Chicago Bulls looking at Nick Young in the free agency – NBA Update
The Chicago Bulls are interested in Washington Wizards star Nick Young and have reportedly made preliminary contact with his agent.
Young plays shooting guard, a position considered to be weak in the Bulls team.
Powerful Chicago based agent Mark Bartelstein commented on the move saying that it wasn’t likely the Wizards would let Nick go, but anything could happen once the free agency starts.
"He's got a great situation in Washington," said Bartelstein, in an interview published by ESPN. "They've been great to him. It's not a spot where he's looking to leave Washington, but part of free agency is you have to look around.”
Young is indeed a very handy player for the Wizards. With Rashard Lewis proving to be a huge flop and young John Wall still not the finished product; Nick has been a cornerstone for the Wizards. He is a shooting guard with good
range and can create scoring opportunities for himself, something reflected in his average of 17.4 points a game last season.
That though, is also precisely the reason Chicago want him. The Bulls had a terrific year in 2010-2011. Derrick Rose established himself as an elite player, winning the NBA Most Valuable Player award while he led the side to a
62 win season. The mercurial point guard though looked desperately short of support in the Eastern Conference Finals when Chicago were beaten by the Miami Heat.
They would like for Young to be that support to Rose next season, and Nick would also get a superb shoot at truly competing for honours, something unlikely to happen at Washington in the near term at least.
"The Bulls are a terrific team with a need at two-guard. With that being said, I don't want to give the impression he's plotting ways to leave Washington." Bartelstein concluded.
Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t want to comment on the player at the moment, he likes to keep his cards pretty close to the chest. But the Coach of the Year did hint that Nick had the attributes Chicago were looking for.
"You're always looking for guys that can create shots and break defences down, particularly in the playoffs. And hopefully that's something that everybody improves upon."
Young though is only a restricted free agent next term. That means whatever Chicago offer him, the Wizards can keep him by matching it. The Bulls only have limited salary cap space after throwing bags of cash at Carlos Boozer last
summer, so they couldn’t be expected to offer Young an extravagant contract.
On the other hand, the Wizards are likely to want to keep the player and grow his partnership with John Wall. They are likely to waive the horrendous Rashard Lewis contract, so they shouldn’t have any problems matching the contract
Chicago put on the table.
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