NEWS
Bulls finally sign top pick Teague
By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune reporter10:08 p.m. CDT, August 7, 2012
In a move the Bulls will announce soon, first-round pick Marquis Teague has signed his rookie contract and will travel from his hometown of Indianapolis to Chicago to begin workouts. "It feels good to finally get it out of the way," Teague said in a phone interview. "I just want to get in the gym and start working out." Teague was the last first-round pick to sign his deal, typically a formality formalities because of slotted contracts depending on draft selection. However, it's standard practice in the NBA for first-round picks to receive 120 percent of the slotted amount. When the Bulls signed Kirk Hinrich to a portion of the midlevel exception and Marco Belinelli to the biannual exception, they put themselves in a hard-cap situation of $74.307 million. Thus, negotiations with Teague, the 29th overall pick, focused on a first-year salary of less than 120 percent, sources said. Teague ultimately signed a deal for 100 percent of his slotted salary in the first year, or $857,000, sources said. The following three years are at the 120 percent slotted salary. The Bulls now have 13 players under contract. However, with just $758,550 under the hard-cap figure, they do not have enough money to sign a player to the veteran's minimum of $854,389. As currently constructed, they could only add a player on a rookie minimum or 10-day contract. The new collective bargaining agreement saddled the Bulls with more than originally budgeted for Derrick Rose's maximum contract extension. The so-called "Derrick Rose rule," earned by players who outperform their rookie contracts, forced his first-year salary to be roughly $3 million more than budgeted under the old CBA and $900,000 more when maximum contract figures came in for the new CBA. Teague became a victim of this, as well as management's signings of Hinrich and Belinelli. Teague didn't want to go to Europe and, after a disappointing showing at the Las Vegas Summer League, wanted to resume workouts at the Berto Center. Thus, he didn't haggle over the $171,400 difference in the first-year salary. Teague also had spent the two weeks after the draft and before summer league working out at the Berto Center without a contract. "There were times when the process was frustrating, and that's why I didn't want to drag out the process," Teague said. "I played OK at summer league; I could've played better at summer league. That's why I want to work and do whatever coach (Tom Thibodeau) wants me to do." Copyright © 2012, Chicago Tribune Rose's absence felt at UC practice
By Nick Friedell | ESPNChicago.com
CHICAGO -- Carlos Boozer said what everyone was thinking Monday afternoon as players and media walked around the United Center floor for the first time in early May. Things felt much different without Derrick Rose in attendance. "It's weird," Boozer said after Monday's practice. "It's a weird vibe. He comes in every day, though. He comes in every day. He's attacking his rehab like a monster trying to get back and then he comes out and supports us when we're scrimmaging, when we work hard. He's out there watching us, shooting hoops a little bit. It's good to see him in the gym, but it's a big difference not having him on the floor with us, you know?" The Bulls got a glimpse of what the foreseeable future would be like Monday as they practiced on the United Center floor, instead of the Berto Center, in advance of an event with season ticket holders later in the day. Unlike most practice session at the Berto Center, Rose was not in attendance. It was a fact that was hard not to notice for all in attendance. "It's crazy," Bulls forward Taj Gibson admitted. "Because usually just hearing him say small things like, 'Let's push. Championship.' Small things just to encourage you every day. So not having him is a big effect but we understand that he's pushing through, his recovery is doing great, we see him every day going hard. Right when we are practicing, he's on the sideline going hard with us, doing his rehab. So the whole team is pulling for him and we know he'll be back soon." The Bulls' new life WR (Without Rose) starts fresh on Tuesday night in the preseason opener against the Memphis Grizzlies. Taj is the leader: Heading into just his fourth season in the league, Taj Gibson is still learning new things, especially as it pertains to playing the center position. But as the most tenured remaining member of the popular Bulls' Bench Mob, Gibson knows his actions and words are being taken more seriously than ever by his teammates. "It's crazy because they're actually listening to me," Gibson said with a laugh. "Especially on D. I'm real vocal now being that I play the five and four. I'm real vocal, guys are really listening to me and helping me out and it's been great." Gibson acknowledged that he feels as a veteran on a team with so much turnover he feels a responsibility to help his new teammates. "Yeah, because this is the fourth year I've been here," Gibson said. "I've been around, I know the scheme of things, so it's my job to make sure I help the guys out and learn the best way possible because it's going to be a long season. We're going to need everyone on this team to step up and I'm just doing my job helping guys in whatever they need to be helped with." As a newly minted vocal leader, Gibson has might have given coach Tom Thibodeau one of his most impressive testimonials to date. "Everybody has been listening to me from day one," Gibson said. "But the way I'm growing as a player, just calling out plays and seeing defensive sets, and seeing offensive sets and seeing how they're coming at me so fast nowadays and how quick and responsive I am to it is great. It's showing that basically everything Thibs has been teaching me has been working." The last word: Veteran center Nazr Mohammed when asked if the Bulls are a potential playoff team: "Oh definitely. It's funny because as a guy on the outside looking (in) last year I was a guy who looked at the team and was surprised how many games they won without Derrick. Now that I'm here, I see why. You got to give a lot of credit to the coaching staff, you got to give a lot of credit to the guys, the guys are just focused, the coaching staff is focused and precise and we know what we're going to do. It's a great team atmosphere so things like that breeds winning." Bulls veteran Hamilton poised for bounce-back season
By Aggrey Sam
If Rip Hamilton has heard the whispers around town -- that he's past his prime, too old and injury-prone to be effective, that he he isn't the long-coveted answer at shooting guard for the Bulls -- one wouldn't know it by his demeanor. In fact, the 34-year-old, now entering his 14th NBA campaign, views last season, in which he was nicked up with a variety of injuries and only played in 28 regular-season games and averaged 11.6 points per game, his lowest total since he was a rookie, as an aberration. "It's night and day," he said after a training-camp practice at the Berto Center. "I feel good, just happy everything’s regular and knowing when camp’s going to start and knowing you’re going to play 82 games. "I couldn’t get on the floor. Then, when I did get on the floor, Derrick [Rose] went out. It was crazy. I said it from the beginning of the year, with all those games in a short amount of time…I’m just happy that it’s a regular season again," continued Hamilton. "Last year I didn’t even get to play in training camp, so everything was learned on the fly with no practices. So it’s fun for me now because I get an opportunity to really learn Thibs, learn the system, learn everything. "Offensively, I’ve always been a player to study the offense and knowing where to get shots, knowing where things are open. Last year it was on the fly, like, ‘How do I use Carlos Boozer to my advantage? How do I use Joakim Noah to my advantage?’ and then when I did come back, I got hurt, so I’m happy now, just to get a training camp, just to be able to get an opportunity to play from the start." Hamilton has a reputation for being one of the league's most well-conditioned players and coupled with a prideful streak that helped the Pistons win a 2004 title, dominate the Eastern Conference for years and saw him selected to three All-Star games, the Pennsylvania native has been impressive during the Bulls' first week of training camp. Rookie point guard Marquis Teague, who was just 6 years old when Hamilton won an NCAA championship at the University of Connecticut, observed: “It seems like Rip Hamilton hits every shot he shoots.” Whether or not an impressionable teenager's opinion is valid or not, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau is optimistic that Hamilton will bounce back in a strong fashion this season. "Just looking at last season, there was such an extended layoff for everybody and then when he came in, there was a shortened camp and he missed most of the camp," said Thibodeau, who noted that Hamilton and power forward Carlos Boozer, likely two offensive focal points in Rose's absence, have good chemistry together. "He got nicked up pretty good and I think he’s had a chance this summer to condition, to rehab — he said his body’s feeling good — and this should be a normal training camp for him, where he has a month to prepare, get himself ready and you’re going to have the proper amount of days between games. You get to practice, get to rest and I’m encouraged by how he looks. He says he feels a lot better than he did a year ago. "The issue with Rip has never been when he played. The issue with Rip has been missing the games. Rip’s a terrific player because it’s not only his scoring, it’s his ability to make plays. Often times, off our catch-and-shoot plays, we’re getting paint catches because of the commitment that teams have to make to him and he’s such an unselfish player. When two players are on him, he’s going to hit the open man and the ball moves freely. Open shots, he shoots and guarded, he makes the play." While there's been some speculation that the Bulls could deal Hamilton prior to the February trade deadline in order to get under the luxury tax -- shedding his $5-million salary would enable the organization to maintain their history of not paying the penalty -- at least to start the season, Hamilton's scoring ability will be crucial in keeping the Bulls competitive until Rose's eventual return. Looking back at how he thrived in Detroit on a defensive-oriented, offensively-balanced squad without a player with the game-changing breakdown ability of Rose, if he can stay healthy, Hamilton is likely to be among the Bulls' top scoring options, particularly now that he has more of a comfort level in Chicago. "I was comfortable as a basketball player [last season] because the guys made my job easy. You play with Derrick Rose, it makes your job easy. You play with guys like Boozer and Joakim and Luol that know how to play the game, it makes your job easy," said Hamilton. "The injury part, that’s something totally different and you can’t be prepared for it. I tell people I had the luxury of never being hurt like that my whole career until now, so I’m blessed to have that. Certain guys get hurt all during their career." Mentally, Hamilton pushes himself to play with the energy of a much younger player -- he plays a pesky, physical style on defense to compensate for his slender frame and offensively, he seems to be in perpetual motion while constantly running off screens, except for the occasions when he posts up smaller guards -- but in a nod to the aches and pains of a battled-tested veteran, he hired a physical therapist to work with him over the summer, which he spends in his Maryland home. "It was one of those things when you play so long, people tell you, ‘Hey, you need to do certain stuff because you’re getting older,’ I tell myself I still think I’m 27 sometimes. But they say everybody thinks that when they go past their 30s," he explained. "It was just one of those things where you’re trying to get an advantage. I’m always looking for a situation where I can just get the advantage, if it’s anything." |
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