NBA Trade Rumors: 10 Reasons Chicago Bulls Need To Pull Trigger On Courtney Lee
The Houston Rockets, hunting for options at center to replace the injured Yao Ming, have been in talks with the Chicago Bulls about youngster Omer Asik. In return for the Turkish rookie, Chicago wants Rockets guard Courtney Lee.
Read on for 10 reasons that acquiring Lee would be the right move for Chicago.
10. Helping the Rockets Doesn't Hurt the Bulls
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No matter how good Asik turns out to be in Houston, the Rockets are in the Western Conference. The Bulls will see them twice a year unless both teams somehow make their way to the NBA Finals. Being able to add a valuable piece while not strengthening one of your own playoff opponents is always a plus at the trade deadline.
9. Joakim Noah Is Due Back Soon
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The most obvious reason not to trade Asik is that he’s been a key part of the Bulls’ weathering the loss of their starting center. But Noah's surgically-repaired thumb is healing well, and he expects to return after the All-Star break. With Noah healthy, Kurt Thomas could return to the bench, and Asik’s role would be greatly reduced.
8. Lee Won't Hurt the Bulls Defensively
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The Bulls’ success this year has been built on superlative defense. At this writing, they’re second in the NBA in both scoring defense and field goal percentage defense.
While Lee would be replacing a fine defender in Keith Bogans, he wouldn’t be a big step down. He’s more slender than Bogans, but they’re the same height, and Lee is at least as quick. He’ll probably need a little time to adjust to Tom Thibodeau’s defensive system, but considering how much Thibodeau’s tutelage has improved Kyle Korver’s defense, it’s likely Lee will wind up a better player for it.
Statistically, he and Bogans are pretty much indistinguishable (0.4 vs. 0.6 steals per game, 0.1 blocks per game each), so he should be able to step in without much problem.
7. Lee Can Help In the Present and the Future
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Asik’s greatest value is his potential, and it does hurt to give up a player who could be outstanding. But he’s not there yet, and the Bulls need help to win now. Lee brings the added advantage of being a young player himself—he’s in his third season out of Western Kentucky. If he fits well with the team, he can continue to contribute for many years down the road.
He’s signed through next season, too, so the Bulls won’t even have to worry about contract negotiations until they’ve seen what he can do over a full season.
6. The Bulls Need Another Three-Point Threat
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Derrick Rose leads Chicago in three-point attempts.
Now, Rose takes a lot of shots in general, and he’s greatly improved his long-range shot this season. On the other hand, he’s a point guard who creates huge numbers of open looks for other players…and he’s the one taking the most threes? The culprit, of course, is the lack of a legitimate three-point gunner in the starting lineup. Kyle Korver is brilliant, but comes off the bench.
Lee, who’s just a hair shy of 40 percent from the arc this year, would immediately give the Bulls a weapon that they desperately need in the starting lineup.
5. Omer Asik Is Replaceable
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Asik has enormous potential, but right now, the rookie is providing 2.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. It’s always hard to find a true seven-footer, but it’s not particularly hard to find a reserve post player who can give you that level of production.
If the Bulls find themselves in desperate need of another body down low, an out-of-work veteran like Kenny Thomas (or a youngster like ex-Suns shot-blocker Dwayne Jones) could be had cheaply to provide comparable performance.
4. Ronnie Brewer Is Too One-Dimensional
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The case could be made that Brewer should have been Chicago’s starting shooting guard all along. He, like Bogans, is most useful as a defender, and he brings an energy that Bogans lacks. But Brewer’s complete lack of a perimeter game (3-15 three-point shooting for the season) leaves him too limited to be a viable starter in his own right. He’s a great offensive player on the fast break and a liability in any other situation. That’s not a description one likes to see at the two-guard spot.
3. Lee Brings a Lot to the Table
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Lee can play either guard spot if needed (though point guard is not exactly Chicago’s problem) and contributes on both offense and defense. He’s an effective scorer off the dribble drive or as a catch and shoot player.
Perhaps even more important, he’s gone from being a full-time starter (66 starts in 71 games) as a Net last season to being a full-time reserve (zero starts) with Houston.
The fact that he’s gone through a change that drastic without becoming a problem in the locker room is a good sign that adding him might not radically harm the extraordinary chemistry that’s helped Chicago win 35 games so far.
2. Derrick Rose Needs Some Help
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As the Bulls learned to their dismay in a recent loss at Golden State, their offense is prohibitively dependent on Rose’s performance. If an opponent can keep Rose from beating them by himself, as the Warriors did with constant double-teams, the Bulls can’t count on anyone to step up in his stead.
Lee is far from being Carmelo Anthony in this regard, but he’ll bring more offensive aggressiveness and more perimeter scoring than Chicago has had all season.
1. Keith Bogans Should Not Be Starting
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Bogans has had a fine NBA career, but until this year, he’d never started more than 50 games in a season.
There’s a reason for that.
Bogans is good enough to be a worthwhile combo guard off the bench—he can handle the ball, shoot a decent percentage from three point range, and even rebound a little. But he’s not a starting-caliber two-guard, especially not for a team that’s trying to stay at the top of the Eastern Conference. Lee is doubling Bogans’ scoring output (7.1 ppg vs. 3.6) in similar minutes, and that production could go up further if he joins Derrick Rose in Chicago.
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