Day-after Bulls draft analysis: the night didn't matter, what happens next matters
Blog a Bull — ... the particular picks. While I would've gone with Blair, I don't want to come across as one of the types who thinks he can scout this draft because he read what other people scouted. That said, it's still a headscratcher that they couldn't use #26 on Blair. Even if Blair did get obese and his legs fell off and ultimately had a Mike Sweetney-esque career, that's still solid value for a 26th overall pick...with a chance that it'd turn out much much better. But what drafting James Johnson and Taj Gibson means is entirely up to the context ...

The Jazz select Eric Maynor - Fans can start liking the #3 again.
SLC Dunk — ... Maybe some 8+3 > 3+2 shirts? That's Deron+Eric > Paul +Collison I for one had no initial reaction to this pic.  I hadn't even looked into Eric Maynor because I was sure it would be Hansbrough, James Johnson, or Young. The Jazz apparently were impressed enough by his interview two nights ago (in addition to seeing him at other workouts) to make him their pick.  Here's what Kevin O'Connor said about it: Kevin O'Connor: "Did we have (Maynor) on the list to say, 'Hey, we'd be ...

The Five Stages Of Accepting Tyler Hansbrough
Indy Cornrows — ... NBA Draft, the Indiana Pacers select...Tyler Hansbrough from the University of North Carolina. Before the Pacers made that pick, I had been frantically scanning the draft board for the player who the Pacers were going to draft. I needed to update Indy Cornrows as soon as the pick was made, so I loaded all of the YouTube highlights of players who might be drafted by the Pacers. I had each one tabbed: Eric Maynor, DeJuan Blair, Jrue Holiday, James Johnson, Jeff Teague and Ty Lawson. I even went a ...

NBA Draft 2009 Aftermath: Now Who Ends Up In The D-League?
Ridiculous Upside — ... Austin Daye                                       and                                        me  16. James Johnson - Chicago Bulls - 40% ...

Phoenix Suns Summer League: The Game Plan
Bright Side Of The Sun — ... interesting names. Last year I got my first look at Kevin Love (impressed) and Joe Alexander (meh). I also saw Jerryd Bayless destroy DJ Strawberry's NBA career and was impressed with Aaron Brooks and CJ Watson. It was the last time Alexis Ajinca has been heard from despite being drafted 20th by Charlotte. I can't wait to see what happens this year.  Here's some guys I am going to watch for... Chicago - Taj Gibson and James Johnson Denver -  Coby Karl, Sonny ...

Official Salary Cap and Luxury Tax figures for your Chicago Bulls
Blog a Bull — ... Signed: Brad Miller – $12,250,000 Luol Deng - $10,365,000 Kirk Hinrich - $9,500,000 Jerome James – $ 6,600,000 Tim Thomas – $6,466,600 John Salmons - $6,429,151 Derrick Rose - $5,184,480 Tyrus Thomas – $4,743,598 Joakim Noah – $2,445,680 TOTAL for 9 players above = $63,984,509 To be Signed: James Johnson - $1,594,080 (120% of rookie scale) Taj Gibson - $1,039,800 ...

NBA Summer League Day Five Recap - Spurs Win
Pounding The Rock — ... James Johnson - The rookie from Wake Forest has some potential.  He went for 21 and 8.  I want to watch him a little more closely. ...

Summer League random thoughts of the day
Bright Side Of The Sun — It's 1:30am and I've been going since 8am so forgive me if this is as sloppy as the Cavaliers Summer League team (how's that! not bad huh!) After jump will be a data dump from my notes from today and some post game audio from Anthony Randolph and James Johnson. Grizz vs Knicks Thabeet really is that bad on offense. Very mechanical. He also surprisingly looks about 40 years old when running the floor. Not so much running as shuffling. Continue to be unimpressed w/ the #2 pick Morris ...

Summer League Game 1: Lots of James Johnson
Blog a Bull — Didn't watch the game, but it sounds like Bulls Rookie James Johnson was impressive while putting up his line of 21 and 8 in 37 minutes. With the overall impression that whether he plays 4 or 3 with the Bulls, he's certainly coming in with the ability (and perhaps the mindset) of a 3. Lots of second-hand analysis after the jump... Doug Thonus of ChicagoNow: On offense he was knocking down his jumpers, finishing at the basket, leading the break, and made ...

Game Thread: Bucks/Bulls
Brew Hoop — ... Brandon Jennings Anthony Roberson SG Jodie Meeks  James Johnson SF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute ...

Open Summer League Thread: Bulls vs. Timberwolves
Blog a Bull — ... have a project in James Johnson. He's capable of moving the ball, looks like a competent defender, but I don't think he's realized what kind of offensive player he is, wants to be, or the Bulls want him to be. He's 12 for his last 43 shots from the field, though he's managed 24 free throw attempts over that span. ...

Summer League Game #5 Open Thread
Canis Hoopus — ... To close out Vegas the Summer Wolves will be taking on Chicago. James Johnson has had a good week running a lot of point forward for the  ...

NBA Summer League Day Nine Recap - Spurs Stink Up The Joint
Pounding The Rock — ... got another trip under the microscope this time I had another critic with me to share observations.  Hill ended with 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 fouls.  Bulls first round pick James Johnson had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers, and 7 fouls.  He was up-and-down in the game, but you can definitely see that he has a lot of tools.  And he is a thick man.  He's built for an 82 game season. ...

NBA Summer League Day Ten Recap - The Grind Is Over/Spurs Lose
Pounding The Rock — ... in the second game.  James Johnson stuffed the stat sheet again with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in the 93-85 win.  ...

2009 Phoenix Suns Summer League Wrap Up
Bright Side Of The Sun — ... ability to control that desire.  He has to improve almost all aspects of his game in order to give the Suns many quality minutes at the 5.  I think we'll see a lot of Stoudemire and Frye at center to start the season. Earl Clark- For me, the jury is way out on Clark.   As Phoenix Stan pointed out, the players at Summer League who were driven and want to excel clearly stood out.  DeJuan Blair, Brandon Jennings, James Johnson and Blake Griffin all come to mind.  Aside from ...

Tyrus Thomas: can one 'break out' in a water-treading season?
Blog a Bull — ... It's tough that as a fan I can't just root for players to get good and stay, but the Bulls have a complicated (or perhaps just confusing to me) plan going. It could go as well as upgrading from Thomas to Bosh, or as poorly as seeing the Thomas experiment end with nothing but promises of James Johnson being the next big thing. Until his contract is up for an extension too. ...

What can depth do for you?
Bullets Forever — ... Wallace, Big Baby, Daniels, House, Scalabrine, Tony Allen Orlando: Lewis, Pietrus, Bass, Gortat, Barnes, Anthony Johnson, Redick, Ryan Anderson Toronto: Bargnani, DeRozan, Jack, Nesterovic, Evans, Graham, Belinelli, Banks Atlanta: Marvin Williams, Bibby, Crawford, Pachulia, Evans, Teague, Mario West, Morris Chicago: Salmons, Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas, Brad Miller, Pargo, James Johnson, Hunter, Gray Detroit: Stuckey, Villanueva, ...

Will Vinny survive the early schedule?
Blog a Bull — ...  no matter how he plays (still hoping for a mutually benefitial break-out season, but it's tough...), there aren't even any odd rotation decisions that'll stagnate young players: Rose and Noah will play, and James Johnson has plenty of rookie contract years left.  ...

Create Your Own Franchise
Canis Hoopus — ... Flynn (4) Stephen Curry (4) Jorden Hill (4) Demere Derozen (3) Brndon Jennings (3) Terrence Williams (3) Gereld Henderson (3) Tyler Hansborough (3) Earl Clark (3) Austin Daye (2) BJ Mullins (2) Jodie Meeks (2) Dejuan Blari (2) Sam Young (2) Jrue Holiday (2) James Johnson (2) Chase Budingher (2) BJ Mullins ...

Daily Links: Where Barbosa is in Brazil and Taylor Griffin will be a Sun(?)
Bright Side Of The Sun — ... Wow...surprising news about James Johnson. I was so impressed with him in Vegas and like this article said - off the court he seemed to have a great attitude. Not someone I would have guessed would have work ethic issues...I guess we'll see how it plays out ...

Your 2009-10 Bulls Roster by 6-Year Adjusted-Plus Minus
Blog a Bull — ... -.48, 2.35, 1.03, 1.87 5. Ben Gordon, 2974, 3.02, -1.53, .99, +1.49(d'oh!) 5. Aaron Gray, 693, -1.74, 2.7, 1.56, .96 6. Derrick Rose, 2977, 2.03, -1.70, 1.13, .33 7.  Tyrus Thomas, 2175, -5.05, -.53, 1.02, -5.58 8.  John Salmons, 2959, -1.8, -5.35, .91, -7.14 On the roster but missing in the numbers along with reasons they didn't make it: Jannero Pargo (Europe), James Johnson (rookie), Taj Gibson (rookie), Lindsey ...

Competition Discussion: Chicago Bulls
Bullets Forever — ... Jump to the comments to discuss the Bulls and make a prediction on their record. Last year's record: 41-41 (Pythagorean record: 40-42) Playoffs: Lost to Boston 4-3 in first round Offensive Rating: 108.4 (14th) Defensive Rating: 108.7 (18th) Pace: 93.1 possessions/game (9th) In: Jannero Pargo, James Johnson, Taj Gibson Out: Ben Gordon, Tim ...

Preseason game one reaction, plus the Bulls London report
Blog a Bull — ... James Johnson, on the other hand, didn't meet that benchmark of 'looking like an NBA player'. Looked lazy and sloppy at times, most noticeably in two late close-outs where he fouled jump shooters. I'll have more on the camp-fodder FAs later, but in general they're of little consequence anyway, though perhaps not with the little injuries piling up and the tax line being far to close. ...

The Downbeat - 7 October 2009 - #73 - The James Johnson Edition
SLC Dunk — ...  I told you I wanted James Johnson.  I know he wasn't available when we picked, but <LloydChristmas> I like him a lot </LloydChristmas> ...

Bulls win thriller in London, rookies impress those with little expectations (i.e. me)
Blog a Bull — ... Now on to the rookies, with James Johnson being the hero and Taj Gibson giving a second-straight 'I may not stink after all' performance. If Taj can get to the point where we don't scream when he comes into the game for his handful of minutes, that's good enough value for that pick. It'll also be interesting to see how it effects the minutes of ...

Rose-less Bulls lose to Milwaukee
Blog a Bull — ... were able to stay relatively close by getting to the foul line, but with Gordon gone I don't see many nights where the Bulls will have such an advantage. James Johnson seems to have a knack for it (as does Noah and Thomas) but he likely won't get the minutes to do such damage, especially if he's being called for traveling a half dozen times a game. ...

NBA Blog Previews - Chicago Bulls
Blog a Bull — ... Previews. If you're a frequent reader, a lot you may have read before...often. But even for those sick of my offseason whining analysis, there's at least a juicy prediction at the bottom to be mocked in April. Team Name: Chicago Bulls Last Year’s Record: 41-41 Key Losses: Ben Gordon, my faith in the franchise Key Additions: Jannero Pargo, James Johnson (draft), Taj Gibson (draft), cap flexibility ...

Bulls edge Bucks in preseason home opener: quick recap
Blog a Bull — ... excites you? Maybe it's just Stacy King leading the Taj fan club, but it's getting annoying already. King even uttered the dreaded line "Vinny going to have some real interesting lineups when he gets everybody back", though in his defense I think he meant that as a good thing. Can't we just be pleasantly surprised that Gibson isn't a stiff? If Taj has to play a lot, and James Johnson has to play at the 3, this team is in trouble.  ...

GameThread -5: vs. Bulls
Canis Hoopus — ... per minute last season. Foye alone was was .109 attempts per minute. This isn't a great stat and the sample size for Flynn and Sessions is small, but I think it's safe to say our backcourt will be much better at getting to the line this year. As for tonight's opponents: After taking the Celtics to Game 7 in what may have been the greatest playoff series in NBA history, the Bulls let Ben Gordon leave via free agency and brought in Taj Gibson, James Johnson and Jannero Pargo. Johnson looked quite good in ...

Bulls scrubs hold off Timberwolves starters in preseason win
Blog a Bull — ... of them. Deng also dislocated his pinky in the game, though it is reportedly not serious. Noah is awesome, and getting more assertive on offense by the game. Though I can see how he's easy to hate, what with his outright screaming when teammates scored. The especially empty Target Center made the annoying habit even more audible. But hey, if he's this good, who cares? The Celtics are all woofing idiots.  Someone for James Johnson to emulate: Ryan Gomes? He's sort of that 'power ...

Central Division Preview
Blazersedge — ... MVP: Derrick Rose Biggest Surprise: James Johnson Biggest Letdown: Tyrus Thomas Key to success:  Loul Deng's reintegration Grab bag:  Someone needs to pull a Larry Johnson on Troy Polamalu to Noah on a fast break. ...

Game Preview #1 - Chicago Bulls vs. San Antonio Spurs
Blog a Bull — ... ! It's not an issue of teams regretting passing Blair. They all will, it'll be who regrets it slightly less. The Bulls had two shots at him, but it'll also depend on how Taj looks - I'm guessing James Johnson won't be getting significant time for a while - to determine just how bad of a whiff it is. Let's just say nearly the entire chapter of the Basketball Prospectus on the Bulls described how bad of a whiff it was. ...

Preview: Bulls at Kings
Sactown Royalty — ... 27.3 0.1 0.1 100.0 0.0 0.8 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.1 0.8 3.8 James Johnson 5 5.6 0.8 2.8 28.6 0.0 ...