Breaking down that Bulls team is a mess. The individual numbers of DeRozan, Vucevic and Lavine are career-worst levels. Go figure out what is situational and what is age for example.
Take DeRozan.
I think he is a super-reliable pro´s pro that is rarely injured. That also means that at age 34, he´s played the 9th most career games amongst active players. The only starter that has played more games is LeBron, who is taking a two week vacation every January and is judged by a different set of rules.
Positives:
- Ultimate professional
- Position of need
- Expiring contract, no long-term commitment
Negatives:
- Lots of mileage
- Position of need, but not necessarily skills of need (aka defense)
Take Vucevic.
He´s basically the center version of DeRozan (age, games played, strengths and weaknesses). Only difference is that with his age and Lively´s level of play, it would be a designated bench role coming at 60/3 deal, that is pretty hefty for that specific assignment and could hamper your future roster building. Interior bench scoring/rebounding are positional needs. Yet you still have a lack of defense.
One positive from the Grant Williams interview was the takeaway that the Mavs had finally (?) started to work on a deal with Duffy for months before the S&T materialized and I´m pretty confident the same is the case here. They´ll have very good info on Vucevic. Maybe they were happy to gamble on Lively starting, and temporarily keeping Holmes, because they already knew Vucevic was going to become an option and the Mavs were a preferred destination.
I seriously doubt his demand around the league will be very high, especially compared to Lavine and DeRozan. Usually contenders don´t look for big "dinosaur" centers that have a bad defensive reputation and rebuilding teams have no use for 33 years old with three years left on their contract. Honestly think Holmes + Kleber + 2nd round pick should be enough here. Bulls can turn Kleber into additional minor assets.
Take DeRozan.
I think he is a super-reliable pro´s pro that is rarely injured. That also means that at age 34, he´s played the 9th most career games amongst active players. The only starter that has played more games is LeBron, who is taking a two week vacation every January and is judged by a different set of rules.
Positives:
- Ultimate professional
- Position of need
- Expiring contract, no long-term commitment
Negatives:
- Lots of mileage
- Position of need, but not necessarily skills of need (aka defense)
Take Vucevic.
He´s basically the center version of DeRozan (age, games played, strengths and weaknesses). Only difference is that with his age and Lively´s level of play, it would be a designated bench role coming at 60/3 deal, that is pretty hefty for that specific assignment and could hamper your future roster building. Interior bench scoring/rebounding are positional needs. Yet you still have a lack of defense.
One positive from the Grant Williams interview was the takeaway that the Mavs had finally (?) started to work on a deal with Duffy for months before the S&T materialized and I´m pretty confident the same is the case here. They´ll have very good info on Vucevic. Maybe they were happy to gamble on Lively starting, and temporarily keeping Holmes, because they already knew Vucevic was going to become an option and the Mavs were a preferred destination.
I seriously doubt his demand around the league will be very high, especially compared to Lavine and DeRozan. Usually contenders don´t look for big "dinosaur" centers that have a bad defensive reputation and rebuilding teams have no use for 33 years old with three years left on their contract. Honestly think Holmes + Kleber + 2nd round pick should be enough here. Bulls can turn Kleber into additional minor assets.