SB Nation User Blog: JSlakov

Q: I'm watching the Bulls-Celts game -- can I nominate Vinny Del Negro for a new Pantheon Face?...

JSlakov — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:28:32 -0000

Q: I'm watching the Bulls-Celts game -- can I nominate Vinny Del Negro for a new Pantheon Face? It's the Shooter from "Hoosiers," "I can't believe I haven't had a drink for 12 hours, and I'm a head coach" face.
-- Ryan, Weymouth, Mass.

SG: Done and done! I had been watching Vinny for two weeks, trying to figure out where I'd seen that glazed, slightly terrified, I-might-pee-my-pants look on the sidelines, and you're right -- it's Shooter in "Hoosiers" right after Gene Hackman gets ejected and hands him the clipboard for the first time. Bingo. I demand we call him Vinny "Shooter" Del Negro from now on. The real shame is Derrick Rose has exceeded all expectations and looks like a potential franchise guy ... and he's being coached by "Shooter" instead of Mike D'Antoni. I can't get over that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/081114

ESPN Eastern Conference predictions

JSlakov — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:13:50 -0000

ESPN Eastern Conference predictions

Bulls in at #9... Better that I'd expect them to predict but hopefully worse than how things really turn out

Speculation: Gordon Sign and Trade to the Jazz

JSlakov — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:35:32 -0000

Speculation: Gordon Sign and Trade to the Jazz

Just a Utah beat writer pulling a Sam Smith here, but nonetheless some interesting ideas. I personally would be pretty happy with a Gordon for Kirilenko swap without anything else added in because he's versatile enough to play with any of our front court guys and can do so many good things on defense. The idea he proposes of Gordon/Nocioni for Kirilenko/ Ronnie Brewer would really be a dream deal.

ESPN.com: Deng on the verge of signing 6 year/70 million dollar deal

JSlakov — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:33:02 -0000

[Woo-hoo! Original fanpost after the jump. The article actually says 'in excess' of $70m. Hopefully some more details will be available by Wednesday. If you couldn't tell after the many discussions here over the past few weeks, I'm just happy it's done, and the offseason is now underway. -ed.]

According to ESPN, Deng is close to signing a 70 million dollar deal over 6 years.

Seems about right, I'd have prefered to get him somewhat cheaper but it looks like the Okafor signing gave him a clear price to ask slightly less than and that was that.

Next up is Gordon, who I think with this deal probably should expect 10 million, which would be palatable even for Bulls fans who aren't too high on him like me. More importantly it seems Paxson's (or Reinsdorf's) deliberate pace didn't cost the Bulls here and in fact may have gotten him to sign for less although we'll probably never know.

ESPN Chat with Joakim Noah

JSlakov — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:27:40 -0000

ESPN Chat with Joakim Noah

Starts at 12:30 CST. Probably won't say much of interest but maybe he'll at least comment on how he sees the negotiations going and if he's learned his lesson from his off-court issues.

Hollinger and I Agree Yet Again: Keep Hinrich

JSlakov — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:26:41 -0000

I'm not sure if I've brought it up here, but I've been thinking since we got Rose that we should keep Hinrich and play him as shooting guard and someone who can share ball handling duties to give Rose breaks. Apparently John Hollinger agrees:

Scooter (Chicago): Please tell me the Bulls will work out a sign and trade with Ben Gordon? If not, what is the Bulls next move?

John Hollinger: (3:18 PM ET ) Sign-and-trade of Gordon, with Hinrich moving tot he 2, is unquestionably the most logical move for Chicago. They just need to find the right team for him, which is the hard part -- he doesn't fit easily for a lot of teams.

Hinrich has shown he can guard two guards and might do so better when he doesn't have to expend energy bringing the ball up. Also if Rose is the distributor everyone thinks he is, I've always thought he could thrive as mostly a spot up shooter on offense. I'd still prefer someone who can create a double team to get him open looks but why not see how this works, unless a great trade offer comes along?

I still don't think Gordon should be our starting shooting guard long term, especially if he wants 10 million a year still. Does anyone think Gordon is as valuable as Antawn Jamison? If we can get someone to take him in a sign and trade for something valuable (David Lee, perhaps?) then do so, otherwise I expect he'll sign the one year qualifying offer and he can be our sixth man and maybe if he succeeds we can get something for him around the trading deadline.

Hollinger's Plan to Rebuild the Bulls

JSlakov — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:53:56 -0000

The Rebuilding of the Bulls is one of John Hollinger's 10 stories to watch for the rest of the season. Here's what he said:

here

"The rebuilding of the Bulls

Speaking of GMs under fire, John Paxson of the Bulls is taking some serious heat for failing to pull the trigger on a big deal a year ago and then making a deadline-deal this month for Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden.

For the moment that trade has left the Bulls with a weird roster. They have five guards, two small forwards and not enough big guys. And the three bigs they do have (Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden) are all athletic-roamer types who need an enforcer beside them to be most effective.

So in a weird way, this is a crucial two months for Paxson. It goes without saying that he can't be finished trading, so this summer is likely to be huge for him -- especially considering that both Ben Gordon and Luol Deng are restricted free agents and Chris Duhon is unrestricted.

In the mean time, he has to figure out which of his five guards, two small forwards and three power forwards to keep, and which ones to trade away.

At least Paxson can enjoy his new players' strong start. In the admittedly small three-game sample since the deal, Hughes looks a lot more like the vintage guard of the Washington years, averaging 18.7 points and getting five foul shots a game. One wonders how long they'll keep Thabo Sefolosha in the starting lineup when Hughes is clearly outplaying him.

In fact, a Hughes-Gordon pairing might be Chicago's best option going forward. Hughes can be the de facto point man while defending the opposing shooting guard, sparing Gordon the worst of the matchups. Sefolosha could then come off the pine at both spots.

Of course, the elephant in this discussion is Kirk Hinrich, whose struggles have been a key reason behind the Bulls' fade this season. He was yanked just 36 seconds into the third quarter Wednesday night and didn't return, but trading his contract will be very difficult unless he plays better. Nonetheless, including him and one of the young bigs (most likely Thomas) in a swap for a stronger, veteran presence in the paint might be Chicago's most logical path to improvement.

Looking ahead, Bulls fans can still be optimistic about such an arrangement. A Hughes-Gordon-Sefolosha backcourt can get things done. Deng still has plenty of upside at the 3, and bringing Andres Nocioni off the pine as a scoring force at both forward spots is a weapon few other teams can match. Then you have a frontcourt of Noah and the mystery guy in the trade, plus the still-young and reasonably productive Gooden as the spare big.

All this, of course, is subject to what happens over the next two months, which is why I'll be watching Chicago so closely. The Bulls' season has been a disaster, but they still have a young roster with a lot of nice pieces, and if Paxson makes the right deals, he might be able to salvage this group."

I know some Tyrus Thomas lovers won't like this. What say you?