Did the Bulls make a mistake in not trading for Carmelo Anthony back in 2011?

[JordansBulls]

Now in hindsight, did the Bulls make a mistake in not trading for Carmelo Anthony back in 2011?

At the time many felt it was just not worth it for the Bulls to trade both Luol Deng and Joakim Noah for Carmelo Anthony.

But that is for people who were just looking at the short term picture which was a year or two. Now it is quite obvious that had the Bulls done that deal and kept someone like Asik around who is playing well in Houston that when Rose did come back the Bulls would be a legit contender once again.

Had the Bulls traded Noah/Deng for Melo and kept Asik the lineup would be this with no Rose.

PG Hinrich
SG Rip
SF Melo
PF Boozer
C Asik


That would certainly be a top 3-4 seed in the East.


And with Rose back

Rose
Rip
Melo
Boozer/Taj
Asik


And that is certainly a championship team right there.


So I ask you the audience, did the Bulls make a mistake in not trading for Carmelo Anthony?

[nickdymez]

They would easily be the best team in the east with melo there. I dont think there is a team that could match up with them in the 4th with a healthy rose and melo. The defense would take a hit of course with no Deng, but Thibs is a great defensive mind and i believe he could have made it work.

[Go_NUGGETS]

I don't think it was a mistake, because I don't think the nuggets would've accepted that deal in the first place over the other potential ones that we had besides NY.

[Chronz]

Im not sure how Boozer and Melo would mesh tho. Both Rip and Booz thrive off movement, Melo would inhibit ball movement if hes playing the 3 or he will inhibit their post touches if hes playing the 4. How would their defense fare if you subtract 2 great defenders for 1 mediocre one?

I would do the deal knowing that Rose is gone and will possibly never return to MVP form.

[Becks2307]

The way Melo has been playing D this season and Thibs' coaching style, Any defensive drop off would not have been stark. That team would be scary.

[Chronz]

I don't think it was a mistake, because I don't think the nuggets would've accepted that deal in the first place over the other potential ones that we had besides NY.

Im pretty sure the Nuggets were hoping for that trade.

[mightybosstone]

They would easily be the best team in the east with melo there. I dont think there is a team that could match up with them in the 4th with a healthy rose and melo. The defense would take a hit of course with no Deng, but Thibs is a great defensive mind and i believe he could have made it work.

Wait a second... How is that team better than the Heat?

[JiffyMix88]

sure lets have a team of everyone who doesnt play d

[mightybosstone]

I do think the Bulls probably regret not dealing for Anthony in hindsight, but a lot of that is due to Rose's injury woes over the last year and Asik's surprising development as a starter. That being said, even if you swapped Deng and Noah for Melo and Asik and had a healthy Rose on that roster, I still don't see them beating the Heat in a seven game series.

[Chronz]

The way Melo has been playing D this season and Thibs' coaching style, Any defensive drop off would not have been stark. That team would be scary.

You would be better off arguing replacing Noah with Asik would improve the defense than arguing the difference from going to those 2 to just Melo isnt that stark. His defense has improved but your talking about a guy who was a defensive slug, any improvement would look big in comparison to himself, in comparison to Deng however, its a stark difference IMO.

Would Melo even be allowed to play the 4 in Chicago?

[Go_NUGGETS]

Im pretty sure the Nuggets were hoping for that trade.

Not from what I remember.

[JordansBulls]

I do think the Bulls probably regret not dealing for Anthony in hindsight, but a lot of that is due to Rose's injury woes over the last year and Asik's surprising development as a starter. That being said, even if you swapped Deng and Noah for Melo and Asik and had a healthy Rose on that roster, I still don't see them beating the Heat in a seven game series.

They may not beat them or be favorites to beat them as only 1 team can win it all, but they certainly would be in a better position to do so. They would not have to depend solely on Rose to create for the entire team and they also would have someone else in crunch time to go to. For instance in a tight game who do you put Lebron on Rose or Melo? If you put him on Rose, then that leaves Melo and we saw what Melo did to Battier. If you put Lebron on Melo, then who guards Rose? Wade or Battier does a decent job on him but Rose can still go at them at will.

[ManningToTyree]

If that was the deal then yes. However, I find it hard to believe the nuggets wouldn't have countered asking for more like they did several times with the knicks.

[mightybosstone]

They may not beat them or be favorites to beat them as only 1 team can win it all, but they certainly would be in a better position to do so. They would not have to depend solely on Rose to create for the entire team and they also would have someone else in crunch time to go to. For instance in a tight game who do you put Lebron on Rose or Melo? If you put him on Rose, then that leaves Melo and we saw what Melo did to Battier. If you put Lebron on Melo, then who guards Rose? Wade or Battier does a decent job on him but Rose can still go at them at will.

I agree completely that it would be a better basketball team offensively. They would take a hit on defense, but if they had gotten Melo, they probably could have amnestied Boozer earlier and started Gibson at PF, immediately improving the starting five's defense and potentially creating cap room for a SG or a nice bench piece.

However, I do think that team would struggled in terms of outside shooting as Rose and Melo are both below average perimeter shooters.

[BcEuAbRsS]

I wish they would of done that deal regardless of hindsight.