Tony Snell was a pick that surprised some Bulls fans when he became the first round pick at #20 overall. However, people who knew who Tony Snell was knew that he at very least made sense for the Bulls. However, there was another pick that surprised people, but one that still made sense for the Bulls.
That pick was second round pick Erik Murphy. The Bulls needed to add a couple of backups at both the 2 and the 4 or 5 this offseason. However, money was very thin. Due to the Bulls being over the salary cap, and over the luxury threshold as well, the only had the low mid-level exception to spend. That comes to somewhere around $3 million. Everything past that had to be contracts offered as minimum contracts.
A lot of fans were getting on Reinsdorf for not spending more in free agency, not realizing that even if he wanted to, he could not offer more to a player. His hand were tied by the current CBA. There was nothing he could do, and it's a pain, but that's how it is. However, after this next season, if the Bulls do what everyone expects them to do, they'll have plenty of cap room to spend money on a good max type of guy, or maybe a couple of very good players. Either way, the Bulls should have a good chunk of money to spend.
Until then though, the Bulls have to use the draft as their main means to add talent to their roster. The Bulls took some risks this year, but if things work out right, they'll have added some serious talent. The previously mentioned Snell is a shooting guard with a smooth offensive game and a frame that brings an insane amount of defensive potential to the 2, and possibly even the 3 as well.
With Erik Murphy though, things were a little bit more quirky. Murphy is one of those guys who is a potential matchup nightmare. Murphy's top skill, by far, is his shooting ability. He was absolutely insane last season, shooting about 45% from 3. However, there's really more to his game than a lot of people know.
The first thing is that he has a decent selection of post moves. He's far from Kareem, and probably isn't even at Joakim Noah's level (let's keep in mind that while it's not pretty, Noah has a decent hook shot and is very good in the high post), but if you are a threat in one area, that makes things easier for you in the other area. This is what will hopefully help him to be that matchup nightmare that I said he could potentially be.
However, on the other hand, he hasn't shown much on defense. In college he was an average defender, at very best. One must remember though, he's going to be coached by possibly the best defensive coach in the NBA. Thibodeau was even able to make a willing defender out of Kyle Korver, so it's not totally out of question that he's able to make Murphy into a decent defender. It's far from a promise, and we'll have to see how he looks early on, but Thibodeau has done more with less already.
Murphy will likely be a 4 and 5 on the Bulls. He is better fit to be a 4, especially when you consider that he has very limited athleticism. However, he's got the size to play the 5, and he will likely do so, especially against some of the smaller teams, like, of course, the Miami Heat, who will possibly be starting Chris Bosh at center (let's remember that without the neck, Bosh is closer to 6'9", and a long neck does nothing to help in the NBA).
On the personal side, Murphy was born in France, but is of Finnish descent. He went to high school in Massachusetts, and played his college ball at Florida. Something interesting is that his father (Jay) also played in the NBA, and his mother also played on Finland's national basketball team from the late 80's into the early/mid 90's. He's got a younger brother that plays at Duke as well.
His style of play has been described by many as being a high basketball IQ style of play. This implies that he has good fundamentals and is able to get the most out of his natural talent. He is said to have a solid nose for rebounding, and is said to really start his offensive game with the post, which is a bit surprising to me, as I would have though that it would have started from the outside.
Either way, I've seen very little of him in action, but when watching him during the summer league games I was impressed. He wasn't the best player on the floor, but at the same time I saw a bigger Kyle Korver, a better version of Kevin Pittsnogle out there. I saw someone who with the right coaching and motor could become a very solid piece off the bench.
Let's hope that what I saw was accurate, as his best could be a huge boost to the Bulls in not only producing on offense and not being a liability on defense, but could also help guys like Joakim Noah cut down severely on the minutes he needs to play, which is one of the biggest needs for this team right now.
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