Bleacher Report - Articles by Thomas Hennessy

Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors Trade Talks Heating Up

Thomas Hennessy — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:20:11 -0500

Rumorpress.net is reporting that trade talks between the Chicago Bulls and the Toronto Raptors are heating up.

Toronto is interested in acquiring Bulls forward Andres Nocioni. The pieces of the deal are currently in discussion but one possible scenario would send Andres Nocioni and Larry Hughes to Toronto in exchange for Raptors center Jermaine O'Neal.

The Raptors however would like Drew Gooden as well, which would require some filler be sent from Toronto to make salaries match.

With both teams on the threshold of the luxury tax, neither team will be very receptive to taking on anymore additional salary, so it is possible a third team may have to be involved.

The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 19, so look for things to heat up as the date draws closer.

The Worst Is Yet To Come...But In The End They'll Come Out Smelling Like a Rose

Thomas Hennessy — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:53:53 -0500

Following the Chicago Bulls recent loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder rookie head coach Vinnie Del Negro had this to say, "Their effort was better. That is not acceptable".

I'll tell you what is not acceptable: the talent level of the current Bulls roster, the strange substitution patterns and rotations of coach Del Negro, and losing a home game to the Thunder.

Oklahoma City won on the road for only the second time this season when they beat the Bulls 109-98 in overtime Saturday night at the United Center.

The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Bulls and could be the start of the Bulls solidifying their place in the lottery bound line.

With home games coming up against Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Toronto, and road contests versus Toronto and New York, it may be Jan. 25 before the Bulls win another game, when they visit Minnesota. Even that game is no guarantee for these Bulls, who managed to lose at home to the T-Wolves earlier this season.

The worst of all of this, at least if you're a Bulls fan, is that there is no hope in sight. Yes, the promising play of rookie phenom Derrick Rose has got fans chattering, but last time I checked, it takes five guys to fill out a lineup.

This year's roster, along with the season, is unsalvageable; the only thing Bulls fans should be hoping for is lots of playing time to develop Rose, and a high lottery pick.

Next year, however, does not look any more promising. Ben Gordon, who other than Rose is the only guy on the Bulls roster who actually has some value and talent, is almost certainly gone in the offseason as a free agent, leaving a gaping hole at shooting guard to fill.

The Bulls frontcourt is almost laughable. Drew Gooden is a serviceable role playing big man in this league. He is not the supposed to be the center piece to your frontcourt. He is also a free agent at the end of the season, and will most likely not be back.

General Manager John Paxson hit some big shots as a player for the Bulls, but as GM, he's been firing air-balls. Trading Tyrus Thomas for LaMarcus Aldridge has not worked out how he'd hoped. Joakim Noah, 2007's lottery pick, has zero basketball skills, and his swap of Rodney Carney for Thabo Sefolosha has proved to be a poor move as well.

Then this offseason he had to make a choice between resigning Luol Deng or Ben Gordon. Paxson severely overpaid to keep Deng, despite injury concerns, and a reputation for disappearing down the stretch.

Deng has done nothing this season to dispell any of those notions.

So let's see where that leaves. Next season the Bulls will lose Gooden and Gordon, and currently have eight players who will be under contract that year. This list includes Larry Hughes, who's biggest value right now is his large contract that expires in 2010 and Andres Nocioni, a guy who was once a fan favorite, but now does little more than take poor shots and play bad defense.

Despite his shortcomings, Nocioni still has some trade value in the league, and if Paxson can off load him for an expiring contract, he should do it without hesitation.

Rose will start at point and Deng will be penciled in at small forward. I say penciled in, because chances are he'll be out with an injury and someone will have to start in his place. Kirk Hinrich should start alongside Rose, and Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah would make up the starting front line.

Rose-Hinrich-Deng-Thomas-Noah.

Sure seems like a lottery bound line-up to me.

So the future seems pretty dark Bulls fans, but here's the silver lining.

Losing this year will add another high lottery pick. Paxson made the right choice this year selecting Rose over Beasley. The question is, can he do it two years in a row? The 2009 draft is much weaker than this past year's, and it will be tough, but with so many holes to fill, it shouldn't be hard to upgrade the Bulls center or power forward position.

With another season of losing, comes another high lottery pick, but even more important than that, is the fact that the Bulls should have major cap space that summer to go after one or possibly two of the leagues premiere free agents who will be available. Names like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Amare Stoudemire highlight a long list of high profile free agents.

The key to executing this plan is keeping the current payroll in check. No trades that bring back bad contracts and no signing of mediocre stop-gap type players in 2009. It needs to be an all-or-nothing plan. The price to pay for this is two seasons of losing.

Foresight would tell you that two bad seasons for the chance to build a legit dynasty is a small price to pay. Unfortunately, most fans get so caught up in the now, and want quick fixes to stop their favorite team from losing games to teams like the Thunder that they fail to see the bigger picture.

So here is the big picture spelled out for everyone. The Bulls stink this year. They will be even worse next year, but thanks to a lucky lotto ball bounce that netted Derrick Rose, and a great free agent class in 2010, it won't be too much longer before the words "title contender" and Chicago Bulls become synonymous again.

Oh Where Hast Thou Gone, Tyson Chandler?

Thomas Hennessy — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:28:40 -0500

Coming off a season in which he averaged a career-best 11.8 ppg along with a solid 11.7 rpg, Tyson Chandler looked like he was primed to finally break out and show just why he was worth the second pick in the draft back in 2002.

His troubles with Coach Scott Skiles in Chicago were a distant memory. His Hornets were coming off a successful season, in which they took the defending champion Spurs to seven games in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. He was an alternate on the US Olympic team.

Life was good for Tyson Chandler. The sky was the limit. Here we sit though, roughly 40 percent of the season complete, and Tyson Chandler has yet to make an appearance on the court.

Sure, we see a guy who looks like him, wearing his familiar No. 6 jersey suiting up for New Orleans. Occasionally, we'll check the box score and see a familiar Chandleresque stat line of double-figure rebounds and points with a block or two thrown in,

But when we watch the game, the man in the middle for the Hornets is not the same player we have grown accustomed to seeing out there.

The fire seems to be gone. The passion and the energy that made him a fan favorite in The Big Easy is lost, and people are starting to take notice.

Chandler's name has been tossed around recently in trade rumors, something that would have seemed absurd at this time last year.

Once considered one of the league's premiere rebounders, Chandler is averaging a rather pedestrian eight boards a game this season.

The question this begs is why? How could a guy who was one of the best at what he does, all of the sudden look so mediocre? The answer seems to be a mystery.

Fans on various blogs and message boards all have their various theories, ranging from nagging injuries, to a simple lack of trying. I don't think there is a simple answer.

I would, however, like to offer what I think is the reason behind Tyson Chandler's sudden drop off in production. It all starts with Tyson himself.

If you have followed Chandler's career for as long as I have you would know that Tyson as a person is a very emotional guy. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

When things are going well in his life, that emotion translates to him being a beast on the court. When life get a little tough, well, down goes his production.

This was first really noticeable in the 05/06 season. His final year playing in Chicago. Things had deteriorated so badly between Chandler and then-Bulls coach Scott Skiles that he had lost all confidence in his game, and appeared unfocused on the court.

This would often result in Chandler finding himself in either foul trouble, or on the Bulls bench, in Skiles' doghouse.

His play was so bad that season that the Bulls shipped him off to New Orleans for practically nothing, and wasted $15 million a year on the aging Ben Wallace.

For Chandler though, it was just what the doctor ordered. A change in scenery and a coach who believed in him quickly pulled Chandler from his depressed state, and he ended up as the defensive center piece for the young and talented Hornet team.

His production continued to increase, and his team emerged as a championship contender in a loaded Western Conference. Fast forward to today, and the question still remains: What changed?

Chandler's life changed this season as he and his wife, Kimberly, welcomed Tyson Chandler II into their household. While on the surface, this would seem like something would would only bring joy and better play to Tyson, but here is why it hasn't.

While his wife was pregnant, she was staying with family back in California, not in the Chandler family's New Orleans home.

It is very possible that Chandler, being the emotional guy he is, has had trouble adjusting to day-to-day life by himself in New Orleans, and not getting to see his wife, daughter, and now newborn son.

This in turn has led to an unfocused Chandler fouling at a much higher rate than either of his two previous seasons in New Orleans, resulting in increased foul trouble, and decreased minutes.

Chandler is only playing 31.3 mpg this season down from 35.2mpg he played last year. The drop off in minutes isn't the only problem though. Chandler just isn't as aggressive as he once was. Some of that comes from him spending time on the court while in foul trouble, trying to avoid picking up another foul while battling for an rebound.

I do believe that the root of the problem is all in his head though. Missing his family causes him to play unfocused, playing unfocused leads to foul trouble and not being in proper rebounding position. These lead to a decrease in overall production.

Tyson's emotional state isn't the only reason his numbers are down though. Teams are starting to game plan him more. In years past, defenders would leave Chandler to help out on Chris Paul, which in turn would lead to alley-oop dunks, or allow for him to get good position for an offensive rebound.

More often these days, opposing bigs are staying home, essentially taking Chandler out of the play.

This reduced number of offensive touches, seems to carry over to the other end of the court as well. Simply put, the more Chandler is involved on the offensive end, the better he plays on the defensive side of the game.

So now we've diagnosed the problem, it's time to offer a solution. Unfortunately, there is no simple solution.

Chandler's wife and kids are still in California, however, now that she has had the baby, it may not be long before she is back in their home in New Orleans.

I think just having her back around will provide a big boost to Tyson's confidence, and lead to increased results on the court.

The other thing that needs to happen is that the Hornets need to evolve a bit on the offensive end to get Chandler more easy looks. In years past most of the alley-oops came off the pick and roll.

Since teams are defending this play better, the Hornets should look for other ways to free up Chandler near the hoop, increased off the ball motion, along with backdoor cuts, or baseline screens designed to open up the paint could do the trick.

As Chandler's point total rises, so will his rebounding, and his fouls should decrease.

It's not too late for Tyson and the Hornets. They are still winning games, and there is a lot of season left to be played.

With the Western Conference being so competitive again this season, and so many teams bunched into the 2-9 slots in the standings, New Orleans is going to need Chandler at his absolute best if they want to secure a top 3 seed out West again this season.

If Chandler cannot find a way to break out of his season-long slump, it may very well spell disaster for these young Hornets come playoff time.