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QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 22, 2017 -> 09:58 AM) I see no reason why this price would be any less or different today after Jimmy won a gold medal and started the All Star Game. If the Celtics are trolling for a ripoff, they're in the wrong place. Price would be even more.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 22, 2017 -> 07:57 AM) Here is the problem. Do you trust the group that bombed on Niko to develop these guys? I know I don't. No...I have no faith in our coaching staff.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 21, 2017 -> 12:27 PM) The Sacramento Kings Steve...if this euro guys you referenced in the prior post are legitimate players, I'd be more open to a deal involving Jaylen Brown, the right to swap with the Nets pick, and both of those euro players plus another future 1st. That said, If I ran the Bulls, the only way I'd make the deal is if we got Jaylen Brown, the right to swap with the Nets, and the Nets future pick. To be honest, I'd probably also want one of the euro guys. I think that is a legitimately fair price for Butler. Everything else I've seen, if I were Ainge, I'd have made those deals in a heart beat.

Since I said the negative comment about the Lakers, while I don't like Magic as president (at all), they clearly needed to make a move in their front office, I do like what they did in terms of moving Lou Williams for a 1st (not a great 1st but still a first). I am of the belief that the Bulls need to be moving guys like Lopez / Niko and if they can Doug for 1st round picks as well. If someone wants Portis, I'd move him too (cause I Think he sucks).

Report out there that Chris Paul has verbally committed to resigning with the Clippers at the end of the year.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 21, 2017 -> 02:53 PM) I don't think that is right. I think if they are outside the top 3 this year they lose their pick this year to the 76ers and then their 2019 first round pick could end up going to Orlando (there is some protection on that though). If they are in the top 3 this year then Philly gets their pick next year unprotected. You are right. If the Lakers keep their pick, then it works majorly in there favor as Philly gets next years 1st round pick and the 1st round pick that would have went to Orlando is converted into 2nd round pick(s). So slightly less sorry.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 21, 2017 -> 08:47 AM) All usual BS ST fluff stories aside Avi Garcia looks much better than he has in the past. I saw two pictures of him and he looks great. Someone told me if he sucks or doesn't make the team it's not for lack of effort. I think he sucks and the Sox should have cut ties last year but he does seem to have a lot of fans in the org. The guy works. Gotta respect him for that. When we were contending / attempting to contend a year ago, i thought he had no business on the roster. Given our current construction and the fact that I at least think he has tools (doesn't mean that he will maximize those tools), I am in the camp that I'd rather give him at bats vs. someone like Bourjos. Odds are the switch never flips but Garcia works his tail off and has a lot of natural tools. It is too bad he is so god awful defensively as that is really what makes him so hard to salvage (and I don't see those metrics changing...which means for him to be very productive, he'll have to crush it).

QUOTE (Sonik22 @ Feb 21, 2017 -> 11:38 AM) On a side note: Is there a team in U.S. major sports in a worse position overall than the Brooklyn Nets? If the Lakers don't get a top 3 pick this year, they will be in a pretty sorry position as it would mean that they lose their pick this year and next year (both of which would likely be very high picks).

Unbelievable of the report out there that practically the same offer that got Cousins was what was going to get Pelicans Okafor. Absurd. Buddy Hield was the only additional item added and in the grand scheme of things, while he was the 6th overall pick, that differential for a player like Cousins (vs. Okafor) is just absurd.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Feb 20, 2017 -> 11:12 AM) You could say the same thing about right now. There's 3 teams that can win, with maybe a 10% chance of someone like Toronto, Boston, LA or Houston winning. Even the Spurs are lagging a bit, but I won't count them out. The east wasn't very good after Boston and the Bad Boys fell off, but you could say the same thing since Rose's knee blew up. It's not like the teams LeBron faced to get to the Finals were any better than Zo/Hardaway, the Doherty/Price Cavs, the Reggie/Schrempf Pacer teams or the Knicks. There was also way more parity in the west. Houston, Phoenix, Seattle, Utah and the tail end of the Lakers were all legit. The OKC blowup really hurt that for the west. This is a weird time right now. Some of the west contenders are going in the wrong direction and no one has risen up in the east yet. We need another couple of years for these young guys to grow up. I guess my point was that there were a lot more depth of "contenders". I'm not saying all of them had legit threats to beat the Bulls, but there were quiet a few different teams who emerged to play against the Bulls or even the Lakers after Jordan retired. There were some epic postseasons driving that. Right now, I really only see Golden State in the west and Cleveland in the East. Toronto may be better, but I just don't think that highly of Boston (well coached, but they'd be the worst champion I can ever remember...worse then the Pistons team that took out the Lakers with Ben Wall / Sheed / Billups / Rip). Part of this might be largely tied to just how good I think the Warriors are right now. Yes, injuries can change things, but you basically have a small number of teams that can contend or are even close to "contending" and on the downside a much great number of teams who are "tanking" then we've ever seen before. The combination of that is bad for the game, imo.

QUOTE (heirdog @ Feb 17, 2017 -> 11:42 AM) Collins? It would be great if he becomes that, but Scwharber did nothing but mash at all levels. I think it is unrealistic to expect Collins to do the same.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 20, 2017 -> 09:59 AM) Don't fret. We all know once the trade deadline passes, the Bulls will be standing in the exact same place with their dick in their hands, having done nothing to improve the team they have, nor to start to rebuild. Well...this deal did remove one competitor from Okafor (if the Bulls want Okafor). I do think there is a lot to be said for his offensive ability, etc. Clearly he has major defensive issues though. I do like the general idea of buying low on guys, but I don't know that Okafor is a guy you can win with, because his flaws are so major.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 20, 2017 -> 09:54 AM) Word is the Kings really wanted Ingram in any deal for Cousins. And the Lakers said hell no. I don't blame the Lakers. Ingram is potentially KD 2.0 I don't blame the Lakers either, but the Kings took a lesser deal than what the Lakers could have offered without Ingram. That said, I disagree with you on Ingram's upside...anything could happen, but as of right now, he doesn't look like a budding superstar. Two years ago Ingram and Russell were both going to be superstars, right now I think the right team could get Russell for a 1st round pick (decent one, but nothing like the pick used to get Russell in the first place). And hell, look at Okafor and the supposed price to get him after going where he went in the draft.

And in terms of quality of the league, we can debate the styles of 90's era basketball with the current era, but I don't think we can debate that the modern league has fewer teams with legitimate title chances then ever before and far more teams on the "tanking" side in the past. Bad teams have existed for forever, but the disparity that exists now (vs. the 90's when yes the Bulls were dominant, but you had the Spurs / Rockets / Knicks / Pacers / Lakers / Pistons / Jazz / Blazers / Suns as plausible contenders (during a variety of those runs). When I see two great teams play today, even though I tend to enjoy "iso" basketball, I also love seeing great ball movement, etc, so like a lot of aspects of the current game, I do recognize the fact that I get to see some great basketball, but too many games today don't fit the bill and in my opinion are at a lower overall quality level. I think a combination of changing the draft and forcing players to stay in college at least two years is part of the answer at improving the depth of the NBA product.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Feb 16, 2017 -> 04:16 PM) Still no deal. Bruce Levine full of s*** again. I expect Q to be moved by the deadline along with DRob, Frazier, Melky. I could see many scenarios where Q doesn't get dealt. Say the pieces we got back this off-season start to contribute right away, I could absolutely see a scenario where the Sox keep Q and try to retool faster then we think (whether it via free agency money or something else). I don't see it as a foregone conclusion that Q is dealt.

By the way, with all this "tanking" going on, it is only a matter of time until the NBA legitimately changes its lottery process. I know there has been talk in recent years, but it is getting worse and the NBA is going to be forced to do something. I don't know if they will go as drastic as some of the proposals out there (with teams kind of having a calendar of picks) or if it will be something more simple, such as teams can't have a top 5 pick 3 years in a row (or something along those lines).

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 20, 2017 -> 09:45 AM) Apparently the Celtics completely blew it on Cousins. They've been ignoring him as they're completely focused on Jimmy. APPARENTLY this means they might be willing to meet the Bulls' demands to save face and make a legitimate run at the Finals. They smell blood in the water with Love hurt and LeBron playing so many minutes. Upgrading Crowder to Butler would be a huge haul for them. GIMME DEM PICKS I don't know...Cousins just got drafted for mediocrity...doesn't that lower the perceived price it would take to get Butler? I mean, Bulls obviously aren't going to be the Kings when it comes to this. I am really shook...I figured if Cousins was going anywhere it was going to be Lakers for Russell (or Clarskson), Randle, and some picks.

By the way, I don't know if it is a good argument or a bad argument, but deals like this are why I have long said I'd keep Butler and figure out a way to add pieces around him. That said, this type of deal for Cousins gets made and yet again we aren't the team getting "said" player. I have no idea why...maybe we tried or maybe no one in the NBA had a clue and the Pelicans got it because Vlade is in love with one or two of the pieces...cause a mediocre draft pick we could have given them and we could have easily handed them Doug / Niko / Valentine / Portis, whomever the hell else they wanted.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 20, 2017 -> 09:25 AM) Name me a better frontcourt in the past better than Davis/Cousins? Don't give me Robinson/Duncan. Robinson was past his prime at that point and a full-blown role player by 2001. Davis and Cousins are 23 and 26. And I use shook only when it applies. It definitely applies here. The Warriors would much rather see a no-defense playing squad like Denver than this new monster. In Duncan's rookie season (97-98), both players were pretty damn good. That said, I think Davis / Cousins is one of the best front courts in a long long time. It will be interesting how they share the ball/dynamic. Hell, Marc Gasol and Zbo is one of the best front courts of the last 15 years, haha.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 20, 2017 -> 05:16 AM) Imagine if you'd woken up, and the Bulls' balls had dropped and they'd dealt the following: SAC 1 Bulls 1 2017 Bulls 1 2019 Valentine Portis McDermott for Cousins and whatever That's twice the haul and would be amazing. F*ck GarPax. They took the ASB off. I presume the Kings must have some ridiculous internal scouting reports on the players they got...but man it makes no sense and I agree with you. I saw it and literally was like, geeze, we could have made this deal.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 20, 2017 -> 03:24 AM) This is going to be nuts. Oh man, I don't want to be the Kings. If we got that return for Jimmy, I'd be done with the Bulls. Well this certainly won't help the Bulls leverage in a Butler trade. Boston already has made numerous leaks that their Nets picks aren't even on the table. What is interesting is, the Kings turned down some other offers which sounded better (specifically the Lakers offer built around Russell seems like a better deal). Kings wanted Ingram though.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 19, 2017 -> 09:05 PM) I hope and pray the league doesn't step in Chris Paul to the Lakers style and veto this. Cousins/Davis will have opposing front-courts questioning why they're in the nba. They still have lots of holes, but clearly a strong front court and a great move for the Pelicans to make.

QUOTE (2005thxfrthmmrs @ Feb 19, 2017 -> 08:52 PM) Boogie Cousins to Pelicans for an underwhelming package. NOLA came out a winner this weekend. I was flabbergasted at the return the Kings got. What is even worse is, there goes any chance of that Kings pick coming to the Bulls. So not only did the Bulls lose out by not getting Cousins for a totally underwhelming package, but they also lose out on any shot they had at getting that extra pick from the Kings.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 17, 2017 -> 09:27 AM) Dude, jason, you're my guy. BUT THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. How many times do I have to say this? Butler is arguably the 6th best player AT HIS OWN POSITION. So that's ignoring guys like Harden, Westbrook, Curry, etc. You have to entertain offers for Butler or be content with winning 44 games and getting bounced in round 1 or 2. I have said that if the Bulls got the right offer (which would be all of the Nets picks / right to swap picks with the Nets, plus other assets from Boston...then I'll consider it).

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 17, 2017 -> 06:08 AM) Not sure if this is the right thread, but what are people doing for college savings? Are 529 plans worth it? Anything else we should be considering? I have a Utah 529 and just stick it in an age allocated fund. Put it on a monthly withdrawal for both kids. Figure start while they are young. At some point as the asset pool grows, I'll probably pull away and keep other assets in my name (but in an earmarked account for them) for the pure reason I don't want too much risk in the sense that if something were to happen to them or they ended up not going to college? Obviously funds could then get used for grand kids, etc. I know one thing...I want my kids to be responsible and work hard and be kind (and obviously be healthy), but I also want them to not to have to start their post-education life with a bunch of debt. I want them to have the best opportunity to succeed...this doesn't mean they shouldn't learn the value of the dollar (as that will be critical) and I'll want them to work through and build up that work ethic from a young age, but I don't want them graduating with college debt.