Chisoxfn

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 10:44 AM) Normally I'd agree with you but the Bulls front office is unusually disciplined. Disciplined or not, that has nothing to do with what a rogue reporter can do / say. There could be very little truth to this and the Bulls might not have said anything. I think everyone knows there is a good chance Melo ultimately takes the money and stays in NY. However, in a S&T I think the "extra" money is a little blown out of proportion. It is extra guaranteed money but if he signs another deal, it really isn't extra money. You can't just assume he doesn't get paid in his 5th year. The bulk of the money driver (if Bulls can offer a S&T) is tied to fact Bulls can offer 4 years and Knicks 5 years, however, Melo likely gets an opt out in the deal anyway in year 3 or 4 and can sign for more. It is more guaranteed money but for a star like Melo, likely not more true earning money over the long-haul.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 10:39 AM) No, but I do think the Bulls Front Office has a propensity to make plans for free agency that they can't deliver on and continue to be a first/second round exit team. If they don't feel confident they can land melo, they should not have modeled their last 3 years around "2014 plan". They didn't spend the last 3 years around the 2014 plan. I think they had a championship caliber team this year if Rose doesn't go down and they had a championship caliber team the year he did go down. They haven't been on this 2014 plan for the past 3 years.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 10:32 AM) I'm not optimistic, but I also don't work for the bulls front office and feel the need to open my mouth about it THE DAY HE ARRIVES. As per the rest, he doesn't have to uproot his family. Boozer's family has lived in Miami the last 4 years, and he really won't be taking in that much less money after taxes. Oh, and he doesn't have to play with Bargnani. Just cause the media comes out with something doesn't mean much anything. They could be talking to a freaking janitor within the Bulls org for all you know who talked to so and so. This is nothing. I'm sure part of this too is downplaying fan expectations.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 10:30 AM) This has also changed about 4 times in the last 2 days. Reporters can be the worse. Nothing Rose has done this off-season has been bad to date. He's been honest and often times what he says seems to get taken the other way. He isn't going to go out and publicly make a bunch of public comments but instead opts to do things behind the scenes, that is fine. In terms of his team USA stuff, there was nothing wrong when asked. He was honest and just said he's focused on getting better and that was still a little a way and he'd evaluate as it got closer. Whats the big deal in that.

Bulls apparently tried at one point to trade up for their 2nd round pick, Bairstow. Also reports that other teams tried to buy him from the Bulls with some pretty significant offers. I think he's got a chance to be one of those 2nd round picks who makes it. I think a lot of people slept on him because he was a late bloomber at a less prime time school. Guy put in a lot of work (went from 210 to 240) and seems to have an NBA body as well as some nifty moves around the basket. Also supposedly a very PHYSICAL player which goes into our style. Seems like a Thibbs type pick. Not expecting a lot of minutes from him but think he's got a chance to be a solid rotational player in time.

I think Ben Gordon will be signing a minimum deal with the Bulls during free agency.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:39 AM) I'm no expert on the CBA but I thought you couldn't talk to another player (LeBeta) who was under contract with another team? Isn't that tampering? And Miami didn't do that. Wade talked to Lebron and Bosh knowing that Riley could find a way to make it happen but rather acted independently. No offers, etc, would have been exchanged. That would be against the rules. Wade could just generally say, I'm sure Riley could make something happen, just look at the numbers, if this that and that, bam, there is enough money to go around. Nothing in the NBA about players doing this sort of stuff. Maybe that happens with the new CBA but not in the current one.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:39 AM) I'm no expert on the CBA but I thought you couldn't talk to another player (LeBeta) who was under contract with another team? Isn't that tampering? Who is talking to them? Noah is talking to Melo. That isn't being done by the front office. Noah couldn't go to the player and say I talked to Pax and Bulls are going to offer this. He can say hey, you should come to Chicago, we can definitely find a way to make that happen. We have a great team and you'll push us over the top and you'll have a blast and be forever loved in Chicago. lets do this.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:35 AM) You don't think the Bulls knew months ago that Carmelo may be interested and how much it would cost? They may not have told Noah to start recruiting but they knew it was happening. Everyone thinks that the Heat thing was orchestrated by Pat Riley. People give that old bastard too much credit. LBJ, Wade, and Bosh decided to play together long before they knew it'd be in Miami. I think Melo and Noah have talked and Noah passed that info to his employers. That is not illegal and what the Heat did in 2010 was not illegal. That is not what i am discussing. It is smart and I agree, to an extent, with what you are saying about Riley (however, the fact that he has won numerous championships as a coach added to the credibility / allure of Miami). Miami was just the perfect place to do it (and helps that no state income tax). What the rumors are regarding this off-seasons Heat plans are illegal as it involves predetermined contract refinements which are illegal per the terms of the CBA. I am sure Heat / Players will be smart and have their visits, etc, to lead people to believe they at least considered leaving, thus reducing potential fact that it was a total inside deal and everything had already been agreed to with Heat.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:30 AM) Correct, several people previously disagreed with me when I said that I kinda lean towards signing several 16 year olds as opposed to only signing 1 19 year old on the grounds that the 19 year old could contribute in a couple years. When they gave the example of Viciedo, I responded sarcastically that it worked out well because frankly Viciedo contributed a little early but he has not developed and did not contribute nearly as much as we'd have hoped to making this a competitive roster I would tell you much higher bust rate with those several 16 year olds vs. the 19 year old. I think it all comes down to something none of us have access to and that is the scouting. If this 19 year old, who is already playing on an elite stage in the Cuban leagues, is as good and projects as well as some indicate, it would seem that it might be beneficial to go after him vs. numerous 16 year olds who are much harder to pin-point. It is rare that elite 19 year old talents are available in this stage of the process since most are snapped up much earlier in the process (e.g., a few years ago). Still...19 year olds have high bust rates too, just lower then that of 16 year olds. I would think Sox might have better intel on this guy as most given the fact that we have Abreu in house (not that Abreu is a scout but probably could provide perspective on personality / work ethic / etc).

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:25 AM) I have a hard time believing Riley wasn't aware of Wade colluding with LeBron and Bosh. I don't even think it is illegal for Riley to tell Wade (who was under contract) what his current plans were and the fact that the club was working on making a push. Wade could have came and said all kinds of stuff and probably still wouldn't have been illegal. Wade acted in his own interest based upon information available to him. Presuming no contract figures were discussed / passed along, it was presumably completely legal. Not sure what is wrong with that. In this case, this would be FO and players (all under contract) coluding to opt out and take less money on prearranged deals. Much different scenario, imo, and very much illegal per the terms of the CBA.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:18 AM) Meanwhile we are all cheering on Noah to collude. Noah isn't colluding. He is talking to other players on his own doing. Bulls haven't done any back door negotiating with their players, etc, which is what this is in reference to. I think what is going on in Miami right now is extremely different then what happened back in 2010.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:16 AM) Which is still a violation of the rules. Yeah but extremely hard to prove that it was agreed to.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:23 AM) Teammate of Abreu and this International signing period was supposed to be what Hahn was very interested in doing. But now all the big money teams look they they are trying to sign the majority of the good prospects despite huge penalties for going over allotment before the rules change . I can't say with 100% certainty the Sox will sign him but they do need to make more of a splash than what we have been hearing lately about getting maybe 2 players and both outside the top 30. To me this is an intriguing situation because he suddenly became available and other teams have already spent a lot of resources so maybe that lessens the impact of who partakes. Probably not...teams like the Yanks probably just don't care.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:17 AM) There you go. Even if this guy is a solid player, it's quite silly to predict that a 19 year old is going to be a big contributor to this team in a short period of time. That's just not how these things work, even with Cubans. Gotcha. That was obviously in reference to someone else cause I have never made that statement.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:13 AM) Even better, void all deals, and ban them from resigning with the heat. To be honest...that is what I'm hoping for (if that is what they did). Hard part is proving that front office was involved vs. just the players all talking and saying they are / were going to do X and then they just had to hope that ownership would do it. And maybe ownership / management just said come to us with your plan and we'll go with it.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 30, 2014 -> 07:24 PM) I found the SOB. It was in a fake microsoft named file. It was sitting in the middle of a bunch of microsoft folders on the C: drive. Sweet; Glad the problem is solved.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:11 AM) Marc Spears just tweeted out that Warriors still have not budged on Thompson. So I guess that whole "deal already agreed to now it's just the little pieces" was full of crap. It was always a load of crap. I don't believe that the Warriors will offer Klay. I think things will get interesting on Love once the FA bonanza slows down.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:01 AM) That worked out well right? Technically, I'd argue that Viciedo was worth the investment. Not sure he hit the upside as possible but he's a legit major leaguer who still has some potential although it might not be realized here. Can't really look at things in a vacuum either cause franchise could have traded him for some pretty good players at various stages when he was in the minors and early on after his rookie season. Maybe we shouldn't do anything because one guy was a bust. It is a risk / reward. If we made that statement (Viciedo didn't work) with your logic applied we should never have went after Abreu either. Give me as many elite talents as possible and with this cuban IF being subject to the international FA pools it should help corall his cost which means more likley you get a pretty good reward. No guarantee but I'd wager some of our cash. Then again I'd have done what the Rangers / Yankees have done in the past (and Yanks this year) which is just go like crazy and do an every other year in the FA pool. I think the bang for your buck is there.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 09:00 AM) Why is Haslem so important to them? The guy is replaceable He opted out to create flexibility. It would be pretty poor taste to then kick him to the curb. If they did, it would make it more believable that this whole thing isn't predesigned.

I think the Heat thing is going to be very interesting. If these guys come back, you are going to probably have a lot of teams asking the commissioner to step in. Below are some interesting snippets from Wojo (best NBA reporter in the biz as far as I'm concerned). It would be one thing if Wade truly takes less money but if they all sign for these "reported" deals, you wonder what amounts of "circumstantial" evidence would be needed to get the league to pull a CP3 veto attempt. The other question is whether it would be for the good of the league to try and block said superteam (kind of like they did with CP3 and the Lakers). Of course, another could argue that having a "thorn team" could actually be good for the league, as long as other teams have legit shots at upending them.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 08:44 AM) If you are under the cap you have to include the minimum to fill out the rest of the roster. I don't think Haslem will make more than 1 million next year. I thought they said he was getting between 3-4M per year. He opted out from 4.6M per season and was going to take a slight discount. I don't believe that discount was all the way to $1M. Thought they said no lower then 3M (and were going to add more years).

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 08:25 AM) He really isn't all that different of a player as he was when he came into the league. He has become more assertive on offense which is helpful but his efficiency on that end hasn't really changed much during his time in Chicago, his rebounding was actually worse last year than his rookie year, and the rest of his numbers are pretty similar. I disagree. Last year when he was getting starters minutes, he was very productive and his offensive game has improved significantly. Not sure his efficiency has changed but he's far more productive and more dangerous a threat and defensively he's extremely good.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 08:28 AM) I thought teams could go over the salary cap (e.g. go into luxury tax) as long as it's re-signing their own players. Or am I completely crazy? Is this not the same situation with the Heat? Example: They sign several free agents from other teams before the re-sign LBJ, Wade, and Bosh. Then it doesn't matter where they sit in regards to the salary cap because they can go over it as long as they pay luxury tax. So all of them could still get max deals, right? They would just end up paying like $100M in luxury tax. You can't sign other guys first and then sign your own guys. Bird rights don't work that way.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 1, 2014 -> 08:17 AM) 55 under the cap but likely: 25 to lebron 35 under cap $25 to Bosh/Wade 10 under the cap 5.5 mill then in roster holds 4.5 under cap Obviously sign and trade is what would matter plus getting rid of Cole would help out even more. Wildcard obviously is Lebron, but I think in his angling to be players rep, he'll need to take max. The Heat having any chance at significant upgrades lies in Lebron taking below max. You also didn't factor in the fact that they have to resign Haslem (as that was supposedly a hand shake deal when he opted out). My understanding is they are going to have a hard time getting Deng or Lowry to come or anyone at that price point (especially since they won't have access to the MLE).