I still think that way, but it's not relevant to his HoF credentials.

_________________
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

_________________
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

See Allen Iverson. He has a Finals appearance though.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Well, considering it's a Thibs team, individual defense isn't something they needed to worry about anyway ... over and above their needing someone, anyone, to score

_________________
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

Pernicious myth my ass. The man is a cheap bastage.

Yeah but I see JR's point of not paying luxury tax just to do it. Pay like a MF'er when you have a real chance.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

No no no no don't crap me now. You make fun of Ricketts for not spending when they don't have a "real chance". Don't excuse stingy Jerry.

Staying under the luxury tax last year was huge. Now the Bulls can pay the luxury tax for the next 3 years without having to pay that huge penalty.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I may have said Cubs can rebuild with a better payroll. I never said they should spend $200M now.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

In 2013-2014, the Bulls had the fourth highest payroll in the league. Only the Heat, and the two dumb management teams in New York were paying more.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

http://www.spotrac.com/cap-tracker/nba/2013/
Here they're 8th. All I know is they're like one of 4 teams to never have paid the tax.

Looks like I was looking at the opening day roster.
http://blog.surepayroll.com/nba-payrolls-2013-2014/

I believe the Deng trade knocked them down.

I don't know if cheap is the right word for not paying something called the "luxury tax" though. Also, how the hell are so many teams out there that paid the luxury tax? About half the NBA teams are pretty much garbage. Did the Pelicans or Bucks ever pay it?

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

They paid the tax a year ago.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Last year was there first year ever doing so?

Yes. That is why the made sure they stayed away from it. The Jazz had to offer some assistance once it was clear Noah would reach his bonuses.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Morey is a clown who has won jackshit. Screw that dude

I don't agree with the article's human or commodity dichotomy. Virtually every team does business this way. The Rockets will trade Lin or whomever the second Melo indicates he wants to sign, but the Bulls are doing the same thing with Boozer, and Miami did the same when they traded away guys to create room for LBJ and Bosh. The only thing the Rockets are guilty of is being too dumb to figure this out before it became a problem. I think the Bulls and Rockets should have went with numberless jerseys.

_________________
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

Ben Gordon was in the building too and I heard that he was pissed. So pissed he signed a $9M deal with the Magic.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

So...justified thread or not?

The juiciest rumors just before and during free agency included the Bulls acquiring one or more of the following players:

Melo
Love
Affalo

Once it was all said and done, they ended up with Doug McDermott the 34 year old Gasol. I'm not going to mention Mirotic here because he was already a Bull, it just so happened he will play for them this year.

I actually am looking forward to the potential depth we have going on here if McDermott and Mirotic turn out to be great finds. On the other hand this is still a team that will rely on Rose to do a majority of the shot creation.

I'm not sure what else they could have done to get Melo, but with him delaying signing with the Knicks indicates that he was definitely there for the taking. I hope the Bulls explored cutting Taj loose to seal the deal with Melo, even though Melo likes Taj. You do not keep Taj over Melo. It seemed like the Bulls could get closer to Melo's neighborhood in terms of money if they got rid of Taj, but 70-whatever million was simply not going to cut it. That's like shopping for a Bentley with enough money for a Civic...get real, you can't shop here with that.

_________________
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

Ultimately he would have left $14M on the table if they kept Taj. It's not my money but I am pretty sure basketball players leave more than that on the table all the time. Looking at the East now his addition would have locked it up for the Bulls. They're still going into the season as the favorite to come out of the East.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Until Love is in Cleveland.
Also (and I haven't been around much the past month so I don't know if y'all have talked about this) the fact that LeBron went back to Cleveland gave Melo a perfect reason to go back to NY: the Cleveland move made the east wide open (for the moment), so with the redistribution of the East's wealth, the Knicks should be playoff contenders with him and that's about all the expectations there. In Chicago, the expectations would be much higher.

_________________

It removed a superpower but the East got better and the Knicks didn't. The Hornets may be a top 4 team and even after losing the best player in the world Miami is still better. The Knicks are a lottery team. They're somewhere around the 10th or 11th best team.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

That's my point, sorta. That they have low expectations. He gets them in the playoffs and it's a success. I wonder if he could handle higher expectations.

_________________

That's a great question. Maybe he can't handle higher expectations and winning a championship really isn't that important to him.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

The next time there's a huge free agent class, I'd like to see them cut ties with the unrealistic top players and sign two mid-level free agents. For example, this team would have been the best team in the East, IMO, if they'd gotten Afflalo, Gasol, and Augustin. They're still close, but it's those little signings that make a big difference, and those are usually forfeited when going after the top guys. Think Patty Mills.

_________________

I would have preferred Stephenson and I definitely would have kept Augustin. With Mirotic coming over and already having Taj on the roster I really see no point in having Gasol. There won't be enough minutes for all 3 of them.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Yes, I forgot Stephenson, though I don't know if their pursuit of Melo hindered the signing of him or not.

_________________

stephenson's what they need physically but do you really think he would've gelled with thibs? it seems like that'd be an oil and water mixture.

I do. I think they're both a little off but what would unite them is their desire to win. I would also expect a 23 year old to mature.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I've thought along similar lines elsewhere but said it differently. Basically if the Bulls are going to be shut out - for whatever reason - during free agency periods, then it's probably time to start strategizing like you're a mid-market team, like Memphis or San Antonio perhaps, if they haven't already. Talent acquisition should focus on investing a ton of resources into college scouting, and scouring the NBA landscape for, as you said, mid-level free agents that provide top value.

Assuming Rose is still a star, they've got to beef up the roster's "middle-class" talent in order to complete. Mirotic, the rookie, Gasol, and perhaps a new Snell might just do that...best case scenario.

_________________
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