Bulls are finishing up their summer free agent shopping. Obviously Miami skunked everyone this year, but that aside, the Bulls did pretty well. Boozer is the low post scoring threat they've missed for years. Brewer has the world's ugliest shot (due to a childhood accident) but he is a big 2 guard, and has a fair all-around game. Korver is a badly needed 3 point specialist. C.J. Watson should hopefully be a better backup point than Pargo was. And Kurt Thomas should give us some veteran toughness in the front court. Also, Omer Asik, the Turkish center the Bulls drafted in 2008, will be joining the team. I expect he'll mostly be a space-eater and little else.
That's a lot of new players, and the Bulls are certain to add one more to fill out their roster. Rumor is that they are going after a shooting guard. Since we gave up our all time leading 3-point shooter (Hinrich, believe it or not) and Korver is the only solid 3 point threat on the team, I'm assuming the Bulls want a 3 point shooting threat. The obvious targets left are Rudy Fernandez, Eddie House, and Keith Bogans. Fernandez is probably the best choice, although he is streaky and doesn't seem to have the best attitude. New York was interested in him, but not enough to give Portland a first round draft pick. I don't think the Bulls should either. Nor do I think they should give up Taj for him, as is rumored. Now if they can get him for Johnson and a second rounder, then they should jump on that deal.
Failing Rudy, House is the next best shooter, but he's a short guard and weak defensively. He's played with Thibs though at Boston, so he knows his defensive schemes, and he isn't going to squawk about playing time like Fernandez does. Bogans is the worst shooter of the three, but the best defender. You could argue that Brewer is our defensive two guard, but Bogans is a better shooter than Brewer, and could be a good choice to spell him.
If we're going for shooting first then Fernandez is the guy, although he's the riskiest of the three. The Bulls can't over-reach and toss away another first rounder or Taj for him though. Getting any one of these guys, at the right price, should improve the team.
They went with Bogans. I'm guessing the price was too high for Fernandez. Story of the summer for the Bulls -- going with the backup plan. To their credit though, they've done well with their second choices.
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