Chisoxfn

Defillipo an option for OC? Or is he going to head back to his comfort zone in Philly? With Sherman turning down Bears (because of his inability to call plays), I presume Bears would at least try for Defillipo (but he may have same concerns Sherman had) or they are going to go with Kafka (KC QB coach).

Where is Frank Thomas Big Hurt baseball??? Got to rep Lyle mouton and Craig grebeck!

Beating the dreams while being the softball team was always great.

Technically the outcomes listed above are also the nature of real sources too. So it is hard to determine and the reality is, someone is going to naturally be right from time to time and if they read the tea leaves well enough, they can play that "fake" role pretty good. Its almost not a fake role, but like a quasi information role.

WCJ is out at least a couple of weeks (per Shams). No surprise. Maybe Bulls get a lottery ball to bounce their way and / or luck in to drafting a star. Things are so much different in the NBA when you get one of those. We could use D Rose 2.0. Who is projected to be the top pick (please don't say the Lamelo Ball haha).

I just don't think this. I see a guy who is literally the only guy on the team who can score and he still scores. Dude has one of the purest shots in the league and can explode to the hole and the reality is he is surrounded by sub-par guys who either can't shoot or won't (WCJ / Sato / Dunn) so teams can pretty much collapse on Lavine. On a better team, Lavine's efficiency would go up and I don't see his scoring shifting that much. Personal opinion. Dude makes so many things look easy (on offense). This isn't Ron Mercer being just a massive volume guy on shots.

And Kyle, what do I know. I would have never traded Butler to begin with and would have let Butler try to recruit others to come to Chicago (which I think he would have done). Would they be better, I don't know, but I would have stuck to my guns. I don't think you should ever trade a top 10/15 player in the NBA unless he is forcing his way out (with few exceptions in between). Period.

Lavine has gotten better every single year. He is by far and away this teams best player and he puts 110% into everything he does. His defense has gotten better, his offense is more efficient, he tries to get others involved. Lavine is 4th in the NBA in 25+ point games. The reality is, he is the scapegoat for everyone because Lauri stinks, because Porter got hurt, because no one else can look to create when things lock down in the final few minutes of a game. The good thing is that with Lavine, Lauri, White (who certainly has his issues) and Wendell, those are all chips who you can move various places or package for stars. If you even put a star around those guys, the team would be better. I won't comment on Porter because this team has a handful more wins with Porter and is probably in the 8 spot with him (at a minimum). Or if Thaddeus Young was even a serviceable player vs. the blackhole he has been all year (dude is giving his best Jabari Parker impression).

I presume Collins is more making independent observations that change is needed. I don't know that he would be elevated to the role driving the change (mainly because I presume he likes his consultant role at this point in his life). Kaplan doesn't usually just throw stuff out there, so I am hopeful there is more to this story (by the way, my comments on Collins are my comments and inferences based upon other articles over the past couple of months...not tied to anything Kaplan said).

Oddly enough I was just reading and Kaplan evidently said he is hearing their will be meanginful change in the organization and it will consistent of hiring outside of the organization. I always assumed Pax has a job for life, but I 100% believe Gar is out as is Jim. Maybe Pax will retire or just step in to some ambassador type role. My understanding is Collins observations are going to lead to stark change within the Bulls organization.

The lack of adjustments coming out of halftime and the 3rd quarter crushings is just damning. Despite the losing streak, this team had taken a couple top western conference teams to the wire and very well should have won the game if it could ever get over the hump. This is always a very tough process with young teams and I listen to a lot of road commentary (vs. Stacey King) and it is interesting how much kudos they tend to give the Bulls and the overall lineup. The reality is Lavine, like he has done every year in the league (when healthy) continues to take steps forward. Is he perfect, no, but the fact that he keeps growing still gives me some hope he can be a #2 if they could ever find a superstar. Lauri has at least made progress (after being horrific) and Wendell is a nice player. The team has a good chunk of a core, but when that core doesn't have superstars, it is hard to do much. If I were the Bulls I think I would seriously look at acquiring Chris Paul to see if it could push the team to a new level (using Porter and other bad contracts). Gar and Boylen will both be the scapegoats by the end of the year. I guarantee it (unless something drastic happens).

I agree with this as well. Vizquel and Andruw Jones were the two who just looked way low to me. Omar, one of the greatest defensive SS of all time (if not the greatest) and Andruw, a two way talent with 400+ HR's who was the best/one of the best at his respective position for a good part of his career.

How is Andrew Jones not higher.

Brady.

What do the Bears do if the Titans don't keep Tannehill? He would be one of the guys I would be most interested in. Still young enough you could get a good run and he's always been pretty darn solid and maybe getting out of Miami has done him well. Very good athlete, etc.

I would be fine going after Rosen. I love his mechanics, albeit, his massive struggles in Miami didn't help. He is still very young and has a ton of raw tools. And I absolutley would love getting Shurmur. Would be a stellar addition.

This as well. If a superstar opportunity came up, I think they would be all ears, but it is nice to know they have this team positioned to where if a chunk of their signings are solid players (not stars..just solid player) and their young players continue to grow and develop, they will be in a really nice position.

The Bears weren't just bad, you look at their skill position players under PFF and Burton put up one of the worst advanced stat seasons out of any TE in league history (that is how bad he was and he got a lot of snaps). Shaheen...ditto. Now some of that could be impacted by QB play, but the guys the Bears brought in after Shaheen/Burton (Holtz and Hornstead or whatever his name was) were not world beaters either, but just them alone looked far better. Shaheen is a joke and was a joke of a pick way back when they got him. It was a deep TE draft and they whiffed big time. Injuries certainly play a factor and you don't know what he could have been without that, but from some of the comments the coaches made, it also sounded like he didn't know the systems/made too many careless mistakes which implies to me a separate work ethic issue as well (or it could just be limited football/practice due to all the injuries). On the receiver front, Gabriel was non-existent outside of the Redskin game and as good as Robinson was, he still had some costly drops and ranked in the low 30's by PFF (maybe part of that was due to Mitch) but he is not an elite wideout. He is an elite route-runner who can make nice catches, but he is not a wideout that teams game plan/scheme against. Miller grew as the season went on, but had his own issues and Montgomery and Cohen ranked horrifically under all metrics. Than there is the line which was its own bit of terrible. Bottom line, there are a lot of freaking issues with this offense. There are also quite a few young players (miller / whitehair / Daniels / Montgomery / Cohen / Wimms / Ridley / Trubisky) who can turn things around take steps forward to solve things, but a lot of work is needed and it absolutely goes well beyond the simple factor of Mitch Trubisky (in my personal opinion).

Solid move. He has a lot of wear and tear from the past couple of years, but has been a productive reliever and is a good veteran and the option year on the back-end is nice. Relievers are always fluky so you never know what will happen, but collect a few of them and you should be able to get to a good spot. I still don't buy Colome as the long-term closer on a contending team and think they have one more move left (which if you do it...shifts the pen dynamic significantly).

I think they would. The reality is McDaniels is only going to go to a spot that is totally ideal to him. He was never going to go to the Giants with Gettleman. I do think there is a legit chance he ends up in Cleveland. They still have a good roster (on paper) and real coaching can help them. Browns will give him a ton of input on the GM spot too. I don't get why the Giants didn't go for an offensive mind, given they have Jones/Saquon there. I heard (no idea if this is true) but they want to make Garrett the OC (although I have no idea why Jason Garrett would take an OC gig at this point vs. take a season off and get another gig).

Yeah. I would be in on Kimberly if it didn’t take much prospect wise.

I wonder if the Dodgers are quietly shopping Kenley Jensen. I know he fell out of favor in LA and hasn't been the same elite closer he was. Any other relievers in that camp, still quality/above average relievers, but with price tags in excess of their current protection (i.e., minimal to negative surplus but still positive baseball value)? I would think of those as good potential fits.

Fantastic. Great to have Stoney back.

IF he was there in the 2nd, I would think the Bears would have to give it a good long though. I can't imagine he makes it out of the 1st round.

Yep. Bummer injuries got the best of him. 31 is still young too. I wonder if he is a guy that ends up coming back after sitting out a season (depending on how his body heals). The injuries he had suffered were brutal though. He made lots of money and I am glad he is retiring a Bear. Dude left it on the field every time...but man, wish he could have stayed healthy.