I'm not a very good writer, so I'll cut to the chase. Most of you know that we don't have enough cap room to meet Gordon's demands without going into the luxury tax. There was also recently a fanshot about trade rumors about Hinrich going to Minnesota. So why dont we try this?

Minnesota signs Gordon for 10 million, and then trade him for Hinrich straight up. We get to keep Gordon, and they get Hinrich for free. I'm pretty sure they're far enough under the cap to take the hit. Then, we could send Deng and Thomas to Toronto for Bosh. If needed, we can send them the #26 pick, too.

PG: Rose/Hunter
SG: Gordon/Terrence Wililams ( projected as #16 on Draftexpress)
SF: Salmons/Terrence Williams
PF: Bosh/Noah
C: Noah/Miller

That's a solid 7-8 man rotation. In 2010 when Bosh's contract expires, we should have enough room to resign Bosh to a max contract. Additionally, the only contracts we'll have are Rose's, Gordon's, Williams's and Noah's. That's a solid core to build from (yes, I consider Gordon part of our core). The only problem I have with this is Rose, Gordon, Williams, Bosh, and Noah would be the shortest starting five in the league. What do you think?

Supposedly, the NBA is rigged to give the fans the matchups they want to see so they get high ratings. So not only does it not make sense to rig this for the Celtics, it didn't make sense when he suspended Amare and that other guy on the Suns (Leandro Barbosa?). The Celtics played so dirtily in this series since nothing was being called that NBA fans everywhere (except Boston) rooted for the Bulls. So what does Stern do? he makes sure the Bulls lose. This to me just makes no sense. The Bulls are a young, exciting team that is fun to watch, while the Celtics are an old, unathletic team that relies on thuggery, the refs, and flopping to win. I have no doubt they'll get destroyed by Orlando, and I will take satisfaction in the fact that, while they didn't lose to a huge underdog in the closest series of all time, they will get flogged by a team that should've had a tough time against them. Also, Glen Davis is probably really pissed at the TNT broadcasters who refuse to call him his name and instead insist on the worst nickname since Airy Butthole, "Big Baby". I look forward to the twenty-point margins against Orlando and the thirty-point margin on Christmas when Stern sets up a Bulls-Celtics rematch on Christmas day.

Well, somebody (cough*VDN*cough) obviously has lineup troubles. So, I've put together a self-thought-up bundle of data to figure out what the best lineup we could use is. First off, what position is everybody?

Derrick: He's only a 1.

Lindsay: He's only a 1.

Kirk: He's a 1 or 2.

Ben: He's only a 2

Larry: He's only a 2

Thabo: He's a 2 or 3

Luol: He's only a 3

Andres: He's a 3 or 4

Tyrus: He's only a 4

Drew: He's only a 4

Joakim: He's a 4 or 5

Aaron: He's only a 5

Next, I'll rank the available players at each position:

PG: Derrick, Kirk, Lindsay

SG: Ben, Kirk, Thabo, Larry

SF: Luol, Andres, Thabo

PF: Tyrus, Drew, Andres

C: Joakim, Aaron

Combine this with development, and you've got the following lineup:

PG: Derrick gets 35 minutes, Kirk gets 10, Lindsay gets 3

SG: Ben gets 30 minutes, Thabo gets 10, Kirk gets 8, Larry gets 0

SF: Luol gets 30, Andres gets 15, Thabo gets 3

PF: Tyrus gets 25, Drew gets 15, Andres gets 8

C: Joakim gets 30, Aaron gets 18

This means that Tyrus and Joakim both get 30 minutes for gettting better, and Thabo would get a decent 13. I think this is the best way for us to win, though if Joakim or Aaron go down we're screwed.

After the Knicks made the Crawford and Randolph trades, it was pretty obvious that the Knicks were clearing cap space for 2010, and they didn't seem to care about the skill of the player they got back. It's been general knowledge in the league that the Blazers need cap space in 2009.

Enter us.

We just so happen to have a 12 million dollar contract that expires in 2010 for the Knicks, and a 7 million dollar contract that expires next year for the Blazers. The Knicks also have several contracts that expire next year that the Blazers will want. All of this points to a trade.

How about this in two months (Al Harrington can't be traded with another player for two months):

We send out:

Larry Hughes

Drew Gooden

The Knicks send out:

Al Harrington

Jerome James

The Blazers send out:

Raef Lafrentz

We Get:

Raef Lafrentz

Al Harrington

The Knicks Get:

Larry Hughes

The Blazers Get:

Jerome James

Drew Gooden

I couldn't do this on the trade machine (though I tried) so I did some math on a calculator. We get back roughly 2 million more than we send out, the Knicks get back roughly 2 1/2 million less than they send out, and the Blazers get back roughly 1/2 million more than they send out.

I end with a question: If we’re over the cap during the year, but we have contracts that expire at the end of the year, and without those contracts we’re under the cap, are we over or under the cap?

--

Ok, how about this trade:

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=383~2782~739~1711~356~454~2015~682&teams=22~22~22~22~18~4~18~4&te=&cash=

For those of you to lazy to click on the link:

We send out:

Larry Hughes

Drew Gooden

The Knicks send out:

Nate Robinson

Malik Rose

Jerome James

The Blazers send out:

Raef Lafrentz

Joel Pryzbilla

Travis Outlaw

We get:

Raef Lafrentz

Joel Pryzbilla

The Knicks get:

Travis Outlaw

Larry Hughes

The Blazers get:

Drew Gooden

Nate Robinson

Malik Rose

Jerome James

Since the season started, it's become obvious that a lot of guys on the Bulls don't fit together well with Rose. But, instead of posting a trade, I'm going to put down what I think we should put around Rose as guidelines. Not rules, guidelines.

What we should put next to him at SG:

1. Someone who can shoot the 3-ball.

We could keep Gordon for this, but if you don't think so, then feel free to suggest someone else, because I'm too lazy to search for someone.

What we should put next ot him at SF:

1. Someone who's athletic.

2. Someone who has a good mid-range jumpshot.

I guess we could keep Deng for this, but if not, feel free to suggest someone else, because I'm too lazy to search for someone.

What we should put next to him at PF:

1. Someone athletic.

2. Someone who can block shots.

3. Someone who has a post game.

If Tyrus can learn to finish, or develop a post game, instead of continuing to shoot that 2-17 jumpshot, then he fits this perfectly. If not, feel free to suggest someone,because I'm too lazy to search for someone.

What we should put next to him at C:

1. Someone athletic.

2. Someone who can rebound.

3. Someone who has a post game,

Noah fits this pretty well, and he'll be perfect for it if he gets an offensive move. If not, feel free to suggest someone, because I'm too lazy to search.

So, for my conclusion, Vinny, start

PG: Rose

SG: Gordon

SF: Deng

PF: Tyrus

C: Noah

until we blow things up (please Pax, please) . Remember, these are guidelines.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=1711~3028~1982&teams=12~12~4&te=&cash=

Wh this works for us:

We get rid of Thabo to clear up the logjam (face it guys, Larry Hughes is untradeable), and we get a real center for a wannabe power forward playing center.

Why this works for the Clippers:

They get a defensive shooting guard (as long as Thabo shuts down Kobe, the rest of the league will think this) to back up Gordon (Eric Gordon, not Ben Gordon), and a power forward, so Marcus Camby can go to center.

Our Rotation After This:

PG: Derrick Rose plays 32 minutes here and Kirk Hinrich plays 16 minutes here.

SG: Ben Gordon plays 32 minutes here, and Kirk Hinrich plays 16 minutes here.

SF: Luol Deng plays 32 minutes here and Andres Nocioni plays 16 minutes here.

PF: Tyrus Thomas plays 32 minutes here and Andres Nocioni plays 16 minutes here.

C: Chris Kaman plays 32 minutes here and Joakim Noah plays 16 minutes here.

This takes advantage of our so-called "incredible depth, and it takes advantage of our tweeners. Remember, being a tweener isn't a bad thing, it just mean you'll come off the bench and back up two people.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=1711~3207~3028~556&teams=23~23~23~4&te=&cash=

Why this works:

We get rid of Gooden and Gray, who don't go well with Rose, and we get rid of Thabo so we don't have a logjam. The Kings get compensation in the frontcourt and get a defensive backup for Kevin Martin.

Our Rotation Then:

Backcourt:

Rose/Gordon/Hinrich in which we start Rose and Hinrich. Rose plays for 16 minutes, then Gordon comes in for him, while Kirk moves to the 1, and Ben goes to the 2, and plays with Hinrich for the next 16 minutes, and then Rose comes in for  Hinrich and Rose and Gordon (who I hope brings some 4th quarter heroics like he did before) finish the game. Larry Hughes is banished to the end of the bench.

Frontcourt:

Deng, Thomas and Miller (who pretty much splits minutes with Noah 24/24) start, with Noce backing up Deng and Tyrus, and Noah backing up Brad. Demetris and Cedric play scrub minutes and blowouts.

Remember, this is just a trade of the day and doesn't necessarily mean anything

Ozzie Montana's fantasy league inspired me to make my own league. The league's ID is 108486, and the password is "future". The maximum amount of teams is 12, and the draft is autopick(sorry, my computer is messed up, so I don't have flash for an online draft). I made this league, but I don't intend to remain commisioner, so anybody who wants to be the commisioner can become it. Good luck, and please join if you missed Ozzie's.

Now, I know my last post was so monumentally stupid that it was deleted, but this one is good.

How about we trade Kirk Hinrich for Al Harrington, and then trade Al Harrington for Denver's trade exception.

Chicago:

We get a lot of cap space for Gordon, and by getting rid of Kirk Hinrich at the guards, we don't have a logjam anymore(Larry Hughes can back up Derrick Rose).

Denver:

They haven't done anything with the trade exception, so I don't think they are going to do anything with it, and they get someone to step in for the injury-prone Kenyon Martin and Nene.

Golden State:

They get someone to step in for Monta Ellis while he's injured, and after he comes back, they get a legitimate guard with a friendly contract.