Bulls trying to bring Finley home By Mike McGraw Daily Herald Sports Writer Posted June 25, 2003 M. Scott Mahaskey/Daily Herald Why draft the Euro Finley if you can trade for the real thing? The Bulls are negotiating with Dallas to acquire Chicago-area native Michael Finley, according to a league source. The Bulls would give up their No. 7 draft pick, Marcus Fizer, Donyell Marshall and another player. The logic to this deal is simple. Anyone who watched Dallas in the Western Conference playoffs realizes the Mavericks have little chance of reaching the NBA Finals unless they add someone who can score close to the basket. The Bulls can offer two such players - Fizer and Marshall. Secondly, the Mavs have their eye on athletic French shooting guard Mickael Pietrus with the No. 7 pick, thinking he could be a suitable replacement for the 6-foot-7 Finley. If the deal is made, the Bulls' starting lineup would include Finley, Jalen Rose, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler. The 30-year-old Finley grew up in Maywood and helped lead Proviso East to the IHSA Class AA state championship in 1991. The trade may hinge on Pietrus being available at No. 7. It still seems likely that Georgia Tech freshman Chris Bosh and Polish 7-footer Maciej Lampe will be chosen with the No. 4 and 5 picks, currently owned by Toronto and Miami. But there is speculation that the Los Angeles Clippers may consider Pietrus at No. 6. It is unclear whether Dallas would send Finley to the Bulls if Marquette guard Dwyane Wade is the player available at No. 7. There are a few ways this deal could work under the salary-cap rules. Prior to the draft, picks do not carry any salary value in a trade. If done prior to the selection being made, the Bulls could send Fizer, Marshall, Eddie Robinson and the pick for Finley straight up. Once the No. 7 draft pick signs a contract, his salary is then $2.19 million. Theoretically, the Bulls could draft Pietrus, sign him - with the NBA's rookie wage scale in place, there are really no negotiations - and then make the trade. In this scenario, the Bulls could send Fizer, Marshall, Dalibor Bagaric and the pick for Finley. This combination works well for the Bulls, because it would leave Robinson available as a reserve small forward. Another possibility is Fizer, Marshall, Robinson and the pick for Finley and either Eduardo Najera or Evan Eschmeyer. The Bulls would lose considerable depth by trading Fizer and Marshall, but consider this possibility: Without Marshall, the Bulls would become an attractive option for free-agent power forward Juwan Howard at the mid-level exception (about $4.5 million). Howard, who played in Denver last season, grew up on Chicago's South Side and could reunite with close friend and former Michigan Fab Five teammate Jalen Rose. Even if the Lakers make the same offer, Howard might prefer to join the Bulls. Whether the Dallas trade goes through or not, new general manager John Paxson is clearly trying hard to add veterans to the Bulls' lineup. The source confirmed the rumor that the Bulls considered trading Jay Williams, Fizer and Marshall to Boston for Antoine Walker until Williams was severely injured in a motorcycle accident last week. Paxson probably figures Curry, Chandler and Crawford have shown so much promise that there is no need for any other young players. Adding a two-time all-star such as Finley could make the Bulls instant playoff contenders. Finley averaged 19.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists last season, but shot a career-low 42.5 percent from the field. He has missed 13 games due to injuries in each of the past two seasons. Prior to that, Finley didn't skip a game during his first six years in the league. Pietrus' current team, Pau Orthez, was clobbered by Villeurbanne 102-78 in the French league championship series Tuesday night. The series is now even 1-1 and the deciding game is scheduled for Saturday, meaning Pietrus will be unable to attend the draft. DALLAS won't be a head case if for us if Fin-dog is out of TEXAS.
Hmm....I would accept. Mavs replace Finley with a younger European version of him PLUS a bunch of crappy big guys. Finley gets to return home. Bulls get who they want. And maybe Juwan Howard joins them in Chicago. Michael Finley and Jalen Rose... This guy thought this out pretty good.
Why would Dallas do this? I thought they were trying to win now? replacing Finley with a French Rookie is going to do this? marshall and fizer are ok, but neither is the tough PF or C the mavs need. This smacks of Chicago style dreamcasting
Why dont we get in there and make some moves.. Cato and Cat FOR Finley and throw in... Then we can trade Griffen and Mo Tay for Antonio Davis Yao AD Posey Finley Francis Not too shabby
That's funny, I was wondering why Chicago would do this. Finley is a good player, but he isn't great. He's not nearly good enough to justify giving up Marshall and Fizer and the #7 pick. That's too rich.
Dallas should do it. They don't need scoring---NVE and Nash handle the primary scoring at guard, anyway. They need bigger bodies, and have to eventually get younger players anyway. The deal makes sense. Which is why I wonder if it'll happen.
Actually they need big bodies that CAN score. LaFrentz and Bradley are big bodies and looked what happened. They need big guys that can score..not 20ppg but 16ppg would do the trick. I doubt that fizer and/or Marshall can do that in the West. As for NVE and Nash handling the scoring, you cannot say that because for all of last season, Finley was their most consistent (not productive..that would be Dirk) scorer they had. As for younger players, they're not old at all. I think this trade isn't really helping the Mavs at all. The only thing that they can hope for is to get Chris Bosh if he slips at all because drafting a 'Euro Finley' don't mean jack while you have the real deal on your roster right now.
This is a great deal for both teams especially Dallas. By getting rid of Finley and his ridiculous contract for younger version of him while aslo adding two power forward in Marshall and Fizer. It makes sense for the bulls as well, getting a veteran player like Finley, who returns back home can help the bulls for playoff contention.
Dumbass. Nowitzki is a far better rebounder than Marshall. Also, I would not do this trade if I was Dallas. Fizer and Marshall are average at best, Finley is just below all-star level. What would Dallas want with a bunch of power forwards when power forward is their strongest position? This is Chicago dreamcasting, as someone said earlier in this thread. Reminds me of these Toronto people thinking Houston would take Davis off their hands.
But you forget that in GS and Utah, he was their 1st or 2nd (behind Malone of course) scoring option. With the Mavs, he'd be lucky to be the 3rd or 4th. All i'm saying is that they need a decent rebounder/defender (that's Marshall) but they also need inside scoring. And I can't see Marshall or even Fizer being productive in the West. As for the euro version of Finley, I still get a laugh when a Euro is compared to an NBA player...it never pans out. Dirk always gets comparisons to Bird but Dirk's a different (but still very good) player. And then we had players being compared to Dirk..now we got a Euro player being compared to Finley? I mean it's crazy. I rather have Finley than a 'version' of him. This trade would help the Bulls though...just to see that the Bulls get back to their winning ways I hope the Bulls get Finley. With Chandler and Curry up front, sliding Rose to the point (where he liked it back when he was with Indy) and put Finley at the 2...that's a solid lineup East OR West...it's just I can't justify how a team like the Mavs would trade away one of their best players when they were only a couple of games removed from a championship.
I absolutely love this trade for both teams. Finley is a leader who can bring a winning mentality to the Bulls (as opposed to Rose who b****es and moans about his shot attempts), and the Mavs upgrade at PF and get younger at SG so they can be contending for years to come. I just love this trade. I really hope it happens.
I am hoping Dallas makes moves. I think the reports, if true, imply they will tinker themselves from their unique hold on winning.
I am with you on this JV. This trade does not seem to make much sense for either side, although if anyone has the adantage, it would be Dallas. That is alot of Chicago to give up for a starting SG in his 30s.
I think Fizer is shortish for a PF (he's listed at 6-8, but I think coming out of college he was closer to 6-6 1/2 or so), and if you want to play him, you got to put Dirk at C, then you have a smallish front line that will still get shoved around by Duncan, Malik Rose, Shaq, etc.. Don't get me wrong, fizer is decent for what he is but he is not the cliched F/C "banger" type everybody says that they need. He's also coming off a torn ACL, which everybody says takes about 2 years to recover from fully. Marshall is a decent small forward, but blah.
No he's not. By default, Dirk will get a decent # of rebounds because Dal plays a fast-paced game, which means more shots, which mean more rebounds. "Dumbass."
no it isn't. SG is. They have a 30yr old Finley and Van Exel (who had an incredible playoff). They definitely should look to trade Finley for a big PF if they can. While Nowitzki can score against anyone, Dallas is constantly exposed for their inside defense. Nowitzki could use some help. If you can't admit that, then you are in denial that Dallas has no shot at making it through the West without fixing that weakness. They had a terrible record all season against the best in the West, lost 3 games in a row against Portland (who was injured), and they looked to be headed for a trashing by Sacramento before Webber went down.
makes sense HeyP, Dirk should be SF, especially with his ordinary D, he needs 2 good defenders with him at the 4&5 when he is playing. Fizer, Marshall, Diggler, Raef, Bradley plus another PF/C FA type like Brown, Mourning etc would really give them a great shot at the West. wonder how this fits in the Kidd for Nash talk.
Marshall is a better then average rebounder, and an all-around skilled player who can swing between SF and PF. Fizer is a bruiser who was starting to really blossom in his third year when he was injured, but he's rehabbing and supposed to be ready for training camp. Both of these players would provide a better inside presence than any Dallas player other then Dirk. Najera, Bradley, Raef? IMO Marshall and Fizer would help the Mavericks more. Then you add the #7 pick, which can be used on Pietrus, or maybe Dallas wants to go after Kaman or Lampe. I can see the justification for Dallas. And Chicago would have a nice lineup as well a bench(if they signed Juwan Howard) - PG - Crawford SG - Rose SF - Finley PF - Chandler CT - Curry Bench - Howard, Hassell, Free Agent PG
