SBNation.com User Blog: kite

Nate Robinson - State of Nate

kite — Fri, 10 May 2013 06:50:53 -0000

Pretty cool video of Nate in Brooklyn for the first round series with the Nets. With appearances by Taj, Daequan Cook, and Rip.

DRose Mix

kite — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:51:34 -0000

This should be a fixture of BaB. It's the best DRose mix ever made and should be required monthly viewing for Bulls fans while he's out. I really feel like a lot of us tend to forget how good he is and this serves as the perfect reminder.

Give Thanks for that Knee Injury

kite — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:07:52 -0000

Give Thanks for that Knee Injury

This is an article by Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal talking about NBA players improving their shooting after suffering knee injuries, particularly ACL tears. I saw it posted as a comment by White Mambah in the open game thread from Sunday's early games and thought it was interesting and deserved a fanshot.

Miami Heat Harlem Shake

kite — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 05:06:05 -0000

I thought this was pretty funny, especially "Super" Mario Chalmers.

Sign and Trade Possibility for BG

kite — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:06:38 -0000

I was looking through this hoopsworld article, and it says:

"Gordon and BYC: Assuming Gordon would accept a contract starting at roughly $10 million a season, the Bulls would have to send out an additional player to offset the BYC factor. Considering the $25 million still owed to Larry Hughes over the next two seasons, the Bulls would probably have to include Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden or Ty Thomas in any Gordon package.

Gordon ($10 million) with Tyrus Thomas permits the Bulls to take in a maximum of $11,037,350. The receiving team would be credited with taking in $13.7 million in salary for which they would have to send out a minimum of $10,919,904 to match. Of course, Gordon's amount could be adjusted and other throw-ins included, but the parameters for a workable deal may be very narrow.

Gordon combined with Gooden enables Chicago to take in as much as $15,288,978 in salary. The trade partner would need to send out at least $13,640,946. The numbers are slightly higher for Nocioni, who makes about $850k more than Gooden."

That got me thinking of sign and trade possibilities, so I went to the trade machine. I looked through the other teams' rosters, and tried to find some teams that would like to trade for Gordon and give him the money he wants. The team needs to be: 1. willing to spend money. 2. a good fit for Gordon. 3. have players that the Bulls might like to trade for. and 4. have contracts that make the deal work (preferrably short ones).

One team that fits all 4 requirements is the Lakers.

The Bulls acquire Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar and Trevor Ariza (or not, I just like him).

The Lakers receive Ben Gordon (s+t for 10 mil in first year), Andres Nocioni, Joe Smith trade exception, and Cedric Simmons (if possible/necessary).

I know that trade exceptions can't be combined and have to be traded separately, but I think the Bulls can trade it for Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar (and if they can only get one player in return, then it'll be Ariza and Farmar will be included in the other deal with Odom, and the Cedric Simmons cntract balances everything out I think).

This trade works for Gordon because he gets his money and goes to a team that he feels wants him more. It works for the Bulls because they get rid of Nocioni's terrible contract, settle the Gordon negotiation, and get young players (Farmar and Ariza) and a good player (and expiring contract) in Lamar Odom. The Lakers don't really like Odom (I think) and Gordon would be great on a team where he's surrounded by Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum. The Bulls could also probably get some draft picks from the Lakers (in the late 20s probably).

I would still like to keep Gordon, but if nothing can be agreed upon then I think this trade is a good trade for both teams, benefits Gordon, and is a lot better than the QO for everyone involved.

I was looking through this hoopsworld article, and it says:

"Gordon and BYC: Assuming Gordon would accept a contract starting at roughly $10 million a season, the Bulls would have to send out an additional player to offset the BYC factor. Considering the $25 million still owed to Larry Hughes over the next two seasons, the Bulls would probably have to include Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden or Ty Thomas in any Gordon package.

Gordon ($10 million) with Tyrus Thomas permits the Bulls to take in a maximum of $11,037,350. The receiving team would be credited with taking in $13.7 million in salary for which they would have to send out a minimum of $10,919,904 to match. Of course, Gordon's amount could be adjusted and other throw-ins included, but the parameters for a workable deal may be very narrow.

Gordon combined with Gooden enables Chicago to take in as much as $15,288,978 in salary. The trade partner would need to send out at least $13,640,946. The numbers are slightly higher for Nocioni, who makes about $850k more than Gooden."

One team that fits all 4 requirements is the Lakers.

The Bulls acquire Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar and Trevor Ariza (or not, I just like him).

The Lakers receive Ben Gordon (s+t for 10 mil in first year), Andres Nocioni, Joe Smith trade exception, and Cedric Simmons (if possible/necessary).

I would still like to keep Gordon, but if nothing can be agreed upon then I think this trade is a good trade for both teams, benefits Gordon, and is a lot better than the QO for everyone involved.

Solution to BG and Deng Contracts

kite — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:44:19 -0000

So the Bulls have been negotiating with Deng and Gordon for a while now, and there seems to be a good chance that they'll sign and trade at least one of them (probably Gordon), and possibly both. When a player is signed and traded, it is hard to get anything of value in return because it is very hard to match salaries and the other team knows that you have no other choice but to trade the player. That is why I believe it is best to resign both Deng and Gordon.

The problem with resigning Gordon and Deng is that they want too much money and the team wants to maintain flexibility so that if there is a star free agent available in 2010, they can actively pursue him. Also, there are no more teams with cap space that might be interested in signing them (except for the Grizzlies, but they won't spend their money).

That leaves 3 options:

1. Gordon and Deng resign wth the Bulls.

2. Either Gordon, Deng, or both are signed and traded.

3. They take the qualifying offer and try to find a team in free agency next offseason.

The first option is probably the best for both parties. The Bulls keep their 2 best players, the players get their money, and everyone's happy. The second option would make the players happy because they would be getting paid; however, the Bulls would probably only take contracts expiring in the next two years, which would probably make them a bad team for the next two years and put all hope in the summer of 2010 (not a good idea in my opinion because there's always the chance that they don't get a star free agent acquisition that year). The third option is the last resort, and would be the worst case scenario for both parties because it would mean losing the players for nothing and the players would lose their Bird rights and have to find a team with cap space to sign them to their desired contracts.

My idea is that the Bulls give Gordon and Deng their desired annual salaries (probably 13 million for Deng and 11 or 12 milion for Gordon), but in shorter deals so that they remain tradeable in the future and leave the team with more flexibility in what they choose to do with the roster.

Deng: 3 years, $38 million

Gordon: 3 years, $34 million

They could include player/team options for more years or even after 2 years. I think this is the best way to go with Gordon, but if Deng was to sign long term for something like 6 years, $63 million, that would also be good.

That leaves 3 options:

1. Gordon and Deng resign wth the Bulls.

2. Either Gordon, Deng, or both are signed and traded.

3. They take the qualifying offer and try to find a team in free agency next offseason.

Deng: 3 years, $38 million

Gordon: 3 years, $34 million

ESPN Article on James Felton

kite — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:48:11 -0000

ESPN Article on James Felton

This is a great article on ESPN about a guy named James Felton. He was dunked on by Tracy McGrady at Adidas' ABCD basketball camp, and they say that the dunk was what put McGrady on the map in high school. There's more info in the article, but in the end James Felton died at the age of 27 because of liver problems and other complications that are caused by heavy alcohol consumption. I know this isn't Bulls-related, however I think that this is a sad story and deserves to be read.

The main point that I'm trying to get to: I can't find video of the dunk that is referred to at the beginning. I checked on YouTube, but was unable to find video of it. In the future, if anyone finds video of that dunk, can you please let me know? It would be greatly appreciated.