HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Eddie Johnson

Struggles come as no surprise

November 14, 2007 @ 10:03 pm by Eddie Johnson · Filed under Ben Gordon, Ben Wallace, Chicago Bulls, John Paxson, Kobe Bryant, Luol Deng

I will use one of the funniest quotes I have ever heard in sports and only because it’s in reference to my beloved Chicago Bears. Dennis Green, the former head coach of the Arizona Cardinals went into a postgame tirade in reference to the Cardinals blowing a huge fourth quarter lead to the Bears last year and conducted a press conference for the archives, which is now a national commercial. He said, “The Bears are who we thought they were and we had them right where we wanted them, now if you want to go and crown their ass go right ahead, but we had them right were we wanted them.”

That’s the same feeling I have about the Chicago Bulls. They are exactly what I thought they were and that is good team that will fight and claw but always come up short. Still, some prognosticators were crowning them to win the Eastern Conference this year.

The Bulls are 1-5 and could conceivably be 1-9 after the first four games of a six-game road trip playing against the Suns, Clippers, Lakers and Nuggets.

Chicago fans are wondering what is wrong with the team that swept Miami last year and was beaten 4-2 by the Pistons in the Conference semifinals.

Let’s backpedal for a moment to last year…

Everyone thought the Cavaliers got a break when the Bulls blew an opportunity to play the Wizards last year in the first round, but Chicago caught a break too. The Heat proved to be just as bad as the Wizards and the proof is the fact the Heat have lost 19 out of 20 games going back to last season and counting seven preseason losses this year.

Also add the fact that the Pistons were vulnerable and the Bulls couldn’t take advantage. Just look at their meltdown against Cleveland in the Conference Finals.

So here is my point… The Bulls are not as good as advertised and it’s because of two fatal flaws that never seem to work out come winning time.

The first flaw is obvious and I wrote about it when Chicago signed Ben Wallace much to the chagrin of Bulls fans who peppered me with insults via e-mail. The Bulls have zero interior scoring with not one player on their roster that can command a post position and create high percentage baskets for him or his teammates. Wallace offers nothing offensively and his strengths are rebounding and blocked shots. Well, I am embarrassed to even mention that he is averaging 4.8 rebounds and 1 block per game.

That’s why the Bulls are shooting 38 percent as a team and rank 29th in the league in that area… Because teams are suffocating the perimeter players and daring them to drive or throw it down low to any big man the Bulls have on the floor.

Secondly, their go-to scorer is a 6-foot-2 guard, Ben Gordon , who is shooting 35 percent from the field and is averaging a paltry 2.2 assists per game – thus adding proof of how they are being defended. The Bulls have a team of hustlers and players with no star ability to score consistently and dominate. Yes, they can play defense. But really, what other choice do they have? That is exactly what Scott Skiles and John Paxson have been preaching, but this way of thinking is wrong – especially when it involves Paxson, who played on multiple championship teams and was nothing but a shooter himself.

They drafted Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng – all of them outside scorers that can create problems. And then they signed a non-scorer in Ben Wallace and draft back-to-back non-scoring big men in Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.

I look back at all those Bulls championship teams and see virtually all of their players with the ability to shoot the ball.

That’s why I am having a hard time understanding the method to this madness. Why do you pay Ben Wallace most of your payroll and then go and draft two clones? (Especially Noah, who might be a worse scorer than Wallace. Did I just say that?)

Listen, here is the remedy!

Paxson, you blew the chance to trade for Kevin Garnett and he might win his second MVP this season based on early season projections. And now you are hesitant to trade for Kobe Bryant.

Paxson, you need to listen to your conscience and stop listening to head coach Scott Skiles, who is intent on having 12 players who played like he did – diving on the floor and running through brick walls. Four or five of those players are enough.

You need Kobe Bryant, so put a package together including Luol Deng and stop thinking you are going to build a championship with draft picks. Superstars win championships.

The only wild card team with enough savvy and talent without a star player is Detroit and although I picked them to win the East, they will not win the championship. Boston has the best chance right now in the East.

Make your job easier and go with the superstar. Build around him. Kobe has a solid 5 to 6 years left in him to at least give the Bulls a fighting chance to win a title. If you don’t, “The Bulls will be who we thought they were, but they will never be crowned.”

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109 Comments

1. zuludelta Said,

   November 14, 2007 @ 10:38 pm

   The Bulls missed their best chance at upgrading their roster last season, when they still had PJ Brown’s expiring contract to add to a package that could’ve included Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas, and possibly Sefolosha or Duhon and future draft picks for Garnett, or barring that, Pau Gasol (a bona fide 20 and 10 guy who was just itching to get traded to another team). That would have solved their lack of inside scoring immediately. Now KG’s playing with an Eastern Conference rival and Pau looks like he’s been placated in Memphis with the addition of compatriot/buddy Juan Carlos Navarro… not that the Bulls have anything to offer for Pau these days.

   I’ll have to disagree with the notion of trading for Kobe, though. A Kobe trade would gut the Bulls’ roster of talent (they’d have to give up at least Deng and Gordon), leaving them with pretty much the same level of talent as the current Lakers team, and it wouldn’t address the Bulls’ problem of not having enough reliable post scoring.

2. jay Said,

   November 14, 2007 @ 10:39 pm

   I agree with you on everything you said…ben wallace is a very overpaid role player who since signing that contract has did nothin to help chicago signing him to that contract was one of the worst signings in nba history

3. Jason J. Said,

   November 15, 2007 @ 12:07 am

   EJ, after watching the Bulls-Raptors massacre (Raptors shoot 75% 3rd quarter) I agree the Bulls absolutely need scoring from the front line. There’s too much pressure for Hinrich, Gordon, and Deng to score. And, yes, they are all jump shooters. Joe Smith is a big help when on the floor but guess what he’s a jump shooter too! Before I was reluctant to trade anyone on the Bulls team because of last year’s playoff appearance. I was thinking, “All this team needs is a little maturity and experience.” But now anybody is expendable just get dependable scorer who can post up now and then. If it’s Kobe fine if it isn’t then lets revisit the Pau Gasol option. Looking at the rest of the NBA the Bulls are malnourished for a scoring big man. I’d easily say goodbye to Hinrich, Gordon, or Deng for a chance to get a Carlos Boozer, Rasheed Wallace, or David West.

4. Chapaloy Said,

   November 15, 2007 @ 12:25 am

   Hold off your opinion on Joakim Noah. The kid has only played three games as a pro. You do yourself a disservice when you make a statement to the effect that Noah might be a worse shooter than Ben Wallace. This kid was MVP of the Minneapolis region in Florida’s run to the Final Four in 2006 and Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championship game. He was a 73% freethrow shooter during the season and improved to 84% in four games in the NCAA tournament. He can score as evidenced by a 37-point output against Georgia during which he was perfect from the line in that tournament game. He was probably the best passing big man in college basketball the last two years, a superb defender, shot blocker, and in the opinion of many, runs the floor better than any big man seen in the college game in years.
   Remember, he’s only a rookie now getting adjusted to a system run by a crude task master in Scott Skiles. If he’s used properly, the Bulls will benefit from a player who brings many intangibles to the game as witnessed by his leadership role in leading Florida to the near impossible feat of back-to-back NCAA titles.
   When you try to belittle and sully the reputation of a special young player like Noah, just remember that the organization you work for, the Phoenix Suns, scouted him for the last two or three years, were high on him to the point that they tried to trade up tp get him only to be disappointed on draft night when Michael Jordan decided not to give them Charlotte pick and instead gave it to Golden State. The Suns were not the only team that wanted him, the Mavericks tried to trade up and get him. There is a good reason why.
   The key to Noah’s specialness as a player would have been evident had the Suns got him to play in that system and line up that they have. Instead of hurling insults at a young player like Noah, spend your time giving sound evaluations of players based on what they bring to the table. For a player that was maligned in many quarters during your career, you should no better.

5. Dj Quest Said,

   November 15, 2007 @ 12:58 am

   Quick Question? How does trading Kobe to the Bulls remedy the fact that Chi-town will still lack a post presence? Kobe will help, but I think a better trade will be to get Pau Gasol from Memphis. Heck give up Gordon, Noah/Tyrus or even Wallace (contract closest to Pau’s) and get some scoring in the paint. Seriously, I know that Pau plays zero defense (European players reach a lot and are rarely lock down defenders) but you could pair him with which ever offensively challenged big man that is not traded and you could serious help Chi-town’s chances of coming out of the East.

   Also I agree with you that Skiles has a coaching philosophy that preaches floor burns and the like… but that “ish” doesn’t win championships. Having a player who can go for 60 if unchecked is what wins games, series and the finals. As much fun as it was to watch Rambis get in the game and cause havoc, the people in LA knew that there bread was buttered with Magic and Kareem.

   Side note: Skiles would have to be fired if they brought in Kobe. Skiles has a true beef with Superstar players that goes back to his playing days in Orlando. Skiles was miffed that after feeding Shaq the ball pretty much everytime down Orlando promptly drafted Webber and then traded him for Penny Hardaway. Word was that Shaq wanted to play with Penny at the one that badly that management caved and made the trade. That pretty much ended Skile’s tenure as a starter and eventually with the team. Skiles has alway harboured a level of resentment towards “elite” level players, feeling that they push hard working palyers like himself out of the game.

6. George Said,

   November 15, 2007 @ 1:39 am

   Sorry about it. It is way too late to even think about Gasol. He is playing with one of his best friends from Spain, has a new coach who loves him, and now has a boat load of talent surrounding him. Garnett, done deal, but hey, pretty much every team that tried (even the Lakers who are off to a decent start) is bummed about that one. And, well, sorry about it, why would Kobe want to go to Chicago now that they just outright stink? Like what was said before, they still have no post presence, he still would have to deal with developing youngsters, and his wife doesn’t like wind and snow, she likes sunshine and palm trees.

7. Montaye Said,

   November 15, 2007 @ 2:28 am

   If we can get Kobe without giving up our whole team that will be great!! Our problem is not that we dont have a low-post score cause if Scott Skiles played the rookie Aaron Gray, we may have a low post threat. We need a bigger shooting guard that can create his own shot & defend the other teams best scorer. If we had that, a player that comand a double team & can get to the basket & the free throw line @ will, we would have some players that can score in the paint. When Jordan bulls won we had,Bill Cartwright, Will Purdue, & Luc Longley @ Center, Horce Grant, Stacy King, Dennis Rodman, & Good News Cliff Levinston @ power foward but none of these guys are great low post guys, but if we had Kobe Bryant , Loul Deng, Nocioni, Kirk Hinrick, & Ben Wallace that is just as good as having Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc, Paxson, & Rodman !!!! So I would package Ben Gordan & Tyrus Thomas & Cash consideration & a draft pick & get the Suns involved as a third team, cause Sean Marion is going to opt out & leave the Suns & they are not going to get anything in return so they must move him, & bring Kobe Bryant to Chicago !!!!!!

   Some people think that Pau Gasol will be better for Chicago than Kobe, but let see if u trade Ben Gordan & Nocioni for Pau Gasol where are u going to get scoring from, Deng is Ok but he is not a consitance score or not a 3pt threat either. He (Deng) is a good sidekick, or Robyn & Gasol is not a Batman. What will u do when Gasol gets in foul trouble do u think u can depend on Tiabo Selfolsha to get u baskets, I dont think so !!!!! We need a Kobe Bryant or Michale Redd, or Tracy McGrady ( if he can stay healthty ) type of 2 guard !!!!!

8. Krynn Said,

   November 15, 2007 @ 3:50 am

   I agree with DJ Quest, trading for Gasol would be better than getting Kobe. If Gasol ain’t available how about going cheap and maybe inquire about Wilcox of the Sonics? Like Gordon or Nocioni/Noah for Wilcox…Or if a fallen star comes cheap how about C Webb? I think C Webb could also be a good veteran who could teach Tyrus Thomas a thing or two about offense.

   What do you think of this line up for the Bulls:

   PG Hinrich/Duhon
   SG Gordon/Griffin/Selfolosha
   SF Deng/Sefolosha
   PF C Webb/Thomas
   C Wallace/Wilcox/Smith

   or

   PG Hinrich/Duhon
   SG Deng/Griffin
   SF Nocioni/Sefolosha
   PF C Webb/thomas
   C Wallace/Wilcox/Smith

9. BlondJustice Said,

   November 15, 2007 @ 7:51 am

   By signing Ben Wallace Chicago took a very important player away form the most important rival that has since been stuck without salary cap.
   A good, calculated signing they should always make!

10. OMAR NIZAM Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 8:40 am

    The bulls messed up when they didnt’ gamble on eddy curry and tyson chandler, bother have better numbers then wallace from the minute they signed him! Eddy can score with the best of them down low and Tyson can gaurd the best of them down low and rebound like a monster to make up for eddy’s slow reaction to the ball coming down. If I was the Chigago GM I would have eddy curry chandler and i might have traded for iverson since denver got him for andre miller and joe smith ben gorden and deng instead of nocini only because Iverson would have had Eddy to score at will when he gets a quick dish from iverson when 3 defenders go at him and tyson would catch lobs all day and hinrich and noiciani can play solid D and team ball to give Iverson to lead them to the promise land. IF we all remember Iverson made it to the finals with a old broken down team, Iverson leadin these youngsters would have brought them a ship if not 2 but same goes if they would have trade for Kobe, but as usual salaries have to match which would have made it very difficult to deal with Phili and bein in the same conference. What they should do now is just trade for KB24 and get it over with just when u think the bulls are back they fade into the dark.

11. dj hott Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 8:41 am

    TRADE B.GORDON-AND NOCIONI FOR GASOL
    TRADE TYRUS THOMAS AND 08 PICK FOR MARION

    NEW LOOK BULLS
    G-K.HINRICH G-C.DUHON
    G-L.DENG G-T.SAFOSHA
    F-MARION F-V.KRHRPA
    F-GASOL F-J.SMITH
    C-B.WALLACE C-J.NOAH

    CANT SAY THEY DONT HAVE A INSIDE NOW, OR THAT THE TRADES ARENT FAIR, AND THAT THEY WOULDNT BE A PLAYOFF TEAM WITH THIS ROSTER

12. Rashidi Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 8:47 am

    LOL the Bulls need inside scoring so get the player (Kobe) who takes more jumpers than anyone in the league? Great logic!

    The Pistons don’t exactly have many inside options either and they’re doing just fine. With Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Sheed, and McDyess, they are just as much as a jump shooting team.

    Starting TWO non-scoring bigmen has predictably made it more difficult for the Bulls top trio to hit those jumpers.

    Kirk Hinrich is shooting 31% and that isn’t going to last all season. He won’t hit 15% of his threes for the season either. Ditto for Ben Gordon, he won’t shoot 35% for the year or 31% from three. Even Ben Wallace will start converting on more than 35% of his interior shots.

    The Bulls has a team are shooting 38% and 26% from three. They are obviously struggling offensively RIGHT NOW and it is obviously tough to win games when you are shooting that bad. It’s not like things can get any worse, and it is difficult for talented players with track records such as theirs to continue their futility for an extended period. None of them are even hurt!

13. dj hott Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 9:25 am

    COULD BEN WALLACE BE PLAYING SORRY TO BE TRADED TO PHOENIX?

    WITH THE SALARIES AND POTENTIAL, PHOENIX MAY OK A
    BEN WALLACE,TYRUS THOMAS,08 PICK FOR SHAWN MARION

    PHOENIX, OWNS ATLANTAS LOTTO PICK, AND ADD SIZE AND YOUTH IN WALLACE AND THOMAS,

    PHOENIX COULD HAVE EITHER KIND OF LINEUP
    G-S.NASH
    G-R.BELL
    F-G.HILL
    F-B.DIAW
    C-A.STOUDEMIRE

    OR MY FAVORITE

    G-S.NASH G-M.BANKS
    G-L.BARBOSA G-A.TUCKER
    F-R.BELL F-G.HILL
    F-A.STOUDEMIRE F-T.THOMAS
    C-B.WALLACE C-B.DIAW

    BULLS
    GO
    G-K.HINRICH G-DUHON
    G-B.GORDON
    F-L.DENG F-NOCIONI
    F-S.MARION F-J.NOAH
    C-J.SMITH C-A.GRAY

    MARION COME GETS U 17-22PTS 7-11 REBS
    HINRICH GETS MORE ASSISTS, DENG GETS BETTER ATTEMPTS, AND GORDON SHOOTS LESS AND GETS A BETTER PERCENTAGE

14. Eric Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 9:34 am

    Shouldnt they target a low post scorer instead of another perimeter scorer like kobe???

15. Jesse Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 9:51 am

    Eddie,
    The Bulls did draft a low post scorer, LaMarcus Aldridge, and then promptly traded him on draft night to Portland for Tyrus Thomas, I could not and still do not understand trading away the interior scorer they needed.

16. Jacob Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 10:12 am

    DJ HOT

    “TRADE B.GORDON-AND NOCIONI FOR GASOL
    TRADE TYRUS THOMAS AND 08 PICK FOR MARION”

    Neither is enough. memphis and PHX would laugh… first off the contracts dont work fo rthe marion deal, plus if the suns trade marion its for young talent and salary cap help.

    and memphis is not quick to pull the trigger to move gasol.

17. Jacob Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 10:14 am

    “BEN WALLACE,TYRUS THOMAS,08 PICK FOR SHAWN MARION”

    again not enough… they are trying to lower the cap, not raise it by bens contract, and tryus thomas? are you the only person in the world that high on tyrus and the 08 first rounder? the pulls will be a top 15 team. so that pick doesn’t look so good.

18. Jacob Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 10:24 am

    “It’s not like things can get any worse, and it is difficult for talented players with track records such as theirs to continue their futility for an extended period. None of them are even hurt!”

    the only one i see with a track record is ben and thats been declining. deng had a coming out party last year, but wasnt even that big. and kirk/gordon are who we thought they were.

    i just dont think the bulls are as talented as most people believe.

19. Tracey Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 10:39 am

    Getting Kobe wouldn’t do anything to solve the Bulls’ problem of having no post presence. It would also gut the team, as they would have to move two of the Deng/Hinrich/Gordon core, plus one of Thomas/Noah, plus possibly more players. Personally, I think Bryant would veto that trade, anyway. Not to mention I don’t think Scott Skiles and Kobe would be a good match as coach & player.

    Tyrus Thomas has made some strides as a scorer this season. Yes, he is VERY raw offensively, but there are signs that he may be the post presence this team needs — just not this season. The Bulls are still a very young team — Deng is 22, Gordon 24, Hinrich 26, Nocioni 27, Thomas 20, etc. So it isn’t like the window of opportunity is a short one (although that would change if they can’t resign Deng and Gordon next summer).

    The Bulls have started slowly for several seasons in a row. Yes, they have played very badly thus far, but they started 3-9 last year and ended up winning 49 games. A couple of years before that they started 0-9 and ended up with 47 wins. So while their play has been ugly, there is still reason to believe they can turn this around and make the playoffs. Panicking and gutting a team has rarely woked out in the past (how many years did it take for the Bulls to get back to respectability after Reinsdorf broke up the Jordan/Pippen Bulls??).

20. Jax Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 11:36 am

    it is really hard to tell whether or not acquiring Kobe or Pau would benefit and help the Bulls instantly… considering the fact that i really do believe that it would be hard for them to acquire those guys considering how much they love their young guns… what about this? teach Deng to play the post? might help

21. dj hott Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 12:11 pm

    KOBE WILL STAY IN LA TILL THE BREAK,
    THEN A TEAM WILL LIKE WASHINGTON, NEW JERSEY,NEW ORLEANS,
    HOUSTON, OR ATLANTA WILL LIKELY LAND KOBE

    ATLANTA
    F-JOSH SMITH
    FC-AL HORTFORD
    GF-JOSH CHILDRESS
    AND 09 PICK

    NJ
    R.JEFFERSON&KRYSTIC
    HOUSTON-TMAC&FRANCIS&PICK
    NEW ORLEANS-STOJAKOVIC,PETERSON,WEST,09 PICK

    KOBE IN NEW ORLEANS

    G-C.PAUL G-B.JACKSON
    G-K.BRYANT
    F-R.BUTLER F-J.WRIGHT
    F-C.WEBBER M.ELY
    C-T.CHANDLER H-ARMSTONG

22. Jacob Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 12:27 pm

    dj hott… your trades are getting worse by the minute. Why would Houston or NO make those moves? better yet the lakers would take peja, mo pete and david west for kobe? come on what crack pipe you hitting?

    you need to stop living in fantasy and ease up with these nonsense trades, neither team would do it.

    when making up trades ask who benefits. dont just put names into a hat because they match salary…

    kobe will go no where this season maybe not even move the season after that.

    and i love how you keep throwing chris webber into these teams after they get kobe… does webber agree to this?

    just go back to playing nba2k8

23. Mohsin Amin Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 1:41 pm

    Roster Shakeup is needed for the Bulls :: Though I do not see Paxson giving up on his young core as he has been patient far too long.

    Trade Scenario
    ——————

    Ben Wallace ($15.5) for Kenyon Martin ($13.5) + J.R. Smith ($1.6) + future pick

24. Jacob Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 3:06 pm

    i dont think they need a roster shake up as provided by my main man tracey, a slow start doesn’t mean to implode the team

25. Rashidi Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 3:18 pm

    In fairness to the Bulls, Tyrus for Lamarcus wasn’t a straight up deal, they did get Viktor Krhyapa who is a first round talent but hasn’t been able to get any burn due to a huge glut.

    Tyrus is going to be a good player in his career, probably as good as if not more valuable than LaMarcus. Putting up 20 points on a lottery team isn’t too difficult - playing elite defense is. Of course, Aldridge is a better fit with Oden, albeit he fell into Portland’s lap.

    Long-term, Tyrus is a better fit for what Skiles and the Bulls preach. If they’re going to trade for anyone, it should be Gasol, who wouldn’t require them to mortage the team. Trading for Kobe is entirely unrealistic as he’s already claimed he won’t accept any trades that send Deng out of town - which is what would be needed to get a deal done in the first place.

    Kobe CAN’T be traded to the Bulls because none of their players have expensive contracts except Big Ben. If he vetoed a Hamilton/Prince deal, then he’s obviously going to veto any deal that includes three of the Bulls key pieces. The only contending team with a realistic shot would be Dallas as they have enough good players/bad salary to trade, but Cuban would rather stand pat as the team is already quite good and without chemistry concerns.

    Kobe isn’t exactly a Spur killer.

26. Marcus Barn Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 4:05 pm

    Hi Eddie, I value your opinion but it would be nice to see you write about something before you have facts to back up your argument. For example, if Chicago’s slow start came as no surprise then why didn’t you write about it before their 1-5 start? It seems to me that a lot of writers are to scared to voice their opinion a head of time just on the chance they might be wrong.

    Marcus

27. David Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 4:13 pm

    I think they should have made a harder push for Scola and trade for him. He would have been a nice and cheap low post option for them that at worst could have cost them adding some salaries like Butler and Spanoulis since it was clear that the Spurs wanted some cap relief.

28. anthony Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 5:05 pm

    I agree with your assessment Eddie.

    good thing for the Lakers that Paxson has not come to his senses and gave up deng in a trade for Kobe.

    Chicago is a team hyped on their potential. it is exciting to get behind an up and coming team with alot of youth. but talent develops through the game rarely as expected. Look at the Clippers, they have been talking about potential for 20 plus years.

    there are great expectations for Chicago to improve, they are no longer the young scrappy underdog team that sneaks up on teams. the league is on to them and no more feel good overachieving feelings. there is now pressure/expectation to win and go farther into the playoffs. how will the young bulls respond?

    if you can obtain a proven talent (not to mention the best player in the game today), you must consider a little sacrifice to get him.

29. jean-guy Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 5:51 pm

    Anyone should give up potential for a talent like Kobe. When you have a shot at getting that and you wont give up Luol Deng? Sad.

    How about Bargnani, A. Parker and Calderon for Kobe?

    TOR-Nesterovic, Bosh, Moon, Kobe,Ford.

    LAL-Bynum, Bargnani, Odom, A. Parker, Calderon

    Win-win for both teams….LAL stocked with young talent…Raps become championship contender.

    Boston is the perfect example of why you have to take risks when guys like that go on the market.

30. anthony Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 6:16 pm

    Lakers already have 15 players on their roster.

    adding any combination of ben gordan, tyrus thomas, joakim noah, ben wallace, chris duhon, or any scrub off the bulls roster does not help the Lakers out much. for the most part, all it would do is displace similar talent on the Laker roster.

    Lakers have plenty of average players, why would they trade for approximately $20 million in average player contracts. They would have to buy out contracts just to fit in all their new players. most championship teams only use an 8 -9 man rotation.

    Lakers are better off in letting Kobe walk in 2009 and use his $24 mil plus to attract a free agent like say Lebron James. three more years in Cleveland may be just enough for Lebron to think of a fresh start somewhere else.

31. Daniel Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 6:57 pm

    How about giving it more than 5 games into the season? Skiles obviously has some sort of long term plan brewing. The whole core of the Bulls apart from Wallace is pretty young. give them time to grow and get better as they have over the last few years. Wallace appears to be less than 100 % but you’d have to think that he’s played his best basketball. his career has been hustle, hustle, hustle, which is pretty hard to maintain over 30.

    I think the Bulls will work out eventually. Whether it translates to a championship or not is debatable, but should be fun to watch. The way that people write off young players you would think that every player that comes into the NBA is a superstar from day one. Don’t forget that many players take a few years before breaking out.

    The only concern I have with the Bulls is their undersized backcourt, but if Sefolosha can play some big minutes down the track then that should figure out as well. I think the Bulls are in a lot better shape than over half the teams in the NBA now. The start hurts but I think it will all figure out.

32. Rashidi Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 9:39 pm

    Exactly Marcus. Eddie’s previous blog posting was about teams he expected to struggle! Yet he made no mention on the Bulls instead targeting Miami, Cleveland, Denver, and the Lakers. Obviously this is just as much of a shock to us as Eddie is he is just trying to make it sound like he predicted the Bulls top players would all go cold at the same time and trying to justify fantasy trades that will never go through as the miracle fix. The Bulls didn’t have a post option last year and still won plenty of games.

    In fact, just one month ago, Eddie himself wrote

    “If that happened guys like RASHIDI would go away, because as i said before the Knicks have the most talent 1 through 12 of any team in the league other than the Bulls.”

    FLIPPPP FLOPPPPPP

33. Eric Said,

    November 15, 2007 @ 10:48 pm

    Yeah I dont understand why eddie has so much love for the knicks, I mean a lot of analysts thought that group wouldnt mash. But seriously, trading Lamarcus for Tyrus thomas I thought was a bad move. Lamarcus has more size and a much more polished low post game. Tyrus is becoming more of a face up sf/pf guy…..Man imagine if the bulls had kept all their young guns, a lineup of Curry,Chandler,Deng,Gordon, and Hinrich would just kill in the east right now. Maybe thats why they’re so reluctant to trade their young players, in case they suddenly become all stars when traded.

34. Eddie Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 12:56 am

    rashidi

    the problem with you is my logic is over your head. Kobe would be there best post player and he will get layups . rashidi you will have to travel around the world to get half way to my world.

35. Eddie Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 1:06 am

    rashidi

    read my article on the signing of ben wallace. The link is in the blog sir! i predicted this last year

36. Eddie Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 1:07 am

    Marcus

    i said it does not surprise me. READ! I have said continously that the Bulls will not win with what they had!

37. Eddie Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 1:10 am

    Who said the Bulls do not have talent? they do Rashidi —read the article —-did i say they did not have talent—i said they have three ben wallace’s duh and no inside game.

38. Rashidi Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 1:26 am

    Eddie, it would be great if you could put all your thoughts addressing me into one post. You’re all over the place right now.

    Noah has barely played and Tyrus played some last year particularly down the stretch, so please explain what has changed between now and then other than the Bulls stars choking on their shots? Jason Kidd hasn’t had a post presence in years and he hasn’t shot as bad as Hinrich, Gordon, etc are right now.

39. Ed Ziti Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 1:46 am

    Great stuff Eddie and I agree. I wrote a piece on another reason why the Bulls will never win and would love to get your opinion.

    http://mvn.com/nba-lakers/2007/11/05/technical-analysis-of-the-bulls-offense/

40. Heart-broken Macau Grizzly Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 2:22 am

    Hey Eddie! Nice
    Missing the chance of landing a superstar hurts the franchise, but the fact that Kobe’s intervention in the trade barginning (persuade Bulls to keep Ben Wallace & Luo Deng) is a major reason which give Lakers a second thought not buying the offer.

    Somehow Kobe blocks his own way to the Windy City.Maybe he ’s got some better options in his mind.

41. Macau Grizzly Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 2:29 am

    Eric, you made a good point about their hesitation losing a potential all star to other team. How about Brad Miller, Ron Artest and Elton Brand? Man, they are legit all stars! Thanks to J K!

    Deng may be an all star this year. Hinrich might have a shot in a year or two.

    Hey Eddie Johnson, what do you think?

42. OMAR NIZAM Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 2:42 am

    The bulls wish they had eddy curry and tyson chandler last year and forever instead of Ben and PJ to BEN and JOE SMITH??? LOL THEy messed up big on that and they could have been able to trade a package of gordan tyson’s big contract he recieved and Loul Deng that would have had a line up

    of Eddy Curry KG NOicini Hinrich and whoever else would have been enough that great youth around KG will be like giving him the the key to the fountain of youth as you see he looks alot younger then his age now with the Celtics, to bad I’m not the GM I have atleast 5 better ways they could have handdled the Eddy curry Tyson chandler free agency and what would have came after that…….

    Eddie what you think about them losin Eddy and Tyson after they have both came out they’re shells????

43. Kingsblade Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 3:05 am

    Chapaloy:

    I hardly think calling Noah a non-scorer is “hurling insults.”

    Marcus Barn & Rashidi:

    Why does something have to be predicted in order to not be a surprise? I never noticed Eddie predicting that Sacramento would struggle either. Does that mean he should be surprised now that they are?

    The Bulls are an overrated team who have overachieved in the past because of hard work. The problem is that now they are starting to believe the hype about themselves and think they are something more.

    Gordon is not a top tier scorer. Deng is not Scottie Pippen. Hinrich is as good as he will ever be. Noah will not miraculously become a threat from the blocks….any other predictions that need to be voiced in order to avoid surprises? I can keep going if necessary.

44. zuludelta Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 7:16 am

    Thoughts after reading through the comments:

    - It’s possible that Kobe can become the Bulls’ best post scoring threat if they ever manage to trade for him. Guys like Jordan, Adrian Dantley, and Dwyane Wade have shown that guard-sized players can be effective as their teams’ primary or secondary post scoring options. But the thing is, I’m not sure if the addition of Kobe (and the associated subtraction of Deng, Gordon, etc.) in a trade would make up for the glaring weaknesses of the Bulls roster.

    - It’s easy to say that Paxson made a huge mistake trading away Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry with the benefit of hindsight. Sure, Chandler is currently tearing it up in New Orleans and Eddy Curry, while still wildly inconsistent, is a threat to drop 20 and 10 any given night. But what a lot of people who’ve posted seem to forget is that both players weren’t just struggling on-court in Chicago, they also had a very tenuous relationship with Scott Skiles and they had to bear the incomparable local media pressure of being the Bulls’ centerpieces in the post-Jordan era. Personally, I don’t think Chandler and Curry would have ever become the better players they are now if they had stayed in Chicago, there was just too much pressure on them to produce and too much accumulated negativity from the losing seasons after Jordan left that the best option for the franchise was to throw away any plans to build around the two big men and just reconstitute the team around newer acquisitions like Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, and Nocioni.

45. dj hott Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 9:59 am

    JACOB, MY TRADES ARE INTERESTING, AND IF THE SONICS WOULD TRADE
    RAY ALLEN, FOR ZERBIAK AND GREEN, OR PORTLAND TRADES ZACK RANDOLPH, FOR CHANNYING FRYE, AND AN EXPIRING FRANCIS CONTRACT, THEN ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, I ADMIT THOSE TRADES WERENT THOUGHT OUT, BUT MOST OF MY TRADES MAKE SINCE
    HELL NO I WOULDNT TAKE STOJAKOVIC,WEST,AND PETERSON FOR KOBE
    SHIT I WOULDNT TAKE WHO THE SIXERS GOT FOR IVERSON, OR ANY TRADE THAT AT LEAST ON PAPER AND ATTITUDE MAKES THEM BETTER.
    IF U LOOK AT THE LAKERS U SAY, THEY ARE OK AT POINT, LAMAR ODOM WHEN NOT HURT IS DECENT AT THE 4, AND BYNUM IS YOUR CENTER
    SO U WOULD WANT A SG,A SF, AND A TRADITIONAL BACKUP OR STARTER AT PF, IN A KOBE TRADE
    I SAY THE BULLS WILL MAKE LA ONE LAST OFFER
    G-B.GORDON,F,T.THOMAS,NOAH,AND 08 PICK
    IT WILL BE IF KOBE AGREES OR NOT
    THAT AGAIN LEAVES CHI WITH NO BIGS, BUT U CANT SAY THEY NEED BIGS, WITHOUT MENTIONING A TRADE, OR ADDING KOBE WILL NEVER HURT,
    THE BULLS DRAFTED,NOAH,AND GRAY, AND SIGNED JOE SMITH, AND GOT T.THOMAS, LAST YEAR, SO ONE OF THE FUCKERS NEEDS TO STEP IN, YOUNG OR NOT AND AVERAGE 15 8, AND WHAT IS IT, WHEN YOUR SHOES, GO TO FOR SELL FOR $15 U START PLAYING LIKE THATS ALL THEIR WORTH?(LAST YEAR MARBURY,&NOW, THIS YEAR, BIG BEN
    WHY THE HELL WOULD U PAY 15 MIL FOR A 6′8 AGING CENTER, WITH SCORING AVERAGES OF 5PPG, IF U JUST WANTED A REBOUNDER, DIDNT U JUST HAVE TYSON CHANDLER?, WHO WAS 7′1, AND STILL GETTING BETTER, HINRICH IS OVERRATED, DENG WILL NEVER AVERAGE 26PPG, AND GORDON DOESNT PLAY WELL WITH HINRICH, ALSO HINRICH WOULD BE BETTER WITH A POST PLAYER IN HIS PRESENTS

    SO SAD THAT ONCE THE KNICKS GET GOOD PLAYERS, THEY MENTALLY GET LOST, AND MAY SUFFER, YEA I AGREE MARBURY’S D, ATTITUDE, AND PLAY HAS DECREASED SINCE THE OLYMPICS A FEW YEARS AGO,
    JUST STAT WISE, 15 PPG 7AST, HOW MUCH MORE DO U WANT, WHEN U HAVE BIG MAN CURRY, WANTING THE BALL, RANDOLPH SHOOTING EVERY SHOT, OUTSIDE, AND INSIDE, AND CRAWFORD DESERVING HIS SHOTS, AND THE ENERGETIC NATE, AND THE DEFENDER COLLINS CRAWLING DOWN YOUR BACK. PLUS U MAD THE DUMB ASS COMMENT, THAT IN 2 YEARS U MAY PLAY IN GREECE, OR SOMEWHERE.
    U ASS MAYBE THE KNICKS WOULD BE CONTENDERS, AND U OWE THEM SOME MONEY, AND SIGN A 2 YEAR 10 MIL CONTRACT AND WIN A TITLE,
    THE FACT IS MARBURY WAS PUT ON THE KNICKS TOO WIN, AND HE HASNT ACHIEVED THAT, BUT NOW IT IS THE GOOD YEAR, AND THINKS COULDNT BE ANYWORSE, AND I HEARD THE TEAM VOTED FOR MARBURY NOT TO BE WELCOMED BACK, I GUESS THEY DONT LIKE A SNITCH,
    EITHER THAT OR THEY ARE SELFISH AND THINK THAT WITHOUT MARBURY, THEY WOULD GET MORE SHOT ATTEMPTS
    IF HE IS OWED 40 MIL FOR 2 YEARS, I SEE HIM GETTING A 32 MIL BUYOUT, OR BEING IMMATURE, AND JUST BEING LEFT ON THE INJURY RESERVE FOR 2 YEARS, AND THEN GO TO GREECE OR WHEREVER
    , IF HE ACCEPTS THE BUYOUT
    I THINK HE WOULD TRY GOING TO MIAMI, OR SUPRISE EVERYONE, BY
    THE CELTICS PICKING HIM UP, BUT FOR THE VET MINIM, AND BE BACK WITH GARNETT, AND COULDNT HURT THE TEAM,
    MIAMI,BOSTON, OR INDIANA,
    THATS ABOUT THE ONLY TEAMS
    THE FACT IS THAT THE BULLS DONT HAVE A SUPERSTAR, OR A POST PLAYER
    JUST A AVERAGE HINRICH, A TWEENER IN GORDON, AND A TAYSHAUN PRINCE/CARON BUTLER,JOSH HOWARD, RANGE SF IN DENG,
    HE IS NOT IN THE PIERCE,CARMELO BRACKET,
    AND 15PTS AND 12 POINTS COMBINED BY THE STARTING PF, AND CENTER, IS FAR LESS, THEN THE ONE PLAYER, DWIGHT HOWARD,HA
    AND WHY DIDNT THE BULLS KEEP ALDRIGE, WELL
    ME PERSONALLY THINK THE CELTICS MADE ALL THE RIGHT OFF SEASON MOVES, TO GO FROM WORST TO 1ST, AND THE BULLS HAD THE PIECES BUT MADE THE WRONG MOVES A FEW YEARS AGO, AND NOW ARE CONSERVITIVE,
    BULLS COULD HAVE GOT GARNETT, FOR A B.GORDON,NOCIONI,T.THOMAS,08 PICK TRADE
    WHY ISNT THAT ENOUGH
    IMAGINE WHAT YOUR BULLS COULDVE BEEN

    G-HINRICH
    G-DUHON
    F-DENG F-V.KHRYPA
    F-GARNETT F-J.SMITH
    C-B.WALLACE C-A.AARON GRAY

    THE FACT IS THE BULLS ARE STARTING REAL SLOW, AND THE EAST HAVE ALOT OF GOOD TEAMS NOW ANY WAY

    1.BOSTON2.DETROIT3.ORLANDO4.NJ5.CLEVELAND6.NY7.MIAMI8.WASHINGTON
    9.TORONTO10.CHICAGO11.CHARLOTTE

46. dj hott Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 10:17 am

    AND JACOB U SAID NOT ENOUGH, THE SALARIES WOULD MATCH,
    AND A DEFENDER,IN WALLACE,AND A PF THAT WILL AVERAGE 14 8 NEXT YEAR, AND A TOP 17 PICK, TO GET RID OF A OVERRATED WHINER, MAY BE ENOUGH, MAYBE WALLACE, NEEDS A BIGMAN IN THE POST TO PLAY GOOD, HE ALWAYS KNEW RASHEEDS JOB WAS SHOOTING OUTSIDE AND INSIDE, AND HIS ROLE WAS PLAYING D AND GETTING REBOUNDS
    NOW THE PF DOESNT HAVE A ROLE, SO HE THINKS HE SHOULD DO LESS
    OR HE IS SECRETLY PARTYING IS 15 MILLION A YEAR, AND ISNT FOCUSED,

    WITH SHAQ FALLING AND B.WALLACE, I BET ODEN WOULD HAVE HAD A BETTER ROOKIE SEASON THEN THE 10PTS 8REBS PREDICTED
    AND THE BULLS SHOULD TRY A CHRIS WILCOX,D.WILKENS
    FOR B.GORDON

    I WOULDNT
    BUT LIKE SOMEONE SAID, THE BULLS START OFF SLOW, AND HAVE WON WITHOUT A BIGMAN, THE FACT IS B.WALLACE ISNT PLAYING GOOD
    NOBODY IS PLAYING LIKE THEY WANT TO BE ALLSTARS OR IN CONTRACT YEARS,OR IN BEN WALLACES CASE, PLAYING LIKE HE DOESNT WANT A BUYOUT.

47. Brenda Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 11:52 am

    The Bulls do not need Kobe Bryant! They need a scoring BIG MAN!!!!
    Get Pao Gasol!!!!!

48. Jacob Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 11:54 am

    the point im making about ben wallace is no one wants him. why get him for 10mil when you can get someone young to put up the same stats for less then a mil.

    bulls messed up getting ben wallace instead of keeping tyson chandler. when they made that sign i knew it was a bad move because tyson had more upset, is taller(Cant teach height) and was alot cheaper and better moral.

49. Hammond Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 12:01 pm

    Wasn’t it the self proclaimed basketball “expert” Michael Bennett who predicted in the preseason that the Bulls would win the championship this year? Interesting choice for an expert. Couple that prediction up with his very confident “Cavs in 6″ from last season and you’ve got a good idea of his hoops knowledge. It’s funny that the guy who’s usually calling rashidi and lots of other guys “idiots” is uncharacteristically quiet now that everybody else is talking about how mediocre his pick is.

50. BigBigWorld2 Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 3:19 pm

    The Chicago Bulls suffer the same fate and managerial breakdowns as other Chicago teams; they are frugal, inconsiderate of star players, and show a great deal of incompetence to consistantly compete with the best teams year after year. When Pau Gasol was on the board to be traded the bulls should have made a move which did not require much. Now Wallace have to suffer playing defense on a small team with no BIGS. HE is mostly effective when he has another big man playing along side of him to prevent over exposure of flaws and defensive breakdowns. The Bulls need a big guard and thats why Gordon’s name keeps coming up because they know he isn’t a long term solution at the 2. He is great when there is a one-two punch scoring but when another bad decision came to let Eddy Curry go for peanuts it caused another fragile distraction to the mentally challenge on the team. Now you have Kobe Bryant sitting on the table for a two month long chat and rumor mill and you do nothing but cause another bad chain reaction to the mentally challenge on the team. What can we do now except see the bad consistencies the Bulls have displayed by showcasing many turnovers, poor shot selection, hustling to recovery turnovers and fighting to catch up in games. We are currently going through the “WHOS THE BOSS” syndrome because the Bulls hate to see a smart player speak out and tell it like it is, and wondering who wants to be a leader since guys like Ben Wallace just wants a check, not a leadership role. I tell you what send two of your players WALLACE AND DUHON TO INDIANA FOR JERMAINE O’NEAL, TRADE HINRICH AND GORDON for GASOL, TRADE THABO and SMith for BIBBY. THIS WHAT YOU WILL HAVE AS A STARTING FIVE AND BENCH
    Bibby
    Deng
    O’Neal
    GASol
    NOCE
    —
    Bench
    Thomas
    Gray
    Griffin
    Noah
    Gardner
    Kryapa
    The bulls still keep there energy players but on the bench.

51. John Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 3:44 pm

    Lamarcus Aldridge is going to be the next star power forward in the NBA. There is a lot of talk about B. Roy and Greg Oden surrounding the Blazers…but it is Lamarcus who will be the star. Everyone in Portland knows it…the nation doesn’t know it yet. Bulls fans who think Thomas is going to be better then Aldridge have not seen a Blazer game.

52. dj hott Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 4:19 pm

    KOBE,VUCAJIC,MIHM TO UTAH
    FOR M.OKUR,A.KIRALENKO,GIRACEK,AND M.ALMOND AND 08, 09 1ST RD PICKS

    WOULDNT HAPPEN
    BUT IF SO

    G-D.WILLIAMS G-J.HART
    G-K.BRYANT G-S.VUCAJIC
    F-R.BREWER F-M.HARPRING
    F-C.BOOZER F-P.MILLSAP
    C-J.COLLINS C-C.MIHM

    THIS TEAM COULD BEAT THE SPURS

53. dj hott Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 4:22 pm

    LAKERS

    G-D.FISHER G-J.FARMAR C-K.BROWN
    G-MO EVANS G-J.CRITTENTON G.GIRACEK
    F-A.KIRALENKO F-V.RADMONOVIC
    F-L.ODOM F L.WALTON
    C-M.OKUR C-A.BYNUM

54. anthony Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 4:54 pm

    wallace and duhon for jermaine oneal??

    i’ve scanned through some of the CRAZY trade talk, but this one really caught my eye.

    let me guess, you must be a bulls fan. and you think very little of larry bird.

55. anthony Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 5:06 pm

    wallace is about as tradeable at $15 mil as marbury is tradeable at $24 mil, raef lafrentz at $11 mil or darius miles at $8 mil.

    heck, bird could take kwame brown for double the production with a one-year contract at $9 mil.

    not gonna happen. dream on.

56. Eddie Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 5:13 pm

    rashidi and a few others are debating that i am hitting the bulls while they are down.

    I listed teams in my last blog that i thought would surprise and disappoint.

    if i picked all 30 teams i would have included the Bulls although i relented and gave them a high seed for the playoffs.

    they scare me and i wrote about it already Rashidi and others.

    what you fail to mention are the teams i did pick in that article before this one Rashidi.

    who picked the Heat to not make playoffs this year? duh —–

    i like messing with you because you make me laugh, but i do’t think you are funny. (-:

57. weaponJ Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 5:20 pm

    Why gut a team with so much talent when you haven’t reached a quarter of a season yet?

    Why trade for a bitching player when it doesn’t guarantee you a championship? Isn’t it the ultimate goal for all teams?

    Again, in order to get Kobe you have to dismantle your current team and cripple your future by giving away draft picks. So wherever Kobe goes his disappointment and bitching will soon follow. This is not like the Celtics where Pierce and Allen waiting for Garnett. Still even in this situation they are just one major injury away before the “tripod” holding the team breaks down and fall.

    Best solution for the Bulls? Give them time and if they continue playing poorly then wait till the trading deadline to get some good deals. They are just a big man away from a championship so they should be patient rather than get a talented head-case.

58. Jacob Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 5:29 pm

    anthony dont bother, there are so many nonsense trades in this discussing its rediculous. lets just say none of that will happen and kobe will not be moved.

59. Rashidi Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 6:23 pm

    Bibby is injured and Artest missed the first seven with suspension. There was never any doubt they would struggle, so I don’t get the comparison. The Bulls are a good team that most consider at least top 4 in the east. Eddie focused on teams he thought would not be as good as advertised, or better than advertised. He stuck with safe picks like an old/Wadeless Miami or a Cleveland team with contract disputes and is merely a reactionist at this point now that the Bulls went 1-5

60. Eddie Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 8:04 pm

    Rashidi

    Duh———-thats why you say it. but you are wrong about Miami sir. Is Wade back in the line-up? read the article—i said they will not make the playoffs. when no other prognosticator came close.

    i also said Denver would struggle when people are picking them to win 55 games.

    I also said Portland would play well even though they do not have Olden.

    were those picks safe? Go read my article i wrote on the Ben Wallace signing RASHIDI! LOL

61. Eddie Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 8:10 pm

    sorry Rashidi have you checked the standings where San Antonio and Dallas reside? what did i say about the team currently in first place? will somebody help me quiet RASHIDI(-:

62. Krynn Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 11:25 pm

    If Gasol is available, it’s worth trading Deng one for one or if not add Noah to the trade package…… Gasol is worth it….

63. quik one Said,

    November 16, 2007 @ 11:27 pm

    The BULLS tried to get Garnett and were rebuffed a few times. The best package they offered was;

    DENG
    CHANDLER
    #2 PICK 2006 DRAFT –

    T’ WOLVES SAID NO TO THAT, only to trade KG for a lesser package a year latter. what do you have to say about that?

64. Krynn Said,

    November 17, 2007 @ 3:53 am

    What’s with all the attention on Kobe when the blog is all about the Bulls? The trade suggestions are becoming worse like remember Kobe’s veto power like would he want to go to those teams? The Laker’s I beleive would not take those players suggested esp with Kobe still playing despite his itentions to be traded to a competitive team. I really see Eddie’s point on Kobe now. Yeah Kobe can play a post game but I still think trading for Gasol would be better for them. Getting Kobe is giving up too much… I think it ain’t comparable to the Garnett trade to Boston, like giving up Pierce for Garnett and not be able to get Ray Allen. A Garnett led Boston without Pierce and Allen would be a similar to a Kobe led Chicago w/o Deng and Gordon and all those included in the trade… not much free agents left out there to build around a Kobe led Bulls…

65. Hugo Said,

    November 17, 2007 @ 5:35 am

    Grizzlies fans aren’t too high on Gasol right now, since they might have a new rising star in Rudy Gay, Milicic is playing well enough in the post, and they have been criticising Gasol for his defense and lack of heart for years anyway.
    The Bulls were perhaps scared of destroying a nucleus of young and talented players to get him last year, but Gasol is exactly what the doctor ordered for them: 7-feet, low-post scorer with great passing skill and unselfish enough to fit into any offense.

66. dj hott Said,

    November 17, 2007 @ 9:24 am

    marbury to lakers
    for kwame brown9mil, r.radmonovic6mil,c.mihm6mil

    if jackson wants to take him for 2 years, and in reality, loose nothing, go ahead, that means even more logjam at pt, or a move to kobe to 3,

    g-d.fisher g-j.farmar g-j.crittenton
    g-s.marbury g-mo evans g-s.vujacic
    f-k.bryant f-l.walton
    f-l.odom b.cook
    c-a.bynum c-r.turiaf

    and the knicks add a decent backup and contract relieve after the season in brown, so mihms contract ends the same time as marbury,
    so it basically is a 20mil marbury, for 6mil radmonovic, save 14 mil, get rid of marbury.

67. Rashidi Said,

    November 17, 2007 @ 1:48 pm

    OMGZ week two standings! Clearly these indicate where a team is going to finish in April. It’s not even thanksgiving yet junior.

    Miami and Chicago will both make the playoffs barring catastrophic injuries.

    Uh yeah, those were safe picks Eddie. Portland of course was going to do better without Oden as their players are more experienced now, in particular young guns Aldridge, Webster, Outlaw, Jack, and getting rid of defensive blackhole Zach Randolph. The team’s success still depends on the health of Brandon Roy, who missed 27 games last year.

    Denver isn’t exactly a tough one to predict, the west is very deep and SOMEONE has to lose some games, so why not the team with the most fragile front line and backcourt? They are a Camby or Iverson injury away from missing the playoffs considering they are already missing Atkins and Nene for awhile.

68. dj hott Said,

    November 17, 2007 @ 4:13 pm

    rashidi portland got rid of the player leading the league in rebounds

    why portlands aldrige gets 7 and prizbilla gets 6, and randolph gets 14,
    yet he is a blackhole. i think portland should have kept randolph, and either drafted durant, or still got oden, to make a 3headed monster, and injury relieve, to what they have in oden, 3headed,randolph,aldrige,and oden,
    still with a brandon roy, and martell webstar, would have looked like a playoff team.

    now they have won a few games early. it is still to early to judge teams,
    except for the celtics being undefeated. i think that is saying alot

    and damien wilkens with 41 points, what happened did he play his uncle
    dominique in one on one before the game?

    nene, or a reinjury to martin, was almost a give me to happen.
    and they shouldnt have gotten atkins anyway.
    they should have stayed with the short earl boykins,
    or convinced blake to stay.
    they still can get boykins, and suprised webber hasnt tried denver
    with well i guess him and iverson dont get along
    but washington should trade a.jamison&nick young for jermaine oneal

69. dj hott Said,

    November 17, 2007 @ 6:51 pm

    is tyson chandler this years marcus camby,
    and i see a milwaukee trade coming up
    charlie villanova,il&bobby simmons, 2nd rd pick
    to orlando- for hedo turkolu,t.ariza,garrity

    bulls
    b.wallace,t.thomas,a.nocioni- for jermaine oneal
    salaries work-

    g-hinrich
    g-b.gordon
    f-l.deng
    f-j.oneal f-joe smith
    fc-j.noah c-a.gray

70. anthony Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:57 am

    wow!

    I think some of you guys are serious about these trade comments.

    why would anyone trade for marbury. the knicks will buyout his contract before next season. this guy is on the downside of his career, and right now he is in a free fall. when he is bought out, there will be one desperate team that picks him up (and that will be for a veterans minimum). they might get some production out of him for the rest of the year, since Marbury will have something to prove. But it won’t be long before he turns into Starbury and his ego gets in the way of playing team basketball. He is the quickest ticket to destroying team chemistry.

    someone would have to be high on jenkem to make that deal.

71. Noah Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 2:38 am

    If the Bulls can get Kobe for essentially Gordon, Thomas, and Nocioni (since Kobe will veto a trade involving Deng), the Bulls would have to be CRAZY not to do it. Does anybody seriously think Gordon, Thomas, and Nocioni as a group provide anything near what Kobe does? If you do, you’re kidding yourself. Gordon and Nocioni are solid roll players and I think Thomas will end up being very very good, but Kobe Bryant is by far the best perimeter player in the NBA. If you can have him and have any semblance of a roster around him, you’re going to be in championship contention. It’s why the Lakers shouldn’t trade Kobe. If they stay healthy and Kobe gets hot in the playoffs, they could totally win it all.

72. dj hott Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 8:37 am

    bulls wont get kobe

    they will trade t.thomas,nocioni,duhon for marion

    then trade b.wallace and still 3mil ben gordon, for gasol,&mario kinsey

    bulls
    g-k.hinrich g-a.barrett
    g-t.safosha g-m.kinsey
    f-l.deng f-v.khrypa
    f-s.marion f-joe smith
    c-pau gasol c-jokim noah

73. dj hott Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 8:39 am

    g-b.gordon
    g-m.miller
    f-r.gay
    f-d.mililic
    c-b.wallace

74. Rashidi Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 2:41 pm

    “rashidi portland got rid of the player leading the league in rebounds”

    They also got rid of the worst defensive starting power forward in the league, who takes far more shots than he should.

    “why portlands aldrige gets 7 and prizbilla gets 6, and randolph gets 14,
    yet he is a blackhole.”

    Blackhole
    1. An area of space-time with a gravitational field so intense that its escape velocity is equal to or exceeds the speed of light.
    2. A great void; an abyss:

    Randolph, like so many other Knicks, does not give up the ball when he gets it. He averaged 4 more shots per 48 minutes than Carlos Boozer and Kevin Garnett, which tells you all you need to know about him. He is shooting at an even higher rate this year, despite playing next to other scorers like Marbury, Crawford, and Curry. At least last year on a Portland team short of scoring he had an excuse. He is averaging 19 points on 19 shots per game, which is poor to say the least.

    “i think portland should have kept randolph, and either drafted durant, or still got oden, to make a 3headed monster, and injury relieve, to what they have in oden, 3headed,randolph,aldrige,and oden,
    still with a brandon roy, and martell webstar, would have looked like a playoff team.”

    Or they can save 30 million, dump a non-character guy who has only put up bad numbers on losing teams, and give more shots to Aldridge to help him develop into what he is now in the first place. The money they saved will eventually go towards locking up Roy, Jack, Webster, Oden, and Aldridge.

    Playoff team? In the west? Come on kid. Those three don’t even guarantee Portland an 8th seed, rebuilding teams should rebuild, not fight for the right to lose to Dallas/Phoenix/San Antonio in four games. They are going to get another high draft pick this year which they wouldn’t have if they kept Randolph (then again, looking at the Knicks, maybe they still would)

    “now they have won a few games early.”

    They are 4-6 and have had a weak early schedule. Two weeks don’t make a season.

    “they should have stayed with the short earl boykins,
    or convinced blake to stay.”

    Boykins is too small to play with Iverson, Atkins has a better rep as a shooter, point guard, and defender. Denver doesn’t need undersized guard scoring when they already have Iverson. Blake got paid and it is impossible to predict injuries, if Blake were the one hurt you’d be singing a different tune.

    “and suprised webber hasnt tried denver with well i guess him and iverson dont get along”

    He wouldn’t even play, and George Karl wouldn’t want him anyway.

    “but washington should trade a.jamison&nick young for jermaine oneal”

    LOL is all I can say.

75. weaponJ Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 7:50 pm

    Hmmmmmm Nocioni is back in the starting lineup, Tyrus Thomas started in that position at the start of the season right? just thinking out loud

76. dj hott Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 9:22 pm

    rashidi if a coach or players told him to quit shooting outside he would be ok, he has upped his rebounds by 5 to 14, yet his shot selection is not grade, and no randolph can play d, alot better than dirk, he is at least a average defender,improving, its currys lack of rebounding,and their team defense and shot selections in general.
    and portland didnt save 30 million, no actually if i was portland i would have took the consensus player of the year 6′9 1/2 20ppg durant,
    that would have made aldrige have to rebound more,give randolph one more year, to determine his real value, with stars around him, or they could have traded him for r.jefferson, and drafted oden.

    and how come webber wouldnt play when, hunter the backup center is now out, nene, is out, and martin only plays 20mpg?
    and camby is still kinda injury prone, so why couldnt he play in denver rashidi? karl may not want him, but he is tall and sucks like nene,
    but he is cheap, like 10mil, and he’s not hurt

    g-j.jack
    g-b.roy
    f-k.durant
    f-z.randolph
    c-aldrige
    if they drafted durant instead of hoden
    watch out, or what, u dont like that team, a z.randolph,durant, trade could get u anybody in the league

    and a iverson boykins,with jr smith, creates the fastest backcourt, and would mean matchup problems, and denver could play zone.
    boykins speed, makes up for atkins 5 inches

    greg oden, will either be sam bowie, or in 3 years a taller dwight howard

77. dj hott Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 10:01 pm

    up/ed his rebounds from 9to 14, my bad

    SEATTLE WILL DRAFT DERRICK ROSE,
    TRADE RIDNOUR,6M, ZERBIAK,11MIL, AND SWIFT, 3MIL
    FOR MARION&M.BANKS

    THEN TRADE WILCOX,COLLISION,AND 09 PICK FOR JERMAINE ONEAL AND DANIELS
    MAKE IT RAIN IN SEATTLE, NEVER HAPPEN BUT IM BORED

    G-D.ROSE E.WATSON 2ND ROUND PICK PF-DJ WHITE
    G-K.DURANT D.WEST
    F-D,WILKENS M.DANIELS
    F-S.MARION F-K.THOMAS
    C-J.ONEAL C-PETRO

78. dj hott Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 10:02 pm

    OH YEA AND THAT JEFF GREEN GUY

79. dj hott Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 10:16 pm

    FR
    1.M.BEASLEY
    2.D.ROSE
    3.OJ.MAYO
    4.D.JORDAN
    5.K.LOVE
    6.E.GORDON
    7.D.GREEN
    8.J.BAYLESS
    9.K.KOUFOS
    10.J.FLYNN

    UNDERRATED COLLEGE PGS’
    1.SEAN SINGLETARY5′11
    2.TYRESE RICE6′1
    3.JEREMY PARGO6′2
    4.ERIC MAYNOR6′3
    5.JAMAR BUTLER6′2

    OVERRATED COLLEGE PG’S OR UNDERACHIEVER
    1.GREG PAULUS
    2.DREW NEITZEL
    3.DARREN COLLISON
    4.RUSSELL ROBINSON
    5.BYRON EATON

    CENTERS
    1.D.JORDAN7′0FR
    2.R.HIBBERT 7′2 SR
    3.K.KOUFOS 7′0 FR
    4.H.THABEET7′3 SO
    5.R.LOPEZ 7′0 SO
    6.DEVON HARDIN 6′11

80. dj hott Said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 10:17 pm

    NICE COLLEGE CENTERS THIS YEAR

81. anthony Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 12:12 am

    i just finished watching the Lakers - Bulls contest. Bulls do play scrappy d, but there is no post up game in there offense whatsoever. Lakers beat them by 28.

82. weaponJ Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 1:44 am

    and what’s going on with Isiah and the Knicks? I thought they’re supposed to be good this year. hmmmm just thinking out loud again

83. Rashidi Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 4:17 am

    rashidi if a coach or players told him to quit shooting outside he would be ok,

    “he has upped his rebounds by 5 to 14″

    He has played SIX GAMES. It will obviously go down. Not that 14 rebounds makes up for terrible shot selection or defense anyway

    “randolph can play d, alot better than dirk”

    While this is debateable, it is completely irrelevant. Dirk is a once in a generation type of offensive player, while Randolph is not even top 5 offensively at his position. Dirk puts up big numbers on winning teams, Zach puts up big numbers on lottery teams - a big difference.

    “and portland didnt save 30 million”

    Uh, yeah, they did. They traded Zach’s 60 million contract for Steve Francis’ 30 million contract, and then bought it out for 28 million or so. Francis’ contract is off the cap in two years, compared to 4 for Zach. This is basic cap elementary kid.

    “if i was portland i would have took the consensus player of the year 6′9 1/2 20ppg durant, that would have made aldrige have to rebound more,give randolph one more year, to determine his real value, with stars around him, or they could have traded him for r.jefferson, and drafted oden.”

    But the reality is, NONE of this happened. What you would have done doesn’t matter because most of it is unrealistic and impossible. RJ for Zach doesn’t work straight up, and even if it did, how is that helping the team in the long run? Jack/Roy/RJ/Aldridge/Oden is alright but they would never touch the Spurs, Mavs, Suns, etc, teams that will be dominant for the next three years minimum.

    “and how come webber wouldnt play when, hunter the backup center is now out, nene, is out, and martin only plays 20mpg?”

    Because Webber is a cancer and George Karl wants no part of him, nevermind that he is a terrible fit in Denver. He can’t run, he needs the offense to run through him, can’t hit jumpers consistently, he can’t defend, he can’t stay healthy, he can barely even dunk anymore. If he were on the team he’d probably be on the sidelines right next to Nene and Hunter. Martin doesn’t need to play anymore than 20 mpg, they have Eduardo Najera off the bench. Webber got spanked by the likes of Duncan when he was younger, so why would that change now that Webber has lost more than a step? How could he keep up with a Dirk? What makes you think he could even keep up with JUWAN HOWARD???

    “so why couldnt he play in denver rashidi? karl may not want him”

    You answered your own question. Why did you keep on talking?

    g-j.jack
    g-b.roy
    f-k.durant
    f-z.randolph
    c-aldrige

    LMFAO that team would suck so badly. The only thing that would make it more comical is if Jack were Marbury and Roy were Kobe. DONT YOU GET IT???? THERE IS ONLY ONE BALL ON THE COURT. Randolph takes too many shots and Durant takes plenty of shots himself. Between those two, what shots are Roy and Aldridge going to get? Aldridge would not be averaging 18 playing next to Durant or Randoph, he’d probably average HALF that.

    Randolph: 26.46 FGA per 48 (19.6 per game)
    Durant: 25.9 FGA per 48 (18.4 per game)
    Aldridge: 21.36 FGA per 48 (19.2 per game)

    Portland’s entire team averages 77.1 FGA per 48. Aldridge leads them shooting 25% of their shots. LMAO if you think he’d shoot anywhere near as many with Randolph AND Durant on the same team. Those three would have to combine for 57 shots a game to put up the same offensive production leaving Roy and the rest of the team the 20 leftover shots. Yeah, that’s realistic. LOL

    “and a iverson boykins,with jr smith, creates the fastest backcourt, and would mean matchup problems”"

    Yeah, mostly matchup problems for Denver. Ginobili, McGrady, Kobe, just about every team with a decent sized SG would abuse them. You’ve been playing too much NBA 2K.

    Atkins is a better spot up shooter than Boykins. They need someone who can hit open shots created by Iverson/Melo penetration. There is no point to Boykins as he has the same skillset as Iverson. He is basically Iverson-lite on offense. He is not a great three point shooter. Iverson and Melo can create off the dribble, so please explain how Boykins skills are so necessary to the team. There is a reason no team has signed him yet.

84. Cordell Taylor Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 8:55 am

    Right on target Eddie, I do think they need to make a move for Kobe but if they do, they need to let go of Skiles. I do not see those guys meshing at all. Skiles hates superstars and loves the underdog/hustle guy and those guys do well but never win titles. They need a veteran coach with a Phil Jackson-like mindset. The players have tuned out Skiles and are not listenting to him anymore. They also desperately need some kind of low post punch, they miss Eddy Curry.

85. dj hott Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 9:53 am

    boykins averaged 14.6ppg last year case closed

    and with portland having
    g-jack
    g-b-roy
    f-k.durant
    f-z.randolph
    c-l.aldridge

    i see 4 allstars, i see a team with no pointguard shooting all the shots, so yea chemistry may be a issue at the beginning, but i see a team that could have room for one injury.

    or rashidi, does saving 30 mil, with your miscalculations, over 4 years anyway, does saving money and having a injuried draft pick, that was injuried the same year drafting him, does that bring u better than the spurs, suns, whoever else, no

    randolph is shooting a horrible 39% but it will increase
    and no i play nba live, thanks, and what my expensive, so called cant play d, celtics, kick everyones ass.

    aldridge is a good player, like a tim duncan, its just randolph is a powerful player, like boozer,elton brand, i know aldridge is better this year from taking a pounding in practices last year vs randolph.
    if u have a player that shoots alot, why not be a post man, and if he
    can make up for it by getting 14rbs great, get a coach to command him to just overpower players, and let the guards shoot outside.

    having durant and randolph would give randolph even more rebounds

    that portland team looks like a young celtics team, and then add a lotto next year, portland would have rocked

    g-b.roy 16.8ppg 6.8asts- t
    g-k.durant 21ppgwith a better precent
    f-m.webster 11ppg
    f-z.randolph 20ppg 14
    c-l.aldridge 14 8

    and nobody has gotten earl boykins for the vet minimum?
    give me a reason. so you think jacque vaugn is better than boykins?
    smush parker better than boykins?

    boykins is even better than duhon?
    or 6mil marcus banks?

86. eddie Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 10:17 am

    weaponJ

    I am also a little disappointed in the Knicks so far, but there is is some reasons and that is why we should hold off on judgement.

    1. Zach Randolph has missed a number of games because of a Death in the family.
    2. I did not expect Starbury to blow up this fast

    Those two reasons if reversed would have the Knicks at 500 ball, which is where i expected them at this point.

87. dj hott Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 1:25 pm

    knicks will get it together, whether it is with marbury, or without him.
    what they need a vocal leader, that will pass and play d, wow what could they do to get kirk hinrich, or baron davis to the knicks, for marbury, david lee,and 1st rd pick
    only if a move must be made, and baron davis wants amove due to contract or record issues. this is just a cry from a knicks fan
    celtics finally lost, its official,dwight howard is a beast

88. Tom Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 2:07 pm

    Here’s an actual personal email sent to me from Eddie Johnson, aka “The one-dimensional jumpshooter.” You too can get a childish email from Eddie, all you have to do is criticize one of his hack articles, and he’ll promptly get all worked up and delete your post and then send you a childish email! Try it guys it totally works!

    Real professional there Eddie!

    “Tom

    Sorry buddy, I do not read what other
    prognosticators write about. You want
    to know why? They don’t know what the hell they are
    talking about unless
    they played the game.

    Just like you calling me a Hack—-you don’t know
    what the hell you are
    talking about Tommy. Give me an argument about why I
    am wrong because if you know my history Tommy and read my articles over
    the last few years on
    the direction of the Bulls you would not make that
    stupid comment! Tommy LOL”

89. Long time Laker fan Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 2:08 pm

    Hey,

    I was just browsing the blog to see what Bulls fans think of the idea of
    trading for Kobe. Sounds like it’s mixed opinion. Some think you give up
    whatever you need to give up to get the superstar. Others say that you
    don’t need Kobe, you need a low post scorer, but you seem fixated on
    Pau Gasol.

    I have two concepts to interject and I’m curious what you Bulls fans would
    think of them:

    1. If the trade happens next summer, you wouldn’t have to gut the team
    to get Kobe. Since neither Gordon nor Deng re-signed, they could be
    signed and traded to make up the bulk of salary in a deal for Kobe.
    What would you think of a deal like Deng + Noah + a couple of future
    draft picks for Kobe?

    2. If you think a low post scorer would be better, what would you think
    of getting Zach Randolph. Would you consider giving up Gordon and
    Thomas for Zach Randolph an improvment? (it would also have to
    include someone else for salary matching - maybe Duhon or Khryapa
    and Griffin)

90. Rashidi Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 2:59 pm

    LOL I remember when Eddie emailed me it went something like this.

    Eddie: Shaq is greater than Duncan
    Me: Long list of reasons why not.
    Eddie: I’m right you’re wrong in ten words or less.

91. Rashidi Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 3:25 pm

    “boykins averaged 14.6ppg last year case closed”

    Last year is last year. Case closed.

    “and with portland having
    g-jack
    g-b-roy
    f-k.durant
    f-z.randolph
    c-l.aldridge

    i see 4 allstars”

    LMFAO four all-stars? I guess according to you, each team has at least three all-stars. Portland > Boston they only have 3 all-stars LOL

    “or rashidi, does saving 30 mil, with your miscalculations, over 4 years anyway, does saving money and having a injuried draft pick”

    What does Oden’s injury this year have to do with his CAREER? Portland is not winning any championships this year even if he were healthy. Their focus is on NEXT decade, not this one.

    aldridge is a good player, like a tim duncan, its just randolph is a powerful player, like boozer,elton brand, i know aldridge is better this year from taking a pounding in practices last year vs randolph.
    if u have a player that shoots alot, why not be a post man, “and if he
    can make up for it by getting 14rbs great”

    LMAO, you say his fg% will go up, but you are adamant that his rebounds will stay the same! Get a clue.

    “get a coach to command him to just overpower players, and let the guards shoot outside.

    LOL get a coach to command him, this ain’t high school bro.

    “that portland team looks like a young celtics team, and then add a lotto next year, portland would have rocked”

    LMFAO yeah the Bucks look like a young celtics team too!

    Yi = KG
    Redd = Allen
    Mason = Pierce

    ZOMGZ A LOTTERY PICK AWAY FROM GLORY!

    “g-b.roy 16.8ppg 6.8asts- t
    g-k.durant 21ppgwith a better precent
    f-m.webster 11ppg
    f-z.randolph 20ppg 14
    c-l.aldridge 14 8″

    LMFAO how many starting lineups average 82 ppg? Get a clue this ain’t a video game kid.

    “and nobody has gotten earl boykins for the vet minimum?
    give me a reason. so you think jacque vaugn is better than boykins?
    smush parker better than boykins?”

    Because no team wants to pay the luxury tax for a flawed guard. And who says Boykins wants the veterans minimum, he obviously wants more, which is why he opted out of a contract paying him 3 million for this year. He obviously overestimated his value.

    “boykins is even better than duhon?”

    Is Boykins better than Ben Gordon?

    “or 6mil marcus banks?”

    Doesn’t matter, because the Suns still have Banks at 6 million, signing Boykins is not going to make Banks contract go away. This ain’t a video game, this is real money being given out. Why would Phoenix want to pay X amount to Boykins, pay double because of the luxury tax, and then watch Banks rot on the bench not earning his 6 million? Especially since this is a team trading picks and veterans so they can afford to pay it’s top three players. The NBA is not a video game where you can stack your team with top rated players signed for the minimum, simulate a season, and win a championship.

92. Rashidi Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 3:48 pm

    Atlanta: Already has four PGs, two of whom are undersized like Boykins (Claxton, Lue)
    Boston: Boykins does nothing Eddie House doesn’t. Except shoot threes worse.
    Charlotte: They want to save money after signing plenty of guys this summer, and want Felton playing most of the game anyway.
    Chicago: Boykins does nothing Gordon can’t. Duhon is a pass first defensive PG who doesn’t turn the ball over. Boykins is a trigger happy shooter like Gordon.
    Cleveland: They have Gibson hitting half his threes, something Boykins couldn’t do.
    Dallas: Boykins ain’t better than Terry.
    Denver: They went with Atkins who is the better shooter since they allready have Iverson to take players off the dribble.
    Detroit: Would play oh so much with Billups and Hamilton playing 36-40 per game.
    Golden State: Already have Monta Ellis
    Houston: Steve Francis doesn’t even get off their bench.
    Indiana: They are rebuilding and cheaply, no need to throw money away on a novelty luxury.
    LA Clippers: Already have Cassell and a good backup in Knight.
    LA Lakers: Phil Jackson would keel over laughing.
    Memphis: Already have Stoudamire, not to mention Lowry/Conley on his heels.
    Miami: Smush hits threes and defends. Boykins? Takes shots away from Wade.
    Milwaukee: Boykins already decided he didn’t want to play here.
    Minnesota: Foye, Jaric, Telfair, no roster space either.
    New Jersey: Prefer pass first PGs, Darrell Armstrong is doing well on the cheap as their 3rd string.
    New Orelans: Already have Bobby Jackson behind Paul.
    New York: Already have Nate, as welll as a million other guards who shoot a lot.
    Phoenix: Looking to save money, not waste it, they already have Barbosa so I dunno WTF you are talking about Banks for, at least Banks brings something the team doesn’t have (tougher defender) rather than something the team has PLENTY of (scoring).
    Philadelphia: Already have Louis Williams and they’re rebuilding.
    Portland: Already have Blake
    Sacramento: Had a shot after the Bibby injury but they filled it cheaply with Udrih.
    San Antonio: Boykins does absolutely nothing Tony Parker can’t, which is why you’d prefer a cheap veteran like Vaughn who is already on the roster.
    Seattle: Already have 3 PGs
    Toronto: Ford + Calderon = No need
    Utah: Somewhere, Jerry Sloan is laughing
    Washington: In case you haven’t figured it out, Boykins does nothng better than Arenas either.

    Boykins obviously overestimated his market value - most teams appreciated what he could do for teams, and they ALREADY HAVE their own undersized gunner - in fact most of these players are now starters or 6th men for their teams: Gordon, Terry, Ellis, Barbosa, etc being the notables.

    Boykins is in the same spot Stephon Marbury would be in if he were waived. No contending team needs him to win, and no rebuilding team needs him to lose. If he wants to make more than the veterans minimum AND get 25 mins of playing time a night, he’ll have to go to Europe.

93. Dave Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 5:02 pm

    LOL

    I think Eddie Johnson believes he has never been wrong in his life. Notice he never makes predictions but when something happens it’s always “no shock to eddie johnson.” Also, thanks to Eddie Johnson for continuing the trend of using Dennis Green’s post-game conference quotes for every other sports related incident. Show some creativity and some moxie for once Eddie.

94. danforth Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 5:11 pm

    Is this Eddie’s blog or Rashidi’s?

95. anthony Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 5:15 pm

    Long Time Laker fan,

    In response to your comments:

    1. I don’t think thats a good deal because Noah adds no value to the trade. I don’t think he has got what it takes to be in this league. I think if Thomas shows improvement this season it might be a fair trade. I think Deng and Nocioni with a pick would be fair. However, I that won’t work if Deng is signed for more than $15 mil a year.

    2. I think Gordon and Thomas for Randolph looks good on paper. He would fill a void that Chicago is missing, however, would just be weary of Randolph’s character. Team chemistry may end up being a problem for Skiles. I wouldn’t make that trade.

96. eddie Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 8:27 pm

    Tommy

    i email everyone. there is a method to my madness. So since you can’t handle my private e-mails i will not contact you or respond to your comments any more. i consider you invisible Tommy.

    Now go ask Rashidi if i ignored him how he would feel? i know it would hurt because he loves to debate with me and i him— although i think he has been drinking with some of his comments.

    but you Tommy take the cake. i bet you told the teacher on everyone when they turned their back at school. LOL

97. eddie Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 8:29 pm

    Rashidi

    send Tommy to my website and read the intro to my blog so he will know he can’t get me mad. (-:

    http://www.jumpshotclub.com

98. dj hott Said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 8:48 pm

    rashidi, if parker gets hurt
    u want to see jacque vaughn starting>? playing 34 mins?
    and portland would have 4 allstars
    roy and durant are the 3rd and 4th best sg’s in the west

    and boykins could be in utah,san antonio,boston,cleveland,or sacramento

    eddie had it right get a clue, u just like to agree and dont have a clue
    and yea there are teams that starters average 82ppg

    boston
    g-rhondo-8ppg or house 10
    g-r.allen-21
    f-p.pierce 23
    f-k.garnett 22
    c-k.perkins 8ppg

    g-nash 19
    g-bell 15
    f-hill 14
    f-marion 20
    c-a.stoudemire 21

    dallas
    g-d.harris 14
    g-terry 22
    f-howard 22
    f-d.nowitzki 21
    c-diop-6
    and a few others

    and ha ha the bulls, the raptors, and memphis, will suk

99. david Said,

    November 20, 2007 @ 2:30 pm

    DJ,
    If Tony Parker gets hurt, they’ll start either Ginoboli or Brent Barry at point. Darius Washington is doing all right as well — that’s why they let Udrih go.
    At some point you need to be happy with your roster and gel. You got so many people roaming around they probably wouldn’t even know what team they’re playing on.

100. Rashidi Said,

     November 22, 2007 @ 1:18 am

     LMAO I didn’t say there werent’ teams that did, I asked HOW MANY THERE WERE. You listed three of the top teams in the league, and the top offensive ones at that. Pierce, KG, Allen are all multiple time all-stars who have scored 25 ppg before, and they are coupled with role players who don’t need shots to be effective (Rondo, Perkins). Every player you want in the Blazers lineup needs the ball to be effective, it’s a Knick situation where all the scorers in the world don’t mean jack because theres only one ball on the court.

     (The funny thing is you actually question the Blazers picking a defensive player like Greg Oden who doesn’t need the ball to bring his team victory.)

     FGA per game
     Pierce: 15.6
     Garnett: 15.0
     Allen: 14.1
     Rondo: 8.1
     Perkins: 4.3

     Kevin Durant is averaging 19 ppg. That’s three fewer ppg than Pierce. He is doing this on 17.6 FGA per game. He is scoring 3 fewer points on 2 more shots. Now picture him taking 5 fewer shots per game because he’s playing next to another ballhog like Zach Randolph.

     Randolph: 18.5 FGA… averaging 18.3 ppg.

     Randolph isn’t even averaging a point per shot which is absolutely terrible for an NBA player, much less a bigman. He is scoring 3 fewer points than KG on 3 more shots.

     As for the rest of the Blazers…
     Roy: 14.7 FGA (18.9 ppg)
     Aldridge: 14.5 FGA (18.4 ppg)
     Webster: 10.7 FGA (13.0 ppg)

     Allen, like Pierce/KG, has his Blazer counterpart beat, averaging significantly more points on slightly less shots.

     Nevermind that those five would actually comprise an even worse defensive team than the Knicks. Durant and Martell Webster at the wings with Randolph behind them? LeBron and Kobe might both crack 100 against them.

101. Rashidi Said,

     November 22, 2007 @ 1:39 am

     But anyway, lets add up those totals.

     Boston starting 5 (Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Perkins)
     FGA per game: 57.1
     Points per game: 80.7
     Points per shot: 1.41

     Portland’s “thank heavens its not” starting 5 (Roy, Durant, Webster, Randolph, Aldridge)
     FGA per game: 75.9
     Points per game: 87.6
     Points per shot: 1.15

     It hardly needs to be said that the Blazers starting five would be taking FAR FEWER SHOTS than what they are now, considering the entire Phoenix Suns team averages 84 shots per game. This doesn’t bode well since their points per shot is downright pathetic. If those five took only 57 shots like the Celtics five, they would average only 65 ppg - fifteen fewer than Boston!

     New York has Marbury, Crawford, Richardson, Randolph, and Curry in their starting lineup. All those scorers mean the Knicks should be great offensively right? WRONG.

     The Knicks as a team are scoring 1.15 points per shot. Where have we seen that number before???

     The Knicks starting five are averaging 75 ppg. Oh, and 13 turnovers per game. And did we mention teams are shooting 47% from the field against them?

     But yeah, stack your team with slightly better than average offensive players who cant defend or set their teammates up. See how many playoff games they win. L O L

102. Rashidi Said,

     November 22, 2007 @ 1:45 am

     Btw Roy and Durant 3rd and 4th best SGs in the west? LMFAO they ain’t even top 5

     Kobe
     TMac
     Ginobili
     Kevin Martin
     Barbosa

     LMAO there are actually people who would take Roy over Manu have a seat kid.

     Durant has a great future but he ain’t there yet. Maybe when he starts putting up Kevin Martin numbers, but 19 ppg on 37% shooting on a 2-10 team don’t mean a thing. J.R. Smith or a gimpy Jerry Stackhouse could do that.

103. Hammond Said,

     November 23, 2007 @ 2:37 am

     I can’t believe anyone at this point would still try to defend the Knicks– they are the most ridiculous team in the NBA. Here’s what Flip Murray of the Pistons said after playing them: “They looked like they didn’t want to compete… all you have to do is look at their body language. I don’t know what’s going on over there, but they have a lot of issues.” This is the highest paid team in the league, and they’re not even trying… that alone should make people root against them.

104. Hammond Said,

     November 23, 2007 @ 2:51 am

     Ginobili vs Durant:

     Ginobili: 20.5 ppg, 5.4 rebs, 4.7 assts, 2.1 stls, 49% fg%, 43% 3 pt%, 29.2 mpg
     Durant: 19 ppg, 4.2 rebs, 1.8 assts, 1.3 stls, 37% fg%, 28% 3 pt%, 33.8 mpg

     Durant’s a great young player with a ton of potential, but anyone who says that he is better than Manu right now isn’t watching the same sport that I am. Ginobili has more points, rebounds, assists, and steals, and better field goal and three point percentages while playing fewer minutes. Manu’s also a better defender. No contest.

105. david Said,

     November 23, 2007 @ 1:26 pm

     Hammond,

     To further your point, I am a UT ? Durant fan but I haven’t seen Seattle play a lot. However when Ginobili scores a lot it usually changes the the momentum of the game, as when he had a 4 point play followed by a 3 point play against Orlando. The Spurs never looked back.
     In 4 or 5 years we will probably be saying the same ting about Durant.

106. david Said,

     November 23, 2007 @ 1:26 pm

     I really need to spell check what I write

107. Hammond Said,

     November 24, 2007 @ 11:40 am

     Isiah’s response to Flip Murray’s comment: “I’m not that concerned about body language…” That team is doomed.

     David– I’ve seen Durant play four games this season and he lloks great. I really think he could eventually become a T-Mac type of player– the best Sonic fans can hope for this year is they continue losing and get another high pick in next year’s draft. It’s very possible that in three years teams will dread visiting the northwest where they’ll have to face a Durant-lead Sonics (if the team doesn’t move) and an Oden/Aldridge-lead Portland team in the same way that teams now dread their trips to the big three of Texas.

108. david Said,

     November 24, 2007 @ 12:25 pm

     I’m looking forward to watching the Spurs/Sonics on Tuesday night (if I can stay up that late lol)

109. Michael Bennett Said,

     December 5, 2007 @ 5:37 pm

     I’m weighing in WAAAAY late on this one, but…

     The bottom line is that the Bulls need to a) Move players/acquire a true scorer, and b) fire Scott Skiles.

     The Bulls have A LOT of talent. But, they’re stacked in the wrong places. Judging by Paxson’s history, I wouldn’t be surprised if he traded for Reggie Evans… you know, so the Bulls could have ANOTHER scrappy defensive rebounder who can’t score. Man… They NEED to get Kobe. Package any and everyone. Get Kobe.

     And, Skiles… Oh, boy — Skiles? He’s a practice coach. He’s a great motivator… for one season. And, that’s it. Eddie — You’re always talking about giving Mark Jackson a chance at a head coaching job — Well, I think Chicago might be a good fit… if he doesn’t mind working/living in Chicago. He’s was a great PG, and some of that might be able to rub off on Kirk Hinrich… And, just maybe, he’ll turn into the true point guard that they need. They NEED Captain Kirk to be a distributing point guard. Under Skiles direction, Hinrich hasn’t played to his full potential. And, he never will.

     Give me Mark Jackson as head coach. Trade Gordon, Wallace and Deng to Los Angeles for Kobe.

     HEAD COACH - Mark Jackson

     PG - Kirk Hinrich
     SG - Kobe Bryant
     SF - Andres Nocioni
     PF - Tyrus Thomas
     C - Joakim Noah

     Come on!!! I’m very sad this year as a Chicago sports fan… The Bears are 5-7, and look like they’ll miss the Playoffs, and the Bulls, are, well, terriBULL.

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