Must of been tough for Dan last night. Can't wait to hear his carefully worded criticism of GarPax.

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uh oh

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They traded Lamarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas. In the old country that's what we'd call a mistake.

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-- source

yes this will be some fierce mental gymnastics for Berns today--how can he hold his contempt for white basketball players with his desire to blow kisses to the really.smart.people at Bulls HQ?

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It's not my show, but I'm on that show.

Think he'll go after his new basketball bête noire Bill Simmons for speaking ill of Big Daddy Jerry Reinsdorf?

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Correction: Drafted TWO white guys

I promise you he has never seen Nurkic play

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

So the narrative is last nights draft doesn't matter.

By Dan Bernstein-
CBSChicago.com senior columnist

(CBS) Doug McDermott can excite Bulls fans as much for what he isn’t as what he is.

Perhaps no single player in this draft arrives as well scouted as the four-year collegian with 4,569 minutes worth of action on tape, and few are as well decorated with all-everything accolades and national awards.

In some other year he’d be the trophy himself, a typically solid building block for yet another conservative core of personnel, his known skills valued over any perceived deficiency of explosiveness or athleticism, another Midwestern coach’s son embarking on an NBA career likely to be both successful and unspectacular.

But this is something different – something still on the move. There is palpable energy permeating the league at the moment as Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James prepare to enter free agency next week and as unhappy 25-year-old All-Star Kevin Love waits to be traded. Those names matter more than any called in last night’s NBA Draft, and every current transaction for a certain group of eager franchises must be seen in that context.

Decisive, aggressive action from Gar Forman and John Paxson – particularly that which fell right in line with prevailing word around the league — is indicative of more than just their desire to acquire McDermott himself, and it whets the appetite for more. Instead of incurring the salary burden of two first-rounders, Chicago retained some flexibility while making Mike Dunleavy’s $3 million more easily expendable in a deal. Though required to take on Anthony Randolph, his expiring contract of $1.8 million could also be dealt individually.

Sources continue to tell 670 The Score that the team is determined to make every effort at radical changes that would end the frustrating cycle of regular-season overachievement and playoff disappointment. They see their Eastern Conference as more unstable than ever, with multiple paths to contention.

Make no mistake: The Bulls really like McDermott. Having somebody who can put a ball in a basket without too much help was their greatest need and still remains so. But Forman and Paxson are setting up for next week knowing full well the best things going for them are open minds and an elastic roster. The whims of stars, agents, shoe companies and trading partners leave only volatility, not certainty, and only a team that is prepared for numerous scenarios will emerge with a realistic shot at a title.

Despite the Bulls’ awkward relationship with coach Tom Thibodeau (due more than anything to the fact that he’s just a very odd person with absent or unpolished interpersonal skills), there is trust that their coach will find a way to make it work, provided they deliver the scoring punch from somewhere. The Bulls really believe they have a shot at landing Anthony, but they don’t know if the Knicks will be backed into a sign-and-trade after staring into the abyss.

Similarly, the Timberwolves can wait for the teams that miss out on Anthony to enter a bidding war for Love as consolation, unless they are presented with something good enough at any time. As all this goes on, it remains possible that the best-laid plans of Pat Riley spin out of his control and James himself reshapes the NBA.

Chicago’s frontcourt pieces, both currently and potentially, would seem to have some overlap: McDermott, Dunleavy, Nikola Mirotic and Love all share some similarities. Taj Gibson’s game is more complementary, but he’d probably be demanded in any deal. Carlos Boozer is still on the team, too, awaiting either inclusion in trade or freedom via the amnesty provision. Acquiring any of the three available stars would mean assessing what you have left under contract, patching around it, hoping Derrick Rose can still play at a high level and seeing how far it all goes.

Draft night is always fun, and this one provided evidence of uncharacteristically forceful behavior from a front office desperate to land something long-sought. It might be the beginning of something.

Next week only decides the Bulls’ future.

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Well you could see that coming. If it doesn't matter, then don't have to think too hard about it or come up with entertaining opinions. And then lazy radio daily.

This makes no sense, by the way. They shed the BURDEN of a first rounder (usually the highest-value contract in the league) which netted them a mere $300k in cap space. But then Randolph isn't an afterthought, he's +$1.8m. They took on money in the trade because they really wanted McDermott. It doesn't close them off from the big.boy.move. but it makes it more difficult.

I always think Bernsteins "White" people thing is code for a much more specific group he hates or fears or is just weird about.
White athletes are bad.....too many white people in Naperville....white people freedoms......white people blah blah blah.

Does anyone really think he's including himself and his friends and family with all these dumb evil "white" people.

I'm sure it's evolved from multiple jocks that picked on him or girls that rejected him in Deerfield and Duke....and Rockford.
Those people fall into a much broader "white" group than the little sheltered, yet NWA / Public Enemy listening, Jewish kid from Deerfield.

I think Bernsteins "white" people hate could be summed up if you scrambeled the movie scripts School Ties, the Karate Kid and Meatballs and had it directed directed by Woody Allen.

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

I don't think I can read Dan's columns anymore. The urge to print them out and mark them up with a red pen has become overwhelming.

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The Bulls haven't done anything wrong, and they're not going to do anything wrong.

He dislikes working-class white people, of course, but I think he really dislikes, well, you know the caricature of the typical Cubs fan? That white guy.

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Deadspin just posted a column entitled "LeBron James Is The NBA's Invisible Hand," which ends with the words "It almost feels wrong to call [LeBron] a free agent now. He's the shadow general manager of 30 NBA teams."

So basically what I'm saying is, there's not really any point in reading it, because it's the apotheosis of more or less every single stupid idea Dan holds dear, and he's sure to breathlessly read it to you in its entirety in about three hours.

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The Bulls haven't done anything wrong, and they're not going to do anything wrong.

Daniel Carver could clarify this for you.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Hmmm, I think I know where Mac is headed.

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that was a really really dumb column (and props to the group for their theorizing about berns and his white people riffing--I think it's a proxy for gobs of things, and I've seen it in lots of upwardly-mobile white folks who have trouble feeling totally great about their race to the top so they can fetishize blacks and other authentic groups...all the while claiming to be a good liberal.

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It's not my show, but I'm on that show.

Terry said he is in love with this white player. Let's see if he speaks up if/when Dan says starts ripping on him.

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I couldn't quite encapsulate how to properly answer the question .... thankfully, you did.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe

Terry has been pushing Dan more lately. He seems more wiling to mix it up with him. Then Danny employs the Pappy theory of whomever is talking loudest is right.

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I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out. - Bill Hicks

Let's do it for Johnny!

I figure most people would tend to mark the paper with something with more of a brownish hue ......

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

In fairness that's a very healthy dislike to have. That's the dislike that made a kid raised to be a Cubs fan by his family effectively baseball-numb until he was dragged into a fantasy league and then had reason to see Vladimir Guerrero bat and say "fuck the bullshit, that's my guy that's my team game over man, game over </aliens>" and consequently deal with the endless spatial recognition prowess of said Cubs fans whose best shot was "HEY EXPOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!" for many years.

Seriously who wants to declare their way of life to be 100% down with the offspring of the fanny pack and jorts crowd?

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe

Kevin Love is a consolation prize to Carmelo?

If Terry's going to give us lines like "he had his wang wrapped up like a Subway sandwich," he's earning every penny.

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Their recent hatred of Bill Simmons REALLY has me jumping back on the B&B bandwagon. (completely serious, btw, I cannot stand BS)

Yeah but is he going after Simmons for the on and off Jerry R criticism or is he genuinely annoyed with Simmons.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

He seems to think Simmons is generally an unprofessional bitch on NBA coverage, but then again, making fun of him for his "can I talk now?" originated with -- where else? -- Deadspin. I'm sure Dan also gets defensive about Jerry Reinsdorf. The confusing thing is that Dan likes Grantland. Does he not know that's a Bill Simmons thing?

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