Since Milwaukee flips first-round picks with the Bulls if the Bulls finish outside the top 10, and the Bucks appear as though they'll finish ahead of the Bulls, why not just let the bottom drop out and protect your draft pick? No good will come of finishing 8th, getting swept, and having your draft pick poached. I haven't crunched the numbers to see how many teams at the bottom the Bulls simply can't sink beneath, but with the Bucks rising and Bulls falling, it would really be better just to shut the whole thing down.

EDIT: twelve teams are below .500, the Bulls are at it. I think they can finish below the Hornets and Bobcats if they put their minds to it. Good fucking luck getting the 76ers to pass you. Never mind, the Bulls are pincer-fucked.

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the problem is we need to look as strong as we can to look like a good landing spot for a potential lebron/wade/bosh or the like. if we tanked the season, we would be a joke and nobody would want to come here. we already have the means to go after someone next year- we just need the salespower now.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

The salespower is that we have Derrick Rose and the marketing muscle of the third-largest metro. There's going to be very little on-court continuity between Vinny's inevitable demise and the glut of expiring contracts. LeBron and Bosh are no more likely to come here if Hakim Warrick and Brad Miller help the Bulls eke out another 41-win 7 seed because they're goners anyway. I'm mostly resigned to more mediocrity this year and next. Oh well.

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its not about the players who might be leaving, and derrik is still very much unproven in a ton of areas (playoffs!)

you have to remember we HAVE been a joke to most teams the last couple years. it all started to unravel with the ben wallace ordeal. ever since then we have been struggling to keep a "competent" status around the league. if we tank now, we show the orginization has no balls and would be a terrible place for one man to come in a 'change it all around'.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

I don't know. I guess you might be right. I just don't see how the outcome of this season will have any effect on the offseason beyond draft position. If the Bulls have been a joke for years because of a bumbling and castrated front office, a skinflint owner who just uses the team to funnel money to the White Sox, and a parade of misdeveloped talent...well, none of that is slated to change, unless you're privy to information that I don't have.

The Knicks have been an organizational joke for years now, but if LeBron decides he wants to write his legend in New York, their misfires won't matter. Likewise with Chicago and the Bulls.

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NBA stars know how good (or bad) the Bulls are, whether they make the playoffs or not. I mean I guess there's a chance if the Bulls get in and win 2 series or something that may open an eye or two, but the Bulls are who they think they are.

really? tank? why? for what purpose? another mediocre to shitty draft pick to protect? the bulls already won the lottery with derrick rose. its not going to happen again. they have no use for another dumb ass lottery pick. how well has that worked in the last 12 years? id rather see this team compete and be something worth watching the last month and maybe make the playoffs and give me a playoff series to be interested in before i start watching baseball full time. fuck tanking and looking like pussies. show lebron, johnson, bosh, wade you have some heart and arent going to lay down and die because youre not going to be the 4th seed in the playoffs. look theyre gonna lose whether theyre 5th or 8th. but atleast the playoffs are something to watch. even though i know half of the people here are just bitter and negative about everything

i was thinking that too. it is a good point! those misfires might really matter though, we dont know for sure yet if lebron is actually considering going to that garbage dump.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

They shouldn't tank it - you always want to go out and compete at your best if you're a group of athletes. The fact that they've had to shut down Noah has hurt them, and hopefully they can make the playoffs and get him back in time for those games. It's not much of an accomplishment to just make the playoffs, especially in the East, but at least it looks like the team is progressing if they can make a somewhat strong showing in the postseason. I don’t necessarily think that it’ll make the team more attractive to a FA if they’re in the playoffs, but as a fan of the team, I’d like to see them continue to gain experience and get better…

You should pretty much never tank. You definitely try to get in the playoffs this year. Nobody from the Miami/Milwaukee/Toronto/Charlotte clusterfuck is decidedly better than the Bulls. It's important to get Rose/Gibson/Noah, etc. playoff reps. Much more important than 2-3 spots in a draft, since Chicago and Milwaukee will probably finish close to eachother.

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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 agree. All but one of those teams is going to make it. That's why I don't think the Bulls will finish 9th.

Milwaukee has been insanely hot right now, but it probably won't last. D-Wade (if healthy) will probably carry the team on his back and get them in. I see Charlotte being the odd man out of the race.

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Okay, now can we shut everyone down?

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They've already got the tanking it part covered. The idea of saving Noah for the "Playoff Run" is hilarious.

If Rose is out for any time more than these next 3-4 games that they were not going to win anyway, then yes, the playoffs are lost. If he is able to not miss any time, I still think they will make it. With 5 teams fighting over the last 4 spots, there is no way possible that all 4 teams are going to pull away. This losing streak is not surprising, but they are still going to be in the hunt going into the last week of the season. The four other teams are just as bad as the Bulls.

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With all their injuries adding up, it's looking less likely they will make the playoffs. But I think they obviously should still try to make it. I pretty much never endorse tanking.

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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

With the sort of injury that he has, I've heard that the ONLY way to get it to calm down is to rest it. I would rather they saved him for the playoffs, or, preferably, just shut him down for the rest of the season. It looks like we don't have to worry about the postseason anyway, but the Bulls didn't look as helpless and hapless when this thread was started as they do today, KD...

Here are the remaining schedules and my win/loss predictions for the 5 teams fighting over the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th playoff spots. I just want to see where I think each team might land. Keep in mind if Rose misses any extended time with last night's injury, you can to throw out everything I state:

Actual results in red

Bulls
Fri, Mar 12 @ Miami Loss Loss
Tue, Mar 16 @ Memphis Loss Loss
Wed, Mar 17 @ Dallas Loss Loss
Fri, Mar 19 Cleveland Loss Loss
Sat, Mar 20 @ Philadelphia Win Win
Mon, Mar 22 Houston Toss Up Win Huge win for the Bulls
Thu, Mar 25 Miami Win Loss This was a must-win that could ruin their playoff chances.
Sat, Mar 27 New Jersey Win Win
Sun, Mar 28 @ Detroit Win Win
Tue, Mar 30 Phoenix Toss Up Loss Nice Choke Job fellas
Fri, Apr 2 @ Washington Win Win
Sat, Apr 3 Charlotte Win Win
Tue, Apr 6 Milwaukee Win Loss They really let this one slide away.
Thu, Apr 8 Cleveland Loss Win No Lebron for Cavs
Fri, Apr 9 @ New Jersey Win Loss WTF?
Sun, Apr 11 @ Toronto Toss Up Win
Tue, Apr 13 Boston Loss Win
Wed, Apr 14 @ Charlotte Toss Up Win

so the Bulls have 18 games left and I have them going: 8-6 with 4 Toss Up games. Let's say they split the toss ups and go 10-8
Bulls finished 10-8

Bucks
Fri, Mar 12 Utah Loss Win
Sun, Mar 14 Indiana Win Win
Wed, Mar 17 @ LA Clippers Win Loss
Fri, Mar 19 @ Sacramento Win Win
Sat, Mar 20 @ Denver Loss Win
Mon, Mar 22 Atlanta Loss Win
Wed, Mar 24 Philadelphia Win Loss
Fri, Mar 26 Miami Win Loss
Sun, Mar 28 Memphis Win Win
Tue, Mar 30 LA Clippers Win Win
Wed, Mar 31 @ Cleveland Loss Loss
Fri, Apr 2 @ Charlotte Toss Up Loss
Sat, Apr 3 Phoenix Toss Up Win
Tue, Apr 6 @ Chicago Loss Win
Wed, Apr 7 New Jersey Win Win
Fri, Apr 9 @ Philadelphia Win Win
Sat, Apr 10 Boston Loss Loss
Mon, Apr 12 Atlanta Loss Loss
Wed, Apr 14 @ Boston Loss Win

so the Bucks have 19 games left and I have them going: 9-8 with 2 Toss Up games. Let's say they split the toss ups and go 10-9.
Bucks finished 12-7

Heat
Fri, Mar 12 Chicago Win Win
Sun, Mar 14 Philadelphia Win Win
Tue, Mar 16 San Antonio Loss Loss
Thu, Mar 18 Orlando Loss Loss
Sat, Mar 20 Charlotte Win Win
Mon, Mar 22 @ New Jersey Win Win
Thu, Mar 25 @ Chicago Loss Win
Fri, Mar 26 @ Milwaukee Loss Win
Sun, Mar 28 Toronto Win Win
Wed, Mar 31 @ Detroit Win Win
Fri, Apr 2 @ Indiana Win Win
Sat, Apr 3 @ Minnesota Win Win
Wed, Apr 7 Philadelphia Win Win
Fri, Apr 9 Detroit Win Loss
Sun, Apr 11 @ NY Knicks Win Win
Mon, Apr 12 @ Philadelphia Win Win
Wed, Apr 14 New Jersey Win Win

so the Heat have 17 games left and I have them going: 13-4. There schedule is ridiculously easy. They probably won't go 13-4, but even if they go 11-6 they will still get in.
Heat finished 14-3

Raptors
Sat, Mar 13 @ Golden State Win Loss This was a big loss for Toronto
Sun, Mar 14 @ Portland Loss Loss
Wed, Mar 17 Atlanta Loss Win Bad news for the Boo
Fri, Mar 19 Oklahoma City Loss Loss
Sat, Mar 20 @ New Jersey Win Win
Mon, Mar 22 @ Minnesota Win Win
Wed, Mar 24 Utah Loss Loss
Fri, Mar 26 Denver Loss Loss
Sun, Mar 28 @ Miami Loss Loss
Mon, Mar 29 @ Charlotte Loss Win
Wed, Mar 31 LA Clippers Win Win
Sat, Apr 3 @ Philadelphia Win Win
Sun, Apr 4 Golden State Win Loss
Tue, Apr 6 @ Cleveland Loss Loss If Bosh is out, the Raptors are done.
Wed, Apr 7 Boston Loss Loss
Fri, Apr 9 @ Atlanta Loss Loss
Sun, Apr 11 Chicago Toss Up Loss
Mon, Apr 12 @ Detroit Win Win
Wed, Apr 14 NY Knicks Win Win

so the Raptors have 19 games left and I have them going: 8-10, with one "Toss Up" game against the Bulls. That will be a must-win for the Bulls.
Raptors finished 8-11

Bobcats
Fri, Mar 12 LA Clippers Win Win
Sun, Mar 14 @ Orlando Loss Win This was a huge win for the Bobcats
Tue, Mar 16 @ Indiana Win Loss
Wed, Mar 17 Oklahoma City Loss Win Larry Hughes is taking this team on his back...
Fri, Mar 19 @ Atlanta Loss Loss
Sat, Mar 20 @ Miami Loss Loss
Tue, Mar 23 @ Washington Win Win
Wed, Mar 24 Minnesota Win Win
Fri, Mar 26 Washington Win Win
Mon, Mar 29 Toronto Win Loss
Wed, Mar 31 Philadelphia Win Win
Fri, Apr 2 Milwaukee Toss Up Win
Sat, Apr 3 @ Chicago Loss Loss
Tue, Apr 6 Atlanta Loss Win
Wed, Apr 7 @ New Orleans Toss Up Win
Fri, Apr 9 @ Houston Loss Loss
Sat, Apr 10 Detroit Win Win
Mon, Apr 12 @ New Jersey Win Win
Wed, Apr 14 Chicago Toss Up Loss

so the Bobcats have 19 games left and I have them going: 9-7, with three "Toss Up" games. The Bulls will need some help.
Bobcats finished 12-7

After looking at all of this, where do you guys think they will all finish.

I say:
5th: Miami
6th: Bucks
7th: Bobcats
8th: Bulls
9th: Raptors (They have been floundering lately, just like the Bulls, and they have the toughest schedule left)

Once again if Rose misses more than the next 4 games (which the Bulls would probably lose anyway), you can throw my Bulls predictions out the window. At least the finish of the NBA season could be exciting. Now Im gonna go shoot myself for going through all of this.

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Im going to keep track of my predictions, and see how could I do at them also. Prepare for tons of bumpage in the coming weeks.

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Something tells me NBA Commissioner David Stern's office wouldn't take too kindly to the Bulls or any team for that matter "tanking" the rest of the games. What's really troubling about the Bulls, or I should say the B*U*L*L*S, isn't just the fact that this team isn't deep, even after the deadline deals to clear salary space with Milwaukee & Charlotte, is that their defense has been atrocious the last 9 games and counting. They've allowed around 115 points during this losing streak...Matador defense, if you will.

Well you don't say that's what you're doing. You just have GarPax say Rose (wrist), Noah (foot), and Deng (labia) need to be shut down and thus prevent Vinny from exacerbating their injuries as he tries in vain to save his job. It's perfectly legitimate to tell a guy with plantar fasciitis to stay off his bad foot.

As an aside, if Stern were serious about preventing tanking, he'd simplify the lottery from this weird permutational/percentage bullshit and just draw the order at random from 14 ping-pong balls or placards or what have you. That's how they did it when they first devised the lottery system, and they should've kept it that way. There aren't varying degrees of failing to make the playoffs, so there shouldn't be varying odds of drafting first. That's if you really want to discourage both tanking and Basketball Hell, which I don't think they really want to do anyway.


I lol'd at this. :[

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I made this post a few weeks ago, and wanted to bump it. It looks like my predictions are pretty solid. I think the Heat will take the 5th spot because they don’t have a single game left against any playoffs teams. They could possibly win out and have been playing really good ball lately. The Bucks will finish 6th and have been great since the Salmons trade. Teams should just trade for Salmons every mid season, he seems to possess some 3 month magical power. The Bobcats look to be 7th, and I think the Bulls finish 8th. The Bulls only have two tough games left on the schedule with Cleveland and Boston. The Cavs might be in sleep mode by the time of their matchup with the Bulls going into the final week of the season because they pretty much have home court wrapped up though the entire playoffs. So that could even be a winnable game. I still think Toronto is the odd man out because they have the toughest schedule left, and have been playing terrible ball over the past month.

Anyone else have any thoughts? We are actually getting to the point now where the NBA season is exiciting…

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I should have placed a bet in Vegas. I guessed the East seeding perfectly.

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