ChiCubsFan

Still love Nate Robinson. Nice to see JB closing out a game.

Nate Robinson!

Kirks defense was outstanding. I wasn't sure about the move at first, but I think I'm going to like it. He looks to be a big upgrade over Watson. Our transition offense was excellent tonight too. I'm pretty excited to see how they look once the regular season gets going.

I think Rip is gonna have a real nice season this year. Noah looks out of shape.

that's pretty good.

At least we'll have your superior moral character to guide us should that time come. I'd rather just [expletive] on the lot of you when you act like ridiculous children We're not allowed to be pissed when it looks increasingly likely that a very good trade for us is not going to happen because Dempster is not willing to do something he had previously indicated (reportedly, of course) that he would be willing to do? Is it cool for him to waste the FO's time/energy too? This is just a negative response to your delayed gratification. People are already super mad that he'd dare take 24 hours to make the decision, regardless of what it is. I'll be annoyed when he blocks the trade, but you guys are freaking out over hypotheticals and/or failing to understand why a human would need 24 hours to decide whether he wants to move across the country to live in [expletive] Atlanta. I think people are "freaking out" over reports that he will reject the trade to Atlanta and only wants to go to LA, and that the reason for his decision is because he feels blindsided. I don't care how long it takes, as long as it gets done, and right now it's looking like that won't happen.

You do realize that Dempster has a daughter with DeGeorge syndrome, right? He hasn't given any indication that he's going to turn a trade down. For all we know, he's trying to make sure things are settled for his daughter before he leaves for a couple months. Considering how open he's been about the realities of the business, and open about the destination, when you combine that with the fact that he hasn't given any indication of wariness towards Atlanta ... it might be non-baseball decisions that he's sorting through, for all we know. First of all, it's DiGeorge syndrome. Second of all, what does that have to do with him feeling "blindsided" about being traded to a team that by all reports he included on a list of teams that he'd like to be traded to? If reports were just that he was deciding or sorting through issues, that would be fine, but reports are that he is hurt and feels blindsided.

Dempster needs to quit being a bitch. This is 2012.

Exactly.

Severely? Brewer was garbage for a majority of the season. Belinelli is the same player as Korver. Watson and Kirk give you about the same value (Watson scores more, Kirk facilitates the offense better and plays better defense). The downgrade from Asik to Gibson/Nazr is negligible. As great as Asik's defense was, his offense was even worse. You give the majority of Asik's 14 MPG to Taj and you're fine.

He replaces Korver for much cheaper. He can stroke the 3 near 40% and is a capable defender. In Thib's system, he'll be just fine. I really like the signing. I'm okay with the Nazr Mohammed (not yet official) signing as well. I'm most excited about it because it confirms we won't be matching Asik. I'm fine with what the Bulls are doing this offseason. Hinrich and Belinelli replace Watson and Korver for cheaper. Butler takes Brewer's minutes. Taj will pick up additional minutes with Asik gone and Nazr will get some run against bigger teams. We're essentially the same team as last year. We'll probably finish around 3rd or 4th in the East, win a round or 2, and get a fully healthy team back for 2013. Maybe we get lucky and the Heat run into an injury or 2, Rose comes back close to himself, and we make a deeper run in the playoffs. You essentially replaced expensive role players with their cheaper equivalents that expire in time to make some moves in 2014. It would have been nice to move Rip and pick up Mayo, but that just wasn't an option.

I love it.

Yeah, wtf? Now there's rumors were trying to move Rip, but nobody wants him.

Who the hell would trade for him knowing that he's being released? I wonder if they even tried to trade him for an early 2nd to take a guy like Doron Lamb. If you really want him, you don't chance it that he'll come to you in free agency Yeah, that's true, I guess.

Steve Kyler: Who the hell would trade for him knowing that he's being released? I wonder if they even tried to trade him for an early 2nd to take a guy like Doron Lamb.

I'd love to make a deal with Washington. Their system is stacked.

Agree, but they should. We're losing Taj next offseason or we're paying him a ton of money. I'd rather not do either of those things. You'll be worse off next year, but it's a dead season anyway. Unless the Bulls are actually going to amnesty Boozer (which I can't see JR signing off on) it helps to get out of Boozer's contract for the summer of 2014, which is what we should be targeting. In the meantime, you upgrade Boozer and I don't have to listen to everybody irrationally hate on him any longer.

I wish we could have gotten Mayo.

I think Gasol fits well with Nash. That said, any chance of a 3 way with the Bulls: Lakers give: Gasol, Bynum Lakers get: Howard, Boozer Bulls give: Boozer, Gibson, Watson Bulls get: Gasol Magic give: Howard Magic get: Bynum, Gibson, Watson Lakers do it because they get Dwight and bring along Boozer, who makes Dwight happy. Maybe he'll be more open to resigning. Boozer is also a good fit with Nash in the PnR and now that he's primarily a jump shooter, he won't clog the paint too much for Dwight. Magic do it because they get Bynum and Gibson to form a pretty good and youngish frontcourt. Watson becomes a decent shooter for them, but is primarily there to make the money work (and is an expiring). Bulls do it because they get out from Boozer's contract (Gasol ends 1 year earlier) and get an upgrade to their starting PF. Losing Gibson is tough, but he's going to get a huge deal next offseason so it's better to use him as a trade asset now. It'll never happen. You could also argue the Lakers would be better off sending Gasol somewhere else and getting a better secondary player than Boozer back. But any team getting Gasol in that 3 way has to send back a player better than Gibson to Orlando and better than Boozer to LA. Plus Boozer is one of Dwight's pals and might help in convincing him to resign in LA. The Bulls could also include picks to LA or Orlando if necessary.

I might actually root for the Lakers this year. I have a lot of respect for Nash and Kobe, and I'm very interested to see how this works out. I think it'll be great. Pau can get more involved with the PnR and Nash can definitely still shoot the 3 when the defense collapses on Kobe. Nash also creates a lot of fast break opportunities (easy points) which is something the Lakers struggled with last year. Big upgrade and great fit, in my opinion.

Why not? It works in other sports with a cap (NFL, NHL). You'd have to raise the cap a little bit most likely, but there's no reason it wouldn't work. If a team wants to offer LeBron $30M per year, why not let them? There's no reason Joe Johnson should be getting paid more than LeBron and Wade.

I agree with you completely. And that's why this is a superstar league. Although, it is worth noting that LeBron left something like $15M on the table over the life of his contract.

4 years, $58M does not equal 6 years, $110.1M

Comparing the Bulls and Cubs is ridiculous. The Bulls have won 6 titles in our lifetime. The Cubs have won 0 titles in my grandparents' lifetime. The Bulls have won a ton of games in the regular season over the last few years and made it deep into the playoffs as recently as 2011. The Cubs have lost a ton of games in the regular season over the last few years and haven't made it deep into the playoffs since 2003 :( . The Bulls need to retool. The Cubs need to rebuild.

Jared Dudley: "I don't wanna get in Dwight Howard's business but lol Why would you wanna play for the Nets over teams such as the Lakers,Bulls, and Mavs."