With a handful of trade assets and cap space going into the summer, the Chicago Bulls are in a good position in terms of how they can improve their team for next season.
And two names that have remained constant on Chicago’s are Carmelo Anthony, a player that would be available via free agency and Kevin Love, a player that’s openly on the trade block. While both would be great additions to a team that struggles to score, Nick Friedell of ESPN says the team prefers Anthony over Love if they had to make a choice.
"2. Carmelo Anthony remains the top priority for the Bulls this offseason. As much as the Bulls would love to add Love, Anthony is still the prime target. Of course, the Bulls would rather not part with Gibson, which would mean that Anthony would have to take a multi-million dollar pay cut to come to Chicago. If that does not happen, Love would be a great consolation prize."
Based on Friedell’s post, the reasoning behind the Bulls preferring Anthony over Love has little to do with age or money and more to do with Carmelo Anthony’s ability to create offense on the perimeter, an area that Bulls could use vast improvements in, especially with Derrick Rose’s future health pending.
"Love’s numbers (26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds) are eye-popping on paper, but is he the type of player you can hand the ball to and count on delivering in crunch time if Rose goes cold or is out? There’s no question the addition of Love would make the Bulls better, but in the short term, Anthony is still the player who gets the Bulls closest to a title."
According to NBA Stats, Kevin Love was a better player in the clutch last season than Carmelo Anthony. When trailing by at least three points or tied with 30 or less seconds left in the game, Carmelo shot 1-of-13 (7.7%) from the field compared to Love who shot 6-of-12 (50%) in the same scenario. Just posting numbers lacks context, but it’s a clear indicator that when the game is on the line, Love is just as capable as Anthony in terms of scoring in “clutch moments”.
Regardless of who the Bulls land, assuming they land either, this Bulls team will be must better than last years version and the season before that. They’ve been desperate to add offense, even when Derrick Rose was healthy, and the addition of Love and Melo would do just that.