Might the Bulls be interested in acquiring Darko?
The following column was written by Chicago Sun-Times NBA writer John Jackson on March 11th. I thought I would highlight the key parts of the column in light of Darko's recent comments about not being happy the way the Magic are using him in games.
Orlando's Milicic might be low-post guy Bulls need
Once their playoff run concludes sometime this spring, the Bulls will resume their pursuit of a big man capable of scoring in the low post. Once again, the top targets figure to be Minnesota's Kevin Garnett or Memphis' Pau Gasol, but there's another 7-footer the Bulls should seriously consider:
Darko Milicic of the Orlando Magic.
Yes, that Darko Milicic.
Right now he's considered a bust by many after being selected with the second pick in the stellar 2003 draft class, but Milicic is a highly skilled big man - offensively and defensively - with tremendous potential.
Still only 21, Milicic has the length and athleticism to be a force on either end of the court. In addition to his quick feet and long arms on defense, he has a nice mid-range jumper and a developing low-post game on the offensive end.
Milicic will be a restricted free agent this summer, which means the Magic has the right to match any offer he might receive from another team. Orlando has every intention of keeping him because it envisions Milicic and the 6-11 Dwight Howard forming an inside duo well into the next decade.
The only way the Bulls could acquire Milicic is through a sign-and-trade deal over the summer, and the price won't be cheap - in terms of money and personnel.
He makes a little more than $6 million and will command an annual salary in the $8 million-to-$10 million range for at least three or four years. As for what it will take to tempt the Magic to pull the trigger, a package of Andres Nocioni (also a restricted free agent-to-be) and the Bulls' 2008 first-round pick might do the trick.
The Bulls would hate to lose Nocioni - his toughness and selfless attitude are great intangibles - but you have to give up quality to make the deal attractive to the Magic.
Joining the Bulls likely would aid Milicic's development. Instead of being a focal point of a rebuilding team, he'd be playing on a veteran playoff team and wouldn't face the daily pressure of trying to live up to his draft position. He also would be playing in an area with a large Serbian community and could simply get back to playing and having fun.
Orlando's Milicic might be low-post guy Bulls need
Once their playoff run concludes sometime this spring, the Bulls will resume their pursuit of a big man capable of scoring in the low post. Once again, the top targets figure to be Minnesota's Kevin Garnett or Memphis' Pau Gasol, but there's another 7-footer the Bulls should seriously consider:
Darko Milicic of the Orlando Magic.
Yes, that Darko Milicic.
Right now he's considered a bust by many after being selected with the second pick in the stellar 2003 draft class, but Milicic is a highly skilled big man - offensively and defensively - with tremendous potential.
Still only 21, Milicic has the length and athleticism to be a force on either end of the court. In addition to his quick feet and long arms on defense, he has a nice mid-range jumper and a developing low-post game on the offensive end.
Milicic will be a restricted free agent this summer, which means the Magic has the right to match any offer he might receive from another team. Orlando has every intention of keeping him because it envisions Milicic and the 6-11 Dwight Howard forming an inside duo well into the next decade.
The only way the Bulls could acquire Milicic is through a sign-and-trade deal over the summer, and the price won't be cheap - in terms of money and personnel.
He makes a little more than $6 million and will command an annual salary in the $8 million-to-$10 million range for at least three or four years. As for what it will take to tempt the Magic to pull the trigger, a package of Andres Nocioni (also a restricted free agent-to-be) and the Bulls' 2008 first-round pick might do the trick.
The Bulls would hate to lose Nocioni - his toughness and selfless attitude are great intangibles - but you have to give up quality to make the deal attractive to the Magic.
Joining the Bulls likely would aid Milicic's development. Instead of being a focal point of a rebuilding team, he'd be playing on a veteran playoff team and wouldn't face the daily pressure of trying to live up to his draft position. He also would be playing in an area with a large Serbian community and could simply get back to playing and having fun.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 2:58 AM
5 Comments:
At 3:37 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
The Magic would not be smart in making this trade proposed by John Jackson. Even though Nocioni would be a big help to the Magic with his good outside shooting and strong defense, the Magic have very little big-man depth, and a sign-and-trade involving Darko would leave them with just Tony Battie and James Augustine as depth along with Dwight. We don't have much of an idea what Augustine can do because he's played only a few minutes all season.
The first round draft pick the Magic would get in this proposed trade would not be a very high pick either, because the Bulls would finish with a very good record, and therefore draft much later in the first round.
I'm sure the Magic would rather sign or match any offer that Darko would get, and hopefully have enough money left to sign a free agent like Rashard Lewis.
Look how well the Bulls are playing without Nocioni, who's been injured the last month and a half; but Nocioni is a key part of their team, and his return will make the Bulls that much stronger in the playoffs, and quite possibly the favorite to win the East, despite not having a dominant low-post scoring threat.
If only the Magic had a GM and a coach as good as the Bulls' John Paxson and Scott Skiles....
At 4:22 AM,
Ken said…
Interesting article.
I can see the possibilities of having Nocioni on the Magic. It would read something like this: Coach Brian Hill has announced the benching of Nocioni during his post game press conference. After Nocioni made the game winning 3pt shot to beat the (Place your least favorite team here) Brain Hill said, "Thats not the way I drew it up, either do it my way or you ride the pine".
Or maybe something like. Today Coach Hill announced he is "moving Nocioni to the point guard position" After he made the statement that "nobody is a specialist on this team, everyone needs to know all of the positions on the floor"
Sound absurd? Of course it does. But with BSH, anything is possible. This poor excuse for a coach has to go. I can't even get excited about any free agency trades thst summer as long as this idiot is still here.
At 9:00 AM,
Matt said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
At 4:52 PM,
Matt said…
Funny that all roads lead to Brian Hill, as though he is Rome. The trade suggestion is laughable. It should take a lot more than Nocioni and a late first round pick to part with a quality big man. After all, big men are at a premium in this league. If these morons would have let Darko to develop from the start of the season and assume his rightful place in the starting line-up, moronic suggestions like that fool's nonsense would not have surfaced. If Bulls want Darko, it would take Nocioni and Heinrich to make the deal, and that might be stretching it since Heinrich is overpaid.
By the way, Bulls are not gonna make out of the second round, let alone winning the East. They are jumpshooters, for Pete's sake, and that is gonna show up in a best of seven series, no matter how good of a record they have in regular season.
At 6:06 PM,
OVERWADED said…
In no way am I a fan of that deal; but I'll take something over nothing. Because there is still a part of me that could actually see a team offering Darko a big contract, and him signing, without us actually matching, and then we get NOTHING. I mean really, I don't know how stupid this organization is. We've lost players better than Darko for nothing, so who knows.
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