The Chicago Bulls are apparently sending a message to the rest of the NBA.
It reads: “Let’s make a deal!”
With a crazy logjam in the frontcourt, the Bulls have started to gauge the values of bigs Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah around the league, according to Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher, as transcribed by ProBasketball Talk’s Kurt Helin:
League sources say the Chicago Bulls have been checking on interest in one of their three bigs on the front line: Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah, and even at one point Pau Gasol. They are looking to get a young talent back, doesn’t matter whether it’s a defensive wing or a genuine stretch four. All of this is being motivated or prompted by the emergence of rookie big man Bobby Portis, who is demonstrating he is ready to take on a role now.
This is one of those “of course” moments. Not one of Gasol, Gibson or Noah has been Markieff Morris-level mentioned in the rumor mill, but breaking up this tricycle has long been a given.
Head coach Fred Hoiberg’s offense isn’t built for this many inside-the-arc bigs, and rookie Bobby Portis has shown he’s ready to contribute now. That’s forced Nikola Mirotic to spend ample time at small forward, when he’s best suited at the 4, and it’s cut into everyone else’s playing time as well, specifically Noah’s.
Gasol and Noah are undoubtedly the players Chicago would prefer to move. Gasol is on the wrong side of 35, Noah is on the unfortunate end of 30 and both will hit the unrestricted free agent market this summer, commanding contracts the Bulls, in all likelihood, won’t want to fund.
Actually dealing them, though, isn’t an afterthought. The Bulls, it seems want value in exchange for their services, and expiring contracts won’t get them the world, especially with Noah only just working his way back from a shoulder injury. Gibson has some value thanks to his unreasonably reasonable salary through each of the next two seasons, but again, his tapered pay grade is something the Bulls will want to retain, maximizing their flexibility this summer.
There’s a chance, then, that the Bulls will end 2015-16 with all three of Gasol, Gibson and Noah on the roster—even though, logistically, they should bid farewell to two.
