Well there have been a few big moves in the NBA over the last week and I am not so sure it is for the best of the NBA or not. The Cavaliers which were already in this last seasons eastern conference look to have locked up Shaq for next season and gave up basically nothing in return. Vince Carter is going to play for the Magic next season. The Spurs, who are still a good franchise but have battled injuries, have bolstered their lineup with the addition of Richard Jefferson. The Celtics look to be adding Rasheed Wallace and now there are talks of Ron Artest joining Kobe on the Lakers. Are all these moves good for the NBA? Let us take a look.

     I guess there are to theories to go by on this one. One, that having a handful of great teams will make the conference finals and NBA finals better. You know that these blockbuster teams will all go deep into the playoffs and that the Finals should include two of the teams mentioned above. The other thinking is that these teams are now just all too good and that the regular season and the entire season for that matter is pointless to watch for fans of other teams. Do fans of the Hawks or Mavericks have anything to hope for?
    I for one am torn on the issue. I consider myself a true fan of the sport so part of me can not wait for the season to begin to see how Shaq and LeBron coexist or if Vince Carter can be the missing part to push the Magic to the next level. On the other hand I am a fan of the Chicago Bulls which are a good young team with depth and promise, but really are no match for onr of these new Mega-Teams.
     The rest of the NBA stands little chance agaist these new teams. Part of me thinks it could hurt the NBA fanbase a bit. I am sure it will attract a ton of new fans, but some diehards may just give up on their teams. Why keep watching their team when we all know who is going to be in the Finals. I am not saying that I am one of these fans, but i can understand that view.
     Let's look at these new Mega-team's lineups for a minute. Who stands a chance againts these five teams is my real question.
     Lakers- Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, and Pau Gasol. This team has it all. A legend in the making leading the way in Kobe. A great inside force in Gasol. A versatile wingman in Gasol and a bonecrusher in Ron Artest. Crazy.
     Spurs- Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Richard Jefferson. The best power forward ever in the middle. I understand that Duncan is older but he is still great. Manu if healthy is a nightmare for other teams. One of the best, if not best penetrateing point guards in Parker and now a allstar caliber wingman in R.J.
     Celtics- Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace. If Boston can keep Allen and sign Wallace then, if healthy, they will have a great shot at another NBA title. That is an older but still great lineup. They could cause a lot of damage with this team.

     Magic- Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis. You have to think that Turkoglu is going to go elsewhere for the money, but a guess he too could still be in the fold in Orlando. This team has all the parts needed to win a title with Howard anchoring this team. I think Carter might just be the player the magic needed in the Finals. A guy who can hit the clutch shots and draw defenders out. If they somehow manage to keep Turk as well then they are going to go back to the Finals.
     Cavaliers- LeBron James, Shaq, and Mo Willaims. Not quite as deep as the others as far as talent, but Shaq might work out very well for the Cavs. If James and him can work off eachother well then most teams will have their hands full facing the Cavaliers next season. Shaq draws the double team and so does James. That is a recipe for a Championship.

     Well as a Bulls fan, unless we trade for Chris Bosh or Amar'e this summer, I can hope for no more then maybe a trip to the second round of the playoffs next year and that is better then I can say for most other teams. So do you think that these new Mega-Teams will cause some fans to finally give up on their teams or are you just excited to see how all these move play out? I for one can not wait to watch these new teams, but to be honest part of me is a bit sad that my team is on the outside looking in.

     Ok, the Bulls season is over and it ended on a good note. I understand the Bulls lost in the first round against the Celtics but they proved that there is a bright future in Chicago. The draft is but weeks away and questions are starting to present themselves. There have been talk of scandals involving Derrick Rose and the retirement of Del Harris. John Paxson has stepped down from the position of GM. A lot of things have already happened, so will the summer also include a big trade? Will we move up in the draft? Will we just trade our picks? I will be touching on each player on the Bulls roster in detail in my upcoming blogs, but for now I want to look at the overall picture of were I see things standing. So let us take a look.
Del Harris Retires. 
     Well first off with the retirement of Del Harris the Bulls coaching staff not only gets much younger, but it loses a strong veteran coach that help Vinny Del Negro a great deal this season. What this states is that the Bulls brass feel comfortable with Vinny leading unless of course they replace Harris with another veteran assistant. I do not see the Bulls feeling they need to go out and get another assist coach of Harris' caliper.
     I think we are going to see Del Negro coaching next season without training wheels. Ownership will still keep close tabs on him mind you but it looks like they are confident that Vinny can lead the way. Do I think he is ready? Yes, I understand that he is far from perfect but I think he is very smart and as the season progressed this year he seemed to slowly get better. Is he great? No. Will he be great? Most likely not. He may not even be around for the long haul. he was the best we could land at the time and the team is going through the motions with him. Giving him time to prove that he is or is not the right man for the job. One season is never enought time to know unless there is a major breakdown within a team. I am happy with Vinny as our coach going forward into next season mainly because I know if he fails that he will be fired.
Derrick Rose Scandal? 
     Maybe the biggest news in Bulls land is that of the Derrick Rose scandal. I for one think the requirement by the NBA for players to attend one year of college is wrong. If a player finishes High school and is 18 years old there should be no wall in his way to get into the NBA. Derrick Rose had no intention of attending 4 years of college. He only went because he had too. Players that live and breath only basketball and only want to play basketball should not be forced to go to college. Does this mean that Derrick Rose did nothing wrong? No. Will his character be in question? Yes, a little bit. Bottomline is that nobody likes a cheater, but Rose only cheated the system and not Basketball. If he got caught using steroids then we would have something here, but he is a great player and most likely would have been almost as good had he just entered the league right out of high school.
     I understand that the idea of the rule is to try and make sure players are mentally ready for the NBA. Why should the players that are ready be penalized. Who really gets hurt is the team that makes the draft mistake. Like the Bulls drafting Eddie Curry or the Wizards drafting Kwame Brown. But for every high school bust there is a star. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kevin Garnett to name just three. I am sure the ratio of NBA failure between H.S. players and college players is pretty close. Infact, players that came into the league right out of high school are probably more successful because they were so good that teams wanted them to skip college and enter the league.
Gar Forman takes over for John Paxson.
     John Paxson steps away from duties as GM and part of me is a bit sad. I think overall John Paxson has done a fairly solid job putting together a team. He has done very well in the draft and I am not just talking about Derrick Rose, but the rest of the team. If you look at the players he drafted and who he passed on you will see he has done a good job. When it came to trades he was not so good except for this last one with the Kings. Paxson will still play a big part with the Bulls as V.P. but Gar Forman will be the one in trade talks. It will be interesting to see if Forman makes a big move this summer or not. Speaking of trades let's talk my favorite subject shall we.
Shaq in Chicago?
     The latest rumors have the Bulls making a deal with the Suns for Shaq. The Bulls would give up Luol Deng, Jerome James, and another contract for Shaq. What we have in this deal is Steve Kerr finally getting Luol Deng who he loves and Deng would really be a solid player on a fast paced Suns team. The Suns also would get expiring contracts. Tim Thomas is rumored as the third Bulls player in the deal. The Bulls on the other end get to rent Shaq for a season. If Shaq does not work out, which is more then likely, then the Bulls can let him walk and free up up a whopping 20 million in cap space in the summer of 2010. This means we could land a superstar for sure.
     Upside for us is we simply free up a ton of money and would be very flexible going into next summer. We could also turn around and trade Shaq at the deadline for a superstar then. Downside is we lose Luol Deng which could come back to haunt us.
Bosh and Wade?
     The other option is going after Chris Bosh this summer. Rumors are stirring that Toronto is starting to get the feeling that Bosh is going to bolt in 2010 and they could start to panic and make a move this summer instead of losing Bosh for nothing after next season. Even with a lot of cap space the Raptors will have trouble attracting free agents to move to Canada. Superstars leave Toronto( V. Carter & T. McGrady) they do not go to Toronto. The Raptors will want a young player with upside, cap relief, and a draft pick or two. The rumor I heard before was Tyrus Thomas, Brad Miller (1 year left on a 12 million dollar contract), and our 16th pick for Bosh. The trade works out on paper and helps both sides.
     The real scary thing is is that the Bulls could pull off both of these trades. That would mean we land Chris Bosh and also have a ton of cap space next summer for a player like Dwyane Wade. We would have to gamble by letting Ben Gordon walk but I think we could attract Wade with Rose and Bosh. That idea has this Bulls fan foaming at the mouth. A starting lineup of Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, John Salmons, Chris Bosh, and Joakim Noah would make a us not only a contender but maybe even the favorite to win the title. We would still have Kirk Hinrich as a sixth man to boot. Crazy I know, but it could happen.
     Well I need to stop dreaming right? I can only wish for something like that to happen. Bottomline is things are going to be interesting this summer for sure. Before I go I want to say that I like James Johnson with our 16th pick if he is still around on draft night. Thanks for reading.