Balta1701

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 01:26 PM) If the Bulls use the draft pick to actually select a player, it will be nothing for nothing, but financial savings. I think they will either trade it on draft night when someone who a team has its eye on slips or throw it in as a trade kicker, whatever it is, its better than paying Thabo $2 million a year to do what he does especially since there really aren't any minutes for him anymore. If they wind up with a pick around say, 22 or 23, and a pick around 15 or so, I wonder if they'd be able to package them together and move up in to somewhere in the late lottery.

Cap implications: This clears a good amount of space under the Luxury Tax for the Bulls this year, might have been an important thing after the James deal. OKC is holding 3 first round draft picks this year, their own, Denver's, and San Antonio's. Those 2 are both likely to be late first round. Both are lottery protected, but neither of those teams will be in the lottery. I don't know yet which pick it is. Next year, Thabo would have earned $2.7 million, and in 2010 the Bulls would have had to make him a $3.8 million Qualifying offer as he'd be a RFA that offseason. Moving Thabo for a pick cuts $3.8 million off our salary in 2010. The 2 draft picks for the Bulls, 1 around 15 and 1 around 20, will likely earn about $2.5 million together next year, $2.7 million in 2010, assuming they aren't otherwise packaged. This deal therefore clears about $1 million, give or take the exact pick the Bulls are getting and the exact draft order, off of the Bulls 2010 salary, and maybe a couple hundred thousand off of the Bulls 2009 salary.

This is a fascinating conversation to find in the Dem thread.

Rogert Ebert writes "I Remember Gene" 10 years after Gene Siskel's death.

And by defense, he means Jerry Owens's speed on the basepaths.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 12:17 PM) Rick Santelli, my hero. Note the cheering in the backround. http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853 Did he give the same rant about paying for your neighbor's $200 million bonus out of taxpayer funds?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 11:16 AM) No doubt. Anytime one or two of the bigs got into trouble, VDN had to run out a 4 guard line up. I'll be happy to never see Thabo, Ben, Rose, and Hughes out on the floor at the same time again. Now the Bulls have a legitimate big man rotation. How long has it been? Vinny will still run out the small lineup. Just watch. It's his thing.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 11:06 AM) As it turns out they got a guy who helps them out right away. Plus they get another guy to take minutes away from Tyrus.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 10:33 AM) Most of the great closers today started off as great setup men. Once upon a time, Mariano Rivera was the league's best setup man. Likewise for K-Rod. Seemed to work out ok. There's 2 issues. First, not every solid setup man makes a good closer (See: LaTroy Hawkins as the classic example. Or Linebrink last year for us). Second, when you have a solid setup man and you turn him in to a closer...you still need to be able to get the ball to the closer in the first place.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 10:41 AM) are we really sure it's only 2% Doesn't matter. The point I'm trying to make is that while the large majority thinks it isn't a problem, it is a problem enough that it keeps hurting them, and not dealing with it or pretending it isn't a problem makes it worse.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 10:41 AM) I don't understand this trade at all unless Tim Thomas was a Scott Skiles problem and not a Bulls problem (I wouldn't see the team eating as much money as it did if it was) or they are going to move Thomas along somewhere else, or they are going to tell him to stay home again and are somehow saving some money. They were close to the luxury threshold. I don't know where they are now. I'm not sure it makes sense on its own either. Thomas is the Ugh we already know, I'm sure he's looking forwards to playing with the Bulls. James hasn't played since December and is out for the rest of the season with a Ruptured Achilles tendon, and I doubt he has a Contreras like work ethic to come back before next season starts. This move seems like rearranging parts that will never play for us unless it's tied to some other move that needed a smaller salary than Hughes.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 10:37 AM) What does this do for the salary cap implications in a couple of years. Took me a minute to do the subtraction and I posted it first at Talkbulls Cap implications: Both James and Thomas expire at the end of 2010. Hughes's contract has $13,655,268 on it for 2010. James has $6.2 million this year and $6.6 million on it next year, Thomas has $6 million this year and $6.45 on it next year. Roberson makes $797k this year and has an $850k team option next year. Bulls take on 220k in salary this year, take on $267k next year if they pick up Roberson's option, save $589k if they don't. That's assuming no one has a trade escalator clause in their contract. No change in 2010 unless someone is extended.

Link KC has it officially at the Tribune.

Link KC has it officially at the Tribune.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 10:10 AM) If anything I think you made made a point you weren't really meaning to make. I know what you were trying to do, but you also illustrated something else in the process. I wasn't trying to say that the fringes wind up making things worse for everyone, although that's certainly something that can happen and does happen (for example, see Wall Street). The point I'm trying to say is that the 98% still have problems on their own with that issue...but they try to avoid thinking they do, and that leads to extra outrage when it's brought up. It's not just 1 or 2 % of the country who suffers because opportunities are denied to certain groups more than others.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 09:55 AM) And that is what makes me a republican. I don't believe in penalizing 98% of the country for the actions of 1 or 2% of it. I think you missed my point a little bit there.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 12:33 AM) Did LeBron James look 18 or 19 when he entered the league? That dude is a MAN. Just because the kid is from south of the border doesn't mean he lied about his age... How old does Greg Oden look?

There is talk that the NBA recently sent out a warning about the luxury tax and salary cap levels going down, next year, not up.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 07:55 AM) Which is a good point. For some reason when it comes to race in the US, I feel like we spend too much time listening to the 1% outliers on either end of the spectrum, and not enough time listening to the 98% of the country in the middle who aren't racists. But there's a weird counter-point to that, and I think perhaps the most interesting perspective on it was the one we heard then Senator Obama give last year. It's not just that there's that small percentage at the edge that dominates everything and the other 98% is fine, it's that the other 98% isn't always fine, that there are real issues there just as much as there are at the margins, with things like economic status, education, cultural differences, etc., but that the 98% really doesn't like discussing it except to get angry when it affects them negatively.

Does no one here know the origin of calling Jimmy Carter "History's Greatest Monster"? Classic simpsons line.

In the continuing GOP war to destroy California, one of the budget negotiators from the Republican side, one of the 2 Senate votes for the bill (3 are needed) seemingly lost his temper a little bit and said something along the lines of "If you're not going to listen to your leadership then you ought to find new leadership." Today, the California Senate Republicans replaced him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 15, 2009 -> 03:52 PM) Meanwhile, Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) may have embarassed the U.S. and Pakistan earlier this week while this page was down by stating publicly that the U.S. was flying some of its highly unpopular unmanned predator bombing missions from airbases within Pakistan. A predator strike yesterday within Pakistan killed 28. These strikes have aroused anger throughout Pakistan because of the number of civilians they keep killing, even if they hit their target. An old Google Earth image caught 3 predator drones sitting at an airport in Pakistan built for use by its upper classes.

QUOTE (KipWellsFan @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 06:30 PM) I'm not one to be easily offended and kind of doubt that the cartoon was meant to be offensive. But I just don't understand the link between the ramagin' chimpanzee and the stimulus bill. The cartoon doesn't make any sense. Supposedly the NY Post's phones have been ringing off the hook today with complaints.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 06:31 PM) True, but he is a huge pain in the ass, plus none of the deals coming back in that set of potential deals last past 2010 (I think even David Lee will be a restricted free agent this summer.) But, do you just acquire David Lee and then let him walk? Otherwise, there goes your 2010 cap space unless you also can dump Hinrich.