ESPN: Nocioni, Bulls agree on five-year, $38M deal

IMO, Nocioni is worth this money. He is an excellent guy off the bench and a part-time starter. Though he's 27 years old and has only played 3 years in the NBA, his best years should be ahead of him.

Very good value for the Bulls with the crazy money that's being throw around.

 

Good for them. Some of Chicago's best five man units came with him at the four. I agree that he's probably worth the money he's getting.

 

He is definitely out of our budget

 

i don't understand why ppl keep calling him a 4.
his body build is definitely a sf at 6'7, 215lb.
and that's the position he plays for chicago.

 

Because the Bulls go small a lot and since they really have no half-court game Nocioni gets minutes at the 4. Not to mention he plays bigger than he really is and with reckless-abandon.

 

I think that contract maybe starts at 6 million with 10.5% raises.

 

I like the Bulls team a lot - they have a balanced roster, talented, relatively young and yet to me, they lack a superstar ala MJ, Dream, Shaq, Timmy to take the team to a championship

In the Rockets' case we have two guys who can fill the superstar role but the roster lacks the depth and quality of the current Bulls team.

 

And just in case you didn't take Kelly's word for it, your facts are way incorrect.

-He is 225lbs

-He rebounds pretty well at 10.3 per48

-He played more minutes at PF than SF (see 82games.com)

-He was more effective at PF than SF (ditto)

I would have loved to see Nocioni in the mix at PF for us. He isn't a full time PF, but he is a legit 4/3. Smart move for the Bulls to sign him at a very reasonable salary even if they end up moving him.

 

Chicago doesn't have a real 4 beyond P.J. Brown and now Noah (unless you count Wallace). Nocioni plays the same general style of 4 that Odom plays in Los Angeles.

I, too, like what Chicago is building up there. I know they still don't have an offensive post presence, but Deng is a legitimate all-star, they're set pretty much everywhere else, and now with Wallace and Noah, they've got a great post defense. If they can keep it together, they'll be competing for a championship really soon.

 

We call him a 4 because he's horrible at the 3 and pretty good at the 4. And with Luol Deng averaging nearly 38 minutes a game last year, it's safe to say Noc got most of his minutes at the 4.

EDIT:

http://www.82games.com/0607/06CHI8C.HTM

27 percent of Chicago's minutes at the 4. 7 percent at the 3.

Second EDIT: I should really read the rest of the thread before replying. Thanks, guys.

 

Nocioni is one Euro player that you can't call soft (I know Argentina is in S. America, but he spent most of his career in Europe). He plays like a racing bull on the court and is not afraid to take a charge. Besides, he has developed into a dependable three point shooter. I think that the Bulls get a good deal on a sixth man like Nocioni. Their future is very bright.

 

The financial aspect of it scares me. Chicago has a SF in Deng that is already nearing 40 mpg at age 22, and the hope is that Tyrus Thomas will be cranking out 35 minutes a game by 2008-09 -- paying 5-years, 38-mill to a guy who might be scrapping for minutes by the end of the contract scares me.

Luckily, the Bulls did what few other teams do (surprisingly) and that's front-load the contract. Just as they did with Kirk Hinrich (who will make 11-million next year, but just eight-million in 2012) and Ben Wallace, the Bulls gave Noc the money upfront so as to save room under the luxury tax barrier when Deng/Gordon/Thomas' contract comes up. I thought that Elton Brand and Andre Miller (two players signed to contracts that teams were hoping the Clippers wouldn't match) were also signed to those sorts of deals, but I was wrong. I don't know why more teams don't do that when they have big room but players working on rookie contracts. Orlando should really be paying attention.

 

By that logic, Mike James was once a Euro, too.

 

I think it is smart because Nocioni at that contract is a great trade piece even if Thomas joins Deng as a 40 minute stud. Further, if the right deal is out there (KG, Kobe, Amare, who knows by midseason?), having Nocioni ready makes losing Deng or Thomas as principals of such a deal more palatable. They could probably even move Nocioni to an under the cap team for a nice pick (mid 1st?) and a trade exemption in a 2 or 3 team deal if needed.

So IMO a very good value contract and that is what you should do with your good players, even if PT/role at some point could be a problem.

 

Chicago's turn in the Great Superstar Trade Run ended last February at the trade deadline. Unless they can convince PJ Brown that he wants to spend 2007-08 with a rebuilding Laker, Minnesota, or Memphis team; they're out of the superstar sweepstakes. Or, unless those teams want Ben Wallace. Deng and Thomas are on rookie deals, and I'm not sure how the Bulls make up the salary difference. Also, Noc is BYC, so he's only worth 3.5-mil or something like that in a trade. Not sure what his first-year numbers are going to be.

Agree on the rest, though -- when the erroneous reports of Memphis offering a 5-year 46-million dollar deal came out of Argentina last week, a lot of us wanted to move him to Memphis for possibly Warrick and/or Lowry (fat chance on the latter, I know; but it is Chris Wallace ...) and the exception.