According to the My Bulls newsletter, the Bulls have signed rookies James Johnson and Taj Gibson to their rookie scale contracts.

The Chicago Bulls announced today the signings of 2009 first round draft picks James Johnson and Taj Gibson. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

Johnson (6-9, 245) was drafted 16th overall by Chicago after spending two seasons at Wake Forest. In his two seasons with the Demon Deacons, he started 59 of his 61 appearances and averaged 14.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.6 apg and 1.44 bpg. He also shot .514 from the field and .692 from the free throw line. As a sophomore, he led Wake Forest in rebounds (8.5 rpg) and field goal percentage (.542) and was second on the team in scoring (15.0 ppg). Johnson, 22, was named Third-Team All-ACC after both his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Gibson (6-9, 225) was the Bulls’ second selection in NBA Draft 2009 and the 26th pick overall. He played in 105 games over three seasons with Southern California and averaged 12.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.41 bpg, 1.5 apg and shot .580 from the floor. The Second-Team All-Conference and Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year led the Trojans in many categories as a junior in 2008-09, including marks of 9.0 rpg, 2.86 bpg, and .601 field goal shooting. Gibson, 24, is USC’s all-time leader in shots blocked with 253 (2.41 bpg), and also ranks third all-time in the Pac-10 Conference in blocks.

Both rookies will make their professional debuts when the Bulls open their 2009 NBA Summer League schedule in Las Vegas on July 14 versus Golden State.

Johnson will wear No. 16 and Gibson, No. 22.

I saw elsewhere that both Johnson and Gibson signed for the max allowed for rookies, so that is 120% of the rookie scale. Johnson should be making $1.594 million next season, and Gibson should make $1.039 million next season.

The Chicago Bulls introduced James Johnson and Taj Gibson in a press conference today. Here is a rough recap of what was said during the press conference today.

Gar Forman: We are very excited about how things turned out.  Think with both players there is great versatility, both for the roster, but also as far as their games are concerned.  James can play inside and outside.  He can play at the 3 and the 4.  Taj is a skill player, who brings length and activity to the floor that will really help us.

James Johnson: Chicago is a great city, going to be happy to play here.  They’re a great young team.  Going to be fun running with Derrick and the rest of the guys.

Taj Gibson: I feel the same way.  I’m blessed to be here, a great city, a great team.  Looking forward to filling any need the team has, looking forward to the season.

Reporter: Do you liken yourself to anyone in particular or the kind of style of play?

James Johnson: I watch everyone.  I have a couple guys, inside and out.  Try to take everyone’s game who makes great moves, and make them in my game.

(more…)

Chicago Bulls general manager, Gar Forman and head coach, Vinny Del Negro fielded questions from the media following the Bulls’ first round selections in the 2009 NBA Draft. Here is a recap of what each said.

Gar Forman

• They targeted James Johnson during the season.
• It was a consensus among their staff that James was a top 5-7 player in the draft.
• They love his versatility.  He can play the 3 and the 4.  He can play inside and outside.  At his size, 6′8″ 250 pounds, he can put the ball on the floor, rebound, push it out in transition, and penetrate.  He’s a very good passer for a big man and can make plays for both himself and teammates off the dribble.
• They got to see him for three straight days at a tournament in Anaheim, in which he showed an effective post game.
• They had talks with teams the last week about moving up in the draft, and James was the guy who they were targeting to move up and get.  They were really excited that he was there at 16.
• Taj Gibson is also a versatile guy.  He has great length.  He’s 6′10″ with a 7′4″ wingspan.  He runs the floor, which is important for the Bulls’ bigs to do with Derrick.  USC ran a lot of their offense through him.  He can make a 15 footer.  He plays extremely hard.  They were surprised that he was there at 26, as they heard he might be taken in the late teens or early twenties.
• It was a funny draft.  If certain guys went at certain spots, the whole order could be different.  The first 6-7, maybe 8 picks were set in stone.  After that, the same guy that went 9th could go 20th.
• James and Tyrus are nice complements.  James, in certain matchups, could guard inside and out.

(more…)

The 2009 NBA Draft has come and gone. We did three mock drafts on our site, the final version which can be found here. How did our mock draft stack up against the big three’s mock drafts?  (The big three being Draft Express, Nbadraft.net, and Chad Ford’s mock draft for ESPN.com).

Dabullz.com

Correct Picks: 8/30 (26.7%)
Average Deviation: 4.7
Lottery Picks: 6/14 (42.9%)
Lottery Deviation: 1.07

Draftexpress.com

Correct Picks: 14/30 (46.7%)
Average Deviation: 5.03
Lottery Picks: 8/14 (57.1%)
Lottery Deviation: 1.43

Nbadraft.net

Correct Picks: 10/30 (33.3%)
Average Deviation: 5.5
Lottery Picks: 7/14 (50%)
Lottery Deviation: 2.71

Chad Ford

Correct Picks: 12/30 (40%)
Average Deviation: 3.77
Lottery Picks: 9/14 (64.3%)
Lottery Deviation: 0.57

(more…)

The Chicago Bulls selected Taj Gibson, a 6′10″ 214 pound, power forward from USC.

Gibson was listed on some mock draft sites as the Bulls pick at 26.  The Bulls passed on Dejuan Blair, who has been falling down the draft board, to select Gibson.

Gibson averaged 14.3 points, 9 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks as a junior last year at USC.

This is not a very good pick, in my opinion.  I thought the Bulls should have taken DeMarre Carroll, or Dejuan Blair here when he began slipping.  I don’t think Gibson will amount to anything in the NBA.

The Chicago Bulls have selected James Johnson, a sophomore power forward out of Wake Forest, with the 16th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

There was strong hints that the Bulls would select Johnson coming into the draft.  There were rumors that the Bulls would move up to 11th in a trade with the Nets in order to secure Johnson, but he fell to them at 16.

This past year, Johnson averaged 15.0 points, 8.5 RPG, and 1.5 BPG for Wake Forest.

1. Los Angeles Clippers - Blake Griffin (Oklahoma, Sophomore)
2. Memphis Grizzlies - Hasheem Thabeet (Connecticut, Junior)
3. Oklahoma City Thunder - James Harden (Arizona State, Sophomore)
4. Sacramento Kings - Ricky Rubio (DKV Joentut) (Tyreke Evans)
5. Minnesota Timberwolves - Stephen Curry (Davidson, Junior) (Ricky Rubio)
6. Minnesota Timberwolves - Tyreke Evans (Memphis, Freshman) (Johnny Flynn)
7. Golden State Warriors - Jordan Hill (Arizona, Junior) (Stephen Curry)
8. New York Knicks - Johnny Flynn (Syracuse, Sophomore) (Jordan Hill)
9. Toronto Raptors - Demar DeRozan (USC, Freshman)
10. Milwaukee Bucks - Brandon Jennings (Lottomattica Roma)
11. New Jersey Nets - Gerald Henderson (Duke, Junior) (Terrence Williams)
12. Charlotte Bobcats - Terrence Williams (Louisville, Senior) (Gerald Henderson)
13. Indiana Pacers - Ty Lawson (North Carolina, Junior) (Tyler Hansborough)
14. Phoenix Suns - Earl Clark (Lousville, Junior)
15. Detroit Pistons - B.J. Mullens (Ohio State, Freshman) (Austin Daye)
16. Chicago Bulls - James Johnson (Wake Forest, Sophomore)
17. Philadelphia 76ers - Eric Maynor (VCU, Senior) (Jrue Holiday)
18. Minnesota Timberwolves - Austin Daye (Gonzaga, Sophomore) (Ty Lawson)
19. Atlanta Hawks - Jrue Holiday (UCLA, Freshman) (Jeff Teague)
20. Utah Jazz - Tyler Hansborough (North Carolina, Senior) (Eric Maynor)
21. New Orleans Hornets - Jeff Teague (Wake Forest, Sophomore) (Darren Collison)
22. Portland Trail Blazers - DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh, Sophomore) (Victor Claver)
23. Sacramento Kings - Omri Casspi (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
24. Dallas Mavericks - Sam Young (Pittsburgh, Senior) (B.J. Mullens)
25. Oklahoma City Thunder - Chase Budinger (Arizona, Junior) (Rodrigue Beaubois)
26. Chicago Bulls - DeMarre Carroll (Missouri, Senior) (Taj Gibson)
27. Memphis Grizzlies - Nick Calathes (Florida, Sophomore) (DeMarre Carroll)
28. Minnesota Timberwolves - Jonas Jerebko (Angelico Biella) (Wayne Ellington)
29. New York Knicks - Jack McClinton (Miami, Senior) (Toney Douglas)
30. Cleveland Cavaliers -Jeff Pendergraph (Arizona State, Senior) (Christian Eyenga)