Bulls Trades

Sorry, it took me a while to get to this but.....................

I really like what Gar Forman has done at his first trade deadline.

Most importantly the bulls now have the chance to offer a max contract in what will be the summer bonanza of '10. But also, i dont think they got worse. Look Salmons couldnt hit the side of a barn this year and while it seems like everyone liked him, he wasnt giving you a spark of the bench. Flip Murray certainly can give you a spark of offense (that might be all) off the bench. But he is a better bench player than salmons with more offense and not much defense.

I have always been a fan of hakim warrick. he is a solid player. he isnt a starter in this league but he is a pretty damn good first big guy off the bench. he is long and athletic and can score some and block shots. so pretty much he is what many hoped ty thomas would be. he will give the bulls some consistence off the bench and provide what the bulls hoped they would be getting from thomas at the beginning of this season.

Look the bulls may win 2 more games or 2 less games then they would have with salmons & thomas this season. but they got rid of 2 contracts that they needed to.

Nice job Gar. Now lets all play the waiting game and cross our fingers for summer 2010.

Bron is a pipedream right?

According to the NY daily news, maybe not. If you believe the article that was written on monday in the paper, Bron really would only consider 3 teams this summer. Resigning w/the Cavs, the Knicks (b/c they have enough room for 2 max contracts) and suprise!, our own Bulls.

Do i believe this article? Nope, not for a second. I would say there is a 1% chance that Bron comes to the bulls. but, the article does make a good point that next summer the bulls might be the most ready to win team out of any of the free agent players, maybe even the Cavs. Makes sense if you think about it. What are the Cavs without Bron? Mo Williams, now Jamison and an aging Shaq. No question in my mind that Rose, Deng, Gibson and Noah is a better more talented core.

Does that factor into Bron's decision?

I dont know but let me have the dream for a minute......

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2010/02/20/2010-02-20_cross_nets_clips__heat_off_lebrons_list.html?page=1

Am i a prophet?

Tyrus Thomas had another blow up. He hasnt been getting the playing time he has wanted and went off on vinny. Is anyone surprised? This is what we have come to expect from Ty. And he will probably be traded before the deadline in 10 days and his days as a bull will come to an end. Chalk up another drafted big man with unlimited potential that didnt develop for the bulls. I would say im dissappointed but i pretty much predicted it in my season preview (read below). See ya Ty, bring on the summer of '10. Also, there are links at the bottom to 2 good articles on espnchicago about Ty.

TT might be the biggest key to Bulls success this season. He will start at the 4 and has to bring energy, rebounding, blocks, highlight dunks, and the occasional 15 ft jumper. With his ability, he should dominate the boards and be able to intimidate everyone at and above the rim. If tyrus can average 15 pts, 9 boards, 1.5 blocks per game, it will be a successful season and the bulls can think about locking him up long term.

With that said however, i dont think it will be the case. I think its very likely that by midseason, you will see taj gibson starting at the 4 and tyrus coming off the bench. This might be a better role for tyrus because he can bring that spark that the 2nd unit needs and he can be a little more reckless with his fouls. Throughout the preseason, gibson has shown everything that tyrus doesnt do. Gibson is fundamentally sound, rotates well on D, talks well on D, and surprisingly can hit the 15 ft with consistency. I dont think Gibson is the answer at the 4 nor do i necessarily think he is a better player than tyrus but i think he can be more consistent and a better fit starting along side noah.

The bulls have chosen not to extend tyrus' contract and he will be a restrict FA at the end of the year. I think the bulls have taken this approach because tyrus has yet to really produce and they have liked what they have seen from taj gibson. In the end, i think this will be tyrus' last year with the bulls or he will be dealt at the trade deadline. I just dont see him becoming a consistent player yet and the bulls will not want to pay for the potential. I really hope i am wrong because i believe tyrus could be a game changer for the bulls and make them a team to reckoned with.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post/_/id/136/tyrus-thomas-returns-to-bulls-practice-after-suspension

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/columns/story?columnist=greenberg_jon&id=4898908

what cant rose do?

please watch this dunk. I'm not sure what is better, rose's spectular dunk or the announcer's reactions. best dunk of the year so far by a bull.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSWv1nwZcnU&NR=1

Do we still get off the bus running?

The bears have hired Mike Martz. I do not like this move. I do not like Mike Martz. I understand why Lovie made this hire. Martz is suppose to be great offensive mind and has a lot of experience running an offense. His offense puts up points and makes quarterbacks look good. He is probably the coordinator who gives the bears the best chance to win next year. Which is the problem! Martz has caused trouble everywhere he has been. He is arrogant and doesnt seem to let anyone else have control.

Lovie loves to say that he has a running team. Martz's offense is the exact offense. It runs the ball only when the WRs are tired. Plus, Martz uses 3 and 4 Wr sets all the time leaving the O-line primarily responsible for blocking. Since our O-line was so good this past season that philosophy makes a lot of sense (i couldnt even type that sentence without laughing). Plus Martz's offense has never used TEs and that actually might be the strength of the bears offensive team. Also, Martz offense doesnt eat up the clock because it is so pass happy. While this doesnt tend to matter if you are scoring 35+ pts per game but if you arent then you have a low time of possession and the defense has to be out there for a longer time. After the way the bears played defense this year that is not a good thing. Plus the bears defense is smaller and more likely to wear down with the more minutes they play.

The way i see it there are 3 ways this can play out: 1) this prompts the bears to go out and pay some offensive lineman who pass blocks well but cant run block way too much money 2) Cutler ends up getting killed next season cause without a TE and FB the line cant protect Cutler (im still not sure they can do it w/a TE and FB) or 3) the bears score a million pts and make me look like an idiot.

Ill leave you a quote from Steve Rosenbloom's Trib article yesterday:

"There is one good thing about all this, however: If the offensive mastermind and Pro Bowl quarterback can’t make it work, then Halas Hall won’t have any leftovers next year."

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/02/mike-martz-hired-as-bears-offensive-coordinator.html