Carmelo Anthony Rumors: Trading Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah Would Be a Mistake
The Bulls have amassed an impressive 31-14 record despite missing part of their starting frontcourt for all but nine of their games. When the Bulls were fully healthy, they went an impressive 7-2, which would put them on pace for a 64-18 record.
Despite all the positive feelings happening in Chicago, the trade rumors of Carmelo Anthony are a dark cloud on the horizon. Since the beginning of the season, there have been rumors of Joakim Noah being traded for Melo.
However, would trading a package of Noah, Taj Gibson, James Johnson and two draft picks for Melo be the smart thing for the Bulls to do?
The players the Bulls would be losing, compounded with the bad fit of Carmelo Anthony, makes trading Noah for Anthony a negative move.
The Bulls Don't Need Scoring in the Starting Lineup
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What do the Bulls really need? It appears that they need a scorer in the starting lineup, but do they?
When you watch the games, the starting lineup has scoring. With Boozer, Rose and Deng, you have three players who have the potential to average 20 points per game who all fit together.
When you watch the team on offense, not having a creator is not a problem, at least in the starting lineup.
Not having a creator is a problem on our bench. When the bench comes into the game, the offense is based around Kyle Korver running through screens and CJ Watson trying to find him with the pass. That's not using either player effectively.
Right now we NEED a player like Ben Gordon or John Salmons to be a black hole at times on offense and just flat-out score off the bench. Our lineup that we put out is great on defense, so they would be able to cover up faults.
If Melo would come off the bench and score for half the money that he's making now, sign me up. But obviously that won't happen.
The Bulls Have a Hole...But It's Not at the Small Forward
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When you look down the starting lineup, there's one name that obviously doesn't belong with the others.
PG-Derrick Rose
SG-Keith Bogans
SF-Luol Deng
PF-Carlos Boozer
C-Joakim Noah
Next to the MVP candidate, 15+ ppg scorer, former All Star and future All Star, there is none other than Keith Bogans, for whom the term journeyman is a compliment at this point.
The hole obviously is not at small forward. Deng is a top ten small forward in this league. If the Bulls want to improve their starting lineup, it would be much wiser to improve Rose's backcourt mate than a player who has been solid for the Bulls.
Luol Deng Complements Derrick Rose
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Luol Deng has been a pleasant surprise this year. He's not shooting above 50 percent as he did at one point, but his numbers may surprise you a bit.
Deng is averaging 17 points and six rebounds per game. The six rebounds sound rather low, but the Bulls are not losing on the boards, so I wouldn't be too worried about that.
Deng has also developed a three-pointer, a big surprise to any Bulls fan. Early in Deng's career, he was very reluctant to throw up a three-point shot, but has worked hard and developed a three pointer that is at least respectable.
If you take away three-point attempts from Deng's field-goal percentage, he's actually shooting 49 percent from the field, which is more than respectable. He is also a very good defender and plays well within a team defense too, aided greatly by his length.
A forward who can catch and shoot from three as well as play defense. That's all we need in a player playing next to Rose.
We don't need Melo to take the ball out of Rose's hands and stall the dynamic offense that is available. Melo just wouldn't fit next to Rose. The overall talent would be very good but players would have to reduce their effectiveness.
Rose needs a player who can knock down wide open threes and space the floor, but Melo is more of the type of player who would take it to the basket.
All in all, Deng fits much better.
The Bulls Beat You With Defense
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Despite his great offensive talent, Melo lacks sorely in the defensive department. He is not as bad as many people say he is, but he takes plays off defensively. That would just will not be tolerated playing under Coach Tom Thibodeau.
Joakim Noah on the other hand is a legitimate defensive anchor. Noah is one of the best help defenders in the league and is able to handle switching on the pick and roll with surprising ease.
Kurt Thomas has played very well with the starting center spot, but how can you rely on that, especially long term? He is the second oldest player in the NBA, only to Shaq. Even if Noah and Thomas were at similar levels, you have to take Noah if for no reason than his age.
You can't give up a defensive anchor for a player who won't even bring it on the defensive end, especially if the anchor is a post player and the second player is not. Post defense is far too important to winning in this league.
The Bulls Have Been Playing Cellar Dwellers
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Since Christmas Day, the Bulls have only played three teams with records over .500, and Boston was without Garnett and Miami was missing James. They have also had bad losses against Philadelphia and New Jersey among others.
The Bulls are inflating their winning percentage, but that's what they were supposed to do. Many of the teams they were playing not only were bad, but were missing key pieces.
The Bulls' record is not a reflection of how well the team has been playing. The Bulls need to stop coming out slow and they need to score more overall. These are both things that Joakim Noah can help with.
His rebounding can help create more possessions for the Bulls and he is a facilitator from the center position. When Jo gets back, we will defeat these cellar dwellers virtually every time.
Melo will help the Bulls' scoring, but they will still come out slow if they start out playing 4-on-5 with Keith Bogans playing in the starting lineup. Look at other places to upgrade.
The Cost Is Too Great
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When you play Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer as your starting frontcourt, you need a good big to come off the bench and play big minutes. In comes Taj Gibson.
With the proposed trade, Taj would be gone along with Noah, leaving the Bulls with a big rotation of Boozer, Thomas and Asik. While all three players have played admirably through unclear roles, Gibson and Noah are really on another level.
You would effectively be trading your frontcourt depth for a position that we already have filled.
I know that Carmelo Anthony is a star in this league. I know that at times he is almost unguardable. But he doesn't bring enough to offset the loss of all of our post defense.
The Best Teams Have Great Bigs
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Here are the best teams in the league:
Los Angeles Lakers
Boston Celtics
San Antonio Spurs
Miami Heat
What's the similarity between the four? All four have All-Star big men.
The Lakers have the twin towers that you have to account for. The Celtics have one of the best power forwards of all time. The Spurs obviously have Tim Duncan. The Heat have All-Star Chris Bosh.
If you want to compete with those teams, you have to match their bigs. With this trade, all the talent would be on the perimeter except for injury prone and weak defender Carlos Boozer.
You can't go at these teams with just Boozer. Noah and Gibson would be fantastic at matching up with these teams, and you can't give that up just to get a marketing tool.
Melo would get abused on defense by LeBron or Paul Pierce. Along with that, he would leave Boozer alone to match up with the best bigs in the league. You can't have such poor big-man depth and plan to win a title.
Noah Brings The Intangibles
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Joakim Noah averages 14 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists per game, so it might sound crazy to say that statistics actually underrate him. However for Jo, this might actually be the case.
Joakim is one of the best bigs in the NBA at breaking the press. If Rose or Watson get into trouble in the backcourt, they can just throw the ball to Joakim. His 7-foot frame makes an easy target. Then he can easily get onto the other side of the court with his confident ball handling.
As well, Joakim is the emotional leader of this team. When he gets going, it's hard for any one of his fans not to get energized. This is true for the team as well.
When you see guys hustling for rebounds and getting down and dirty, it motivates you to want to do the same.
If all this wasn't enough, Joakim is also one of the best help defenders in the league. When he sometimes gets hurt by very strong players, Jo makes up for it by being able to match even guards in quickness on defense and gets his fair share of blocks.
Melo has intangibles too, but most of them overlap with what Derrick Rose is already doing. Noah brings a whole different skillset that is necessary on a title team, and the mentality that he will clean up the Bulls' mistakes.
Melo Just Doesn't Fit
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The whole article has been hinting at this: Melo just doesn't fit the Bulls' plans.
The Bulls want to be a team that can not only score on any team, but also lock down any team on defense.
The Bulls want to run and have a fast-paced offense.
The Bulls want players without egos.
The Bulls want players who fit next to Derrick Rose.
The Bulls want shooters to space the floor for Rose to drive.
The Bulls want players who are as hardworking and blue collar as the city of Chicago itself.
The Bulls should not want Carmelo Anthony.
