DivineBovine

Michael Redd? What happened to that guy? I thought the Bulls were going after him. Regardless, this will be a tough year. I can't say I totally blame Garpax, because I don't know if there's much they could do. Perhaps they are waiting for 2014.

Yeah, I guess that's right. But Gordon's deal is still a "max deal" for a player of his experience. They aren't allowed to pay him more money even if they wanted to. I still think that they should get rid of the max if they want parity. It's not fair that a team pays Gordon 14.5 million while another pays LeBron 18.

Eric Gordon gets max deal offered by by Suns, and Hornets will match. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--eric-gordon-agrees-to-suns---58-million-offer-sheet--hornets-plan-to-match.html;_ylt=AjshPcJowYMHAMR3mKpiJjo5nYcB This is why the NBA is messed up. Eric Gordon costs as much as LeBron James and teams can't wait to pony up the cash. If they wanted to make it more fair, they would just do away with the max contract. Let a team pay as much as they can or want for a player. And this would also avoid Dwight Howard fiascos. When everyone is offering the same dough players decide they want to control where they go and who they play with.

Eric Gordon gets max deal offered by by Suns, and Hornets will match. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--eric-gordon-agrees-to-suns---58-million-offer-sheet--hornets-plan-to-match.html;_ylt=AjshPcJowYMHAMR3mKpiJjo5nYcB This is why the NBA is messed up. Eric Gordon costs as much as LeBron James and teams can't wait to pony up the cash. If they wanted to make it more fair, they would just do away with the max contract. Let a team pay as much as they can or want for a player. And this would also avoid Dwight Howard fiascos. When everyone is offering the same dough players decide they want to control where they go and who they play with.

Any trades yet? This is boring. Watching bad teams draft a few decent players and a lot of scrubs.

That's really smart. Let it be known that you plan on taking someone when there's 28 picks before you. Brilliant.

Luol Deng trade rumors: to Golden State for the #7 pick? http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post/_/id/9282/luol-deng-not-dismissing-rumors Well, a little while back Luol was supposed to be the horrible contract that nobody would take for free. I guess the #7 in a weak draft is an improvement from that, and would free up some money. I still find this rumor surprising, though.

As a Lebron and Heat hater, I was certainly rooting of the Thunder. But the Heat certainly deserved it. Can't argue with that. As for the role players, like Battier, etc. They came up huge. This always happens when teams win though. Guys like Mike Miller, Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers have to come up huge. So can't say I'm happy about it, but it is what it is. Now l'll just hope they don't win another. Then everyone can get on Lebron for only having 1 ring. Wade is aging. Hopefully the role players start thinking they'd rather get paid than help the Heat win more rings. I think part of the allure of playing in Miami is probably gone.

Yeah I agree that the Thunder are still winning the series and are the better team. I'm going to say in 6 even. As much as I hate Miami I'm not worried.

Do each of these guys have like 5 different pairs of black thick rimmed glasses? And are they all just for show? Haven't they heard of LASIK? OK guys. The glasses stopped being cool a long time ago.

OKC has looked like they have the makings of one for three years. They haven't snuck up on anyone. Is that why they were 3 to 1 to win the championship when both series were 2-2 when I was in Vegas last week? Miami and SA were closer to 1 to 1. Vegas odds aren't always, or even usually, indictive of likely outcomes more often they mirror where the general public's money is going or not going If there was such a big discrepancy between likely outcomes and where the public is putting their money then it would be way easier than it is to consistently make tons of money gambling on sports. That said I thought those odds were ridiculous and was tempted to bet even though I never do.

OKC has looked like they have the makings of one for three years. They haven't snuck up on anyone. Is that why they were 3 to 1 to win the championship when both series were 2-2 when I was in Vegas last week? Miami and SA were closer to 1 to 1.

I'll take them slaying Lebron this year, and worry about future implications later. But thanks! Haha. Yeah, if it happens, it'll sure suck for LeBron.

Last year, everyone was afraid of the Heat dynasty. OKC is now looking like they have the makings of one. They are so damn good and young. Hopefully, they start losing players or the NBA might suck for everyone else for a while.

Are the Celtics and Heat healthy in this scenario? A healthy Bulls team beats a healthy Celtics team IMO. And could beat the Heat even with Bosh. But the OKC matchup would scare me.

Someone tell me a healthy Bulls team couldn't have made the finals. Although OKC looks really tough. I'm in Vegas and before game 5 OKC was 3 to 1 to win it all. SA and Miami were both 1 to 1. Couldn't believe it. I wanted to bet but I don't bet on sports.

It's clear that McCoy's agent looked very carefully at Fosters numbers during the negotiations. I think Foster might've taken less than he could've got and brought the market down a bit. He basically got DeAngelo Williams money. I think a healthy Petersen is clearly the best rb in football. The next tier is Foster, McCoy and Rice. Not sure if Forte belongs there. He's probably close. But maybe I'm too fantasy football oriented with my opinions. LeSean and Rodgers have been my keepers for 2 years.

He needs to develop a post game like MJ did later in his career and he'd be pretty much unstoppable. He's got that much additional size over Jordan. He's the finest athletic specimen to ever play in the NBA. It's true that a post game would make him unstoppable. But he doesn't look like he'll ever develop MJ's turnaround jumper from the post. Kobe Bryant did. LeBron probably never will. I mean, he has been in the league for 8 seasons and still has no go to move. Unless he's hot with the jumper or the other team is playing matador defense, he's just not going to carry a team offensively in a half court set. Too bad this is what tight playoff games seem to always come down to.

I think its fine to criticize LeBron for not being a good fourth quarter player. But it drives me nuts when people think its mental. "LeBron needs to be more assertive." "LeBron needs to demand the ball at the end of the game." "He needs to play like he does in the first quarter." "What's wrong with LeBron? It's mental". You see educated sports people in the media spew this nonsense. It's like they've never watched LeBron play and only follow the box score. It also drives me nuts when the LeBron lovers who claim he's the greatest of all time ignore the fact that he's not a great fourth quarter player. All they can do is spew stats. "Look at his PER. Look at his FG%. His assists." Give me MJ or Kobe over LeBron any time. No question.

LeSean McCoy gets 5/$45 million with 20.765 guaranteed. Arian Foster: 5/43.5/20.75 Marshawn Lynch: 4/31/18 AD: 7/100/36 Chris Johnson: 4/53.5/30 DeAngelo Williams: 5/43/21 So what is Forte worth? He's going to want McCoy and Foster money because DeAngelo Williams got it. But Forte is just not as good as McCoy or Foster. Foster especially.

I love it. :lol: But as NSBB's resident LeBron hater, I will defend him a bit here. OK, kind of defend him. I just don't get it when people criticize LeBron for being passive in the 4th quarter. Making it seem like he has some mental issue where he chokes. I think people like this just don't pay attention to LeBron James and his game. He's a great player. He's got many many strengths. Defense, passing, athleticism, the ability to finish on the break. Statistically, maybe even the best player of all time. But being a fourth quarter guy is simply not who his is. He is just NOT GOOD at scoring in a half court offense in a tight game against a good defense. He is not a great shooter. He doesn't have a great post game. He does not have slithery moves where he can weave through traffic and get to the basket at will. MJ and young Kobe could do this. LeBron James is just not that good at it. He's no MJ, no Kobe, not even a Dirk Nowitski when you need a basket against a good defense in a half court set with a playoff game on the line. And it always seems like games seem to come down to this in the playoffs. That's why I'm the resident LeBron hater, because I think that his gaudy stats don't take this into account. Yeah, I know he shoots a great percentage and gets his share of baskets. (If I were a basketball statistician, I'd try and figure out how to take this into account. But to Hollinger, a fast break dunk in the first quarter is equivalent to beating 3 guys off the dribble and hitting a jumper with 2 minutes left in a tie game) But people should just get over it. He's a great player. He's just not a fourth quarter guy. He cannot take charge of an offense when the team needs it in a close playoff game. It's NOT MENTAL!! That's my pet peeve. When people make it seem like he's got no balls and he disappears in the fourth quarter just because he's not assertive enough. As if LeBron James gets nervous or has some sort of mental block after all these years playing basketball.

They don't want to operate so acutely after the injury because they want the inflammation to go down. If the Heat lose, maybe people will feel a little better about the Bulls. The Bulls lost 2 of their top 3 players. The Heat lost their 3rd best player and they look horrible. OKC is going to be very tough for a while, though.

Last year when the pesky annoying Pacers were playing the Bulls, I never thought I would've been enjoying them so much right now.

That was such a punk move by Wade. Being a punk and a flopper at the same time. Does it get any worse?

Nice. Heat go down. No Bosh makes them very vulnerable. Their half court offense is their weakness as is. Without Bosh its that much worse.