bukie

They're both fairly worthless, but it's not like they were making any money. I have to assume for my sanity's sake that they're clearing as much space as possible for signing a guy who gets bought out. Probably Troy Murphy, then.

Boston trades Erdan and Harangody to Cleveland for a second-round pick. I have no idea what the Celtics are doing.

OJ Mayo traded to Pacers.

Grizzlies send OJ Mayo to Pacers for Josh McRoberts + a first round pick.

Joel Przybilla and 2 first rounders.

Considering he has the best DRating on the team, and the second team of Asik-Gibson has been the best statistical in-the-paint defense in the NBA this year, I'd say Asik contributes appropriately. He has a bunch of holes in his game offensively, but he's already one of the best big men defenders in the NBA in his rookie year. Is DRating the same stat that was listed previously that had Boozer as a really good defender? Yes, which is why I also added the second part, as that combo leads the NBA in opposing FG% in the paint and defensive rebound rate. Fouls are a problem, but overall still really impressive numbers. Not enough data with Noah-Gibson or Noah-Asik to make conclusions about those pairings, though. Boozer is a decent on-man defender, good defensive rebounder, worst help defender in the league.

Charlotte's Gerald Wallace to Portland for...

Nothing definitive on Chicago yet. Several teams have come out and said "We didn't make any deals", so it's not completely dead yet.

Considering he has the best DRating on the team, and the second team of Asik-Gibson has been the best statistical in-the-paint defense in the NBA this year, I'd say Asik contributes appropriately. He has a bunch of holes in his game offensively, but he's already one of the best big men defenders in the NBA in his rookie year.

The Bulls have 3 SGs on their roster. Thibs likes Bogans. Do you know anything about Asik at all or do you just assume he's a tall stiff because he's white?

OKC acquires Nazr Mohammed from Charlotte for Mo Peterson and DJ White.

And someone has been hurt for about 50 games this season. And Kurt Thomas still got the starts. 24 seconds last night for Asik Impressive Again, this is not the last season that will ever be played (actually I guess that is a distinct possibility). Kurt Thomas will be gone next year. Asik should get those starts. Plus, not starting does not mean not valuable member of the team. Big men are alot easier to find then a SG. The Bulls have a big hole at SG right now, you give up Asik and figure out who the backup center is when the time comes next year. Big men who are shutdown defenders are not "alot" easier to find than a shooting guard. Shooting guard is the most popular position in the NBA.

Phoenix sends Goran Dragic + 1st round pick to Houston for Aaron Brooks.

Sorry, apparently it's Kendrick Perkins AND Nate Robinson for Green, Kristic and a pick.

Boston trades Kendrick Perkins to OKC for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic. Okay....

Is Asik really that valuable? I'm honestly asking; how unlikely would it be that they could ultimately replace him with a similar player? It shouldnt be that difficult I think you underestimate Asik's ability, especially on the defensive end.

Asik's primary value is long-term. Thomas is not going to be around next year.

This gets funnier and funnier depending on the expletive I imagine being there.

Could be worse. They could have lost at home to the Kings.

And I don't care that they're 11-2 in conference, they still need to do something to belong a tourney berth (even with a horrendous bubble) Like I said last week, there are 9 Big Ten teams with better tournament resumes than Alabama.

I guess I'll just have to hope the Bulls don't play every game like they played tonight. Hard to imagine, though, since I'm sure this game is more meaningful than the previous 54, and I'm sure it indicates a trend. Like that 30 point loss to the Magic in the first game Boozer was back.

Halfway through the first quarter, and Noah is on pace for 56 rebounds.

Word on the Twitter is that Williams is livid about the trade, and didn't want to board the plane out of Utah. Not that he refuses to go to NJ, but that he didn't hear anything about it until he watched it on SportsCenter this morning.

I count two posters that were in favor of trading for Carmelo at basically any cost, and one of them thought that Rose wasn't a #1 player on a championship team and Noah was a role player, and the other thought Deng was awful and beyond useless. The general consensus was that if Deng was going to continue to take awful shots and miss half the season, Anthony would provide the shooting that a terrible Bulls shooting team coming into the season would need. Almost nobody was willing to part with Noah for him, but wanted the team to be able to work out a deal involving Deng and possibly Gibson for him, sacrificing defense (which the Bulls excelled at even last year) for offense (which the Bulls were just flat out awful at last year). Turns out, though, that Deng can be good when he doesn't take all low-percentage shots (although it'd be nice if there were another viable SF on the roster so Thibs wouldn't run him into the ground), Rose has progressed into a superstar, Boozer provides just the kind of low-post offense the Bulls needed, and Thibs knows how to draw up actual offenses in ways VDN couldn't even dream about. The glaring need is now at SG, and getting consistent offensive threat out of a guard other than Rose. Korver does that, but there's not enough Korver to get offense for the whole game.

The window expanded for them because Rondo ended up better than most were anticipating. In addition, NBA players are more effective as they age in recent times, for some reason. Allen had been declining and then revived somewhat this year. However, general consensus is that Garnett, Allen and Pierce are due for a steep decline very soon. At that point, the team is building around Rondo and probably one of Perkins/Davis, and would be sorely in need of shooters and slashers (similar to the Bulls last year, except Deng is actually doing it this year).