Okay, so we all are aware that the Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov yesterday dropped out of the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes during a press conference. Yesterday it was also reported by YahooSports' Adrian Wojnarowski that the infamous Worldwide Wes is going to Chicago and sources are saying that Melo's "people" are going to try to work a deal with the Chicago Bulls.

This past summer the two sides talked about a trade and neither side would budge on two sticking points. The Bulls wanted to package Deng and his 40 million dollar contract as a centerpiece to any deal, but the Nuggets wanted no part of taking on the extra cap. Also, Denver wanted Joakim Noah and the Bulls flat out said no way. It is hard to think that a deal could ever be put together between these two teams alone. A third team would certainly have to be part of the deal.

So, do I think that Carmelo will become a Chicago Bull? Absolutely not. I think that any person with a clear understanding of how recent negotiations in the NBA have been cunducted with regards to superstars should have a keen insight as to what these talks between Chicago and Melo's people are really all about. It is simply smoke and mirrors. Sure Melo had Chicago on his short list "publically", but in reality there is but one team and city that he want to play for and that team is the New York Knicks. Not really a big shocker at all. So why now are Melo's people moving to the Bulls and trying to spark an old fire? They are using triangulation negotiation tactics in order to place a fire under Donnie Walsh's ass. Walsh is a pretty savvy businessman as he has stepped back a bit from this whole Nets/Nuggets deal and held firm on his offer. He most likely even knew that the Nets would back out. Now the Nuggets are in a hard spot. They turned down the best deal they could possibly get and now are either going to sit on Melo until this summer calling his bluff, trade him to a team like the Rockets or Mavericks as a loaner and get little back in trade, or try to work out a deal directly with the Knicks. Part of me thinks that Donnie Walsh saw all this coming a mile away. This whole thing has shifted a ton of power in the negotiations over to the Knicks who can make a reasonable offer and the Nuggets almost have to take it.

So the Bulls are only being mentioned as a cheap ploy to make it look as if there might be interest from another team in order to drive up the Knicks offer. Melo's people have a clear understanding that Nuggets ownership is being unreasonable and they know if a deal is to be done with the Knicks, that the offer is going to have to be higher or the Nuggets may simply hold onto Melo, or trade him for cap space and a picks as a rental. I am pretty sure that this angle will not work for two reasons. One, the Bulls are not going to part with Joakim Noah. That has not changed and if anything the Bulls will be more firm on the subject as Coach T loves what Noah does for the team and the Bulls have the upper hand now in the negotiation. Also, again the Bulls almost have to deal Luol Deng in any deal to make the money work. On the Nuggets side the Bulls simply have little to offer them. The Bulls would give up Luol Deng, James Johnson, Taj Gibson, and a 1st rounder, but the Nuggets do not want Deng's contract and I am sure they are not that desperate. Maybe a third team could get involved, but again this is never going to happen. Melo wants NY and so does his wife and we all know what that means. Wink wink. 

Donnie Walsh must see right through this as well. He has no reason now to raise his offer. Melo may or may not be traded and all the Knicks need to do is sit and wait and sign him in the offseason. Sure Melo might say he would sign an extension in Chicago but I simply do not see it happening. Would Melo make the Bulls better? Sure, but how much better and is it even worth the risk? Deng is their top defender and Melo plays no defense or very little of it. Sure Melo is a superstar and a much better talent then Deng, but Coach T has a man crush on Deng as you can see from Deng's minutes(3rd in the NBA). The Bulls need an upgrade at the shooting guard, not a high usage player like Melo. I digress. 

The bottomline is that Melo will be on the Knicks next season. He may or may not finish the year out with the Nuggets, but he will become a Knick.  

Okay, I am starting to get a bad feeling about this whole free agency process. I am really starting to read and hear things that I am not liking. For one thing I do not trust Dwyane Wades false desire to play with the Bulls. Just a couple of weeks ago he was throwing out false lies about the Chicago Bulls in order to form his super team(LeBron, Bosh, and Himself) in Miami. I think his 2nd meeting took place to throw the Bulls off guard and distract them. Meanwhile the Knicks look to be adding Amar'e Stoudemire which could very well appeal to LeBron James. There is also word that Chris Bosh wants not only the max but he wants it via a sign and trade so he can get a 6 year deal instead of a 5 year deal. The Bulls have players to make the move for Bosh but so do many other teams including the Houston Rockets. Some are saying Bosh is strongly considering Houston.

What does this mean for the Chicago Bulls? Nothing good that is for sure. It looks like Joe Johnson is now back off the fence with the Hawks and he will most likely resign with them. He would be an idiot not to. The full max contract is way too much for Johnson if you ask me. The guy is really good and a top 5 player at his position but he is nearly 30 years old. The Hawks are making a huge longterm mistake, but hey, let them make it.

This is how I see things playing out right now.

1.Amar'e Stoudemire will sign with the Knicks, we all know that.
2. Joe Johnson will resign with the Hawks. he simply cannot pass on all that extra cash and the extra season.
3. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will sign in Miami.
4. Lebron James will most likely stay in Cleveland. There is a small chance he goes to the Knicks if he likes the idea of playing with Amar'e and under Mike D'Antoni.
5. I see the Knicks then going after a player like Mike Miller or a shooting guard or a servicable point guard.
6. The Nets and Bulls will battle it out for the likes of David Lee and Carlos Boozer.

I have been saying it for a very long time now that I think David Lee is a great fit in Chicago. I had a poll thread about a year ago were I argued that Lee was almost as good if not as good as Chris Bosh. Both are not top shelf players if you ask me. The big difference is that one of them knows that and the other does not. Chris Bosh thinks he is the best bigman in the game and views himself on par with players like Wade and LeBron. The fact is is he is a 2nd option on a championship team at best. That is why I lean towards David Lee for my Bulls. Sure his stats were a little blown up playing for Mike D'Antoni, but the facts are facts. He can shoot the jumper as good as Bosh and is just as good of a rebounder if not better. Neither player has a great back to the basket game and neither is a great defender. To me the are very much the same player except one plays with heart every minute he is on the floor and the other is a bit softer. So I would take a David Lee for 13 million a season over 5 years in a flash over a Chris Bosh for 5 seasons at the max. call me crazy but that is hwo I feel.

This brings me back full circle as to how I a starting to feel that things are going to pan out. I think the Bulls will be looking at Lee or Boozer come next weekend or so. If that is the case it is even more of a no-brainer to me. Boozer would certainly give the Bulls a great back to the basket player, but that is about it. He is a solid passer but is he any better then Lee? No, Lee is a better playmaking bigman and he has a better jumper so I can see a great PnP and Pnr game with Rose and Lee. Plus, I think Boozer will be looking for more money then Lee so the Bulls could just sign Lee, keep Luol Deng, and then look for a solid shooting guard with range like a Mike Miller or a Anthony Morrow.

So if the Bulls are left with a choice between David Lee and Carlos Boozer which way should they go?

          This is it. I cannot take it anymore. Too many people have no respect for the basketball that was played in the 1990s. False labels have been plastered on it from people who were not even old enough to have watched a single game from the decade. Some call it a soft decade were no defense was played. Other point that there were no other good teams except the Chicago Bulls. This is a heeping pile of bull crap! The 90s were full of great teams both in the east and the west and outstanding defense was still played because the newer rule changes were not in effect. Shooters were murdered on the floor. Hand checking was not even heard of. But I now know the real reason there is no respect for the 90s. It is quite simple.
        The reason for no respect is due to the fact that neither the Lakers or the Celtics were any good in that decade. Sure the Lakers were okay at the start of it when Magic Johnson was still playing. You see the NBA is so owned by these two franchises that as fans we simply believe that the 90s lacked any real competition for the Bulls because they did not have to face a good Celtics or Lakers team. This is crazy. The Knicks of the mid 90s were a great team. They played gritty and nasty defense. They were as good a team as any other team to reach the eastern conference finals in league history for the most part. People make it out as if the Bulls had it easy. False. The talent level was great in the 90s. The early part of the decade had the Pistons and the Cavaliers in the east for the Bulls to contend with. Then it was the Knicks, Magic, and Pacers. Even the Heat and the Hornets had good stretches in the 90s. 
         Out west there were plenty of good teams like the Trail Blazers, Supersonics, Rockets, Suns, Spurs, and Jazz. The Bulls were simply just better then the rest. Would the Bulls have won 6 Championships in the 80s with the team they had in the 90s. Most likely not, but they would have won 3 or 4 and maybe even 5. I never see anyone ask a question like, "Would the Kobe/Shaq Lakers win three in a row in the 80s?" or "How many titles would Russell have won had his team of the 60s played in the 90s?". Nobody asked these questions. Nobody dears to tarnish the legendary Celtics or the showtime Lakers. But the Bulls, well they were just lucky to have played in the 90s. There is no way they would compete in todays game or at any other time in NBA history. The stars in the sky were all just in the right spot at the right time. Also, Michael Jordan is not even a top 5 alltime player if you ask me. Also, I think Paul Pierce is better then a prime Scottie Pippen. Pippen was only good because of MJ. Whats that you say? Pippen had his best season ever without Michael and finished 3rd in MVP voting. Well that is just because Scottie and the Bulls were lucky to play in the 90s. Pippen is really just a roleplayer.
          I cannot take it anymore! The 72 win Bulls were the best team to ever step foot on the floor. One could argue they were the best defensive team alltime and they had the greatest player of alltime. Jordan(1x DPOY, 9x Defensive 1st team) Pippen(8x Defensive 1st team, 2x Defensive 2nd team) Rodman(2x DPOY, 7x Defensive 1st team, 7x Rebounding Champ). They simply shut other teams down.
          The bottomline to this insane rant is that the Bulls get no respect in the 1990s because the Lakers and Celtics were not good at the time. I would bet my life that had the Celtics had the Knicks' roster and the Lakers had the Jazz's roster in the 90s that there would be no debate. The Bulls 72 win Bulls would be the greatest ever, but because the Celtics and Lakers sucked at the time then so must have the Bulls as well. Dumb.
        Whenever the Celtics and Lakers go through a bad stretch of seasons at the same time you have people calling that a bad era in NBA history. What the hell is wrong with us. The world of basketball should not revolve around two teams should it? Do not get me wrong. I do not hate the Lakers or the Celtics as francises, but I do hate that their winning dictates great basketball, but if some other team is playing well then they are just lucky. That is a big crap sandwich and I am not hungry.

    In a few days we will all be in the new year. The year 2010. With that change comes a shift in focus in the NBA for us fans. No longer are we trying to gauge were are teams stand because we have a good idea by now if they are contenders or pretenders. Now is the time to think about the wonderful thing called the deadline. For a team like my Bulls this is a very important time. Teams will begin making calls and deals will be discussed. Bad teams with little chemistry like my Bulls might make a move and add that player they have longed for. Contenders might add that veteran that puts them over the top, and some teams will dump contracts. The idea of this thread is to allow you to reply with your "Grand Delusion" trades for your team. Make them as crazy or realistic as you want. The only rule is that they work money-wise. Use the trade Machine if you need too. So here is my Dream senario for my Bulls.

     As it stand the Bulls are about 15+ million under the cap for this upcomming summer. I have two blockbuster trade ideas for the Bulls to make before the deadline that will setup a offseason signing of Dwyane Wade or LeBron James and make the Bulls an instant contender just like the Celtics were thrust into glory a few seasons back. Here are the two trades.
     1. Kirk Hinrich, Brad Miller, and future pick for Tracy McGrady. I must stress this right off the bat that McGrady would only be signed for cap space this summer and would not be part of the Bulls longterm plans. The Rockets would get Hinrich which could start at the shooting guard spot and would add a great defender to the already gritty Rockets. Miller is an expiring contract that would give the Rockets 12+ million in cap space to make their own offseason moves. The future pick would be next season 1st rounder. The Bulls will be a very good team next season if my next two moves happen so a 1st rounder next season would most likely be in the 20-25th pick range. Hopefully.
     2. Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, and this years 1st rounder for Chris Bosh. I understand that the Raptors already have Turk at SF, but I can see Turk and Deng on the floor at the same time at the forward spots or Deng could slip down and play the 2 spot with Turk and Thomas at the forwards. That could be very interesting with Calderon running things. The Raptors also would land a 1st rounder. With Bosh on board the Bulls would be a much better team and should make the playoffs, but they could still miss them giving the Raptors a lottery pick. Bulls would have their scoring bigman finally. Now if the Raptors say no way then the Bulls could make a similar trade offer to the Jazz for Carlos Boozer or the Timberwolves for Al Jefferson. Bulls would also not have their cap effected by this move as there would just be contracts moved around.
    3. Sign Dwyane Wade or LeBron James. With around 25 million in cap space and Bosh/Boozer/Jefferson on board the Bulls should be able to attract one of these two superstar. Chicago is a much bigger market then Cleveland or Miami and with a star bigman and young talents in Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah they should be in the hunt for one of these two. Wade is the hometown hero but LeBron is a freak and is still very very young. Also, LeBron James is changing his number after the season right? He cannot wear #23 in Chicago right? James would be the perfect fit alongside Rose and Bosh. Now that is a contender. Bulls make the max offer and leave it up to LeBron and Wade. Also the Bulls would be able to offer a MLE to a player like Marcus Camby. I all could happen and the numbers work.
    0. Get a new Head Coach. I must backtrack a bit here and fire Vinny Del Negro. No player will want to sign with the Bulls if he is running things. Jerry Reinsdorf need only dish out the cash to his close friend Doug Collins. While Collins may not be the best coach out there he is a players coach and that should attract a Wade or LeBron.

Next seasons lineup:

PG Derrick Rose/Pargo
SG John Salmons
SF LeBron James
PF Chris Bosh/Taj Gibson
C Joakim Noah/Marcus Camby

Are you scared yet?

So what is your "Deadline Dreams and Delusions" for your team?

    I will keep this one short, but this one has to due with events of the past few days. So let us take a look.

     Why Tracy McGrady? In my eye a trade for McGrady would be for cap space only. The Bulls would be fools to resign him this summer unless for some reason he would consider a MLE contract. I think McGrady thinks he is still worth a max contract. He is not worth more then 5 mil per season for no more then 3 seasons if you ask me. He is way to injury prone.
    The Bulls would make this deal strickly to free up even more cap space for this summer. If the Bulls can put together another run into the playoffs this season and can land a new coach then they may be able to attract a superstar or two. Now on to the trade.
    The Rockets will want a good starter in return along with an expiring contract and perhaps even a pick. I say the Bulls offer Luol Deng, Brad Miller, and our first rounder for McGrady. McGrady's contract is worth over 22 million and the Rockets would get a expiring contract in Brad Miller worth 12+ million and a solid young player in Deng that can play the 2-4 spot. The Bulls would be freeing up 10+ million more in cap space for this summer. The Bulls would then have more then 25 million in cap if not more.
     With that kind of money they could go after a superstar scorer like Joe Johnson or Dwyane Wade and perhaps be able to attract a player like Carlos Boozer to sign. The Bottomline is the Bulls would have the Money to sign a max deal for a superstar be it Wade or Bosh and still have money to spare to add players to create depth and to compliment Derrick Rose. Maybe sign Chris Bosh and a star level shooter/scorer. 
     I will leave you to spend the cap money in your replies. Who should the Bulls go after if they made this deal and freed up all that money? 

     I thought I would quickly point out a few interesting things that have happened so far this NBA season. We are only a couple of weeks in but a few things have jumped out at me. I am not saying these things will continue and set a trend but they are a bit shocking. Let us take a look.

1. Rockets are at the top of the Southwest division with a record of 4 and 2. The real shocker here is that the Spurs are in third with a 2 and 3 record. Not exactly what we thought we would see after the Jefferson trade to the Spurs.

2. Gerald Wallace is averaging 14.8 points a game and 14.8 rebounds a game though 5 games. I bit scary and reminds me of a young Marion with a better looking shot.

3. Bulls have the lead in the Central. I am sure the Cavaliers will take it back within the next week or so, but the Cavaliers have not looked that strong after snagging Shaq this summer. Could the Cavs be worse then last season for having made the trade? Infact if the playoffs started today the Cavaliers would not be in it. Strange. I am still sure they will end up in the top 3.

4. Kobe does not look any older. He is averaging an amazing 34.5 points per game. Looks like there is plenty of gas in the tank after scoring 41 in each of his last two games. Scary.

5. The Suns look great without Shaq slowing them down and have come out of the gates on fire. Nash is his old self and man do they look like they have depth. Playoffs for sure. I really thought they were going to be one of the westcoast teams fighting to make the playoffs.

6. Remove Chris Paul from the Hornets and they become the worse team in the league. The Hornets do not look very good at all but it is still early. Peja is ready to hang it up and this team really needs a shooter bad.

Well I could go on I am sure but I would like to hear from you. Are you shocked by the same things as I, or is there something else that has you doing a double take? 

While checking out a few of the now notorious Kobe vs Jordan or LeBron vs Jordan threads I keep running into this single argument that I have trouble swallowing. Some Posters keeps refering to the 1990s as a weak decade for NBA basketball. Often the argument states that there were few teams outside the Bulls that were really even that good and that that is why Michael Jordan is looked at so greatly. Then you will here this followed by the fact that the Lakers and Celtics were old and could no longer challenge the Bulls. That idea is an injustice to many great teams of the 1990s, many of which could have given the 80s Lakers and Celtics a run for their money. Am I saying that the 90s were better then the 80s? No, what I am saying is that they were very close and solid arguments can be made in both cases. Let us take a look.

The 1980s were really dominated by two teams and we all understand that. The rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics is by far the greatest in the NBA and maybe in all sports behind Yankees/Redsox. Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson in college and then on the NBA hardwood is a storybook-type legend that shaped the NBA into a powerhouse league. The Celtics with Bird, Parish, McHale, and Walton created perhaps the greatest frontcourts in NBA history and the Lakers with Magic, Worthy, Kareem, and Cooper were maybe the most balanced and exciting teams ever. Nothing can be taken away from what these two teams did and how great they were.

Let's look at the rest of the 80s teams. There were the Hakeem and the Rockets, Dr. J and Malones 76ers, and the late eighties Cavaliers and Pistons that were all great teams as well. What I am getting at is that the 80s were just like the 90s in that there were two teams that were above the rest and a half dozen or so very good teams just below them. In the 90s the Bulls were the Laker/Celtics in that they were just better then the rest. It is not like the Bulls just swept every team in the playoffs though. They had their hurdles to jump.

To me the 80s and 90s will always stand out as the two best decades in NBA history for a two reason. First, players started to get much bigger, stronger, and faster. This is even more true for the 90s when players like Shaq and David Robinson came on the scene. Before the 80s basketball was more of a team sport and a finesse game. I am not saying that it was not physical, but no one can say it was more physical then the 80s and 90s when players were much stronger and therefore fouls were just that more nasty. Secondly, there were no hand checking rules back then so defenses were twice as aggressive as they are today. I really wonder how LeBron James or Kobe Bryant would do against the 80s Celtics or Pistons or the 90s Bulls or Knicks. Jump shooting was much harder and so was driving the lane. The game is now designed for high scoring and fast paced basketball. Gone are the days of hard fouls every other play and players be whacked al the time. Take a look at some old tapes of games from the 80s and 90s and one will see that it was a much different game.

To say the 90s had no competition for the Bulls is just silly. The Bulls real rivalries took place in the East Playoffs and not the Finals. Sure the Suns, Jazz, Trail Blazers, and Supersonics were all great teams with HOF players on them, but anyone who was alive to watch Jordan and the Bulls play knows that the teams that the Bulls had most trouble with were in their own conference. The early 90s with the Pistons has to be one of the greatest rivalries in the NBA behind the Lakers/Celtics and if the Bulls had been in the west and those playoff series were really Finals matchups then some would argue them to be some of the greatest Finals matchups ever. Also, who could forget the intense matchups with the Knicks and Pacers. Surely those Knicks and Pacers teams of the 90s would have won rings had the Bulls not been around.

Bottomline. It is hard to really compare two different decades of basketball and I for one believe the 80s and 90s to be the best ever do to player size and athletic abilities and the lack of strict defensive rules. To make a claim that Kobe or even LeBron is better then Jordan or Magic is like comparing apples and oranges. Who is to say how well James and Kobe would have played back in the day against hard defenses? Maybe they would be even better. Who knows? Would Magic and MJ thrive even more with less contact? I think Jordan would be even scarier in today's game. You really only need to look at the stats and add to that the era of basketball that they played in to realize that MJ, Magic, and Bird were the greatest players ever. Wilt, Russell, Oscar, and Kareem are also in the mix.

I guess I will close with my alltime top ten list because it just seems fitting.

1)Michael Jordan. 2)Magic Johnson. 3)Wilt Chamberlain. 4)Bill Russell. 5)Larry Bird. 6)Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 7)Oscar Robertson. 8)Hakeem Olajuwan. 9)Tim Duncan. 10)Shaquille O'Neal

 Well one part of the season is over and another is about to begin. The regular season came to an end last night and we now know exactly what the first round matchups will be. So let us take a gander at each match up and make some predictions.

Here we go:

Cavaliers vs Pistons. Cleveland in 5. The Pistons have been just this bad lately. Who in their right mind would have thought this would be a first round matchup at the begining of the season. What a long and strange season for the Pistons? The Cavaliers almost beat the 76ers without LeBron James, Big Z, or Mo Williams playing. This team is deeper then they look on paper.

Celtics vs Bulls. Boston in 6. If John Salmons plays great and Kevin Garnett doesn't play or does not play well then the Bulls could take this to 7 games, but if KG plays well then the Bulls will lose in 5. I am just betting on something in th middle. Watch Derrick Rose play Against Rajon Rondo. Rose is great but he struggles against athletic scoring point guards like Rondo. I think Rondo has the advantage and that hurts the Bulls badly.

Magic vs 76ers. Orlando in 6. The 76ers are balanced and I think that Miller is still a top 5 point guard. He is in many ways like an older more savvy Derrick Rose. In the end the 76ers like many other teams have no answer for Dwight Howard and even with the loss of Nelson I still think the Magic will pull this won out.

Hawks vs Heat. Atlanta in 7. This is a hard one. Dwyade Wade could will the Heat to victory, but I just think the Hawks match-up to well with the Heat. Joe Johnson is a stud, and while not is good as Wade, he is still a top 10 shooting guard in the league. The Heat just do not have answers for Bibby or Smith and that will be key.

Lakers vs Jazz. Los Angeles in 5. As much as a like Jerry Sloan and the Jazz I can not see them putting up much of a fight against the lakers. jazz will win one at home and maybe two games, but Kobe Bryant and the rest of the balanced Lakers will pick them apart. Also, the Jazz are by far the coldest team entering the playoffs.

Nuggets vs Hornets. Nuggets in 6. Wow. This is another crazy 1st round matchup in that the Hornets are the 7th seed when many had them as the 2nd or 3rd seed when the season began. The Hornets are just not the team they were last season when they seemed to have a lot more passion. Chris Paul vs Chauncey Billups has to be the best first round player vs player matchup. Their play will determine the outcome of this series. I also think Denver is a hard place to win at on the road and the Nuggets are deep.

Spurs vs Mavericks. San Antonio in 7. This will be an interseting matchup. The older playoff-wise and steady Spurs vs the faster paced talented Mavericks. I simply just have to go with experience on this one. Tim Duncan will slowly and methodically break down the Mavericks. He is still the best power forward in the NBA and Tony Parker could have his way driving to the rim. Should be a fun series to watch.

Trail Blazers vs Rockets. Portland in 6. I am sorry but any team with Tracy McGrady on it can not advance in the playoffs. Joking aside, I really am a huge fan of the young team that the Blazers have put together. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are one of the top inside out combos in the league and I just think the Rockets are tired if the Rockets never could get out of the first round before then why should anyone be fooled into thinking they can now. Also, Ron Artest is really not at all the player he was just a couple years ago.