Portland is one of your wife's girlfriends back in college, Utah and Boozer are your future wife, and you are the Chicago Bulls.  Your future wife's girlfriend has some very nice looking assets.  She talks a big game, but in essence she really doesn't bring too much to the table except a lot of trouble, and she is too selfish for anything substantial to come out of the relationship.  You know she is just into everything for herself.  One day your future wife, her girlfriend, and you are sitting around drinking way too much in your apartment. Her girlfriend is pretty bold and from her history you have seen that she is not afraid to make a deal.  After a while, she suggest a threesome.

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Apparently, nobody told the Bulls that they are allowed to start signing free agents.  (footnote:  Jrome)  I know they are sitting back and waiting and trying to do the smart thing, but isn’t that what put the Bulls in there current state?  The wait and see and weigh out every possible scenario is a recipe for meritocracy not excellence.  I would rather take the Bull by the horn and make things happen.  Deng & BG are complimentary players not All-star.  Why don’t the Bulls get a budding All-star in Josh Smith? 

The Bulls should overpay for Josh Smith and hope Atlanta’s management is too scared to match the offer.  They already have Al Horford at the power forward position and Marvin is not the answer at SF.  Let the Hawk settle for Deng while the Bulls steal an All-star. 

The next step is to solidify the small forward position.  The Bulls could keep Noce playing SF and be okay, but I would rather shoot for the moon.  The Pistons want a shake up.  Trade away Noce & Tyrus for Tayshaun Prince.  The money works and Tyrus has to have some value for Joey D because he has played absolutely nuts vs the Pistons. 

Finally, sign BG to 7 – 9 million a year.  Without Noce’s reserve contract, the Bulls could afford to pay Ben his money.  Kirk could stay around to ease in Rose to the point guard role.  By the time Rose, is ready to take over Kirk will still be an affordable serviceable vet. 

(I hate when people show the depth chart, but here is the gist of it)

Rose, Kirk

BG, Thabo

Tayshaun

Josh Smith

Noah

I have found the perfect trade partner for the Bulls- the Denver Nuggets.  This team is the ying to the Bulls yang.  Their coach understands what Paxson already knows about his own team; they need to make major changes if they are going to compete with the top team’s in their conference.  Denver has too much scoring and not enough defense.  Here me out before you start bashing.  The Bulls need to finally part ways with a couple of their favorite players to bring in a superstar.  I am not a huge Carmelo Anthony fan, but he is available, and he is a superstar.  He might not play too much D or have too much heart on the defensive end, but if you surround him with Tyrus, Thabo, & Noce, they can help cover Melo’s defensive deficiencies, and take the pressure off them on the offensive end. 

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Watching Lebron and Kobe lift their teams to victory on Sunday is about as frustrating as the whole 2008 Chicago Bulls season.  I know it is cliché, but the Bulls need a star to lift them to the next level and deliver in the clutch.  Without a star, this Bull's team will continue to be a perennial first round speed bump of contender on their way to the finals.  

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After the Lakers-Memphis trade, I have come to the realization that the Bulls are not going to make a trade or get rid of Ben Wallace this year.  I think Paxson had Memphis & LA as his two top teams to trade with.  I can only imagine what is going throw Paxson's head after taht trade it had to blindside him.  Gasol would have been nice, and Wallace's offense could have been easily hidden by the triangle and Kobe, but now both options are gone.  What about the Kobe in the East?  

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The next 18 days are horrible for the LA Lakers.  They figure out that they have too many players that require the ball in the hands to win (Kobe, Lamar, Pau, & Bynum-when he returns.)  Pau & Kobe do not get along.  They are a worse match since Shaq and Kobe off the court, and they not clicking on either end of the floor.  Pau and Kobe get into fights about Spainish & French foreign realtions and Pau buming cigarettes to kids.  It is definately not going to work out.

The Lakers lose there next 8 games going into the trade deadline.  They are giving up average around 115 points a game.  They are getting destroyed.  They need defensive.  Phil has never won with a true LOW post player.  What can they do to fix this mistake???

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I have heard a lot of complaining about why the Bulls could not have either LaMarcus Aldridge or Brandon Roy.  I was lobbying hard for Brandon Roy because he would complement Kirk and could play the point with BG.  The fact of the matter is:  I do not think Paxson ever wanted Tyrus Thomas.  Paxson had a plan to catch a big fish, and TT was just trade bait to entice Kevin McHale to move Garnett to Chicago, but everything blew up in Paxson's face when McHale decided only deal with his old friend in Boston.  

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Recently, I have been a little worn out with all the draft speculation, so I spent some time gauging interest of Bull's players from other team's blogs that might have a scoring big for sale.    I don't know if Portland is still high on fumes from getting lucky in the lottery, but both blog-nations seem very far apart, and a deal is unlikely.  I decided to turn my attention to plan B, or for me plan AAZ.  

The consensus among mock drafts is the Bulls are drafting Noah as an instant contributor and future Big Ben replacement, so a inside scoring big is still missing.  

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Personally, I love reading all the draft speculation.  The more teams and players the more I get intrigued, but the truth of the matter is most rumors are just rumors and many of them are made up in blogs like these.  I wanted to propose a trade that will fill a need and keep it simple one player for one player.  I keep seeing the same need repeated in most of the recent diarys.

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The regular season is about over.  We have 3 more exciting days to watch the standings and pray for the highest pick possible.  I am pretty jealous today of those who own league pass because I will probably only have a chance to watch one of these games.

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Standings as of 4-11.

11. 76ers 32 45
    
10. Kings 32 45
    
9.  Timberwolves 32 45 .
   
8.  Knicks 32 46
   
7.  Bobcats 32 47
   
6.  Trail Blazers 31-46
   
5.  SuperSonics 31 47
   
4.  Hawks 29 49
   
3.  Bucks 26 51 .
   
2.  Celtic
   
1.  Griz

Remaining Games

Bobcats CHI, MIL, NY
Knicks NJ, TOR, NJ, CHAR
Trail Blazers HOU, LAC, SEA, UTAH, GS
Sonics PHO, POR, LAL, DAL
Hawks WAS, CLE, MIL, IND

This can work out great for the Bulls.  I hate to admit that I am watching these standing almost as much as I am watching the Cavs & Bull's schedules.  

http://sports.aol.com/whitlock/_a/mayhem-main-event-at-nba-all-star/20070220103009990001

"But there were multiple brawls, at least two shootings, more than 350 arrests and a lot of terror in Vegas over the weekend"

I thought people might be interested in this article about the mayhem in Las Vegas during the All-star break weekend.  With all the trade rumors going around, I almost missed this story, so I thought I would post a quick diary if anyone else missed this.  

The NBA is definatley not what is was ten years ago, but I think the fact that it was held in Las Vegas just made the situation worse.  People view Las Vegas as a town that anything goes, and they go completely nuts.  It will be interesting what happens in New Orleans next season.  I am glad that I scheduled my trip to Las Vegas for March Maddness and not the All-star game.  

This title might sound like the beginning of a children's book.  The book could tell how an immature young boy named Tyrus learns an important lesson about saying the right thing while learning about his NBA heritage.  I understand that eighty percent of our diaries have been about TT or Gasol, but my comment was longer than I expected, so I decided to make a new diary.  Matt do as you please.

First off, I forget who posted something about Tyrus needing to learn how to jump off one foot if he was going to succeed in the dunk contest.  I found it funny that he was trying to do this last night on his fast break and tweaked his ankle. I have played with plenty of guys, who can jump out the gym, but cannot jump off of 1 foot.  I remember trying to teach one of my friends to jump off one foot back in high school.  It is unbelievable that these amazing athletes have a hard time doing this.  It is almost comical at times.

Anyway, Is Tyrus's ankle going to be okay?  He seemed to walk off the court all right, even though, it appears that his ego was hurt more than his ankle.  I have to continue to tell myself that this is just a twenty-year-old kid.  

Finally, I will go out and make another prediction.  This will come true sooner rather than later (the "atheist" Oden returning to college next year.)  Oden Diary
Prediction:  Tyrus Thomas shaved his head because he is working on a tribute dunk for Jordan.

It might make the average fan excited, but I will find it unoriginal.  Josh Smith pulled out a tribute dunk two years ago for Dominique.  (The two handed windmill- sweet.)  Dunk contest are not the same since the greats, Jordan & Wilkens, went head to head and don't forget when Spud stole the show.  Players need to bring their own individuality to the contest because most of the dunks have been done before.

I would rather see Tyrus tape a giant check to his back and do a dunk than for him to dress up like Jordan, which is unoriginal.  Tyrus, tape the check to your back as if it were wings on an airplane.  Maybe tie some canvas sacks all over yourself with dollar signs.  Do your dunk and leave.  Do not talk to reporters.  Now that would be an honest and original dunk.  

I think everyone on this website has been guilty of assuming the Knicks pick will turn into Greg Oden.  I have just read a pretty good article on this big man, and I thought I would share it with Blog-A-Bull readers.

Oden Article

These great things have been said about Oden:

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Okay lets set the stage.  It is draft night on 2004.  My team, the Chicago Bulls, have two draft picks.  I am very excited like I am anytime the NBA or NFL draft is on.  I have done research for many months, read countless mock drafts, and discussed to great legnths "what I would do."  

I still remember screaming at my TV and Krause to draft Michael Finley back in the championship days, but to no avail we draft a Jason Caffey.  Its not only basketball.  I yelled sh** last year when I thought the Bears had a chance to grab Leanord Pope in the 4th round.  Since I never swear, my wife sprinted down the stairs because she thought something terrible has happened.  It had, we just missed out on a steal in the 4th round.  I have prided myself on picking 3 out of the last 5 Bear's 4th round picks weeks before the draft (Alex Brown, Nathan Vasher, & Kyle Orton).  I called Devin Hester months before the draft as our 3rd round pick who will have 6-8 TD on specials this year.  

If I haven't painted a picture yet, I am very passionate about how my team drafts. I am rarely wrong about a player, but I was on Loul Deng.

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It is obvious that the Bulls need height, inside scoring, and maybe star power to win it all.  When I play Paxon and look around the league for height & scoring ability that are available and could help the Bulls, the usual suspects are easy to pick.  
   Kevin Garnett- we probably would have to give up too much.

   Pau Gasol- exciting idea, but nobody has a clue what management is doing in Memphis.  

After those two players, my next pick would not be the most popular trade on this site with everyone, but this player young and can score inside with the best of them.  

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After a solid season in 05 and a very exciting offseason, everyone was ready for the Bulls to take the next step.  So far this season, the Bulls have been a disappointment to everyone.  Everyone.  They are 5-9 overall and a subpar 2-8 on the road.  After a road game at New Orleans, the Bulls come home for a eight game homestand.  

The Bulls are at the point in their schedule where they can make a big statement.  Their next 8 home games are against teams with a combined record of 45W-68L.  Plus, these 8 teams have a combined road record of 18 wins and 44 losses.  I would love to see the Bulls beat the Hornets, so they can ride a 3 game winning streak into a very winnable homestand.  Right now the Bulls are 3-1 at home.  If they continue on that pace and go 6-2 over the next 8, we are looking at a team that is 1 win over .500.  

One game over .500 wasn't this team's goal this early in the season, but with only 4 other teams over .500 in the Eastern Conference it could be a HUGE time to make a statement.  So get ready to take back all those horrible things that people have been saying about this team.  

A couple minutes before the draft, my friend phoned me that the Bulls were in the works with a deal with Portland that would send #2 & #16 for #4 & #7.  Then my mind started racing on the posibities of adding 2 NBA ready players.  Do we take Sheldon at 4 and hope Roy falls to 7?  Do we take Roy at 4 and whatever PF fall to us at 7? I have wanted to add Sheldon & Roy since the middle of last season when the Bulls were losing a few games, and I thought that Paxon was a wizard for pulling this off.

Then, we trade Aldridge for Thomas and Khryapa.  Did we just add 2 more SF and neither will be better than Noce or Deng in the next couple years?  Where my championship?  Where my established play in Sheldon or Roy?  Did we just take a step backwards?

The day of the draft.  Without any trades, I thought Pax was going to grab Thomas and Thabo.  Then the Bulls trade for Khryapa?  Does this mean that there is a trade brewing?  Im confused.  Im scared.  I feel like the condomn just broke.  Am I a daddy?  Is he an athlete?  Will he have a post game?  Whats happening?

Secondly, (Matt do you like the use of a transition?)  If we do stand pat and get a big in FA, how about we front load his and Kirk contract, so we have money next year for Noce, Deng & Gordon.

The Boston Globe is saying that we might trade Duhon and # 16 for the # 7.  I know there is always crazy trade rumors, but if Sheldon is available at #7.  Paxon could get two pollished players in this draft that could fill needs.  Also, both players are his type of players.  

With these picks we can get a combo of Roy/ Sheldon or if we are high on Thomas grab him and Brewer.  What everybody think?