Stage 1: Bring back Stephen Jackson.
Specifically, for Ronnie Brewer, Keith Bogans, and the #28 pick.
The cost of trading for
Stephen Jackson must be weighted against two things - the abilities of Stephen Jackson himself, and the cost of the alternatives. There is no point paying out the arse for Stephen Jackson in a trade, when signing one of the aforementioned players - arbitrarily, let's say Arron Afflalo - would cost you no assets in trade and would also not cost as much salary. The player obtained in the latter scenario would not be as good, but they may be only slightly worse than Jackson. Is it better to have Affalo, Brewer and the 28, or just Jackson? Indeed. Or maybe a rebuilding Jazz team would happily gift an aging
Raja Bell. A combination of any number of hypotheticals could return similar for less. And thus not much in the way of basketball assets can be traded.
The hypothetical attraction for Charlotte lies in the salary savings. Everything previously stated about the reduced ability to spend is just as true of Charlotte as it is of anyone. Stephen Jackson is not a bad contract, but he is a big one, and twice in recent months has that been sufficient reason for them to trade a starter. In exchange for
Tyson Chandler, they got nothing but luxury tax relief; in exchange for Gerald Wallace, they got salary relief, a backup small forward, and two not particularly good first round picks.
You could argue that, having already done this twice, they don't need to do it a third time. But I would counter that by highlighting the fact that
this team sold for the equivalent of $25 million as recently as last year, and then recorded the perfectly useless figure of 34 wins the season after. If you're going to lose, therefore, lose cheaply and properly.
[...] As for Jackson himself, he fits rather snugly into what the Bulls do. Jackson is a good, big, interested and versatile defender, a description guaranteed to wet Tom Thibodeau's palate.
24 He can handle and pass to above average standards for a wing player, which the Bulls could certainly use, even if he should do slightly less of the former. And he's a good-enough shooter; at the very least, he's as good as Keith Bogans, albeit with slightly less judicious selection.
The Bulls need a wing player who defends his position well, can handle the ball, make shots, and double as a secondary playmaker. They also need a wingman who, if called upon, can consistently take and make his own shot in a halfcourt set, particularly in clutch situations. Since precisely four players alive fit that mold, they'll have to settle for the flawed but helpful Jackson. Jackson's history of randomly beating up fans and randomly firing guns into the air outside of strip clubs is certainly a sticking point - the Bulls don't often like to get their hands dirty, which is why they won't touch
Delonte West, despite how neatly of a fit he is into their current guise. However, seemingly every player or coach to have ever worked with Jackson has loved him, for his passion, spirit, and his out-and-out desire. The reprehensibly douchey things that he did can be overlooked if every other box is ticked. The Bulls prioritise "jib," but that doesn't mean they are criminal-free.
[Stephen Jackson was a Bull once before, for a week. True story. He signed for 1998/99 training camp - which was actually held in January 1999 - but broke his foot and was released. Here we are, twelve years on, and the man has become a good quality, healthy, NBA player. And it only took two trips to the Dominican Republic to do it.]
