Bulls Scouting Former Portland Trail Blazer Brandon Roy
By Tim Bearden in News on Jun 30, 2012 6:00PM
Earning nearly the last pick in the draft puts you in a tough off-season position, which is why a Luol Deng trade rumor has sparked recently. The Bulls need another scorer on the court with Derrick Rose out until at least midway through the season, which is why former Portland Trailblazer Brandon Roy is on the Bulls' radar. A healthy Roy could mean extra points scored for Chicago, but is the risk really worth the reward?
Despite multiple injuries this season—Luol Deng playing through torn ligaments in his left wrist, Derrick Rose being in and out all season before tearing his ACL, Rip Hamilton barely playing half the season, and Joakim Noah going out in the playoffs—the Bulls managed to make a serious run to the playoffs. That deserves notice of hard work and achievement, even though they bowed out of the NBA Finals race early. The Bulls had one of the best records in the NBA and went into the playoffs as favorites, which is no small feat for a team that was shorthanded a majority of the season.
It deserves notice for another reason too. Injuries can be costly at the wrong time, and that's a risk VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman may not be willing to take just yet.
Roy was practically forced into NBA retirement by his former team due to chronic knee injures. His contract would come with two high prices. His salary and his propensity for injury.
The Bulls are already speculating about dropping Kyle Korver due to his $5 million option and with Noah's and Boozer's albatross contracts it's hard to believe the Bulls are considering picking up a high-price veteran with, as Sun-Times' Neil Hayes puts it, "creaky knees."
In his prime Roy averaged 20 points and five assists a game over four seasons, which is admittedly very appealing to a team that's missing one of their leading scorers. But with his knees and a full season missed would he be the right pick-up for Chicago?
The short answer is "No."
The Bulls should absolutely be looking to pick up scorers to assist the team, but Roy is an unlikely pick-up with an injury asterisks on his stat sheet.