Derrick Rose remains available in free agency. Luol Deng has been involved in trade rumors. Kirk Hinrich never officially announced his retirement. Heck, John Lucas III and Mike James are seemingly forever available for 10-day contracts.
Yes, the mind wandered to days gone by with Sunday's news that Tom Thibodeau's Timberwolves received a verbal commitment from Taj Gibson on a two-year, $28 million deal. On the heels of the franchise's June 22 blockbuster acquisition of Jimmy Butler, Gibson adds another veteran presence, defensive force and familiar face to Thibodeau's offseason.
In truth, the Timberwolves need to shed contracts to add more players. Deng isn't needed on top of Andrew Wiggins and Butler, both of whom will be logging upward of 35 minutes per game. And Thibodeau's other big move, a verbal commitment from former All-Star point guard Jeff Teague, makes the tongue-in-cheek references to Hinrich, Lucas and James superfluous.
But the point is this: One year after taking control of the franchise and inheriting the promising young core of Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns and Zach LaVine, Thibodeau is getting serious. The former Bulls coach mentioned defense and tough-mindedness as offseason priorities after the Timberwolves lost several second-half leads in going 31-51 last season.
Thibodeau's team ranked 26th in defense. The Bulls under Fred Hoiberg finished sixth.
The Bulls quietly offered Gibson a contract extension, the terms of which the Tribune never confirmed, before trading him to the Thunder with Doug McDermott and a future second-round pick in February for Cameron Payne, Joffrey Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow.
Gibson is any coach's dream. He starts or comes off the bench w ith an equally selfless attitude and is productive in either role. He also is a strong locker-room presence and loud advocate of his coach, regardless of the coach's personality.
"Man, I've been in some chaotic yelling matches with Thibs, and everybody is just going crazy and I'm just sitting there with my eyes open like, 'Don't call my name, please,' " Gibson said in January. "I was shocked how we came out of it. It made us a better team."
Thibodeau and Bulls executive vice president John Paxson talked about how professional and cordial their dealings were while finalizing the Butler trade. Will that be the last time they do business together?
If the Timberwolves dangle a future first-round pick as a sweetener for the Bulls to take the two years left on Cole Aldrich's deal, the Bulls should pounce. These are the type of moves the Bulls are setting themselves up for with the way their books are structured _ taking unwanted contracts from other teams into trade exceptions to add future assets.
The franchises are moving into different modes next season. The Timberwolves are adding tough-minded veterans to push their young core into win-now mode. The Bulls are shedding veterans such as Butler and Rajon Rondo to let the young core run wild and learn, bumps and all.
It seems fitting that the Timberwolves remained so high on Kris Dunn that they originally were unwilling to include him in the Butler deal. And that Thibodeau had focused his predraft work mostly on Lauri Markkanen had the Timberwolves kept the No. 7 pick.
Despite no movement again Sunday toward a new deal with Nikola Mirotic, the Bulls have expressed confidence they'll re-sign the restricted free agent. Like many teams, they need more outside shooting.
So do the Timberwolves. Kyle Korver verbally committed Sunday to re-sign with the Cavaliers.
Hey, Mike Dunleavy is still available.
