Bobson Dugnutt

Thomas is 37, but will be 38 by the time the season starts. He turns 38 on October 4.

Exactly. The guy is going to be the 5th big man in the Bulls interior rotation. All you're really looking for in that role is some toughness and a guy who isn't going to be a liability out there for ten minutes a game. If the alternative is Chris Richard or Josh Boone or someone along those lines, I think the Bulls did just fine here.

Beat It, Barbie Girl, Don't Stop Believing. Why can't this guy get tased?

i had some pretty good 300 level seats for this game. i'm so glad i decided to get in on some tickets. that's about as much fun as i've had at a sporting event. kirk hinrich played out of his mind and derrick rose is a badass as always.

Dave Kaplan gives this move his seal of approval.

Klee's been hinting at it for the better part of 2 months. There are 2 open spots for next year but there's not much out there (that we have a chance at) that are really worth stealing a scholarship out of the '11 or '12 class. What about James Siakam? He reclassified to '10. I know he was on Illinois' radar for class of '11, but I don't know how strong the interest was. Would he be worth a scholarship, or would Illinois be better off just hanging on to it?

Even though I really don't care for LeBron, this finals match up really needs to happen with Kobe still in his prime.

I don't think this comes as a surprise, and maybe it's even old news, but in his chat yesterday, Klee indicated that Stan Simpson is not coming back next season. I know Illinois over-recruited for next season, but with Simpson, Legion, and Semrau all gone, does this mean that Illinois has two open spots for next season?

He might end up being a starting corner OF in the majors, but first he would need to prove it before trading our starters to give him the job. Explain to me how you can prove you are a starting corner OF in the majors when you are always on the bench because of someone else having the starting job? Like I said before posts like this are dumb. There is no way to know if someone is good enough to be a starter unless you have him start a significant period of time. Some guys do great in small doses in platoons but then wear down and suck when playing everyday. Some guys are the opposite. Either way you don't know what will happen until he starts. Your philosophy is great if you are the Padres, Royals, or Padres, but not when you play in a major market and have a contending team. or the royals

That was just a fun second half of basketball to watch. They were shooting lights out and came at Kent State with a balanced scoring attack. I have been pretty impressed with Paul the last two games as well. He has been more aggressive getting to the basket, and he has been drawing fouls. I really would have loved to see more of Tyler Griffey though. Also, Dickey Simpkins and that other guy (Weekly?) were absolutely brutal to listen to.

bring us all back to reality with one of your multi-team trade proposals then awesome

It's protected if it's top 10. Ah, thanks. I didn't realize this. So the biggest downside of the pick swap would be something like 17 for 11? That's not bad at all.

or, if they get really lucky, Money and Rose and Top 3 draft pick Oh man, don't get my hopes up. That would be incredible. Is their pick protected from Milwaukee if it's top 3?

And their next six are against Utah, Orlando, Miami, Memphis, Dallas and Cleveland. Better beat Memphis. They can't have known Noah's injury would be such a tough nut to crack. And I do think Noah makes a big difference on this club. They'll likely continue to slide. If N&G is right, then it won't matter and I don't care. Meaning they didn't know it would take so long to heal? If so, I disagree. They were faced with the same situation with Nocioni a few years back, and they similarly mishandled the it by bringing him back too soon.

Do you want to explain your declaration that the trades yesterday somehow leave the Bulls shorthanded for the rest of the season? I mean, I know most of the talk yesterday was about acquiring the expiring contracts for players, but the Bulls do actually get to use those players the rest of the season. That and it's not like the ended up with a significant dropoff in ability in regards to what they traded and what they got in return. Any talk like "the season is over" or "the season doesn't matter now" is ridiculous. They traded Tyrus Thomas and John Salmons. Yeah, I specifically asked Kevin Pelton in the chat yesterday about the dropoff, and he gave a rough estimate of a 1 win dropoff the rest of the year. So, from projected 42-40 to 41-41. Right. Murray and Warrick are going to be decent rotation players for the rest of the year. Any fears about a huge drop off are overblown. If the Bulls do slump, it's not going to be because Salmons and Thomas aren't around.

No, I gave my opinion, and that's that. I don't like NY, but people here are trying to convince me to like NY even tho I don't want. I was just saying, I don't give damn about what derwood thought about Bama. Absolutely no one is trying to convince you to like New York.

you have absolutely no idea if that's true or not it's true. redflash doesn't see the appeal of new york, so there's no way lebron goes there. seriously, though, don't the 07-08 celtics kind of provide a model for free agents thinking about new york? that team went from pretty damn bad to a championship winner with the addition of two superstars. they had what was thought to be a thin supporting cast going into the season. granted, they had pierce in place before they traded for allen and garnett, but they pretty much showed how quickly a couple stars can turn a bad team around. i don't doubt that lebron believes that he and a fellow superstar can perform a similar feat and go to new york and turn their franchise around.

The Bulls are still a better spot then NY, imo. the knicks can now afford 2 max free agents, the bulls can only afford 1 Yeah, but they have the chicken and the egg paradox. For example: to land LBJ they have to land another max FA, but that said player won't sign with the Knicks unless they know LBJ has signed. So you have a vicious cycle going. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if the Knicks pull a Bull of 2000 and strike out on the major FA. Now I don't expect them to, as I think they'll end up with one of Amar'e/Boozer and someone like Joe Johnson. These players can talk to each other. If these stars want to play with one another, they'll be able to plan which team to join before signing a contract. In short, this makes no sense.

When did Joe Johnson become a max contract player? He's obviously an effective player and would look great next to Rose, but is the consensus - or market, I suppose - already set that he's a max guy? He turned down $15 million per year before this season. After what he's done this season, he's going to be looking for the maximum, IMO. With so many teams with money to spend, I'd be a bit surprised if he doesn't get it.

I think so as well but, could that be another max FA? Wade and Bosh for example? Unless Hinrich is dealt there's not gonna be room for 2 max FAs. There might not even be room if we do deal him. Besides, we're looking at a bench of Alexander, Warrick, Pargo, Johnson, Flip "Ronald" Murray, and Acie Law. None of those guys are viable rotation players on a good team except maybe Warrick and most of them won't be back anyway. We're probably losing Miller too. If the Bulls are fortunate enough to get 1 stud they'll need to find a few solid rotation guys. The draft would be key. So next year's Bulls will hopefully look something like this: Starters: Rose, Joe Johnson, Deng, Bosh, Noah Bench: Hinrich, Gibson, James Johnson, 4-7 rookies/bad players Only possible if Joe Johnson takes less than a max contract, but not that much less. The 4-7 extra guys will have to include a SG, a SF, a C, and 1-4 multi position guys. That's an extremely strong top 7 though. I'd be surprised if the Bulls could get Johnson for less than the max. He turned down a 4-year $60 million deal from Atlanta, so it sounds like he is looking for the max. In any case, I don't think the Bulls could afford both Johnson and Bosh without a sign and trade. From what I read, the Salmons trade gives them $20 million in cap space, which is not enough to sign both.

I really could not care less about the playoffs. If we're at the point where we're worried about the Bucks and Bobcats being better than the Bulls, they really have no business in the playoffs to begin with. I'd almost rather have a lottery pick. Is the draft pick from Charlotte for this year's draft? What picks are protected?

Tim Thomas is no longer a Bull. Assuming one max contract free agent, they'll have max FA, Rose, Noah, Deng, Gibson, Johnson, and a mid-first round draft pick. Also, what's the deal with Omer Asik? Isn't he slated to come over after this season? That leaves the roster at 8 players. Would they have enough money to sign someone like Morrow to fill the other guard spot, or someone like Lee to round out the front court, depending on what position their max contract guy is? He's no longer a Bulls but he's under contract (we bought him out). That's what I meant about losing him (his contract) Omer Asik broke his collarbone so he's currently not playing. His contract is up after the season though so who knows what's gonna happen but he'll probably be here. But what does Tim Thomas have to do with fielding a team next year? He's not on the roster now, so he shouldn't be part of your concern that they won't have enough players to fill a roster next year.

Tim Thomas is no longer a Bull. Assuming one max contract free agent, they'll have max FA, Rose, Noah, Deng, Gibson, Johnson, and a mid-first round draft pick. Also, what's the deal with Omer Asik? Isn't he slated to come over after this season? That leaves the roster at 8 players. Would they have enough money to sign someone like Morrow to fill the other guard spot, or someone like Lee to round out the front court, depending on what position their max contract guy is?

I thought someone (WrigleyField 22?) explained earlier in the thread that without dealing Hinrich, Salmons, and Deng, two max contracts will not be possible.

I'm not sold on a tournament bid just yet, but the last two games have been extremely encouraging. Those non-conference losses still sting.