Bulls draft picks James Johnson, Taj Gibson ready to get to work

Seemingly every time Taj Gibson boarded the elevator at the downtown Chicago hotel where the NBA staged its predraft camp in late May, James Johnson 's smile greeted him.

[Republican]

Welcome to Chicago!

James we need 8-10 points, 4-5 rebounds
Taj we need 5-6 points, 4 boards, and a block or so

[dave]

I still can't believe they took Taj over Dajuan Blair. Were they scared Blair would be too productive? Just when I thought Floyd couldn't hurt the bulls anymore, he talks his old assistant into taking Gibson over Blair. Appalling.

[rustyw]

dave wrote:

I still can't believe they took Taj over Dajuan Blair. Were they scared Blair would be too productive? Just when I thought Floyd couldn't hurt the bulls anymore, he talks his old assistant into taking Gibson over Blair. Appalling.

1) Drafting is usually playing probabilities. There were factors that made the Bulls mgmt rate the numbers higher for Taj than for Blair. We won't really know for a while yet who was right.
2) One analyst gave the Bulls an A- for their draft. He also thinks he sees positives in both picks.
3) So, it might be a bit early to be appalled. Save it for February!

[Rick]

nice to see randy brown is being hired since the clown is bankrupt. auctioned off one of his rings a couple months ago.

[dave]

rustyw wrote:

<quoted text>
1) Drafting is usually playing probabilities. There were factors that made the Bulls mgmt rate the numbers higher for Taj than for Blair. We won't really know for a while yet who was right.
2) One analyst gave the Bulls an A- for their draft. He also thinks he sees positives in both picks.
3) So, it might be a bit early to be appalled. Save it for February!

I agree you don't know for sure about the draft for years. John Hollinger said he hated the Bulls' picks, so I guess there's a difference of opinion among the experts, too. But let's check back next spring talk about Taj vs. Dajuan.

[Larry]

Who are you to judge anyone?? Brown is a human being just like you or maybe you are not human, maybe you are just an idiot.

Rick wrote:

nice to see randy brown is being hired since the clown is bankrupt. auctioned off one of his rings a couple months ago.

[CentrILMark]

I don't comment much on here because I don't want to waste the time on the regulars(not all but many of whom) spew a bunch of negative BS every day(apparently because they have no lives). Something like this, drafting new players, start of a new season, the playoffs, then sometimes you get rare contributors who actually have a life and a decent maturity level.

Funny thing about the draft, most people comment based on perceptions of what they've heard. Nobody on here has seen Johnson or Gibson play extensively. Nobody. So who are you really to judge, and dismiss someone with a life of hard work and dreams out of hand. Let the heartless hypocrite media do their "job" for god's sake. James Johnson is a very talented offensive player. Question is will his unique skills for a guy his size translate into decent to good NBA player or possibly a star. Yes he's that talented, but only certain guys have the mentaility to be able to produce big numbers night after night. Time will tell. Also, the fools(media) who compare Taj Gibson to Tyrus Thomas better think again. Taj is a very skilled offensive player with a complete repertroire of on the block and mid post moves. His big challenge is to keep his excellent definition while putting on major muscle. If he can he could be a solid offensive contributor in the NBA. And as for Randy Brown, the dude was a great guy and a great contributor for the World Champion Chicago Bulls.

[yikes]

Dajuan Blair's knee with no ACL will end his career in the NBA sooner or later.

[keith]

Well said. I still like Blair.

[Get up]

Keep wasting your time worrying about million dollar players jobs, and watch yours disappear. As long as the government can keep all you fools occupied with watching sports and entertainment garbage the masses of people won't speak up about all the injustice, fraud, and unemployment. When was the last time a sports figure gave YOU money?.

[bullsfan09]

If they can't resign Ben Gordan, then let's get Marquis Daniels. A strong def SG who is over 6ft 2. I would still luv to see Bulls trade for David Lee. Hoping they make a few moves and not rely on the draft picks and a healthy Deng for next yr.

[Joe C]

Hey KC, way to go by asking EXACT same question to James Johnson as the reporter before you. He prefers the 3, didn't you hear? Haha. You should have consulted with Brian Hanley since it seems the two of you write the exact same columns anyway.

[Alex]

The last game against the Celts,the Florida Fairy No-Shot Noah the Weakling and his team mates were out scored 46-18 in the paint.

Welcome aboard rookies any help is plus.

Big minutes for No-Shot Noah and losing Gordon is a disaster!

We already know that the expensive clock eating circle dribbling Klank Hinrich is a role player at best.

[Old Wally Gatorade]

Get up wrote:

Keep wasting your time worrying about million dollar players jobs, and watch yours disappear. As long as the government can keep all you fools occupied with watching sports and entertainment garbage the masses of people won't speak up about all the injustice, fraud, and unemployment. When was the last time a sports figure gave YOU money?.

Substitute "corporations" for "government" and you'll be in the ballpark. And why are you reading this stuff then?

[Mgray]

The Bulls have 3 months 2 address their LACK of a center issues. The clock is ticking.

[TONY B]

Get up wrote:

Keep wasting your time worrying about million dollar players jobs, and watch yours disappear. As long as the government can keep all you fools occupied with watching sports and entertainment garbage the masses of people won't speak up about all the injustice, fraud, and unemployment. When was the last time a sports figure gave YOU money?.

Why the frick would a sports figure give ME money? What they do is provide us with entertainment. If we're wired to enjoy said entertainment, then there is no real injustice. Your attempt at making a point is severely lacking in merit.

[ATLDre]

Republican wrote:

Welcome to Chicago!
James we need 8-10 points, 4-5 rebounds
Taj we need 5-6 points, 4 boards, and a block or so

Noah's stats 6.7 points 7.6 boards.
Tyrus stats 7.7 5.0

We drafted talent we already had.

Say hello to the 2009 version of Jeff Sanders and Marcus Fizer. Same stuff about length about players in the 6'7 range. Players like these help big time teams that have frontline talent.

[ozziefan]

Rick wrote:

nice to see randy brown is being hired since the clown is bankrupt. auctioned off one of his rings a couple months ago.

Another loyal soldier (Brown)for PaxFor. The FallOut for the "great trade" with Suckramento that got the Bulls the "great playoff run" is no lottery pick, a $12M backup center, no cap space this season, a lottery pick (probably) next June, and loss of Shannon Brown.

If management operates true to form, these draft picks will warm the bench for three years, then be dumped.

[ATLDre]

CentrILMark wrote:

I don't comment much on here because I don't want to waste the time on the regulars(not all but many of whom) spew a bunch of negative BS every day(apparently because they have no lives). Something like this, drafting new players, start of a new season, the playoffs, then sometimes you get rare contributors who actually have a life and a decent maturity level.
Funny thing about the draft, most people comment based on perceptions of what they've heard. Nobody on here has seen Johnson or Gibson play extensively. Nobody. So who are you really to judge, and dismiss someone with a life of hard work and dreams out of hand. Let the heartless hypocrite media do their "job" for god's sake. James Johnson is a very talented offensive player. Question is will his unique skills for a guy his size translate into decent to good NBA player or possibly a star. Yes he's that talented, but only certain guys have the mentaility to be able to produce big numbers night after night. Time will tell. Also, the fools(media) who compare Taj Gibson to Tyrus Thomas better think again. Taj is a very skilled offensive player with a complete repertroire of on the block and mid post moves. His big challenge is to keep his excellent definition while putting on major muscle. If he can he could be a solid offensive contributor in the NBA. And as for Randy Brown, the dude was a great guy and a great contributor for the World Champion Chicago Bulls.

"Nobody on here has seen Johnson or Gibson play extensively. Nobody."
Yet you make assessments about the talent level of these players?
How do you know who has or hasn't seen these players enough to have an informed opinion about them?
Randy was a solid contributor for us. Not sure why someone would take a shot at him??

[Rod from Tennessee]

No matter what fans might think of Ben Gordon, let's be real here. If the Bulls lose him, and unfortunately i fully expect them to do so, replacing him with Lindsey Hunter or some low level backup player is going to hurt this team bigtime.

As upsetting as watching this team become the Clippers of the east is, it's just something we're going to have to live with. Reinsdorf and Paxson have set this team back for the next half decade with that Luol Deng signing, and that can't be undone. Gordon is only the first, of other current Bull players which will be allowed to leave via free agency in the next few years. Alot of the current Bulls will continue to come up for contract renewal, and with as much money that has been already relegated to two second string players (Deng, Hinrich), as well as having an owner who won't go anywhere's near the salary cap, players will have to be moved on despite the value they bring.

We as Bull fans can only hope this new GM is a wheeler and dealer enough, to bring enough quality in and out every couple years to keep the Bulls at the .500 level. Truth is though, as long as Reinsdorf remains the Bulls owner, the team will never even sniff another championship. There will never be another player as gifted as Michael Jordan come along for the Bulls, which would be willing to work below the pay level like Jordan did for several years, and have a player like Scottie Pippen to allow himself to be tricked into a longterm contract for peanuts by Reinsdorf, knowing full well that no matter how well you perform, Reinsdorf would never redo that players contract, even if that player helped bring championships for the next 6 years.