The New-Look Chicago Bulls

In Sunday night's ESPN telecast, sideline reporter Lisa Saunders revealed a surprisingly valuable insight (for a sideline reporter, who're almost always useless) she gained in an interview with Smooth. He complained that he never fit in with the role Cleveland coach Mike Brown asked of him: to be a spot-up shooter. He said he's more of a scorer who moves without the ball and within a flowing offensive system.

That's exactly the kind of offense the Bulls try to run. His defensive skills will also be much appreciated, as the Bulls have been looking for a big defensive guard since they've returned to the playoffs. Of course, they found the answer to that problem in January with Thabo Sefolosha, but there's still room for Hughes.

Many pundits have been commenting on how his arrival means the definite end of Ben Gordon's tenure. Paxson shot down that idea Friday, and I don't think he was lying. Given Larry's defensive talent and ability to play point for stretches, he actually could play with Ben. Against the Rockets, Jim Boylan put the two on the floor together for stretches and they played well off each other.

Gordon is a better scorer than Larry, while Hughes does everything else better. Actually, if Larry's arrival spells the end for any Bulls guard it's more likely to be Thabo, whose game is similar to Hughes', but not quite at his level - yet.

Player movement aside, the Bulls guard who will suffer most from the move will be Chris Duhon. He got a DNP-CD Sunday night and that figures to be the norm. If I had my druthers I'd start Du, as he remains the best pure point guard the Bulls have and the only guy who can really run an NBA offense. With him as the general, the Bulls always score better.

At the end of the day, given his contract Paxson would probably prefer to move Hughes this off-season if he could. For the rest of this campaign, I think Larry will fit in real well with the Bulls and be a big part of them returning to the postseason.

Drew Gooden, aka The Truth (*he claims this was his before Pierce), The Big Drizzle

Contract:
2007/08 - $6,400,000
2008/09 - $7,100,000

Gooden played his college ball at the University of Kansas with Kirk Hinrich. His third and final year with the Jayhawks he averaged a double-double, with 19.8 PPG and 11.4 RPG.

That was good enough to get him drafted by the best GM of all time, "The Logo," Jerry West. For one reason or another Gooden failed to live up to West's expectations, and he was traded from Memphis to Orlando midway through his rookie year.

So far in his career, that's really been the truth about "The Truth," - not living up to his potential. Whether it was in Memphis, Orlando, or eventually Cleveland, his career averages of 12.0 PPG and 7.9 RPG are not the kind of numbers expected from a #4 overall pick.

Aside from that, the player Drew Gooden is today, especially at his overly reasonable salary, is exactly what the Bulls have been looking for all season. He's a proven scorer with his back to the basket, which nobody else on the roster is, save Aaron Gray. Unlike Gray, however, Gooden's overall game is good enough to warrant extended minutes.

As he gets more comfortable with his teammates, the entire scope of the Bulls offense will change. The flashes of a dynamic inside-outside game we've seen with Gray will become the norm. No longer will the Bulls jump shooters have to work especially hard to get good looks.

If defenses play too hard on them, they can dish it inside for an easy score by the Big Drizzle. Once defenders start collapsing on Drew, he's a good enough passer to hit Hinirch, Gordon or Deng for open jumpers. And, even if they were still all shooting as bad as they were at the beginning of the year (they aren't, thank God) they would make more shots if they were open, as opposed to having a man in their face. For some reason, opposing defenses didn't really feel it was necessary to guard Ben Wallace.

Also keep in mind, that even if Gooden never lives up to his draft number, another bust - a #1 overall bust, in fact - Joe Smith, was pretty solid for Chicago this year before he got traded.

I don't know if Gooden will start or not. If he does, I hope it's at the center position, as Tyrus deserves to start and is much better as a starter. Either way, Gooden is a gigantic upgrade over both Smith and Wallace and will help the Bulls on both ends of the floor.

* * * * * * * * *

Écrit près Charlie Danoff --  Homepage

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?