Bulls Looking To Move Up For Henderson or Johnson

June 23rd, 2009 by Andrew Wamboldt

According to a reputable Chicago Bulls insider, the Bulls are looking to move up for either Gerald Henderson or James Johnson.

Gerald Henderson is a 6′5″, junior shooting guard from Duke. He averaged 16.5 points per a game for the Blue Devils last year.

James Johnson is a 6′8″, sophomore power forward from Wake Forest. He averaged 15.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks last year.

I am not a big Gerald Henderson fan. He wasn’t an efficient scorer and wasn’t a great three point shooter in college. Duke players have been questionable in transitioning to the NBA, and the good ones seem to be cursed, as Grant Hill, Luol Deng, and Carlos Boozer have all dealt with injury problems. I just can’t see the Bulls moving up for him, we already have a shooting guard, who I think, is far superior to Henderson.

James Johnson would be an interesting prospect. He scored at a good efficiency and was a solid rebounder and shotblocker last year. Johnson adds some strength to the front court, weighing in at 257 pounds and doing 18 bench press repetitions at the draft combine.

The Bulls likely wouldn’t give up much in this trade, maybe a second round draft pick or cash, if anything. (The team they trade with might just enjoy the smaller rookie scale contract they will get from trading down).

There was a rumor buzzing around earlier about the Bulls potentially trading up to the 11th pick, which the Nets possess. That should be high enough to at least nab one of these two guys. Worst case, Bulls are stuck taking another guy like Tyler Hansborough or B.J. Mullens

I don’t like the idea of trading up for a guard. I like the guards we have now, Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and John Salmons. Yes, Hinrich is an expensive sixth man, but the Bulls are one of the few teams that can afford to have the luxury of having a player like Hinrich coming off the bench.

The only thing I would look to add in the back court is a three point specialist, and Henderson does not fit that description. I would not draft Henderson.

James Johnson is a guy however, who I wouldn’t be upset with the Bulls taking. There are some interesting big man prospects around where the Bulls are picking in Johnson, Mullens, Hansborough, and Blair. The Bulls have done a good job evaluating draft prospects since John Paxson took over, so whoever out of that group Paxson and company decide to take will probably end up being a good decision.

There also is the possibility that the Bulls might just be looking to trade up to secure one of these guys for the Suns. There are rumors that the Suns are shopping Amare. They were reportedly in talks with the Wizards for the 5th pick, but the Wizards were not willing to deal Caron Butler. Hoops World Bill Ingram also hinted yesterday that the Bulls would be involved in a big deal, logically for Amare. The Suns would probably want the Bulls picks in any such deal, so the Bulls could just be trying to secure a guy the Suns like by trading up.