With the Love to Cavs trade just about final, that sound you hear is most assuredly the death knell for the Bulls' chances over the next five years, at least. Obviously all bets are off if James bolts in two years or if one of the other big three gets injured.

I don't see any long term threat to Cavs supremacy other than the Clippers or OKC. The conference you don't want to be in is now the East.

_________________
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

Looks like Lebron may finally surpass Jordan.

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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!

I think the Bulls chances are better with the Cavs having Love than Wiggins long term. This year though it hurts.

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Who's playing defense on that team besides LeBron?

The Cavs will obviously be a title contender for the next few years. It's silly to just hand them the next 4-5 conference titles.

_________________
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

the bulls are a decent scoring 2 guard away from being able to hang with cleveland

so kevin love can add "death knell" to his list of titles and nicknames, eh?

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Would you have said that back in 2010? Different team yes but similar questions: first year coach, new system, etc., but in the end the sheer talent won out.

I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that James will have a KG like influence on the Cavs defense. No way his background allows the Cavs to kill themselves because they suck at defense. One possible issue here is if the coach doesn't win them over and they have to go in a different direction. There is no riley here to act as a patron to a rookie coach.

_________________
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

Kevin Love joining Irving and James does warrant that appellation.

_________________
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

We'll see. Love is a little better than Bosh at post offense and he's definitely a better player, but the Cavs will still be destroyed down low like the Heat were. I think Cleveland will be similar to Miami, a really good team that had a big weakness but might be able to overcome it through scoring. But the Heat had some really good perimeter defenders and I don't know if they'll be able to be as effective in Cleveland. They'll be in the conversation every year, but I think we learned from the "Not one, not two" stuff.

_________________
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

I think what's ignored in the not one not two stuff is they basically made good on the prerequisite to winning rings: getting to the finals. And they did that four years in a row - that's pretty damn good. Yeah the defenders may not be there but there's really no competition out east anyway outside of the Bulls* and especially after Paul George's right leg died. Perhaps they lose the finals this year and pick up a younger Marion or Posey type to help out on D next off season. They do have Thompson and Varajao down low as well.

_________________
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

Not afraid of Kevin Love either. it makes them better because Wiggins is a 20 year old kid, but going back many threads, I think Kevin Love is just a good player who was on a bad team.

AKA DAVID LEE

I look forward to the Bools whooping up on Cleve this year.

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

It's not about just Love. You've got two elite perimeter players joining forces with the best rebounder in the game who can average up to 25-27 points on the side. It's a formidable trio with a longer shelf life than the Miami group.

_________________
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

We've seen this story before. James doesn't have Jordan's prowess in the Finals but he's effortlessly shut the door on the Bulls' chances just as Jordan did to the entire eastern conference. I don't see that changing no matter what discount has been two guard the Bulls bring in over the next two to three years.

_________________
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

If Bulls can keep up the defense even close to what they did recently and keep raining those threes they will be fine.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

let's caution giving Love props for his "rebounding" the numbers look good but its well established Love has no desire to play defense.... don't forget boozer was a double double guy when the bulls signed him in 2010.... and carlos didnt even jump off the floor to get 10 rebounds a day back with utah.... the rebound stat can be misleading

I was mainly talking about the 55-60 games they will be without Varejao.

_________________
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

Touché. Yes he's out a lot but even so I think if the big three play between 72-82 games each then they should win no less than 62 games, provided there's no mutiny against a rookie coach or other drama of some sort.

_________________
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

The coach is a good point. No one knows about this coach or what kind of "stuff" he runs. It is not in the bag for Cavs. Look at history Paul Westhead no good. Riley Good. Even Jordan needed a coach for whatever he did.

I will wait and see. No panic here.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Kyrie and Love have never played a playoff game. That has to matter at least a little.

_________________

Sacramento had three 20 ppg scoters last season iirc. What good did it do them?

_________________
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

I know Simmons isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I found this article on Love to be interesting:

http://grantland.com/features/kevin-lov ... berwolves/

_________________

I thought it was good. When David Kahn is your GM you're not going to win anything, which is why I don't attach a lot of weight to the he never won anything critiques.



It's been done before. Bosh languished in Toronto before joining LBJ and appearing in four straight finals. Pierce played on comical Boston teams and Allen didn't have much playoff success before doing what they did with KG.

_________________
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

Better than Lee who was never good. He was Austin Croshere but younger. Love is way better but I have no affection for that cat.

But all had played in the playoffs with some succes and in Miami's case Wade was already there. Allen and Peirce had both been on teams that had made the Eastern Conference finals before KG.

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I agree with the thread title. Cavs will be unstoppable without injuries. Bulls have too many unknowns.

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Sure each went once but I still think it's inconsequential. LBJ knows what it takes to create a winning culture. Jones, Miller, and Allen if he signs will help create that culture. As long as the big three don't miss many games, they'll be good for 62+ wins each year and should make the finals 4-5 times over the next five years.

_________________
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

None of us have the vaguest clue who will be in the NBA Finals in 2018.

_________________
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

Cleveland is the new Miami. They'll be there in 2018. Standard qualifications apply

EDIT: They "should" be there just based on the combination of their talent and too many unknowns with Rose. On the other hand I thought OKC should have made the last three finals series so I'm not really one to prognosticate.

_________________
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

The bulls could win the east this year still. I put that at 7.5% chance but still possible. I never would have bet on the Mavs to beat the heat. Hell Cuban wouldn't have. Nor would the Chauncey billups lead pistons beating Shaq and Kobe.

Funny how it goes but Shaq and Kobe were likely the scariest pairing in their prime. Two insanely dominating forces.

Offensively the Cavs are going to be tough to defend 1 on 1. Can they play team ball? Defensively they are going to be awfully thin upfront. LeBron can't guard everyone.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!