Toronto Raptors center Bismack Biyombo blocks Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Chicago Bulls are at the threshold of a pivotal offseason with so many roster questions surrounding them.
With the likely departure of their two veteran centers Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah, the Bulls need to shore up their frontline with younger talent who can keep up with "Hoiball."
While the Bulls is a team that has been rumored to be in on the Kevin Durant pursuit, the front office should also be willing to pursue realistic targets since they have some serious holes to fill like the big one at the middle.
Chicago will still have sophomore Bobby Portis and grizzled veteran Taj Gibson but they need an aggressive, athletic rim protector. According to Kelly Scaletta in his Bleacher Report piece, that could be Bismack Biyombo who was the breakthrough player in the Eastern Conference Finals.
As Scaletta assessed, "his athleticism, lateral quickness and defense all fit well with head coach Fred Hoiberg's style of play. The Bulls were lost last season without a center who could get up and down the court or who could cover the high pick-and-roll. Biyombo is more than capable."
He would fit well as the starter alongside Nikola Mirotic and would cover for the team's deficiencies at the defensive end. The only caveat is that Biyombo is not a good offensive player, as Scaletta says "can't shoot worth a lick." The key for the Bulls is to add him to rosters that have great offense but poor defense and the current Chicago roster could cater to that.
The spike in the salary cap and the sheer number of buyers could drive up the price of Biyombo, but the $15 million for a young defensive big is still reasonable.
To contrast, $15 million will not cover the price tag for Dwight Howard and it's just right since Chicago would be better off not signing him as their starting center as Allana Tachauer of Hoops Habit declared.
"Bulls fans have been seemingly trying to get him on their team for years now, it still remains a terrible idea-beyond just the fact that Howard would probably cost a pretty penny," Tachauer wrote.
She noted that Howard's production of 13.7 points and 11.8 rebounds is far from what he delivered when he was still a coveted player. But more importantly, the Bulls front office appears does not appear capable of handling players who "ruffle feathers within the organization." Howard definitely fits that description.
If the Bulls will spend major dollars for a starting center, it should be on a promising young player.
