# Finley:"it would be nice" - finishing career in Chicago



## bullet (Jul 1, 2003)

> Finley, 32, is a prime candidate for "amnesty.'' The Mavericks would still pay him $51 million for the next three years, so money shouldn't be a huge issue
> If the Maywood native felt like coming home to a playoff team, the timing would seem to be perfect.
> 
> *"If something were to happen to enable me to come home and finish my career with the Bulls, that would be nice,'' * Finley has said. "I would have loved to have been a teammate of Michael Jordan. But that's always been something beyond my control.''
> ...


http://www.suntimes.com/output/bulls/cst-spt-bull23.html


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## AUNDRE (Jul 11, 2005)

interesting...... heard Phoneix, Denver, Houston and probably a few other teams wanted him too....

i see it hard for them to Re-Sign Chandler/Curry AND Sign Finley tho....


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## bullet (Jul 1, 2003)

siK_sTyLeZz said:


> interesting...... heard Phoneix, Denver, Houston and probably a few other teams wanted him too....
> 
> i see it hard for them to Re-Sign Chandler/Curry AND Sign Finley tho....


I don't think it will necessary cost that much. Suns have a good chance cause of history and being a contender but they have JJ (most likely) , Raja and Jimmy Jackson for him to share minutes with and they used most mle on Bell. Still , I would not be surprised if he signs for as low as the LLE just to be exactly where he wants to be , anyway the big salary would keep coming monthly from Mister Cuban.

Bulls can give him more minutes and it's his hometown. I hope he comes , but low priced and for no longer than 2-3 years.


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## AUNDRE (Jul 11, 2005)

all this of course considering that nobody is stupid enough to trade the Mavs for him and wait until he gets cut.... but i did hear that the Rockets were thinking about trading for him and taking his 3 Year/52 Mil. contract which is stupid but....


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## Kismet (Mar 1, 2003)

Kirk, Ben and Michael split 32mpg on most nights with Duhon stepping in when needed. Finley could also pick up a few minutes at the three freeing up more guard time for last year's trio. And Finley's addition protects against a slow recovery from Deng.

Its a great pickup and if Michael's sincere when he says "If something were to happen to enable me to come home and *finish my career with the Bulls*, that would be nice.''  then the two sides ought to be able to get together.


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## bullet (Jul 1, 2003)

siK_sTyLeZz said:


> all this of course considering that nobody is stupid enough to trade the Mavs for him and wait until he gets cut.... but i did hear that the Rockets were thinking about trading for him and taking his 3 Year/52 Mil. contract which is stupid but....


Yup , the Mavs will try their options , and this has a chance only in 2 senarios:

The Mavs take back an awful deal as well or if Mavs send compensation along with him (Howard , Marquis , Picks...) which is less likely.


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## The ROY (Nov 11, 2004)

G Hinrich / J. Williams
G Finely / Gordon / Basden
F Deng / Nocioni
F Chandler / Harrington
C Curry / Davis

ROY's DREAM line-up...


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## giusd (Apr 17, 2003)

I can think of several reasons will Finley might come to the bulls in addition to he is from Maywood. He would very likely start here and not come off the bench. The east is not as rough and he would be more likely to make the playoffs and go farther in the playoffs. Weaker SG in the east. 

One last thing. I think the cavs will be weak next year. Z is a slow center, they dont have a PF or PG and while i like hughes' game he has an awful shot selection. And no team chemistry.

david


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## The ROY (Nov 11, 2004)

giusd said:


> I can think of several reasons will Finley might come to the bulls in addition to he is from Maywood. He would very likely start here and not come off the bench. The east is not as rough and he would be more likely to make the playoffs and go farther in the playoffs. Weaker SG in the east.
> 
> One last thing. I think the cavs will be weak next year. Z is a slow center, they dont have a PF or PG and while i like hughes' game he has an awful shot selection. And no team chemistry.
> 
> david


um, they got Marko Jaric at the PG...

they have a BIG frontcourt period...


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## nanokooshball (Jan 22, 2005)

Hinrich/Duhon/(Pargo or Jay?)
Gordon/Finley/Basden/Pike
Deng/Nocioni/Griffin
Tyson/AD/Kukoc
Curry/Othella/Reiner

send Pasilic overseas and we're set... Pike, Griffin and reiner on the IL and we have our 12 man rotation....and btw i rEALLY want gordon to start this year.......i hope finely doesn't take that spot


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## Kismet (Mar 1, 2003)

The ROY said:


> um, they got Marko Jaric at the PG...
> 
> they have a BIG frontcourt period...


Jaric's averaged 58 games per season for his three years in the league. He's still got a lot to prove. The Cavs have also made a lot of changes, something Paxson's trying to avoid. Can both philosophies work?


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## Dan Rosenbaum (Jun 3, 2002)

giusd said:


> I can think of several reasons will Finley might come to the bulls in addition to he is from Maywood. He would very likely start here and not come off the bench. The east is not as rough and he would be more likely to make the playoffs and go farther in the playoffs. Weaker SG in the east.
> 
> One last thing. I think the cavs will be weak next year. Z is a slow center, they dont have a PF or PG and while i like hughes' game he has an awful shot selection. And no team chemistry.
> 
> david


Huh? In my opinion, Donyell Marshall and Anderson Varejao are both better PFs than anyone the Bulls have on their roster. And Marko Jaric, Larry Hughes, LeBron James, and Luke Jackson are all very good passers, so finding the open man should not be a problem for the Cavs. Any one of those guys can bring the ball up the court.

It will be interesting to see how Hughes does in the more structured system that I am sure Mike Brown will institute. Washington kind of played a free-for-all game on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor last season. I doubt that is what Brown will institute in Cleveland. At least that does not seem like something a Rick Carlisle/Gregg Popovich disciple would institute.

Luke Jackson did not shoot well this summer, but otherwise he looked pretty good - being in the top five (I think) in assists in Las Vegas. So that gives Cleveland six very good rotation players - Jaric, Hughes, James, Marshall, Varejao, and Ilgauskas - and three solid support players - Snow, Jackson, and Wilcox. Throw in a couple solid minimum salary pick-ups and this is a very solid and very deep Cavalier team that Danny Ferry is putting together.

One last thing. They are going to be a terror on the offensive boards and in the passing lanes.


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## johnston797 (May 29, 2002)

Dan Rosenbaum said:


> Huh? In my opinion, Donyell Marshall and Anderson Varejao are both better PFs than anyone the Bulls have on their roster.


Varejao has played a total of 54 games and 863 minutes. 16 mins/per.

I don't feel comfortable projecting out from those minutes.

Do you really feel like those are enough? Is so, how few minutes would be ok? 400 mins in one year?

I'd easily take Chandler over either of those two guys.


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## The ROY (Nov 11, 2004)

johnston797 said:


> V
> 
> I'd easily take Chandler over either of those two guys.


As would the MAJORITY of GM's in the NBA


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## Dan Rosenbaum (Jun 3, 2002)

johnston797 said:


> Varejao has played a total of 54 games and 863 minutes. 16 mins/per.
> 
> I don't feel comfortable projecting out from those minutes.
> 
> ...


I really consider Chandler more of a center than a power forward, so I probably would take him over Varejao.

But it is interesting. Marvin Williams played just 800 minutes this season at North Carolina, much of it in "garbage time" against inferior competition. But nobody really worries about the small sample size issue with him.

That said, I think we have seen enough of Varejao stats-wise to be pretty confident that he is a very good rebounder who gets lots of steals. His very good plus/minus data, however, is probably a little suspect because of the small sample size.

But for next season, I would have no problem taking Marshall over Chandler. Especially on a team like Cleveland that needs outside shooting.


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## AUNDRE (Jul 11, 2005)

The ROY said:


> um, they got Marko Jaric at the PG...
> 
> they have a BIG frontcourt period...


Source???????

never heard this........


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## The ROY (Nov 11, 2004)

siK_sTyLeZz said:


> Source???????
> 
> never heard this........


the thread is on the front bulls page...

or just go to realgm.com

it's on there

Jaric, Pavolovic & Newble for Gooden & Wilcox (possibly)


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## MikeDC (Jul 16, 2002)

Am I the only guy who's pretty lukewarm about blowing our cap space load on a 32 year old shooting guard who just had ankle surgery?

Doesn't that just sound like a high risk move for a team carefully built of players just entering their prime? 

Doesn't that sound like a high risk move for a team that's already going to have a tough time getting minutes to keep the current young members of its backcourt happy? 

Doesn't that sound like a high risk move for a team to spend $5M out of its cap space next year, said space constituting its last real opportunity to add a very productive asset without giving one up?

I look at all that, and it just doesn't make too much sense to me.


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## cima (Nov 6, 2003)

The ROY said:


> the thread is on the front bulls page...
> 
> or just go to realgm.com
> 
> ...


Don't you mean Jaric and Wilcox for Gooden, Pavolovic, and Newble?


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## yodurk (Sep 4, 2002)

Mikedc said:


> Am I the only guy who's pretty lukewarm about blowing our cap space load on a 32 year old shooting guard who just had ankle surgery?
> 
> Doesn't that just sound like a high risk move for a team carefully built of players just entering their prime?
> 
> ...


No, you're not the only one. I'm not very keen on Finley, and haven't been for a good 2-3 seasons. He was once an iron man, but he just hasn't looked like the same player since the injuries began to catch up with him. Plus the Sun Times mentions that he's coming off ankle surgery as we speak. PLUS he's not, nor ever has been, a great defender. In his prime, he was average to slightly above average IMO...and now that he's lost some quickness, he's become even below average. And some here are speaking like we could rely on him for 32+ minutes per game.


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## bullsville (Jan 23, 2005)

There is no way I would spend anything over the veteran's minimum on Finley. Period.

As for his defense- last season Tyson, Hinrich and Nocioni all received more votes for the All-Defensive team than Finley has received in the last 3 seasons combined. That obviously doesn't prove anything, but it says something about his reputation anyway.


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## spongyfungy (Oct 22, 2003)

Finley played hurt all year and his rebounding numbers suffered. I am positive, if healthy, he'll have a fantastic year. Unlike Allan Houston, he's not finished.


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## Chicago N VA (Oct 31, 2003)

spongyfungy said:


> Finley played hurt all year and his rebounding numbers suffered. I am positive, if healthy, he'll have a fantastic year. Unlike Allan Houston, he's not finished.


Totally agree.

I believe Fin still has game!


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## cpawfan (Jun 20, 2004)

Fin needs to go to Denver. Of all the teams interested in him, they are a perfect fit and could benefit the most from signing him.


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## DaBullz (Jul 15, 2002)

Mikedc said:


> Am I the only guy who's pretty lukewarm about blowing our cap space load on a 32 year old shooting guard who just had ankle surgery?
> 
> Doesn't that just sound like a high risk move for a team carefully built of players just entering their prime?
> 
> ...


Sign me up for the lukewarm club.


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## BullsFan4Ever (Oct 8, 2004)

In addition to what Giusd had to say Finley was playing with guys averaging 23.7 (Nowitzki), 17.5 (Terry), 16.1 (Stackhouse), 15.5 (Howard) to his 13.1. That is a lot of shots that he did not get to take. No Bull averaged more than 16.1 (Curry) so I would look for him to be a much bigger part of a Bulls offense than he was with Dallas (not that he was any kind of slouch there ) the man has had a pretty great run but in Chi-Town I believe he could take over the roll of Bulls leading scorer and revive a career that had him averaging 19.0 for the past 10 seasons. Plus I do believe he would be a great mentor and leader on a team full of Puppys. Lets get this done Pax, lets get-r-done.


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## TomBoerwinkle#1 (Jul 31, 2002)

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sportsstory.asp?id=76645

Waiting for amnesty: One of the most publicized features of the NBA’s new collective-bargaining agreement is the so-called “amnesty clause,” which allows teams to release a player and be freed from paying the luxury tax on that player’s salary.

A released player will continue to be paid by his former team but would be free to sign anywhere else in the league. Bulls general manager John Paxson believes teams will have until Oct. 1 to take advantage of the amnesty clause.

That means the Bulls will have to weigh signing a veteran free agent already on the market against saving their money to see if Dallas’ Michael Finley, Boston’s Raef LaFrentz and Indiana’s Austin Croshere are released before Oct. 1. The Bulls would most likely have interest in any of the three.


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## Shady* (Jul 3, 2005)

I thought this whole teams success was about rookies and young guns......

But I guess it would be nice to have a veteran that can't hit double digit points...


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## TomBoerwinkle#1 (Jul 31, 2002)

bullsville said:


> There is no way I would spend anything over the veteran's minimum on Finley. Period.
> 
> As for his defense- last season Tyson, Hinrich and Nocioni all received more votes for the All-Defensive team than Finley has received in the last 3 seasons combined. That obviously doesn't prove anything, but it says something about his reputation anyway.


I have always thought of Finley as a quality guy. I'd welcome him on board, if he was willing to accept a role player role, given the state of his health, and would take the LLE slot that Du turned down.


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## Showtyme (Jun 24, 2002)

cpawfan said:


> Fin needs to go to Denver. Of all the teams interested in him, they are a perfect fit and could benefit the most from signing him.


I have to agree with this. Finley could really help out Denver.

But if he came to the Bulls for even just less than $3 mil a year, I'd not be too upset. It wouldn't ruin our magical plans for cap space in 2006, and he'd be a good offensive contributor.

We talk about having good defenders, and yes, I think Gordon needs to really step up his defense (although he showed some real improvement over last season). Basden will help out in this as well.

But remember. Our problem last year often was scoring. We could really use another 14 ppg guy to come in and shoot the ball well. Finley's a smart player who is a very decent passer and knows how to create his own shot. He's not quite the fast-break athlete that he was when he was an All-Star, but he's still good in the half-court offense.

But yeah, Denver could fall in love with this guy.


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## DaBullz (Jul 15, 2002)

Finley's reputation is that he's a streaky shooter/scorer. If you think he's going to be instant offense off the bench, he's not going to be consistent at it. We'd have to play him a lot of minutes and wait for him to get into his zone to put up his points.

When he's on, he looks as good as one can get. If he were on all the time, he'd be pushing AI for the scoring title every season.


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## ace20004u (Jun 19, 2002)

DaBullz said:


> Finley's reputation is that he's a streaky shooter/scorer. If you think he's going to be instant offense off the bench, he's not going to be consistent at it. We'd have to play him a lot of minutes and wait for him to get into his zone to put up his points.
> 
> When he's on, he looks as good as one can get. If he were on all the time, he'd be pushing AI for the scoring title every season.


He avereaged what about 41% from 3pt land? Thats not too shabby. I have never thought of Finley as "streaky". Finley would be a great addittion to the Bulls. He WILL be paid the MLE by whomever he signs with (at least)and he is clearly worth it. He would be a starter for the Bulls and immediately one of the teams best players. If we could get him for the MLE for a 2-3 year deal we would be foolish not too. His injuries are relatively minor and he hasn't missed much time in his career due to injury.

Of course, since Duhon will likely eat into the MLE all of this talk is probably moot.


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## spongyfungy (Oct 22, 2003)

He is a streaky shooter but does get hot every now and then. I had Finley in my fantasy in '03 and he would go 3-15 often and it would drive me nuts. He's been living outside the 3pt line in Dallas (averaging more than 1.5 attempts 3pters the last few years compared to 2002 and earlier) even though he's such a good slasher. I would love to see Finley drive to the basket and get that FG% up. That .476% his rookie year looks pretty good compared to that .427 he put up last year. But I doubt that happens if he comes over here since most of our guards jack up threes anyways.


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## Kismet (Mar 1, 2003)

cpawfan said:


> Fin needs to go to Denver. Of all the teams interested in him, they are a perfect fit and could benefit the most from signing him.


I think at this point in his career Finley migh be more interesed in what teams can offer him than what he can offer them. In other words, pick a team that's close to the Finals. With him in the lineup, for example, are the Bulls closer to the Finals than Denver? How about Phoenix? Would he play as big a role with Phoenix as he would with Chicago? Does he even want to be reunited with Nash?

Who he ultimately hooks up with is more complicated than it may look on the surface. And while money's always a consideration, for Michael Finley it may no longer be near the top of his list.


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## johnston797 (May 29, 2002)

Kismet said:


> Who he ultimately hooks up with is more complicated than it may look on the surface. And while money's always a consideration, for Michael Finley it may no longer be near the top of his list.


Agreed. Especially since he will be getting $51M by the Mavs over the next 3 years. 

With some pro contracts\situations, the money you get from the second team would NOT increase the money to the player. It only decreases the amount the first team pays. If this is how it works, then Finely might prefer playing for the minimum and sticking it to Cuban.


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## Darius Miles Davis (Aug 2, 2002)

johnston797 said:


> Agreed. Especially since he will be getting $51M by the Mavs over the next 3 years.
> 
> With some pro contracts\situations, the money you get from the second team would NOT increase the money to the player. It only decreases the amount the first team pays. If this is how it works, then Finely might prefer playing for the minimum and sticking it to Cuban.


There's been a lot of rumors of Fin to other places. There's been very little talk of Fin to Chicago in the national news. As of right now, I get the feeling that we're not really a player for his services. Phoenix may be an ideal destination if the Suns do in fact end up losing Joe Johnson to Atlanta.


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## johnston797 (May 29, 2002)

Darius Miles Davis said:


> There's been a lot of rumors of Fin to other places. There's been very little talk of Fin to Chicago in the national news. As of right now, I get the feeling that we're not really a player for his services. Phoenix may be an ideal destination if the Suns do in fact end up losing Joe Johnson to Atlanta.


It's all speculations b/c it's tampering if a GM were to publically comment on Finely. So I would not pay a lot of attention to rumors in this matter.


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## KwaZulu (Jul 7, 2003)

I tend to agree that there is little likelyhood of Fin coming here. For him to come here, the Suns would need to match for Johndon. If they don't, Fin going there is a natural match. Even if the Suns do match Fin may be tempted to go to a strong contender for a shot at a ring. If he comes to the Bulls I will be very pleasantly surprized. But I won't be holding my breath about it.


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## kukoc4ever (Nov 20, 2002)

Why would he come here and what would we do with him?

If Du returns, we have a 1. Hinrich at the 2. Gordon off the bench (which is already a logjam). Deng and Noc at the 3.

Its nice playing at home but Finley is not going to want the 4th guard role on this team. I don't think Paxson is ready to give up on Gordon and give him that role.

And... if he only comes here if Du leaves... then we need a 1 more than we need a shooting guard IMO.

I like Finley... its just that we're all stocked up with Paxson-hand-picked smallish young guards that will demand PT.


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## bulls (Jan 1, 2004)

kukoc4ever said:


> Why would he come here and what would we do with him?
> 
> If Du returns, we have a 1. Hinrich at the 2. Gordon off the bench (which is already a logjam). Deng and Noc at the 3.
> 
> ...


why does DH have to start?i dont know why everyone is so high on him i mean he got all the mins he could handle and only came up with 5ppg and like 4 apg to me thats not someone that you give a 2-4 mill contract to and its not someone that you pass fin over for..

it was the same way with JC,no matter how badly the boy played he was still the next MJ in manys eyes and im getting the same vibe from the DH lovers here.

im happie that we have DH here,but to pass up fin or to even say that DH starts over fin is way over the top and is getting close to what i like to call NUTHUGING.bringin fin in would give us that big SG that we need,would allow Gordon more time to devlep,would allow us to move KH back to PG where he should be,i could go on and on about the good things that having fin here would bring but i wont ill just leave with this,the only reason DH started was because gordon wasnt ready to start at either pos,the min gordon is ready DH will become a backup so lets plz keep this in mind when we talk about how good DH really is..


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## bullet (Jul 1, 2003)

> The Bulls then would hope that since Finley will be getting paid by Dallas, the Melrose Park native and former Proviso East star would be eager to play for his hometown team for about $2 million. That figures to be what the Bulls will have remaining from their mid-level exception after signing Chris Duhon.
> 
> *''Chicago certainly would be one of the teams he'd consider because it's his home* ,'' said Thomas, who in past years downplayed annual trade scenarios featuring Finley coming to the Bulls. ''As for him actually ending up playing for the Bulls, anything is possible.
> 
> *''But his first desire would be to get with a team that would help him win a championship ring* . He's never won one, never even played in the Finals. And everybody knows that he can help any team in this league. He's coming along real well in his rehab [after right ankle surgery]. So he hasn't even started thinking about where else he might play because he hasn't been released yet.''


http://www.suntimes.com/output/bulls/cst-spt-bull26.html


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## Hustle (Dec 17, 2003)

What is the vet. min? Because for an old guy like Finley it can't be too much less than 2 million. I thought we were going to resign Duhon at a bargain but it doesn't look like that will be the case.

With 2 million we are looking at the likes of Gugliotta, Malik Allen, AHenderson, Padgett, KKittles, DWilkens.........

I'm starting to feel like we would have been better off going after Antonio Daniels, he would be a better fit with Hinrich and Gordon. A Finley/Duhon combo would be a lot better than just Daniels but I don't see it happening. More realistically we will get one of the players above for 2M. Anyway it goes down we are going to get a little more improvement than just internally and that makes me very happy.

Worst Case

Chandler/Harrington/Padgett, Henderson, Gugliotta, Kukoc, Pasilic or Allen
Deng/Nocioni/Powell, Kittles or Griffin
Curry/Davis/Reiner
Gordon/Basden/Pike
Hinrich/Duhon/Pargo

The Finley taking 2 Million Scenario

Chandler/Harrington/Kukoc or Pasalic
Deng/Nocioni/Pike
Curry/Davis/Reiner
Finley/Gordon/Basden
Hinrich/Duhon/Pargo or X


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## Ron Cey (Dec 27, 2004)

bullet said:


> http://www.suntimes.com/output/bulls/cst-spt-bull26.html



Read: "There are about 9 teams who can offer Finley just as much $$ and a better shot at a ring so Finley will be polite about his home town but, after much agonizing, will elect to sign elsewhere. He will then say other nice things about Chicago when he visits the United Center for away games."


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## DaBullz (Jul 15, 2002)

johnston797 said:


> It's all speculations b/c it's tampering if a GM were to publically comment on Finely. So I would not pay a lot of attention to rumors in this matter.


In other words, best not to be proactive.


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## ace20004u (Jun 19, 2002)

I don't think Finley will be in Chicago because we will not have the full MLE to offer. I don't THINK that money we offer him would be offset by what Dallas is paying him. I think he would get BOTH salaries. If thats the case, another team will pay him the full MLE and we will eat into ours to pay Duhon. Finley would be a great fit as a Bull though and given our strong record last season, the fact that this is his hometown, and our youth he certainly has some reasons to be interested in the Bulls IF they have the full MLE to offer.


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## spongyfungy (Oct 22, 2003)

Nets unlikely to land Finley
July 26
_ Bergen Record (scroll down) (registration required): "The new provision allows teams to buy out players without taking a luxury-tax hit. Allan Houston, Michael Finley and Brian Grant are expected to be in that group. The Nets would have interest in all three, especially Finley, a league source said. But the Nuggets, Suns, Heat and Spurs likely will line up for his services."

_Where da bulls?


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## bullet (Jul 1, 2003)

Magic also in the mix , possibly via trade???

They might trade for Fin and it is said it would satisfy Cuban...???!!!

Read in Hoopshype rumors (not subscribed to the paper) 

I can only Guess Christie is invoved cause he said he wants to leave and his 8.2 mil contract expires in 1 year.Maybe Battie to make it work. But I think Magic could do better with their expiring contracts , unless Dallas compensates them with a future pick or something else.


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## Fergus (Oct 2, 2002)

An Orlando paper reported that an Orlando Magic official indicated that the Magic has no interest in taking on Finley's contract. 

It sounds as if they are just like the Bulls, hoping for a good deal on Finley if the Mavericks cut him loose.

This is good news for the Bulls. I think they would have an edge in their ability to sign Finley because of the hometown connection. 

Personally, I think Finley is the "best fit" among all of the available players, as long as the price is reasonable. I would take him over "Googs" or "Raef" anyday.


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