Chisoxfn

One intersting thing is...by waiting...Boston has positioned itself in a fantastic spot to get real value for Paul George (who is not as good of a player as Jimmy Butler). I still see the Lakers swooping in at some point and making a significant offer for George, because the entire Lakers plan takes a major back seat if they can't get George (since their plan is to get George and LBJ in a package deal). If George is traded to any of the teams rumored...he will sign.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 29, 2017 -> 07:25 AM) They haven't had a losing record since 2005-2006 and despite that have been able to collect attractive assets with 2nd round picks and good free agent signings into better players. I can't really call issue with their strategy. I'm not going to call out a team for not tanking when they have evolved so much over time while still being able to win. Haha, idiots, you should have traded all your stars and been terrible for 5 years in the hopes you could either be a champion or the exact same place you are now with soem great players but not enough to supplant maybe the greatest collection of talent in 30 years. They aren't much different then the Bulls. Look...we can say Gar and Paxson aren't very good anymore, but there is no arguing that over the past 10-15 years, the Bulls have been at the very least a top 10 NBA team and a consistent playoff team (Rockets are in a similar boat). I laugh at everyone who says the Bulls have the worst front office in the league. Yes, they have had challenges in recent years and I think it is time for at least a fresh voice in the front office, but to imply that they are incompetent basketball people is terrible. Most of the GM's in this league wish they had the track record that Paxson has done. There have been various studies that look back at the value achieved in the draft and the Bulls essentially rank right below San Antonio in terms of pick adjusted value (i.e., lucking into Drose doesn't really factor into the "value" proposition). And on, Jimmy Butler didn't push them from the bottom to the top.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 29, 2017 -> 06:22 AM) The Bulls had Butler, a 27 year old who admitted he wanted to stay with the team, under contract. The Clippers got pieces back from the team the 32 year old CP3 wanted to sign with. The fact it's even a question is likely a problem. That said, it's not very close. I still can't believe the Bulls added the 16th pick and sold a 2nd rounder, though. I will say right now...I would have rather kept Butler and traded for CP3...then taken a run at LBJ next off-season. Probably a pipe dream, but It would have been my strategy. That said, I didn't expect Chris Paul to be that much in play.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Jun 28, 2017 -> 12:17 PM) I find the move by Houston pretty odd. Paul + Blake + Jordan and a decent player Reddick couldn't come close to beating the Warriors. Houston has what, Paul + Harden + ???? They could re-sign Nene I guess, or try for Melo or George, but that's still not a great roster. Paul gets murdered by Curry when they play. I don't get this move by them. I think for those that have the view of its either win a championship or blow things up...then sure, you don't like the move cause I don't think they win the championship. That said, does this move make Houston a better team...yes, it does. Everyone gets so enamored with if we can't win a title we should just blow everything up...but reality is, no one ever knows what happens and most of the recent teams that won championships never had that "bottom out" to win moment (with exception of Cleveland which obviously got LBJ the first time...the second time they did suck, but it was really him going home via free agency which changed the direction of the club). San Antonio could have been blown up a few times in between their championship runs and the Lakers won a couple titles after Shaq left (and during a window where a lot of people wanted to "blow" the Lakers up). I don't know Houston's cap position but I presume they are going to try and outscore the world in D'Antoni's system and will see if they can attract another piece in a year (not sure cap space so maybe that isn't feasible). They also made no LT commitment to CP3.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Jun 28, 2017 -> 10:47 AM) No. And I didn't like the Butler deal at all. The Bulls at least got what they considered as upside. Very little upside acquired by the Clippers. Very curious what Clippers are going to do. Obviously LA didn't want to give him a 5 year deal. Seems that some of these front offices are getting smarter in how to handle the veteran players without saddling the team with LT deals. Chris Paul is still a really good player though and his game should age well.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jun 28, 2017 -> 10:32 AM) Did the Clippers get a better deal for Paul then the Bulls did for Butler? Chris Paul was a free agent and is older, so slightly different leverage in the equation. Clippers were in an interesting position with so many pending free agents, etc. A very good team...but one that was still a cut below the upper echelon teams in the league without the capacity / ability to make shifts. They tried hard to move DeAndre Jordan for the #4 pick and Tyson Chandler but weren't able to. Curious to see the direction they head. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded that deal as a Bulls fan (Houston really didn't give up much) and it would have been interesting to see how the 3 Alphas would have played out (with Paul replacing Rondo). You could then have been in a position a year from now to replace Wade with a much stronger, truer "alpha".

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 09:32 AM) KC Johnson's twitter feed to day is just infuriating to read. What is it talking about?

One PG gone...Bulls decline qualifying offer on MCW.

I still think when push comes to shove...Dodgers will be in running for any big time pitcher who hits the market.

Congrats Russ. Very exciting!!!

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jun 23, 2017 -> 03:34 PM) I'm sure its been brought so I apologize, but what is the Bulls cap situation the next few years? They can't free up max money for a Hayward or Gallinari right? Just for pure entertainment reasons, do the Bulls have cap for Gallinari or Gordon. Gallinari in particular would make this a pretty exciting team. I believe they are $26M under the cap if they denounce the rights to Niko. So yes, they would have enough to offer Hayward. Next year they'll be in an even better spot, albeit...they will have to extend Levine.

I certainly get the impression that this all came together pretty last minute and I am curious how much homework we even did on who we selected, etc. I wonder how much we even looked at Dunn based upon what happened this past season (vs. our pre-draft assessment from a year ago). That said, very clear that now that they have a direction...strategy will be set. Also interesting that the trading of the 2nd round pick was an "ownership" thing. Seems odd to state that.

On a sidenote...didn't he legitimately hate James Baldwin or am I confusing him with someone else?

Fantastic. Easily one of my all time favorite players and his number getting retired is so well deserve. I was grinning from ear to ear reading through those stories (and having it reflash back all the great memories I have of watching Buerhle with the Sox).

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 23, 2017 -> 09:54 AM) Markkanen just did a (painful) interview on Spiegel and Parkins and said Wade is one of his favorite players. So, there is that Out west, a lot of people were raving about Markkanen this morning (people who follow the Pac 12). Mychael Thompson mentioned that he thought Markkanen had a lot of upside and actually thought that his defensive abilities were "underrated" relative to the general perception on him.

QUOTE (2005thxfrthmmrs @ Jun 23, 2017 -> 09:34 AM) Except players have time and time again said they want to play for the Lakers, Paul George being the latest and will likely head there after this season. When was the last time someone came out and said they want to play for the Bulls? Actually the past few years, the Lakers have lost out on every single priority free agent they wanted (hence Mozgov / Deng signings of a year ago). I expect that story to change and the Lakers have a leg up on us (from a pure marketing ploy in a sales pitch...imo). For the Bulls to hit on their strategy, they will need to win free agency. They have actually hit on free agency in the past....it didn't work out the way they wanted and I have no idea what the Wade news does / sends around the league. But people are crazy if they think we can get good without hitting in free agency (it has to be an integral part of any plan given the current climate of the NBA). Do we actually hit...heck if I know...put us against the Lakers and we will likely lose to them...put us against a lot of other teams and I'd argue Chicago is in a strong spot. There are better locations though but a lot of that is circumstance based.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 23, 2017 -> 08:56 AM) Yeah, still not crazy about his point guards but Dunn has a decent coach for it. Decent 3p shooting. Not excited to see what Wade looks like on this team. I really do hope that Wade takes on the veteran coach role and the Bulls kind of give him the hush hush we'll send you to a contender later on if you play nice (that way he kind of knows their is a light at the end). Wade can bring a lot of value to a young team that is "learning". To be honest, so can Rondo (albeit...Rondo may not be happy taking a back seat to Dunn and Dunn needs minutes). That said...if Wade isn't happy or Rondo isn't...it can also add a lot of toxicity that you don't want around a young team.

I don't view the Bulls rebuild that differently from the Lakers. Both teams keys to success will be a combination of the draft and FA. If Bulls are going to succeed, at some point they have to hope they can sign in two stars. The downfall is we will be contending with the power of LA and we have Gar (vs. them having Magic). I actually don't think Paxson is a negative to FA's (he's not Magic Johnson)...but Gar and the stuff on him is just bad news. It will be nice if we get some transcending player (or two or three) via the draft as well. But I wouldn't be shocked if next year Bulls are going all in on 2018/2019 to sign two guys. Would have been nice if Lavine wasn't a RFA at the end of the year (would be great to have an extra year having him on a good contract...as that would have given Bulls a lot more time to lay low on cap space while accumulating assets).

While my grade of the physical Butler trade is probably a C...I will say that this is actually the team that Hoiberg should have been hired on to coach in the first place. Will be interesting to see how things emerge with the new roster and if he can save his NBA coaching profile.

Martian was actually pretty good. I was never excited to watch it cause I thought seeing someone stuck in Mars for the whole movie would be boring. Turns out it was actually very well done and entertaining (not that this should be a surprised since most everyone said the same positive things I'm finally saying a couple years late).

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 23, 2017 -> 03:30 AM) So why did they draft him? Just to get some cash? For all the hate GarPax get, I wonder if the boss upstairs deserves more blame. Not that we haven't discussed that topic plenty in PHT already. I would have taken that Euro guy a couple slots later and stashed him overseas. Of course I haven't watched any of those guys play, so what do I know. Evidently the Bell guy is the perfect fit for Golden State. He sucks offensively, but despite being undersized is really good defensively and with the spacing that Golden State has, even he can score and he should be effective for them off the bench. That player probably actually isn't that great of a fit for the Bulls yet...but there are enough other guys to take a flyer on. I agree to some extent with Pax's point...you can't have too many people at the same position because it actually could have a negative impact on overall development...but at least get some future picks. In the grand scheme of things...it may amount to nothing...the bigger deal was us including the #16 pick in the Butler trade (I really wish we could have found a way to hold both 1st rounders) or at the very least gotten a future 1st rounder back.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 22, 2017 -> 08:50 PM) Ainge likes to think he has the League by the balls..."I have ALL the PICKS!" I hope it blows up in his face. Me too. I really wish we beat them cause they really aren't that good. I don't get Ainge's moves at all.

KC Johnson had this blurb in his article (which I haven't seen anyone talk about). I'm looking at Zoom for my answer (if he hasn't had too many fancy beers). What is the unique structure in Rondo's contract? I presume Rondo's option somehow counts (and a team can walk away from it)...so technically Bulls can leverage the cap exeption and Rondo to help facilitate moves when FA opens (and ideally accumulate some picks)? Or am I being way too optimistic?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 22, 2017 -> 08:48 PM) Which was? Built around Jaylen Brown. Not sure what else..but neither #3 or Brooklyn pick were offered (supposedly). Who knows.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 22, 2017 -> 08:42 PM) I find it absolutely fascinating that you are more angry about the 2nd round pick than giving up the 16th. I didn't like giving up #16...but that was part of an actual trade. This is just for cash...not extra money in the cap or to help you ensure you have "max" space...just cash. 2nd rounder will likely not emerge..but we are clearly rebuilding so keep the pick. I didn't want to give up #16...but at least then it was part of an actual deal. We all know my preference was to build around Jimmy because I think everyone on the tank bandwagon is delusional and unrealistic on how to build a contender, especially given the type of offers out there for Jimmy. That said, the Wolves offer (even giving up the 16th pick)...was far better then the supposed Boston offer.