By most that would be more than 15 guys that would start in front of Taj: 1. Anthony Davis 2. Kevin Love 3. LaMarcus Aldrich 4. Blake Griffin. 5. Ibaka. 6. Gortat. 7.Zebo 8. Boris Diaw 9. David Lee 10. Thaddeus Young 11. Kenneth Fareed 12 Paul Millsap 13. David West 14. Dirk Nowitzki 15. Derrick Favors. 16. Pau Gasol 17. Chris Bosh. 18. THAT Foreign dude in Toronto. 19. Josh Smith 20. Greg Monroe both are 4s

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Did you look at Gasols numbers and that was during an off yr. Playing for a coach he didn't like in an offense that didn't feature him

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Offensively Gasol is probably still a better option (Taj improved his post game dramatically near the end of the year) but Taj true value comes from his defense and effort. I wanted to see what he could do with starter mins but we'll never know. Many of his best games last year came when he started. I like Gasol but it wasn't a position the Bulls needed to fill m

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Tall Midget is Long time guy.

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I'm having some technical difficulties!

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1) You're misrepresenting the argument. You're point for a while has been that Bulls fans are dumb to expect Rose to recruit because it's not his job. That means all along you have implicitly or explicitly agreed that he doesn't recruit. You only concede that he does so now because you would look extremely foolish to do otherwise.

2)Regarding the reason behind Rose's lack of recruiting, you're again misrepresenting your previous statements. Go back and read your posts in this thread. You say that Rose won't play with Anthony because he's a "turd" and Rose knows it. You make a similar case about LeBron. I can see why you're backtracking now, though, because your argument is preposterous.

3)Exactly which experts say that LeBron is "far beyond every other man who has ever played the game from a talent perspective?"

4)Are you really denying that LeBron's teams have been successful? He went to four straight NBA Finals and won two championships. Sure, his teams aren't as successful as they "could have been," but they've still been the most successful team in the NBA over the past four years. Are you arguing otherwise?

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No. You're misrepresenting or misunderstanding my argument which is simply that it is unfair to denigrate Rose for refusing to lick the balls of Carmelo Anthony simply because Paxson and Reinsdorf request him to do so.



Wrong again. There was no upside for Rose to subjugate himself to LeBron- or God forbid, Carmelo Anthony- especially when everone in his right mind knew there was no chance for them to come to Chicago.



I'm sure you can find many on your own.



"Not one, not two, not three..." Uh, no. Just two.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Wasn't a position of need but definitely needed an upgrade if you're talking about playing for championships. Effort guys always tend to be overrated. Off the bench he's fine bit he is not skilled enough and he is undersized. They list him at 6'9 he's only about 6'7. In big playoff games he would be a liability if he had to play starters minutes

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Not the "Guess that guy" game again or as snoop once said "he is I and I am him"

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I think you are speaking on how you feel about him. In reality he has been really good. He's one of the best defensive PF's in the league and he's not a liability on offense either. He averaged 18 points and 2 blocks a game in the 1st Round against the Wizards twin towers. Is he an all star? No. He can be a starter on a championship team.

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No. He just quoted someone without offering any thoughts. You've made that mistake a lot.

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A lot of people view Taj as a developing player. Most people don't realize that he may have peaked. 13 and 6 is his career yr to date. I didn't include Terrence Jones from Houston check his numbers his age and the fact that he is a fourth option. Without checking I would bet his numbers stack up favorably with Taj. I would rather have him than Taj and I don't think Houston sees him as the long term answer either. He was destroyed by Aldrich in the playoffs.

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You just told me all I needed to know.

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Absurd.... Taj is developing...on ANY other team in the league he'd start...I was stunned when Farvefan n douchbag said he's "udonis haslem" last year...he's much better n more minutes = more improvement...he's 87% on his potential scale...he peaks in the next couple years...he's very good n very underated.

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He can start on any team in the league except his own I guess

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I thought I took a vacation from this by leaving realgm.

Your point is true though, the problem is that taj while improved is a certain skillset that the bulls tend to replicate in spades at the position since Chandler. Then Wallace, Thomas, big sexy, Asik. Now to NAS point though he is better offensively than those guys. He still isn't as good as Pau. Was it stacked position? Yup. My bet though is only Mirotic doesn't get hurt this year in the mix of 4-5's. Hope I am wrong that means Thibs plays them properly. Don't hate on taj. He would start and should have started for the bulls last year. Look at his per.

I didn't put Boozer on the list of guys that would start over Taj though he obviously has. My point about Taj is that he is a backup. He has been a backup his entire career. It's nothing wrong with that because he was one of the top sixth men in the league last year. I think Bulls fans and I'm one value him more than others around the league. He is a solid backup and an energy guy off the bench. My problem is when I here things like why go after Pau when we have Taj. Though I think I'm channeling my inner Bernstein looking for strawmen on that one. I do believe I heard it somewhere just don't know where. May have been a barbershop or something.

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You heard it here. The Bulls NEEDED a wing that could score. After Marshmelo said no they should have turned to Lance Stephenson to fill that need. Now Gasol is likely to sit in the 4th quarter for defensive reasons and the Bulls still only have 1 wing that can create their own shot. He's a guy that has played 20% of the teams games in the past 3 years.

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Not thee Lance Stephenson. You mean the one Indiana just let walk for very little. He can't be the answer to all the Bulls woes. There has been a lot of Lance Stephenson love here also. I've fallen back on dissing him. He was the flavor of the month for a little while but I don't think he is the answer. He barked about getting a big contract and there were very few that bit. He's not the sparkling talent that some have made him out to be. He was like Taj a guy no one expected anything from. Big time high school player very little college buzz. Second round pick only got a chance because Granger injured. Suspect jump shot extremely undisciplined and I'm not talking psychologically. His game is erratic. He's cut from the JR Smith school of erratic. He was a large part of the Pacers collapse. There were some teams that had money to spend and they didn't come checking for Stephenson. He got Trevor Ariza money. I guess they missed the memo regarding his budding stardom

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Wow! He didn't get paid because teams questioned his behavior. He was one of the only Pacers players that gave any effort. The stats and the tape don't support anything you're saying. He's a good defender and a really good offensive player. At 23 he is only going to get better.

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When you are really talented they will take a chance. Boogie Cousins was probably the biggest douchebag the past 2-3 yrs. On the idiot scale Stephenson is not even in the same hemisphere. He is a big time talent unlike Stephenson. Sacramento paid him max money because they believe in his ability. Stephenson is a decent player with bad behavior. He is not a guy with a great deal of untapped potential. If you harness his behavior it's not like all of this untapped ability will jump at you. His numbers were not all that as I remember either. Last I checked he averaged about 13 or 14 a game. If Indiana really thought they had something they would have paid him.

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Going to sorta disagree. NAS clearly argues the wing. LGT In your previous post you mentioned he didn't get paid. True but he had more money from Indy. As strange and I am not a fan of Lance, I question why he did. I like they guy who bets on himself. Still think he is Artest crazy but he might have filled that need better tan Pau fills a need. Way way way bigger risk though. Ape shit crazy.

His best case scenario is Gilbert Arenas. Chip on your shoulder, crazy talent, fade out because of behavior. Even SA rolled the dice on Jackson though.

He is nowhere near the talent Arenas was. Indiana offered about a mil a yr more. Why do people like Gordon Hayward get offered substantially more or Parsons. When it boils down to it his contract is about the same as Tiago splitter. His behavior may have something to do with it but his numbers are very pedestrian and when Indiana slipped he was one of the primary reasons. His behavior is a convenient excuse and in my opinion it obscures other facets of his game. There have been guys that are bad locker room guys who have gotten paid hence the Cousins reference.

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His numbers are actually pretty good. He might just be bat shit crazy no doubt and that hurts him but he is talented and had improved.

That being said I have no problem with the gasol move over Lance. He is a risk. No question. It was a glaring hole though that wasn't filled, maybe Brooks. Damnit Manu would be perfect for this team.

I hope Thibs doesn't adopt the strategy with Pau that he did with Boozer. If you have Noah Taj Butler in during the 4th quarter you are going to struggle to score. The NBA game is not played in the 80s. You have to score. He is going to have to concede his all important defense for more scoring. The top teams score in the hundreds around 105 or better. You have to have guys out there that need to be guarded.

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He averaged 14, 7 and 5.

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Those numbers aren't that bad. He was in a contract year and had his best year, bet on himself with 2 years instead of 3. Might have been insane to do that no doubt. I'm not pro Lance but he did theoretically fill a need. If you could milk a couple of good years before nuclear meltdown it might payoff. Might not. Riskier move no doubt than Pau. Still somewhat intriguing though. That is all I am saying. Never any interest from the bulls to do this and if they win with Pau no one every questions it. Say they got Lance and he becomes the reincarnation of erob. Very possible. Everyone would murder them. Cosby sweaters and all.

So you never argued that Rose didn't want to play with Anthony or LeBron because they're assholes, don't have any examples of basketball experts saying that LeBron is "far beyond every other man who has ever played the game from a talent perspective," and don't think that LeBron has been the most successful player in the NBA over the past four seasons?

OK, whatever, there's really no point in debating a topic with someone who's either totally disingenuous about what he writes or shifts his position from post to post. Have a good day.

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