Chisoxfn

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 07:15 AM) I personally think Taj is underrated. He never received consistent minutes with Boozer here, but when Boozer was out and Taj started, he was nearly a 20/10 guy (granted he played a ton of minutes those games). Add that output to his elite defensive abilities and if starting, he is definitely a very valuable player. If I am the Bulls, I am trying everything in my power to add Melo while keeping Taj. If you add Melo, Taj's defensive versatility can really help compensate Melo's lack of defense. I agree; That is the way to an instant winner. People seriously undervalue Taj. Note: I know he is not 24 too. I know he's gotten better each and every season and when he gets starter minutes he's been extremely productive at the 4 and well worth his contract.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 06:32 AM) I wonder if Carmelo knows who Taj Gibson is. He's Noah's boy and the two of them will be the primary pitch guys during the meeting. I'm going to guess Taj and Melo have talked previously.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 06:10 AM) Cowley is reporting that barring a S&T, the Bulls pitch to Carmelo will be to take $15 million so that they can keep Taj. I have been pretty supportive of GarPax this offseason. They should be fired if keeping Taj Gibson impedes them landing Anthony. Why do we overrate players so bad? It's f***ing Taj Gibson. Who cares. Get Melo his $20 million and do whatever it takes. Figure out the rest later. My understanding is the Bulls are going to pitch multiple offers, including the fact that their plan A is to get Knicks to agree to S&T and under that capacity, I believe there are scenarios we can offer him ~$20M (without trading Boozer) while keeping Taj and Jimmy Butler. Question is will Knicks do it. I think the gist of everything is Bulls are going to land out multiple scenarios, however, I think the only way Melo comes is through a S&T.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 05:32 PM) Lol, I read somewhere that LeBron is just trolling teams into thinking they can obtain his services so they have to gut their rosters to create max cap space, then he'll quickly re-sign with the Heat at a huge discount so they can pick up the best players that were let go...I know that scenario is highly unlikely but I thought that was funny. No one should do anything until they have his word. If he goes back on that, then he should be tarred and feathered.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 04:51 PM) Meh, I'd rather have Hawes who I think is rather underrated. Dude turned into pretty damn good "Stretch 5" shooting over 41% on 308 3 pointers......Vince Carter has been a really good 3 point shooter the last 2 years as well shooting .406/.396 the last 2 years. I think Augstin is a must as well. Remember, Nik is on his way over in these scenarios (and his ability to shoot threes is not really necessary w/Nik coming on board). PAU is superior to Hawes and is an excellent compliment to other guys on the roster (not to mention his pick & roll game and ability to play with his back to the basket should be a major benefit to Rose). PAU had a 20 PER this past season which was a down season in a horrific system for him. Hawes doesn't hold Pau's jockstrap and with Taj / Noah able to both play the 5 position, spending that much money on a back-up center who can't play both the 4 and 5 seems like a major waste of resources. Pau could do both which helps a lot and his game is a major compliment to Joakim's and I don't really think Hawes is.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 04:58 PM) I saw on another basketball forum that Kyle Lowry, one of the Heat's top of their wish list guys, has reportedly agreed to stay in Toronto. That's great news for the EC. The salary cap crunches have basically said with LBJ wanting near max money, there was no way Lowry would be able to go to Miami. Even with him taking a discount, it would be unlikely without it being a significant discount. LBJ is going to eat into a lot of their flexibility if he truly takes more money.

Wonder if it hurts the Bulls at all that the weather is so awful for Melo's visit (presume he is coming to Chicago)?

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 04:29 PM) Ahh...3 guys I'd like to see that could all probably be had are Augustin, Vince Carter, and Spencer Hawes. Rose/Augustin Butler/Carter/Snell DMD/MJD/Snell Taj/Mirotic Noah/Hawes With 11M in cap space, that is probably one of the least exciting ways to use the money (not to mention the fact we might be able to be flexible and find ways to S&T for someone like Pau if he does in fact want to leave).

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 04:11 PM) What I like about adding Melo vs. all the other options, including Love, is that he makes us a great team regardless of Rose. With Rose, wow, what potential. Without Rose, still a very serious contender for a Finals run. Completely agree. Technically, even some of this upgraded teams are potential contenders (although not what I would call favorites, easily top 4 seeds; a lot more would hinge on Nik / Dougie making being pretty good which is probably asking for too much, especially this early).

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 03:34 PM) Lets make an unrealistic scenario w/o Melo you say??? Melo goes to Houston, we sign Parsons and trade Taj/Mirotic and a future 1st for Love. Rose-Butler-Parsons-Love-Noah. That's my dream offseason.... Parsons/Love/Rose are all just 25. I was referring to the, Bulls do absolutely nothing this off-season but amnesty Boozer and do nothing with their cap space scenario. There are a lot of realistic scenarios involving secondary free agents the Bulls can add, including potentially adding Pau / Mirotic / + resigning DJ. Depending on other guys availability, probably could work some other angles to add more if Bulls were willing to go extremely aggressive and leverage some S&T options.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 02:47 PM) Even under a repeat of the DJ Augustine/other pickup as a starting PG following injury? Lets make up unrealistic scenario's. If Bulls don't sign Melo, they are going to still have the money to add a meaningful FA (or two) plus bring in Nikolai (to go with the addition of Dougie McBuckets). That is a significantly better team then the one we finished the season with last year.

Germany does it in extra. This has just been an incredible tournament so far.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 02:33 PM) Until they cut Boozer, trade away a piece, and then come up empty. I still think they are on the same page and will come up with a plan B, that will still make the Bulls significantly better then they were this past season and a title contender. Under no scenario do I not see the Bulls as a legit title contender (unless Melo goes to the Heat and form a big 4 and that would be because no one can contend with that).

One nice thing is Thibbs and the front office seem to be on the same page this off-season, which is a huge thing for this franchise going forward, imo. Forman & Thibbs both say Rose is doing excellent and expect him to play with Team USA (barring any setbacks). I think Rose's comments were more from the standpoint of downplaying anything, especially expectations, as there is a risk that he gets cut, which isn't a shame given the fact that I would expect him to be pretty rusty. This opportunity to practice and get better experience / exposure before the season will be huge, imo, though.

QUOTE (juddling @ Jun 29, 2014 -> 11:34 PM) Two episodes in and I'm liking "The Last Ship." I liked the book as well and waiting to see how much it will differ...... Haven't seen this weeks episode yet but thoroughly enjoyed the pilot.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 02:06 PM) I guess it could be worse. Candace Buckner ‏@CandaceDBuckner 24m Per several sources, #Pacers will roll out the star treatment for Lance, & has even produced a movie in his honor to be shown after midnight Interesting. It seemed like a moot point that Lance was on the way out. Maybe they realized how much talent / upside he has. He's probably the guy who could turn into the best buy in this FA class (with upward potential to be a major impact player). However, you have to be concerned about his chemistry, etc.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 01:37 PM) Rise won't be there? Nope. Noah had a tweet today that might have been directed at Rose. Something along the lines of "think about the big picture lil man".

Taj & Noah will be at the meeting w/Melo. That should be all we need to know about Taj being trade bait. Bulls could amnesty Boozer and then trade Snell + unguaranteeds to Knicks in S&T and offer Melo ~20M. Best scenario is still a S&T involving Boozer as it means we get the MLE (+BAE). Pau might be a plan C option (in a non-Melo scenario). Pau would be a great pick-up anyway we can get him, but with Melo signing, would be much less likely, albeit would be a great back-up 4/5 (not sure if he would take that type of role or not).

QUOTE (kev211 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 11:28 AM) http://thechicagohomer.com/2014/06/30/derr...-chicago-bulls/ Rose finally made the call. Imo, Stupid.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 10:48 AM) This World Cup is seriously wide open. Everyone is struggling or playing well depending on how you look at it. I think there are a few teams that are well above everyone else. Just my 2 cents. Germany is one of those teams. Then again, I would have said that about Netherlands and they dang near lost to Mexico so what do I know.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 10:31 AM) Jozy cleared to play vs. Belguim, but that doesn't mean he will start My presumption is he will not start. If you can bring him in off the bench, that could be a valuable weapon though.

That seems very odd as we don't have any pop-up adds. Only ads that exist are the one at the top, slighltly below the navigation banner. Might need to clear your cache.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 09:11 AM) No joke. There is not a worse people on the entire planet. By people you mean pizza?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 09:05 AM) Yes, a lot of people think what he's saying is that Rose won't be there for the meetings and official "recruitment" but has reached out to let him know he wants him there. I mean, Rose has said he would want melo and would recruit him, and now says he isn't going to. But he HAS to get over the "I want people to see me as they did in 2011" stuff, you need to play like crap to overcome it, and what better place than Team USA? Great coaching, players playing hard, it's what made you in 2011 before you signed a 22 million dollar deal a year that you've earned maybe $5 on. I think some of the quotes were taken for more then they were.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 08:59 AM) The more I think about it, the more pissed I am Rose decided to give an interview 1 day before Melo visits. 1 - he likes Melo but won't recruit him, giving the impression he doesn't want another star here 2 - Gives impression he's still not ready to play, shadowing bulls ability to win next year. I'm fine with him not recruiting, I'm not fine with him skipping USA because he's scared, but worst of all is opening your mouth at the worst time for both of these. You are silent for 6 months and suddenly talk now? Just shut up, man. you better sign for tony parker dollars your next contract. Completely agree with this. Broussard keeps saying that Rose has made it clear to Melo that he wants him here (in private). I really want Rose to win cause he's a humble guy and despite my complaining about how he has handled his injuries, clearly a great teammate (look at how the rest of the Bulls talk about him for pete sake...it says a lot).