ChiCubsFan

How has Thibs underperformed in the playoffs? Seriously? His first year they went to the ECF. You can argue that the Bulls should have expected to make the finals since they had the best record in basketball but I think ECF loss was an acceptable result. Second year they were absolutely devistated by Rose's torn ACL but people also forget they lost Noah for the last 3.5 games of the series as well. Lose your best 2 players, one of whom was the league MVP the year before and only elite offensive player, and the other is the heart of the defense and team, and I won't blame them for losing. Even without Rose and Noah, the Bulls probably should have won the series (and they might have if CJ didnt pass to [expletive] Asik allowing him to shoot FTs), but its hard to really judge the emotional impact of losing your two best players early in a playoff series. Third year, what more did you expect from the Bulls? They lost Deng and Hinrich midway through the series, Noah was hobbling from plantir fasciitis, Nate Robinson was puking in buckets during TOs and they managed to win a game 7 on the road, then take game 1 from a team that won 67 games in the regular season. Did you expect them to win more than 1 against the Heat? If they lose this series, IMO only then can you START to THINK about building an argument that Thibs is a disappointment in the playoffs. But again this is only game 1 and Thibs is a better coach than Whitman, so we will see what adjustments he can make. If they lose this series it takes nothing away from Thibs. The Wizards have more talent and are deeper. I still think the Bulls win in 6 or 7, but if they lose it doesn't make Thibs a disappointment. I honestly was more worried about getting past the Wizards than I was about having to go through Indiana.

Forgot we could only use the full MLE if were over the cap. What's the reasoning for that rule? So in that case, we would have to wait until next year (when we can use the full MLE) to bring Mirotic over. You would think the Knicks would want to get assets back for losing Melo, but they may just hold out hope that by not doing so he will just resign with them. Also, not sure how willing I would be to include Mirotic.

All the proof I need.

No. I don't think he fits Trestman's scheme.

In the scenario that you trade away Taj, hopefully you can sign Mirotic to the MLE.

Really? I think keeping Taj and adding Melo is the most ideal scenario, but Melo is a star (if not superstar) and Taj is just a really nice complementary piece. If Melo will accept $18M, then yeah, trade off everything and go with Rose/Butler/Melo/Taj/Noah/MLE player/vet min ring chasers. But he probably won't turn down that much money. So you'd rather not sign him and keep Taj? Who are you using the FA money on? With raises coming in the next couple years to Rose, Taj, Noah, and Butler, this is your one opportunity to add a 3rd star to go with Rose and Noah.

From a post on RealGM: Haven't verified the numbers, but they seem accurate. If so, this is a good breakdown of the numbers. I think it shows we pretty much have to either do a sign and trade with Boozer and assets going to NY or trade Taj. If we trade Taj, what could we get back? When can we start talking with Melo? Draft is end of June and FA begins in July, right? I wish they did the draft after FA. If Melo would agree to take the $18M starting salary, we could then trade the picks for future picks, or use 1 or both on a Euro stash.

That is the dream scenario. A legit shot at the ECF and the Heat are certainly vulnerable, especially if they have to go through Brooklyn.

You actually think the Nets are purposely losing to avoid the Bulls?

On the broadcast yesterday they said Game 1 would be either Saturday or Sunday. They helps you narrow it down a little at least. Considering that one is Easter, I sincerely hope that it's on Saturday... I would say it's a greater chance of Sunday than Saturday. Hawks are at the UC on Monday so the Bulls Game 2 won't be until Tuesday. Usually they try to go every other day at least for the first 2 games. But we'll see.

DJ was out with the birth of his son. Jimmer looked rusty/stiff early on, but once he got going he played well against the terrible Magic D. I think what was most impressive was his defense. Looked very active and you can tell he was putting in a lot of effort on that side of the ball. That said, he won't be in the rotation come playoff time.

Although it's been said many times, it's still amazing to think about how well they've played since trading Deng. Kind of shows how unimportant he was (with Butler around)

I thought that was known.

So much for this game

Did not see that coming.

Walk off HBP?

So can we go closer by commitee now?

[expletive] you, Veras.

Just get a ground ball right at somebody.

So Veras sucks....GREEEEAT

That was awful

Pretty terrible call, in my opinion. The Wisconsin defender made contact first. You have to let that be a no-call.

For just Melo. He's not signing for 3/$36M. He's signing for max. Melo can't sign for $20 million with the Bulls. Isn't that over max? I thought he has already said he is open to signing for something less than max money. He has seen what LeBron and the rest of the big three did. They took less to win. It's his time to do that. I believe the starting max salary is the same no matter if he stays with the Knicks or goes to another team. The Knicks, however, can offer him an extra year and larger yearly raises. I believe it's around 7.5% for the Knicks and 4.5% if he signs with any other team. And his starting max salary is over $20M. I think it's around $22M.

For just Melo. He's not signing for 3/$36M. He's signing for max.

They don't want to go into the tax, though. Came across this on Real GM: "The Bulls are approximately $600,000 below the tax threshold and the team believes it can sign a player to a prorated deal and avoid going down as a tax team." That would be awesome if true. I'd really like to see Jimmer here. I think he would play well next to Hinrich, as Kirk can guard most 2's and allow Jimmer to guard the opposition's PG. I'd also be excited to see Ben Gordon back as a Bull. Hopefully they can snag one of them and stay under the tax line. The talk lately was they were afraid of Taj getting a 250k or 500k bonus if he got 2nd or 1st team all D. If he does, they could go over the tax. Hence they've been doing their cycle of 10 day contracts dropping down to the 12 player minimum for the maximum of 12 days. So they're basically cutting their 13th man cost in half for the back half of this season. They are in the clear around early April though so that's when we should see a permanent 13th man. Not sure most of the good target will wait that long though. Thanks for clearing that up. In the clear meaning they could absorb the full 500k bonus and still be under the cap. I don't think there's any chance Taj makes 1st team all D.