It's Dougie McBuckets!

Let's take a quick peak into the world of Twitter and how we've become prone to instantaneous reactions.  Specifically, we'll look at how my attitude on there changed in a matter of a few minutes.

First, this happened:

Geoffrey Clark ‏@gfclark89

"@WojYahooNBA: Denver will select Doug McDermott with the No. 11 pick, league source tells Yahoo Sports." Fuuuuuuuuuuu-

7:42 PM - 26 Jun 2014

Geoffrey Clark ‏@gfclark89

I can only hope Gar Forman at least tried to swing a deal for McDermott.

7:43 PM - 26 Jun 2014

 Then, this happened:

Geoffrey Clark ‏@gfclark89

"@sam_amick: I'm told Doug McDermott will head to Chicago via trade with Denver. Getting more details now." Please be true.

7:46 PM - 26 Jun 2014

 Finally, the move was confirmed and I did this:

Geoffrey Clark ‏@gfclark89

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELCOME TO CHICAGO, DOUG!

7:49 PM - 26 Jun 2014

That's right, Bulls fans.  Doug McDermott, the player I've advocated for on several occasions, will begin his NBA career with our beloved.  The team traded their two first-round picks and a future second-round pick to Denver for the rights to McDermott and forward Anthony Randolph, whose expiring contract may result in a short period with the organization.  Before the deal officially went through, the Bulls took center Jusuf Nurkic from Bosnia and guard Gary Harris out of Michigan St.  Harris, who was in the green room, became the only draftee of the night to don a Bulls cap next to Adam Silver, although McDermott wearing a Nuggets cap evened that out.

The Creighton product will carry the most expectations and excitement from a Bulls draft pick since Derrick Rose.  Although he doesn't have quite the same hype Rose did in 2008, the National Player of the Year left college after four years as the fifth-highest scorer in Division I history (3,150 points).  That gives him some weight and addresses a big need for a team whose offense was nowhere close to their excellent defense last season.  I doubt Gar Forman read any of my posts calling for McDermott in a Bulls uniform, but he answered my prayer and showed he's willing to put his team in a great position to win on both ends of the floor.

Everyone knows McDermott can shoot the ball really well.  You name it, he can do it, and that opens up a chance to deal Mike Dunleavy.  He's a good hustler and uses his high basketball IQ to the fullest degree.  Scouts aren't sure if his size will translate well in the NBA and he's not the most athletic player around.  There are also concerns about his defense and normally, this would have been a reason for Tom Thibodeau to want Forman to look elsewhere.  However, he's expressed confidence that McDermott can improve in that area and besides, he finally seems to realize you get nowhere in this league if you don't have anyone available who can score.  That hasn't entirely been his fault with Rose's injuries, but eventually, you have to look elsewhere.

Tony Snell got regular playing time as a rookie last season after Marquis Teague and Jimmy Butler barely saw the floor during their first years.  McDermott should get even more minutes than Snell did because he's built to last longer.  Depending on how the Bulls fare in free agency, he's likely to be a productive bench player as the primary shooter from that group.  He'll have plenty of opportunities to show what he can do, unlike Jimmer Fredette or Brian Scalabrine of recent seasons.  To be fair, he's likely better than those two combined, so for the team's sake, he should hope he can live up to the billing as the best rookie in the Thibodeau era.

Lost in the McDermott hoopla is that the Bulls did have a second-round pick.  His name is Cameron Bairstow, a 6-10 power forward who played with Snell at New Mexico and, like Luc Longley before him, came from Australia to attend that school.  He figures to be the rookie who plays in garbage time in blowouts, which is the norm for second-tier rookies under Thibodeau especially.  Hopefully however, he'll pan out better than Erik Murphy a year ago.

Bairstow, who will turn 24 in December, is a mid-range shooter who can hustle well.  He's a good post player and can fight for rebounds.  All-around, he improved greatly between his junior and senior seasons, which put him on scouts' radars.  They have questions as to how he can work for the more athletic NBA players and a lot of his game remains to be developed.  He'll have a lot to prove and if Thibodeau likes what he sees, maybe he'll give the Aussie a chance to make a real difference.

Now that the draft is over, the real fun begins.  Selecting McDermott should make the Bulls more marketable for Carmelo Anthony and others who may want to join a team that's one major piece away from contending for a title.  The organization does not believe Rose's recent history will be a factor in what ultimately happens.  Maybe not, but what factors will ultimately determine who ends up where for the next few years?  The Bulls are hoping at least one of them works in their favor.  Buckle up, fans.  This roller coaster is going to be interesting.

Drafting for Keeps or Trading for Improvement?

It seems like only in the last 24 hours has attention slightly shifted away from the Bulls trading their two first-round picks in tonight's draft and towards who they should pick for themselves.  Although it's a stacked draft, there's not a lot of hype surrounding players beyond the likely lottery selections.  You have some good names there like Adreian Payne from Michigan St., Tyler Ennis from Syracuse and T.J. Warren out of N.C. State.  They and others were all great contributors to the college game, but whether that can transition to the pros remains to be seen.

In the final mock draft on NBADraft.net, one of my favorite basketball sites and my go-to site whenever I want to research it, the Bulls are predicted to take UCLA guard Zach LaVine with the 16th pick and UConn leader Shabazz Napier at 19th.  I would have no problems if the Bulls wished to find young offensive talent to compliment Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler.  The names in the first paragraph are guys who have all been linked to the Bulls on that site previously.  Again, I wouldn't mind players from programs with great reputations.  That would fall right in line with how Gar Forman and John Paxson have approached draft night in the past.

Of course, it will all be a crapshoot once the Bulls are scheduled to pick.  That's why if I'm captaining this boat, I'm looking to move one or both of those selections to either move up or acquire veteran scoring help.  Arron Afflalo, who was recently linked to Bulls rumors, was just dealt from Orlando to Denver, so he's off the board.  Guys like Lance Stephenson, Nick Young and J.R. Smith could be sought-after targets and all three could help the team put points on the board in their own ways.  The Bulls need offensive help and plenty of it.

This will be my final pitch for GarPax to trade both picks to move up in the draft so they can select Doug McDermott between the 11th and 14th selections.  I've lost track of how many times I've said the Creighton product, who happens to be the National Player of the Year, would fit right in with this Bulls regime.  He comes from a great program and can score, but more importantly, he has terrific long-term potential which could provide big dividends to this type of organization at some point.  Butler and Taj Gibson were unheralded on their draft nights, but I truly believe McDermott is worth all the hype he has received.  Not since Rose have we been able to say that about a potential Bulls pick.  This could all be a pipe dream of mine, but the front office needs to at least try and work their magic regarding this player or one who's already proven himself in the league.

As we all know, this is just a prelude to the true craziness that will begin once the calendar flips to July on Tuesday.  The Bulls are one of three teams Carmelo Anthony will meet with (Houston and Dallas being the others).  Kevin Love remains a possibility and while it's unlikely, LeBron James has a chance to end up here as well.  This is still an important night as what the Bulls do could be the difference between one of these players signing a contract and the organization coming up empty as they did four years ago.  Make yourself as marketable as possible in the final days of June.  You need to show a commitment to winning before making yourself a true NBA title contender.  Go out and do it, men.  Chicago is counting on you.

Setting Up for Better Offense

Although I try to avoid player acquisition rumors on this blog, the noise that has been going around the Bulls and really the NBA has finally merited a post.  Several reports have been making their rounds on how the team plans to use this offseason to improve itself into an immediate title contender while the window remains open with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah as key components. 

Carmelo Anthony's camp is supposedly looking at the Bulls as their top destination should the superstar fail to sign a new deal with New York.  The Bulls are trying to set themselves up to acquire Kevin Love.  Most recently, we've learned they want to deal the 16th and 19th picks in next week's draft to either move up the board or acquire veteran scoring help.

I know that's a lot to take in, but it's very clear that after the offense flamed out last season and it became a more glaring problem in the playoffs, Gar Forman and John Paxson want to do something about it.  It all starts with exercising the amnesty clause with Carlos Boozer, which we've talked at length about for some time now.  Once that's done, they'll truly be free to explore their options. 

I've said all along I'd be open to trading up in this highly stacked draft.  You may also have read before I'd advocate the drafting of Doug McDermott, the national player of the year with lots of scoring potential.  That seems to be a typical Gar/Pax draft selection and they may not have to go too far up to draft him.  He's slipped to 14th in the mock draft on NBADraft.net, but is at ninth in the latest SI mock draft.  There's no telling where he could land, but I stand by my stance that McDermott is the guy to go with.

Of course, the bigger story is whether Anthony, Love or even LeBron James will be in a Bulls uniform next season.  I doubt James will be coming here despite the efforts I'm sure the front office will make to lure him here.  I saw Love at the United Center back in January when the Timberwolves beat the Bulls without Noah and liked what I saw.  He truly is a rich man's all-purpose player and would be an immediate upgrade over Boozer.  Should he arrive here, the only problem I see is that it could conflict with Nikola Mirotic's arrival, which may or may not happen this fall.  The Bulls can only keep him in the Spanish League for so long until he feels a need to play in the NBA immediately.  There's also the players they'd have to give up in a trade, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Anthony is the Bulls' first option to add scoring and quite frankly, he would make this team a top contender in the East.  They've been lacking that second primary scorer for too long and he would finally be it.  The Miami rumors are losing steam and the choices for new destinations seem to have been narrowed down to the Bulls and the Rockets.  Regardless, leaving the Big 3 to their own devices would give him a chance to form his own legacy instead of riding the coattails of other stars.  Of course, we don't know if the Big 3 will even be together next season and that will make things really interesting in the conference.

The hiccup for this is that Anthony would be leaving lots of money on the table with the Knicks, so I'd still bet that he'll re-sign there.  Besides that, the Bulls would be dealing quite a few big names to free up the space to acquire him.  These may include, but not be limited to Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, two players who have done everything they could for the Bulls as an everyman and sixth man respectively.  Gibson himself has been told to train as a starter would for next season, so he's going to contribute handily somewhere in 2014-15.  No matter what, the Bulls should only part with anyone of note if they know they'll have their second star for the next few years.  There's no point in making yourself less competitive in other areas if long-term winning is not guaranteed as an exchange.

Like every other Bulls fan, I just want one of these big names to dispel the notion that Chicago is not a destination city for top NBA players.  We've been waiting for a team that can truly rival the talent and intensity of the 90s Bulls.  The 2011 team teased us with a trip to the conference finals and the following year, Rose's ACL tear changed everything.  Somebody needs to come here and be a bit of a savior, but also willing to share the spotlight with Rose and Noah.  Carmelo, Kevin, LeBron, if any of you happen to be reading this, we need you.  Don't try and be our new Jordan, but allow us to make fair comparisons to him.  You do that by winning and here, you have a great opportunity to do so.

I'd like to conclude this post by congratulating friend and fellow blogger Lucas Mitzel of Confessions of a Sportscaster on his nuptials this coming weekend.  I'll be one of his ushers and I'm sure a splendid time is guaranteed for all.  May one of these players be a late wedding gift for everyone in Chicago to share.

They Killed Taj's Lil' Super Man

I'm not here today to talk about Joakim Noah's selection to the All-NBA First Team because we all know his value to the Bulls and it's getting tougher to avoid repeating what I've already said about him.  I'm also not going to talk about the recent tour of the Bulls' new practice facility, just named the Advocate Center this week and still under construction.  Maybe this Instagram post from Taj Gibson will tell you this post's purpose:

For those who need context, Prince Joshua Avitto, Gibson's 6-year-old cousin, was stabbed to death in the elevator of a Brooklyn apartment this past weekend.  He was getting ice cream with his friend, 7-year-old Mikayla Capers, who was also stabbed, but survived the attack.  New York police arrested Daniel St. Hubert, 27, Wednesday night in connection with the crime and possibly another weekend stabbing.  St. Hubert had a previous criminal record and, prior to this arrest, was on parole for a domestic assault.

This is an incredibly tragic story in so many ways.  When I first saw the above picture, I thought Gibson was merely tweeting a family member's kindergarten graduation that had just taken place.  I was confused by the message at first, but once I learned what happened, everything made sense.  It's just too bad it made sense for the reasons it did.  We learn from the caption that he was about to turn 7, so he was probably focusing a lot on what he wanted for his birthday.  How amazing and sad that those and other hopes and dreams evaporated in a matter of moments.

Any story of a child lost to violence is upsetting, but as the cousin of a 6-year-old myself, this one especially hits close to home for me.  Claire is one of the most wonderful, caring, free-spirited people I know and whenever I get a chance to spend time with her, I embrace every bit of it.  She stopped being so shy recently and it's wonderful to see her express herself beyond her familiar surroundings.  I can't believe she just graduated from kindergarten, and I want to treasure this time in her life when she seems to be growing up quicker than I would like.  I did just that on Memorial Day weekend and my uncle John snapped this photo of one memorable moment:

See the innocence and wonderment in that face?  I won't pretend to know what Taj's family is going through right now, but I do know a part of me would just die if anything happened to Claire.  She still has so much more to learn and experience.  To think that someone her age just lost all of that at the hands of another human being is simply terrible.  I pray to God that she will stay safe and grow up to be a smart, beautiful, kind woman.

My heartfelt sympathies go out to Taj and his family as they grieve their loss.  Taj will have another purpose to play next season as I'm sure he will dedicate it to his cousin PJ's memory.  He'll have more responsibilities as a starter, but that will now include playing in a manner he knows PJ would be proud of.  Until then, may he find comfort in whatever strength he seeks.

This is Tigey and Stripey, two of Claire's stuffed animals I've gotten for her the last two Christmases.  Since I don't have a chance to place this in any kind of memorial, I'll just leave it here.  RIP PJ.

Proud Defenders

Considering how married Tom Thibodeau is to the defensive side of basketball, he has to be proud that two of his players have been so honored for that this season.  To the surprise of no one, Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah was the top vote-getter for the NBA's All-Defensive first team with 105 first-place votes.  Jimmy Butler, having just finished his third season out of Marquette, made the second team thanks to 44 first-place votes.  Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich received votes, but did not make either team.

I talked about Noah's defense in length when he won his previous award, but just as a reminder, he was sixth in the league in rebounding (11.3) and 12th in blocks (1.51).  For good measure, he added 1.24 steals and joined Detroit's Andre Drummond and New Orleans' Anthony Davis as the only players this season with at least 10 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.  He is the true definition of what makes Thibodeau's philosophy work and will continue to be as long as both guys are together.

Jimmy Butler came of age in last year's playoffs, but with a full season of this incarnation of his play under his belt, it was time for him to be recognized for that.  As part of his everyman role, defense is especially key and he just locks down every time his man has the ball.  Though far from the most talented player on the team, his sheer will and determination to get the most out of what he has is admirable and the NBA would be a lot more fun to watch if every player adopted that style of play.  That's just a pipe dream, but his style has worked enough that he'll have a long, productive NBA career as long as that productivity remains.  I get the feeling most of his success comes from whatever style his head coach preaches and since Thibodeau relies on defense, that's the area where he most excels right now.

There's little left to prove for the Bulls' defense, so now, the focus shifts to improving the offense.  As nice as these honors are, we learned in these playoffs that the most impressive defense in the league is in vain if you can't score.  As the Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Love rumors continue to swirl around this team, Gar Forman and John Paxson must take the goal of pursing that second primary scorer seriously if they want to bring another championship to Chicago.  And of course, they must make sure Thibodeau is on board with this because the last thing this franchise needs is animosity between management when a history already exists in that area here.  As Mike Kellams, the Tribune sports-turned-business editor, likes to say, go get 'em.

Here are the full two defensive teams, courtesy of NBA.com:

2013-14 NBA All-Defensive First Team

Position | Player, Team | 1st Team Votes (2 pts) | 2nd Team Votes (1pt) | Total Points
Center | Joakim Noah, Chicago | 105 | 13 | 223
Forward | Paul George, Indiana | 65 | 31 | 161
Guard | Chris Paul, LA Clippers | 64 | 28 | 156
Forward | Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City | 54 | 44 | 152
G/F | Andre Iguodala, Golden State 57 | 34 | 148

2013-14 NBA All-Defensive Second Team

Position | Player, Team | 1st Team Votes (2 pts) | 2nd Team Votes (1pt) | Total Points
Forward | LeBron James, Miami | 57 | 20 | 134
Guard | Patrick Beverley, Houston | 44 | 24 | 112
Guard | Jimmy Butler, Chicago | 29 | 45 | 103
Forward | Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio | 16 | 57 | 89
Center | Roy Hibbert, Indiana | 15 | 46 | 76