Jenksismyhero

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 11:11 AM) Being stupid, committing a non-lethal, non-violent crime (and being brown!) means you've given up your right to life, I guess. why bring race into this? these types of things happen all the time, and they get reported. it's about the act, not the people involved.

Another great piece by Woj at Yahoo. He's quickly becoming a must-read for me. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Akxt...ndecision070910

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 10:38 AM) Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams, Shaq and Z have all been all-stars past their prime, but good point. that helps my argument.

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 10:37 AM) Scottie was a HOF player, but it's hard to rate him as one of the top 5 players in his era. All around, no, but he played in the greatest era. And he was the best defender in his era probably. He was up there.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 10:30 AM) god, do you guys watch the NBA? The only time there have been upsets in the playoffs was when there was 5-game series, and they removed them specifically for that reason. Yes the bulls have a good team, but in any other sport that would mean they could make the championship. But not in basketball. The heat with 3 superstars and a bunch of scrubs will be unreal good. This is way better than ray allen and garnett a bit past their primes. They are all in their prime. You don't need a deep bunch when you have three players that will play 35-40 mins. per game. It's over. what are you talking about? did you watch last year? Boston in the finals was a shock.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 10:23 AM) It's funny that with hindsight it was 'absolute garbage' surrounding him but during the season they weren't considered that. exactly. Lebron had a bunch of GOOD players in Cleveland. He never had the ALL STAR or SUPER STAR type players. Yes, he gets that now, but he's also going to get a bench full of players that probably aren't as good as what he had in Cleveland.

QUOTE (hitlesswonder @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 10:16 AM) I think people don't understand just how good the Heat are. Bosh/Wade/James and D leaguers is a 60 win team at least. And the Heat will have better than D leaguers on the floor with them. Here's a projection which captures just how damn good the Heat will be. This is very likely to be the best NBA team ever assembled. The Bulls win record will fall..if not next season then some time in the next 5 years. Regular season means nothing. The Cavs have won 60 games the last two years and didn't win anything. I think people are UNDERestimating the defense of this Heat team. Yeah, we all agree they're going to be able to score at will, but none of these guys are lock down defenders, and they'll have no answer for teams with a decent center. I also think there's going to be a memo sent out by Stern to the refs about calling Heat games. If Wade and Lebron are allowed to do what they always do (drive and get every call possible) the flow of the game is going to be severly interrupted. People complained about the Boston-Lakers series this year being called the way it was, just imagine what happens when those two do that they do. I think good interior defense teams are going to be able to keep those guys in check (as much as you can keep those guys in check). And they'll have no answer for interior scoring. As far as the Bulls, I guess i'm coming from the perspective that the franchise has been decent with an excellent decade or so. They've always been a 5-8 seed caliber team. They're better than that now, so I'm not sure why people are complaining. The Heat will probably win a couple of titles during the next 5 or so years, but I don't think the league is going to suddenly shut down. They're going to have to beat solid teams in the east - Boston (for another season or two), Orlando and the Bulls. Plus, what happens if NY gets Melo next year? What if Chris Paul signs with a major team? So much stuff can happen to equalize this Heat FA takeover. Anything beyond saying the Heat are going to be really good is ridiculous IMO.

QUOTE (hitlesswonder @ Jul 9, 2010 -> 09:26 AM) That's true -- in fact, the harsh reality is that the Bulls have no chance to win a title in the next 10 years. If JR is true to his previously stated philosophy, he'll start selling off players soon. Noah will be the first to go, followed by Rose. Have fun with Boozer, because the Bulls philosophy dictates that Deng and Boozer have just cost the Bulls what young talent they have. I think we'll be seeing the NBA version of the white flag trade. I'm all about the doom and gloom here, but come on. No chance? How do you figure? The Bulls have a budding superstar (Rose), one of the best interior guys in the league that doesn't care about stats or fame (Noah), an all-star in Boozer, and a potential all-star in Gibson (if he continues to develop). Add a deadly shooter and I think this team is going to be really tough to beat. So we missed out on a couple of big time FA's who clearly planned this whole thing 2 years ago. Can't fault the Bulls for that. Yeah, they were handed a gift by the NBA gods (or Stern) when they got Rose, but who cares? The future is very, very bright IMO. I think they're contenders for the conf finals now and contenders for the championship in 2-3 years.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:55 PM) And that's why the teams that were bidding were played for suckers and should lose their jobs. what on earth should they have done differently to put them in a better position today?!

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:50 PM) I gotta say, I want to hear if passing on Wade to gamble on LeBron really is true. Paxson and the others should be fired on the spot if true. considering how everything went down, i think this was all decided and planned a long time ago.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:46 PM) Let's put it this way. They bet everything and lost. They gambled the last 2 years of their franchise and the next 3+ years of their franchise on being able to win one of the top 3 guys this offseason, and couldn't figure out that the top 3 guys had all decided 2 years ago at the olympics that they wanted to play together. They could have won more games the last few years if they hadn't been going for cap space, and decided to go for the cap space instead. For that decision, they got the rights to give a terrible contract to Carlos Boozer. If that's not a fireable offense, then I don't know what is. considering nearly every "expert" out there said the bulls were the best fit, i think you're totally wrong here. if they went the route you're proposing, you'd be b****ing about the fact that they didn't try to get one of these guys. the bulls did everything right. i've yet to hear of one wrong move they made. it's not their fault these guys are friends and wanted to play together. it's a really rare situation that these three guys were free at the same time and were all willing to take less money to play together.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:41 PM) And if it were up to me, it wouldn't be happening. Just because the guy made a foolish choice does not mean that this thread should denigrate into a cesspool of classless insults towards the guy and his family and friends. This is going to be a pretty classic thread here...people will probably actually go back and read it. Let's not ruin it by turning into classless sore losers. wow. jesus. over one post? tons of people in this thread "wasted" a good amount of time covering this story for the last couple of weeks. Let them vent. They're pissed and upset.

seemed pretty unemotional/disinterested about the bulls

lol, ugh.

what happened to jim gray? that looked like ric bucher to me

how great would it be if this were a countdown? No to NJ, NY, Miami, Cleveland, Chicago BOOM

the espn commercials (on espn3) are more entertaining than the show.

with all the money Stu Scott makes, why can't he get that glass eye fixed? And what his "threads" would look like?! god. this is why he should have just held a press conference (if anything)

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 05:20 PM) This is what Sternball is all about. Why exactly? This is the most coverage the NBA's free agency period has ever had. Edit: oops, meant to quote steve there, sorry

final verdict: 70% - returns to Cleveland for 3 years 15% - Chicago 15% - Miami I think the money situation, the ego situation, the depleted roster, and the fact that they didn't all announce together means Miami isn't very likely. Chicago still has a shot, if only because its the most logical destination (money, market, titles, legacy). But in the end, he can't pull the trigger and remains a Cav. He signs for 3 years to give himself another shot with a team that's all his. Plus, after 3 years I think the fans would be more accepting of him leaving to get his rings.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 02:29 PM) I doubt it had anything to do with their presentation. Its pretty obvious what the Bulls have to offer, and if winning isn't his top priority, then there was nothing the Bulls were gonna present that would change his mind. I still think it comes down to more obvious factors, like wanting to play with friends.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 02:18 PM) I'm a little surprised neither of the hastily made Cleveland tourism videos have made an appearance in this thread. I did, about 3 days ago.

QUOTE (T R U @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:47 AM) One injury and they are screwed? Has LeBron not won 60+ games the last two years by himself? If one gets hurt, they go from being a crazy video game team to a really good team.. oh no Yeah, and he's won how many titles? And been to how many finals? One? I'm not the one arguing that the league is over for the next 6 years. They'd be a contender, sure. But no guarantee.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:44 AM) Would you rather play for $1.8M in Milwaukee or some other dud city and lose 65 games or play on a title contender for $800K while being televised all the time on national games and perhaps getting more opportunities at local endorsement deals....while playing in South Beach? I guess I need some examples of guys that would do this. Most good to decent players are young enough that they need to max out how much they make, especially since in a year they might earn zero. I can't think of too many veterans that would take a million or two less to be a role player (and be good enough to help the team win) for one year.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:42 AM) I say this with the utmost respect, you guys are FULL OF s***! You know damn well if we had Bosh/Wade in place with a chance to add Lebron you wouldn't be talking about "OH MY GOOD GOLLY JESUS! WHEREVER WILL WE FIND ROLEPLAYERS!" You'd all be talking about how the only question would be could we match the 6 titles from the 90's. In a little over 8 hours, the NBA title could possibly be spoken for through 2016. Just face it. You're an idiot (with respect). Again, no one is claiming (at least i'm not) that they're not a contender. You're making the ridiculous argument that they win a title each year through 2016. One injury and that team is screwed.