I am starting to wonder if maybe the Lakers might be interested in accquiring hinrich, especially if they dont win a championship this year.  Derek Fisher has been awful and can only get worse. I don't think they view jordan farmar as their future PG and if they do, yikes.

I am sure Kobe would be happy to have kirk playing along his side, take a little bit of the defensive pressure off of kobe.  And keeping the franchise player happy is always the most important thing in basetball right?  They are the lakers and they have lots of money so that shouldn't be an issue in terms of his salary.  Kobe and Phil only have so many years left to work things out...

I don't mean to be all speculative, but since I personally want Gordon over Hinrich, I thought about it as I was watching the rockets-lakers.  Someone indulge me with a creative way to get Hinrich to the Lakers that makes sense.  And by sense, I mean not having to take on Lamar Odom for the same amount of money for 5 years. After all, the draft this year sucks, so we might as well procrastinate by coming up with trade proposals.

For everyone who misses him, here is a jewel of a find.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/fashion/08Skin.html?ref=fashion

I don't know how or why he is in this article but its still funny. Wish him all the best in Spain, but we could really use a big body like him to help us out in the rebounding sector with Wallace playing all gimpy.

Team USA won the first game against Venzuela by a wide margin of 43 points (112-69).  I saw a bit of the game and although it might seem like this is a good sign for team USA, I think they still havent figured it out.  I am not talking about just the players...the coaches and the selection committee. First things first, they stunk it up from the three point line (which is only five feet further back than the free throw line).  Venezuela's defense was atrocious, so US still scored 112 points.  Against better defenses that know how to play team usa, they arent going to do so well with that starting line up.

Lebron is the least fitted for international game cause he dribbles too much and everything revolves around him (not in the good magic/larry bird sort of way).  More importantly, his outside shot is not consistent. Carmelo has sort of figured it out more than lebron and is good at scoring a bunch of points but is a lousy defender and not much of outside shooter. Jason kidd has no outside shot whatsoever and the three headed monster of Howard, Stoudemire, and Chandler doesn't seem to be scaring many because they don't execute well.  It will be interesting to see if Chandler scores any baskets at all this whole tournament.  He should be able to get a tip in or something at some point.  

I think they should have Redd and Miller play more because they can shoot.  Also have Tayshaun play instead of lebron because he doesn't need the ball and he plays better defense.  Kobe and Melo should be the two go to guys when they need points. Whatever happened to the we need role players instead of superstars philosophy?  They will qualify now but they should restructure the team and fill it up with role players that can shoot and are better suited for international games.  Heck, even throw anthony parker into the mix.  

As an aside: Here's a truehoop post about kobe:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-27-94/Kobe-Bryant-is-Not-Messing-Around.html

He seems to really really really want to prove everyone wrong.  He might also be auditioning for the bulls.  Or maybe hes just motivated by the fact that he is playing on a team that has a chance to win and it might be his last chance for any sort of championship.  Either way, the guy has spectacular work ethic along with all the physical tools.  Anyone who doesn't want him on their team is crazy.
Kobe is like all the positive things about nocioni/deng/gordon/hinrich combined.  Except for the flopping/taking charges part.

Alright, this post might be over ambitious/redundant but here we go:

Seeing that there will be very few changes this summer (Unless paxson is being ultra secretive), I was trying to think of how the bulls would operate for the years to come if the bulls just stick with the current roster.  

First off, I think the bulls have the talent to win a championship in the next two years or three with the current roster developing etc... It would be really hard to win though because the type of players the bulls have. Not that I like charles barkley, but they need a low post presence/stop living by the jump shot solution.

Part of what worries me is that now I see tyrus playing out in the perimeter during summer league and then they draft Noah.  I think Noah is better than Spencer Hawes, but in some ways drafting hawes would have been the better move in terms of potential down the road.  Plus it is the second year in a row that they pass up on a post up threat (assuming you call aldridge a post up threat, which he sort of is).  Either way, it is not like Noah is going to get more than 15 minutes this year, they might as well have signed a short term vet like Moore, Smith or something and drafted Hawes.

Anyways moving on, as I have mentioned, Tyrus perimeter game has been developing.  The more I see him play, the more I think he has the potential to be a better SF than a PF when it comes to offense.  There are going to be lots of forwards either hanging around in the perimeter/playing pick and roll OR waiting for something to happen while down low and  trying to pick up offensive rebounds or easy baskets off of hand offs. This probably wont work unless Deng and Gordon are able to consistently be more aggressive driving to the hoop drawing double teams, in which case an easy basket wouldn't be as hard to come by. Somehow, I am less hopeful about Deng playing Pf and posting people up after watching him get pushed by Tayshaun Prince (as others have also observed)

Unless the bulls are holding out till mid season for a big trade or waiting for Garnett to opt out, the current team very much limits their options offensively and at certain times stifles thier offensive abilities.  No one to break the defense down on a consistent basis (like a Chris Paul/Nash or even Deron Williams) or draw double teams in the post like Duncan.  

Thats why many advocated last year for trading for Gasol (except according to several reports West was out of his mind and asking for half the team).  I would even go as far to trade Deng or Gordon but they are probably less valuable this year than last year because they are up for extensions this summer.  

Tyrus/Noah/Nocioni/Wallace/Deng frontline will probably be the strongest front line defensively, but as demonstrated by the Cavs night in and night out, even if you play great defense you need some offense (in conjunction with a competent coach) to win a championship. Some would say that the same goes for the Rockets problems. In summation, its all becoming more aggravating to believe that Paxson's patient philosophy and the Skiles notion that defense and will can beat everyone.  If there's is anything that might be more aggravating then temporary losing is long stretches of mediocrity, and i hope the bulls are heading that way. Throwing money at Nocioni and Wallace and then saying your not willing to go over the luxury tax also doesn't help in that regards.

Gerald Wallace apparently agreed to a 6 year deal (last year player option) with the bobcats for $57 million. The catch is that there are apparently lots of bonuses (up to 2 million a year). I hope this is the type of deal Deng gets.  I think they are comparable. Here is the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2933311

In other news, Darko and Memphis have apparently agreed to a contract for an unknown amount, but it is "believed to be for substantially more than the $5.3 million mid-level exception."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2933472

He probably signed for about what Noce signed for.

I am making this thread for anyone who cants to comment on any of the summer league play outside the bulls games.Just write the game on the first sentence and the date.

I am watching team china v memphis 7/7/07. This guy named wang is hitting outside shots like no other and Yi looks damn good.  The guy has quick feets and made a gorgeous spin move on alexander johnson, who isnt a summer scrub but a good lookin prospect.  He also made a nice outside shot.  I wish he was on the bulls instead of the hobbled Noah who we arent going to see.  I hope they trade him to the bulls. Sune Yue looks very turnover prone.

I know its early to be talking about extensions.  Well actually one of my questions is what is the time frame for offering Deng and Gordon an extension?  

I hope that Gerald Wallace gets no more than 10 million a year and that would set a nice precedent for Deng (they are different types of players but both good defenders with developing strong offensive game).

 As for Gordon, I really dont know what will happen. There aren't many other players to compare him to contract wise(his odd combination of size, scoring ability etc..).  If they can't get him to sign an extension for 10 million or under, will the bulls even extend his contract or check out how he progresses and consider resigning him (which is risky with the contract year effect plus I am not sure they'd be under the cap to sign a replacement if needed).  I just hope both gordon and Deng stay with the bulls.  Espescially Deng.  Once his contract gets extended, I am going to buy my first bulls jersey since my Pippen jersey.

I know everyone here hates the pick.  But unless I am not getting something here, portland is the one that got screwed over with this trade.  Steve Franchise played horrible basketball and is a complete mess.  Channing Frye got worse last year and is a poor mans aldridge next year.

Aside from Randolph's jailblazer/strip club reputation, he has an inside outside game, so he doesnt completely overlap with curry.  Plus he can actually rebound.  Still no intimidating shot blocking presence for the knicks, but now they have freakin dan dickau.  Who the hell doesnt want a guy like dan dickau.  He will make page six at least once.

The only reason I see portland would make this move is because francis' huge contract expires right about the time that they will start extending their young core's contracts (Particularly roy's and aldridge).  Meanwhile the knicks will be back in cap hell but no one really cares about the salary cap in nyc. Couldn't the blazers have gotten a better deal for Randolph (at least an extra pick).  I guess the bulls had their chance to get randolph but didnt want him.

UPDATE: [ Jim O'Brien (!) is going to be the new Pacers coach. Tough break for Boylan. -Matt]

So how much would Boylan leaving the bulls affect the bulls?  I have no idea how much of a role he currently has in the bulls style/coaching and everythinng.  Considering many here think that coaching is of marginal value and how a team performs is based almost purely on how its players perform...I guess it wouldn't matter much.  Oh and its division rivals the Pacers who are most interested according to this article:

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/cs-070523bulls,1,1526016.story?coll= cs-bulls-headlines

I am watching these conference finals and is it me or can these teams not play offense.  What happened to detroit.  They were very proficient and smooth in executing their offensive plan against the bulls but for some reason cleveland is making their opponent play offense that is as bad as their own and as slow a lot of the times.  And even though the western finals arent phoenix vs. golden state, the spurs and the jazz are a lot more entertaining. Somehow they also manage to play well on defense and offense.  

Ahhhhh.  I am always a fan of tyson chandler and its great that he just got invited to play for team USA:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=2879519

But what are they thinking?  Tyson is not at that level yet.  He probably wont make it but if he does he wouldn't be to useful playing against international competition.  I wish he would have lived up to expectations in chicago but that probably would not have happened.  They should put tayshaun and mike miller (need more perimeter shooters).  Tayshaun would be good defensively.  Does anyone watch Team USA basketball anyways.  I haven't seen them play yet and i dont know if I will this summer either.

Will someone explain in detail what money the bulls willhave available for free agency next year.  I hear people saying they will only have mid-level exception etc... but hoophype salary analysis shows they will be at least 8 million under the cap:

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/chicago.htm

I thought a team only gets mid leve exception if they are over the cap?  I am aware that gordon and deng are up for extensions but those dont go into effect until 08-09 season.  Excuse my ignorance in advance and if theres a good website that explains this all feel free to jsut guide me there instead of writing a reply.  Thanks.

Here is a very interesting article on a study done by two economist.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/sports/basketball/02refs.html?hp

The basic conclusion, not surprising in my opinion, is that there is a racial bias: black players get called for more fouls than white players when the referees are white.  The opposite is true but the numbers are weaker (white players/black officials).  

Please don't make this into an inflammatory thread by saying stupid things like "well the black players in the nba are more violent like stephen jackson" type of thing.  Nonetheless, I am interested in hearing people's reactions.  I am sure our white brother Hinrich would be surprised considering all the fouls he gets called for.  Interestingly enough the NBA did a counterstudy and guess what...there was no racial bias in their study which was a much less formal and detailed study than the one by the academics.

Tonight at 8 30 EST the Bulls take on the Bucks, who have perhaps been the most steadily mediocre team in the NBA this season.  

Hinrich and company will have their hands full while guarding Michael Redd, one of the league's best pure scorers. It will be key for Hinrich to stay out of foul trouble early.  In other news, Villanueva has come back from the injured list quite nicely and has been an offensive weapon on Redd's off-nights.  

Offensively for the Bulls, the question like always is: who will be the player to step up?  Ben Gordon has been prolific off the bench and nocioni + Deng have been solid contributors on the offensive end during the Bulls homestand.  Wallace also had a breakthrough performance against the Sonics with 15 points and 20 rebounds.  If he can match his defensive effort, like his contract would suggest, the Bulls will give the Bucks a hard time.

Although the Bucks are not a very good team, it will be interesting to see if the Bulls can get off to another quick start and beat a team whose star is not injured and does not play in the Atlantic Division.

Blogging with the enemy:

http://bucksdiary.blogspot.com/

http://www.thebratwurst.com/
       

What is wrong with the Bulls Defense?  They are letting up more than 95 a game and are being outrebounded while their opponents shoot 46 percent.  Lets not forget that those statistics include the first game in Miami.  How can this be.  I know we have a lot of new players but they were all supposed to be defensive upgrades not downgrades.  Brown over Songaila, wallace over chandler the list goes on and on.  

Is it my imagination or are people just driving by almost every bull.  Are the bulls that slow?  Deng and nocioni are supposed ot be good defenders (even though they arent the quickest) but they have seemed pretty awful.  And dont get me wrong those offensive charges that Nocioni draws are great but he also gets dunked on quite a few times a game and gets called for blocking fouls or just flops on the floor while someone shoots an easy layup. And hinrich well hes had those foul troubles.

Wallace getting outplayed most the nights by the opposing team's center has also been painful to watch. He has moments but sometimes it seems like he doesnt take his opponent seriously unless its Shaq or Yao or some other big name center, thus allowing Dampier or Bynum to score plenty mroe than they should be scoring against him.

Alright...so everyone seems pretty pissed off about the start of this season.  I know I am.  Im trying to be patient like everyone else but every night I just get more irritated with this team...no joy.  Even when they do something well its negated by other badness.  Here are my complaints. Many of them are very obvious:

-Tyrus Thomas has lots of energy but is sort of like a nocioni (when he can't hit his shots)...very detrimental offensively and too many silly mistakes.  

Sweetney, Khryapa, And allen: should be ahead of Thomas on the depth chart...unless theres some specific defensive match up that Thomas is needed for.

-Speaking of nocioni-I cant stand the whining...its the overdramatic south american thing (trust me on this one)-as exmplified by all of his flopping which seems to be working less and less.

-Wallace: FT we knew was going to be a problem offense blah blah. i dont care about that, but it seems like he does not dominate the defensive boards like a player of his defensive caliber should.

-Hinrich: earn your damn 45 million dollars by showing up everynight and being a consistently stellar point guard so we dont have to watch Duhon try to do that instead.

-Gordon: gets singled out too much for Bull's offensive problems.

-Duhon: get taller and stop playing so many minutes.  

-Sweetney: lose some weight and play more minutes.

Alright, even though I am a liberal northeasterner or wahtever, I am not not too Politically correct or care too much about all that.  But does anyone else have any reaction to Barkley's comments after the other commentators asked why there weren't any women on his list for top 5 athletes of all time?

It would have been fine if he hadn't continued with that sexist joke that wasn't even funny.
Can he justt get away with that sort of crap cause he is charles barkley? I wouldnt be surprised nor would I care if he makes those type of comments in private but on the TNT halftime show?

I know I already made a post about Sweetney before, but why in the world are there no reports anywhere about what he is up to.  this is really worrisome.  I have been trying to come up with theories:

-He has a serious injury that we dont know about or even worse yet some sort of abnormal condition

-he has some sort of psychological issue (depression) which is part of the reason he cant lose weight (medication).  alright thats a stretch but could be...

-He is about to get traded (probably not)

-Skiles is really fed up with him because he is out of shape

-gastric bypass surgery to lose weight...also a stretch

Anyways has anyone heard anything at all.  Even if he is out of shape there is no reason not to play him for 10 minutes a game or so.  If anyone ahs heard anything let me know.  I am really down about this cause I really think Sweetney is a much better player than a lot of people think.  Back when he was with the Knicks (i live in ny so watch games) he had some really brilliant stretches. Sadness.

Maybe I missed something.  But where is Sweetney?  Is he injured or listed as injured or jsut not playing cause Skiles does not like him or is he so out of shape that he is not getting any minutes? Sorry if the answer is very obvious but I do not recall reading about it anywhere or anything. Things could get better if he returns.

Since I can't see any of the preseason games cause i live in NY, I was wondering if someone could tell me  if Deng looks stronger/put on some pounds.   I am just hoping that either Deng, Khryapa or Thomas gain enough weight to guard Power Forwards.  

The comments about Sweetney seem to indicate he did not loose any pounds and that he is still overweight to put it lightly.  I obviously doubt he will stay a Bull if he doesnt lose some weight soon.

I really think bulls fans should stop thinking that the Knicks are going to give us a lottery pick.  I know it was just a preseason game against the Nets, but it seems to me that almost everyone on that team from Curry to Starbury to Thomas have something to prove.  Their biggest weakness is that they cant defend and they should get rid of Francis, who clearly does not fit into the picture.  I am not a Knicks fan, but i think they will win at least 30-35 games this season.  Hell they might even ahve a chance to get the 8th spot for the playoffs if its Curry's breakout season.

Bad news for the Pacers. Stephen Jackson and some teamates involved in an altercation that included guns.  Oh, and there was some marijuana in the car.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-BKN-Pacers-Gunfire.html?hp&ex=1160193600&en=f88370 06332b16dc&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Why do so many athletes have guns?  The marijuana I can dunderstand, but the guns?

Seriously, this is getting out of hand.  We are all bulls fans.  If you think Kevin's posts are ridiculous, then dont read his posts.  No one is forcing you to read them. In fact by responding, you are aggravating the situation.
On the other hand, I do not care if you are john paxson's secretary. If you have a rumor you need to cite it with an internet link or at least a some other sort of formdable source (for example: I heard on the radio station that this this and that.  A bad  citation would be something along the lines of: I have connections to the bulls front office and I heard that magic johnson is going to join nthe bulls for next season) .  Let's try to control the umors.  Relax and wait to see what happens.

Hopefully all these moves will translate to more national airtime for bulls games so i can watch more games from new york.

Secondly, am I the only one who is extremely exxcited about the fact that this team is gonna be throwing it down hard near the rim a lot more than last years.  I want to see some high-flying action.  I love the buls gritty defense, but i cant wait for it to lead to some more exciting fast break that dont finish with lay-ups. Maybe i am hallucinating but i envision T^2 throwing down some alley-oops from hinrich and ben wallace being able to dunk a lot more than chandler because he can catch the ball better...Also JR Smith on fast breaks.  Whats Thabo's leaping ability like?  Can someone teach deng how to dunk the ball.  Nocioni throws it down harder than Deng...Oh man im looking forward to nezt season.

How in the world are we going to give all our players enough minutes to keep them satisfied???? It seems like it would be technically impossible. Duhon, Hinrich and Gordon already shared most the minutes at 1-2 last year.  Thabo and Smith cutting into their time? Are they both going to be playing 10 minutes a game.  Iimagine that would really piss off smith.  Thabo not so much cause he is a rookie.

Moving on to the 3 spot where we are extremely deep.  Primary-Nocioni and Deng. Secondary-Thomas Khryapa, Smith and SEfolasha.

4 spot: Primary: Sweetney (espescially if he keeps the weight off), PJ Brown.  SEcondary-Nocioni, Thomas, Allen and Khryapa

5-Obviously ben wallace. secondary : allen and Sweetney.

MY POINT: A lot of these guys are gonna be pissed off playing less than 20 minutes.  Thats why i think there is another trade coming up. Unless we play Thomas, Thabo, Smith and Khryapa less than 15 minutes each a game...then there is no way that last years key players will continue playing the minutes they did last year.  Even if you wait until the trading deadline...wont a lot of these guys be getting so few minutes that it will decrease there value...ow is this going to work!!!!!  well at least we have lots of line-ups to work with. As long as we dont pull the larry brown new line up every night ritual.

I don't want to part with chandler.  I understand we need the money, but if he gains some weight and develops a 10 foot shot next year, he would be worth his contract and maybe more in the future.

Not only that, but he is so young.  You rarely see a guy that tall and young play with so much heart.  You can say what you want about chandler,but one thing he did this whole time is play with heart.  He's young and did lots of stupid shit...like not catching the basketball, but you have to think the guy can certainly not get worse.

It is really too bad that neither ben wallace nor chandler have an offensive game. it would be so much fun to watch them play side by side.

The Bucks just traded TJ ford for charlie villanueva and it seems very likely that they will trade magloire very soon with bogut and villanueva at c and pf.  Magloire has one year left in his 8.3 million contract.  He's a proven veteran and a much better short term solution that anyone out there.  PLus you unload his salary next year if he doesnt work out.

The bucks point guard situation is not very pretty right now.  Why not trade Duhon for MAgloire?  Would they go for that?  Could the bulls pull of some sort of trade.  It makes sense to me.  It is probably a better idea than signing some unproven center to a multi year 8 million  contract.  Maybe go after Nene on the side too or pryz whate er take your pick.

[Combined these two Diaries -Matt]

Alright. now that we are done with the draft and we did not draft anyone over 6'8", who is going to play center??? Are Chandler/Sweetney going to be our centers?  It would be nice to have someone who can guard the post and score some down low (a lighter, taller sweetney would be amazing).  I really don't want a purely defensive center like pryzbilla at this  because we need two legitimate post scorers (sweetney is our main man right now in the post). Is there anyone out there we can really sign? Nene seems like the only available big man who can score 10+ every night.

.....

Its obvious that the bulls are gonna get a large body in the paint.  Different people have been throwing around names such as Pryzbilla, Nazr Mohamed, Nene (my personal favorite), Magloire, Mihm.  Some of those are more likely then others.  An I probably mispelled some of those names.  Anyways, the bulls seemed to be stacked with small guards and small forwards (at least on paper).

In my opinion, we need a big man that will not only be a defensive presence, but also an offensive presence.  I imagine either chandler or thomas will be playing with our new big man at least 75 percent of the time.

I want Nene, but can we geet him for 8 million??? How much will he want???

So, now that the bulls have thomas, sefolasha, and kryapa, don't they have possibly 5 small forwards?  I know thomas and nocioni can play power forward although they are undersized.  Is someone gonna get traded (except for duhon).  Does this mean that we are gonna,k play like phoenix or are wi am somewhat woried.  e gonna be signing two big men or something???

[Bumped from the Diaries. This supposed Tyrus Thomas promise is bizarre. I can't see a reason to make such a promise other than to make teams below the Bulls try and trade up to get him. I'd be up for that scenario since as you know, I'm not a Thomas guy. -Matt]

The articles about someone promising Thomas that he will be picked before portland picks are rampant.  I would provide some links but I do not know where to start.  

One of the possibilities is that some team really wants Thomas and Paxson is finalizing a deal with them.  Scroll to the "Jordan runing the.." section.

http://www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1358

If this is indeed what is going on, who are the possible suitors and what are we looking to get back in return?  If anyone is willing to theorize, please provide some rationale. Include links, possible rumors from other sites or anything of that sort.  Don't be like: the bulls are trading the pick, gordon, and deng for Kevin garnett and minnesota's pick without providing a link or argument supporting such wild speculation.

If this is not the case, why in the world would the bulls promise Thomas the 2nd pick in the draft when his stock has been dropping and it seems less and less likely that he will be in the top three unless the bulls pick him.  Is he hiding an injury?? Has Paxson gone mad?  Are Thomas and his agent trying to bolster his stock?