ChiCubsFan

Very impressive

2nd time in 18 months that Bill Simmons has written a "[fill in superstar] should go to Chicago if he wants to win" column about a guy who's clearly not coming to Chicago. I feel like there's some dark secret about the Bulls that explains why no one wants to play here that we'll learn later or something. I'm starting to think there really is something to the "playing in Jordan's shadow" thing. I think it's simple. Melo wanted to play in NY, Lebron and Bosh wanted to play with Wade, Dirk wanted to stay in Dallas, and Dwight wants to be the star of his team. Yeah, Kobe is in LA now but he's clearly on the downside of his career. Deron is a stud PG, but there's no doubt that would be Dwights team and city if he went there. I think Dwight doesn't want to compete with Rose to be the star, even though clearly he's a better player. I also heard something about Addidas wanting Dwight and Rose in different cities/markets. Not sure of there's any truth to that and if there is, how it even impacts Dwights decision, but it's interesting nonetheless.

and Bledsoe and Mo Williams. I guess those are good insurance policies to have on Paul's knee when it inevitably goes out. And how much longer is Gordon under team control? As one of the better young guards in the league I would assume he's getting the [expletive] out of NO as soon as free agency comes. Per Chad Ford: Barring an extension, Gordon will be a restricted FA on July 1st. If no deal with NO, he's an unrestricted FA in summer of 2013. Just in time for Rip to leave. That'll also be the summer before Deng's final year. I haven't looked at the numbers but I'm assuming Boozer would have to be amnestied to make room. Even then it's probably not enough to be able to fit him under. Probably S+T with Deng going back or to a 3rd team.

I thought this was a thread about reuniting Diamond, Volquez, and Danks

You're right. Roto makes the most sense for basketball. It's just not for me.

I've never played in a serious fantasy basketball league until this year. My idiot friends appointed me commissioner and I'm not sure how to set the league up. I have the following options: 1) H2H category league - similar to the most common type of fantasy baseball leagues. You have a set number of categories (points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, FG%, etc) and you get a point for each category you beat your opponent in. I thought I liked this idea, however it really devalues scoring and values all-around players. For example, Kevin Martin is a pretty good player. However, in a league with these settings he's next to useless. Yeah, his 22PPG help you win points, but he has a terrible FG% and doesn't really help mich in any other categories. 2) H2H Simple Points league. This type of league is similar to the most common type of fantasy football league. The simple version would go something like 1 point for each point scored, 2 points for each assist, 1.5 points for each rebound, 3 points for each steal, 3 points for each block, and -2 points for each turnover. I like it because it's simple and easy to compare players. The downfall is that it doesn't include FG% or FT%. This is a problem for some people because Kobe scoring 20 points off of 25 shots is significant worse than another player scoring 20 points off of only 15 shots. 3) H2H Complicated Points League. This type of league is similar to above except you lose points for missing shots and missing free throws. This type of league would most closely correlate with true basketball performance. I like it a lot, I just think it might be too complicated for my friends. Most are casual fans and may have a difficult time with how complicated it can get. I was even doing a little research and had a difficult time evaluating players under this system. Is a 43% shooter who averages 22PPG more valuable than a 52% shooter averaging 17 PPG? Yeah, you can calculate the point differential, but I don't want to do that everytime I'm comparing a few players for my upcoming pick. Additonally, maybe I'm not a big enough basketball fan, but I couldn't even give you a ballpark guess of what Reggie Williams's FT% is. I know Dwight is bad, Dirk is really good, etc, but it seems like a lot of research is required for a league with these settings. I'm afraid it'll be too much for my league and players will lose interest. So please give me some advice of what works for you and your league. Thanks!

And Billups was claimed by the Clippers.

The teams under the cap all put in secret bids. Whoever has the highest bid, that team gets the player and pays that portion of the player's contract. If no team bids, then that player becomes a free agent and is free to sign with anyone. So the only way that Billups can go to Orlando is if NJ and all the other teams under the cap aren't even willing to bid vet minimum. But Billups has already threatened all the teams under the cap that he'll make their life miserable if they try to put a bid on him. Thank you. And please excuse my laziness for not looking that up myself.

Nets are considering bidding on Billups to prevent him from going to Orlando. Dwight reportedly wants Billups to come play with him for the Magic if he clears the amnesty waiver process. I don't know how the process works, but if the Nets have to pay a significant amount for Billups, then that's crazy. I guess they can play Billups and Williams together? Can anyone enlighten me on the amnesty process? http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/217430/Nets_Considering_Bid_On_Billups_At_Least_In_Part_To_Keep_Him_From_Magic

Yeah, I just read that they'd give up their first round pick + Gordon, but not the Timberwolves pick + Gordon. That makes sense now. I thought they were willing to give up the TWolves pick and Gordon, but wouldn't include Bledsoe, which I found ridiculous.

So Eric Bledsoe is the deal breaker? That's sort of interesting. I agree with the Clippers that they were already giving up plenty. Eric Gordon is about as good of a young player that the Hornets can realistically expect to get back. Plus that pick they were going to get could be #1 and is likely at least top 5. But still, I wouldn't let Eric Bledsoe stand between me and CP3. Especially when they play the same position.

2 out of your 3 paragraphs are false. If Dwight will go to New Jersey, it's obviously not about the cold weather. Yeah, all things equal he'd rather play and live in a warm climate (who wouldn't), but if he'll make an exception for the damn Nets, there's something else he doesn't like about coming to the Bulls. Second, we could easily produce the greatest package of players and assets. Noah, Gibson, Asik, Deng, Mirotic, Bobcats pick, our own pick(s). We have a ton of assets available. You are right about Rip or whoever being an upgrade and Boozer playing better this year. Hopefully Noah, too. I just hope it's enough to beat an improved Heat team.

Maybe they want the chance to shoot the ball. I'm very much looking forward to this NBA season.

The Hornets were making out great in that trade. Dragic, Martin, Scola, Odom, Okafor is a decent team. That's probably the best they're going to get for how little amount of leverage they have. Houston was the one really getting screwed there. Martin + Scola > Gasol. They could probably trade Martin and Scola for a few good young players to rebuild their team instead of a (soon to be) washed up Gasol with no talent to surround him. And what the hell Dwight? You don't like Chicago, but New Jersey is cool with you? Screw you. I don't understand why none of the stars want to play in Chicago with Derrick Rose.

Is Reed Johnson for sure gone? He'd be a nice platoon partner with DeJesus. I think Marlon may start the year with the team to give Brett some more time in the minors. Then they trade him to a desperate team with an injured outfield to make room for Brett sometime in June or July. They're certainly shopping Soriano and would love to unload him with eating as minimal amount of money as possibly, but I don't see a deal getting done this offseason.

Resign Dunleavy to another 10 million dollar contract

Play this year out, cut Boozer next year, sign Dwight, win championships. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Thank god. I couldn't go a year without watching Joakim and the boys.

excuse my ignorance, but what exactly does decertifying mean?

I agree. :D We're all well aware that you don't want the Cubs to sign Pojuls. Actually if it happened I'm sure I'd be giggly like a little girl. Because of first 4 or so seasons would be great. Just not looking forward to his near 40s years. Plus as far as I know Fielder hasn't won a WS. With Fielder I think after awhile he would feel like a "Cub" because of his age and what he hasn't accomplished yet. With Pojuls it will feel to much like we are "borrowing" a cardinal. I just don't like that feeling. :P 1. I don't give a [expletive] how I feel as long as he brings us a WS. 2. The joy I would get from seeing my Cardinal friends crap themselves would make me love Albert Pujols so much.

I don't think the punter is fast enough to out run everyone in 9 seconds. Then they get the ball in your territory with a shot to win it. Exactly, that's riskier than just punting it out of bounds. Maybe if you put someone who isn't the punter back there to do it.

Kick it out of bounds please

Let's pick up the first and go home

WTF

Matt Forte is so so good.