Marquis Teague

In 2012-13, Chicago paid the luxury tax for the first time in franchise history. The Bulls did not have to, but they did so because Derrick Rose's injury made the signing of Kirk Hinrich so important that they felt it worthy of paying tax. Furthermore, while they could have gotten out from under the tax at the trade deadline, they chose not to, as it would have meant relinquishing a first-round pick. That is how much they valued the first-round pick. (On a slight tangent, it makes their subsequent attempts to trade Marquis Teague for a first-rounder look even more ambitious.)

Feeling a need to cut costs, the Bulls recently shopped little-used third-string point guard Marquis Teague around the league, asking for a first-round pick in return, according to ESPN's Marc Stein. Despite being a competitive team in a big market, the Bulls are $7.5 million over the luxury tax and therefore due to be paying the $1.75-$1 rate, so they wanted to save some money while also gaining a basketball asset in the process. In the process, they deemed the player they so rarely use (and whom they want to trade before he even turns 21) to be worth asking for a first-round pick.

Three months ago, in a similar situation, the Grizzlies succeeded in trading fellow 2012 first-round pick Tony Wroten in exchange for only a 2014 second-round pick. In fact, they will only receive that second-round pick if it is between Nos. 51 and 55. Considering the pick they traded for is from Philadelphia, which will not draft that low, Memphis will never receive that pick. They therefore traded Wroten for nothing, gaining only financial savings.

When viewed together, these two players demonstrate where the market lies for first-round picks these days. In light of the Grizzlies being unable to return a single basketball asset (other than a Traded Player Exception, which the same financial constraints that necessitated they deal him will likely prevent them using) for the older, but highly comparable Wroten, Chicago's attempts to land a first-round pick for a player to have proven nothing so far look highly ambitious.

There are stories of a disconnect between the Chicago Bulls's front office and the head coach Tom Thibodeau. Despite both of them being very good at their respective jobs, and having built a quality product out on the floor, rumors abound that the relationship is very fragmented, a disconnect born from various origins, including the departure of assistant coach Ron Adams and the handling of Joakim Noah's minutes.

However, the parties must still have some line of communication. This week, the edict came down from management that backup guard Marquis Teague was to receive extra playing time, in an unashamed and completely unsubtle 'showcase' event. After receiving barely any time during the first two preseason games, Teague promptly played more than half of the third game, given an opportunity to demonstrate both his improvement and his talent.

It didn't work. Teague, indisputably, was terrible, scoring four points on five shots with one assist against four turnovers in a 25 minute outing against the Pistons.

The game epitomized the struggles of young Teague, whose rookie season was a macrocosm of this one game. Put concisely as possible, Teague looks completely lost out on the floor the vast majority of the time. Never an efficient scorer or good shooter, Teague scored 99 points on 113 shots, and while he defended fairly well, his adjustments to the NBA game led to high foul rates.

More importantly, the aspect of the game in which he most figures to need improvements - the playmaking - is sorely lacking. The Bulls' halfcourt offensive playbook is not that hard for a point guard - it mostly involves entry passes, a lot of waiting for all the curls to be completed, and the occasional drive to the basket. However, Teague can't seem to do it. He has similarly struggled in transition, a part of the game that wasn't expected to be difficult for him.

It is not so much that he's having trouble translating his skills to the NBA floor. Rather, Teague has yet to demonstrate NBA calibre skills. So far, Teague has only one average college season and one decent four game summer league stint to his credit. At the NBA level, he cannot shoot, he cannot finish, he cannot run a halfcourt, his transition game and defense are merely decent, and his good athleticism and ball handling aren't of much worth without the half court skills to use them. Marquis is less Jeff Teague and more Royal Ivey at this point, and the prognosis isn't great.

The Bulls are ready to move on. Despite a fairly poor 2012/13 season - in fact, a fairly poor last six seasons - the Bulls value the services of Mike James, who they had for a brief period in the 2011/12 season. They want James to be their third string point guard this season, not Marquis Teague, This decision has already been made, hence the edict from management to play Teague more. Teague, none too subtly, is being shopped. Utah are a reported suitor for his services; before that, talks were ongoing with the Minnesota Timberwolves (whose interest later cooled after the 'showcase' that wasn't.)

The decision is mostly performance related, as seen above. Financial considerations, however, also play a part. Teague's salary for this season is $1,074,720, whilst James's would be $884,293 - that $190,427 seems negligible, but, when considering the Bulls are due to be in the 150% luxury tax range, the $476,068 it becomes after tax is added is significant enough when talking about third string point guards not likely to figure in the rotation all that much.

Essentially, though, this is a tale of a young guard struggling to find his place. He declared for the draft after one season, found himself in the heavily regimented system of a good quality team, and struggled to learn it. He found himself caught betwixt two stubborn and conflicting factions, his coach and his general manager, who seem to be permanently looking to replace him. And now, as soon as they can do it, they will do just that with a 38 year old veteran journeyman who has posted a double figure PER only once since 2007.

It seems fair to say Teague is available for cheap.

Marquis Teague, Chicago Bulls

The Bulls generally draft extremely well, particularly late on in the draft, where their recent yield includes Mirotic, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, three players who would feature in the rotation of any contender, all picked after the 20th pick. However, they occasionally have a Mr. Hyde side and exhibit a marked tendency to pick high-upside picks who are nevertheless extremely raw (Tyrus Thomas, James Johnson).

Teague is one of the latter, and he's off to a bad start. After a poor rookie season in which he struggled with every facet of the offensive game and looked woefully overmatched, the Bulls are already shopping him and looking at other ball handling guard options. This, plus the team's luxury tax concerns, must make declining Teague's third year option a real possibility.

[...] The move would be, of course, patently ridiculous. Even if the season was a wash, you don't waive a most vital contributor to save on what, by NBA standards, is a nominal fee, and by no standard is the season proving to be a wash in the first place. Nate is third on the Bulls in PER, the only man who can consistently create a shot off the dribble in Rose's absence, arguably the team's best ball handler, its only creative backcourt player, and one of its best shooters. He's even being masked defensively by the Bulls's meticulous defensive system, and is thus a hugely important player to a team whose season is still important. There are absolutely no basketball reasons why Nate should be cut on the basis of his performance thus far, and the justification offered - that Marquis Teague is showing "signs" - is an unbelievably tepid excuse. Teague has not yet even had the Bulls career of Acie Law, who at least managed three good games to Teague's two. Excited by his future as they may be, there is absolutely no reason why Teague should play ahead of Nate if the Bulls want to win games.