NBA rumor mill quiets down in advance of draft
After Tuesday featured a couple of trades and a wide range of rumors involving Jimmy Butler, the NBA soundtrack shut down on Wednesday.
Without much news going on, this is a good time to examine some off-season topics.
• Even with all the smoke floating around about a Butler trade this week, there doesn't seem to be any hard evidence the Bulls have changed their mind about not wanting to do a total rebuild. Boston seems content to sit back and collect assets. Cleveland parted ways with general manager David Griffin on Monday and outside of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, doesn't have many pieces to trade for anybody.
It's possible some team could knock the socks off the Bulls with a trade offer on draft day, but the bigger question right now is probably what they'll do about Rajon Rondo's option for next season.
Dwyane Wade had a player option, so it was up to him whether to come back next year. Rondo has a team option, so this one is the Bulls' decision.
When the season ended, vice president of basketball operations John Paxson suggested it's likely the Bulls would bring back Rondo, but is Butler pushing management to make a run at point guard Kyle Lowry, his Team USA teammate who is likely to leave Toronto?
It wouldn't make sense to pursue Lowry if Rondo is still on the roster, so this is something to watch. Denver's Danilo Gallinari and the Clippers' Blake Griffin are other conceivable targets if the Bulls decide not to wait for 2018 to chase free agents.
• The general feeling about the 2017 draft class is it's a pretty good one, especially in the top 10. What would set it apart, though, is a guy who can actually turn a franchise around.
The days of Larry Bird, Tim Duncan or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar turning a team into an instant winner appear to be long gone. The last five overall No. 1 picks have combined to win zero playoff games and the guy before that, Kyrie Irving, might still be on zero if LeBron James didn't return to Cleveland.
This is a big reason why I think it's a mistake for the Bulls to trade Butler and go for a ground-up rebuild. The 80s and 90s model of high picks leading to team success seems to be long gone. Eight of the teams with top 10 picks were in the same spot last year. Even a Derrick Rose, who led the Bulls to 62 wins in his third season, would be nice to see.
Why have things changed? My best guess is the draft is full of one-and-dones who never bothered to learn the game while roaming the AAU circuit.
By the time these guys figure it out, their rookie contracts have run out and it's time to make a potentially irresponsible financial decision.
• It's tough to read the Bulls' intentions with the No. 16 draft pick. The wish list would probably start with an athletic wing who could eventually step in for Dwyane Wade, or another 3-point shooter. Based on the mock drafts, the middle of the first round will be loaded with centers.
The Bulls could go big, but size is being severely de-emphasized in today's NBA.
Maybe the Bulls should revisit the “more athletic” line they used and essentially ignored last summer. Indiana's OG Anunoby could work, even coming off a torn ACL. Another possibility might be SMU's 6-8 Semi Ojeleye, who shot 40 percent from 3-point range last season and posted a 40-inch vertical at the pre-draft camp.