent thing to have.
I believe the Bulls already have a starting point guard.
I agree that Miller should take priority, but I like Thomas. We need some veteran toughness in the paint if Miller leaves. Hopefully, he still has that nice baseline short jumper.
I prefer Brad. Asik should be the guy getting a shot if we need a defensive/rebounding center. I have no idea if he can actually do those things, but there's only one way to find out. Plus Brad provides a nice change of pace, and apparently Noah is in love with him. No need to change if he's willing to come back.
No to Thomas unless the bulls sign Miller and him.
let someone else over pay for Brad to play his way into shape (such as it is) pass a bit n draw fouls from his slow motion move to the basket...KT would be a nice addition....Rebounding n defense should be the priority
I like Kurt Thomas but since he can only rebound and defend, he's not a great fit next to Noah. With a guy like Brad, he can and Noah can play together as they did often last year. Granted, that was mainly due to the fact that our best option at PF was Taj and now have one of the best in the league.... but it still gives you options.
I need another year of Brad Miller's epic headfake - slow jog in the lane - layup without jumping move. It's UNGUARDABLE!
Re-sign Brad Miller should be 1st priority. I think Kwame Brown is a better option over Kurt Thomas. Bulls have no one that can guard the powerful centers of the league (Howard,Perkins etc...) Were gonna need some beef somewhere. Dwights shooting percentages go way down when he gets pushed out from under the paint...and right now, we dont have a guy strong enough for that. Thats why id say Kwame Brown isnt a bad option. Is he a good player? Not really but he can fill a need. Rebounds, hard fouls and post defense. If he can get Dwight some what out of the paint, he has done his job. Plus hes a decent athlete...an when playoff time comes around...having a 6'10 275 body is a nice thing to have.
Kurt Thomas is like 37 years old...he might hit a couple jumpers and grab some rebounds...but he wont make that much of a difference imo.
I think Craig Smith is like 6'7....other then his wide body, i dont think he will do much. He does have a decent offensive game though, ill give him that.
cssharp,
Think BIG BABY DAVIS. That's the role I see Craig Davis playing for the Bulls.
I hope they sign him.
Or think Chris Richard.
I think Craig Smith is like 6'7....other then his wide body, i dont think he will do much. He does have a decent offensive game though, ill give him that.
Im fine with this. As Mark pointed out accurately, Kurt can knock down that jumper. We need a big man off the bench that can pull the defense out of the lane so D rose can do what he does.
I say, for fun and charity, we have Brad Miller and Kurt Thomas run a 50 yard dash...whoever wins, we sign.
It would at least be 30 mintues long and they can put a special on ESPN and donate the proceeds to the boys and girls club.
Of course i want Brad back like everyone else, he's supposed to have a decision made by the end of the week so we'll see...
Oh yeah, the Bobcats are on the verge of signing Shaun Livingston. Just throwing that out there...
REPORT:
There is a report out there that Shaun Livingston is ready to sign with the Bobcats.
In my opinion, that leaves Acie Law or C.J. Watson for the Bulls.
Those two are young and have potential, unlike the rest of the PG CROP available.
Do we need potential at the point guard spot?