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headliner · 06-06-2006, 01:58 AM

Quote:

2006/07 Chicago Bulls Payroll: $33.3 million
2006/07 Estimated NBA Salary Cap: $52 million
Roughly: $18.7 million under cap

The Good: Even though the Bulls took a step back this season, a late run into the playoffs showed that the future is still bright for this franchise. Chicago is still a very young team and is led by a talented backcourt tandem of Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich. They scored 16.9 and 15.9 points respectively to lead the Bulls in scoring. Neither shot higher than 42% from the field, but Gordon made up for that with a stellar 43.5% average beyond the arc and Hinrich dished 6.4 assists per game. Hinrich has one more season on his rookie contract and Gordon has two. Chicago should be able to keep these two in their backcourt for quite a while.

Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni, and Chris Duhon are also playing well under rookie contracts. Deng and Nocioni average more than 13 points and 6 rebounds each and Duhon is second on the team in assists at 5 per game. Duhon and Deng have two years remaining while Nocioni has just one. All will make about $3 million dollars or less.

Two players who are no longer with the team, Tim Thomas and Eddie Robinson, will finally come off the books this summer and save Chicago $19 million dollars in cap room. With all of the young player's contracts coming to an end, Chicago will need every dollar they can get.

The Bad: The only long-term contract on the Bull's roster is also their worst contract by far. Last summer, the team gave a 6-year, $64 million dollar deal to someone who contributes nothing on the offensive end. There is no doubt that Tyson Chandler is a rebounder and a shot-blocker, but how can you justify giving that much money to a player whose scoring average actually went down to 5.3 ppg in his fifth year in the league? His stats (9 boards, 1.3 blocks per game) are good but not great. For that much money, a specialist should be approaching Ben Wallace-type numbers. It would be a shame if Chandler's fat contract made it too difficult for the Bulls to keep one of their other players in the near future.

The Future: Is there any team in the league with more young talent than the Bulls? The way this team is learning how to play together is very exciting. Because of the tremendous Eddy Curry trade with the Knicks, its about to get even better. The Bulls own the Knick's next two first-round draft picks. The pick this year will likely be in the top three. Imagine if this team added LaMarcus Aldridge to their frontline?

The only catch with having so many good prospects is that someday they expect to be well paid. Nocioni and Hinrich will be up for new contracts in 2007 and Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon, and Luol Deng will be due in 2008. Lucky for Chicago, they have oodles of cap space to use. If they spend wisely, they should be able to keep their best players and still give themselves the flexibility to tinker with the team. If they hand out more contracts like Tyson Chandler's, their positive situation will deteriorate quickly.

Bonus Points? for not bringing in a high-priced veteran during the summer. The Bulls are letting the kids play and taking whatever lumps they can in the process. Those lumps are important learning experiences for young players and the team will improve because of it. Chicago learned this season what it is like to play with expectations. They will be more ready next year to deal with the hype.

Grade: B+[/b]

http://www.nbadraft.net/2006stateofthecapchicago001.asp