Howard to the Lakers

[clonetrooper264]

dwight didnt end up in houston or brooklyn because he refused to sign an extension there. lets not forget, the lakers acquired howard for only ONE guaranteed year. this was not a risk other teams were willing to take, because the assets they offered up were younger prospects, and what not.

the lakers are on their last few years, so even if dwight doesnt sign after this year, kobe is pretty much done anyway, and they have extra cap room without dwight's $$. also, they dont have to deal with bynum's cryin ass or his overblown salary anymore.

they have 2 ways to go from here, either re-sign howard after this year and build around him after kobe leaves, or if they lose him, they have cap room and pau-tradebait to work with to try to rebuild for the future or even sign a different FA.

mitch kupchack is the man, plain and simple. garpax arent worthy to shine this guy's shoes.

Actually Brooklyn was pretty much the only team he wanted to sign an extension with.

 

[theCHI_Life84]

yea thats true. i stand corrected

insert any team other than brooklyn

 

[theCHI_Life84]

lets hope it doesnt work out this year and dwight leaves in the offseason.

of course, that only gives mitch another oppurtunity to make another blockbuster heist.

 

[pinkizdead]

That Heat vs. Lakers finals next summer is going to be sick!

not if you're a bulls fan.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

not if you're a bulls fan.

maybe physically sick

 

[scottiepippen1994]

Gosh it feels good having a backup team to root for.
Sure feels good being a Kobe-Lakers fan today.
I feel good when I think about my second favorite team(Lakers)
I feel depressed when I think about my number 1 favorite team(Bulls)

I wish C.C.S had a Lakers forum so I wouldn't have to think about the lowly Bulls

 

[scottiepippen1994]

I have a poster of John Paxson in my basement that I transformed into my personal dart board for partys.
I would post a picture of it up her on C.C.S, but I'm afraid to because the internet authorities might have me sentenced to a mental institution like Tinley Park.
...
Probably because I had ketchup bags pasted behind the Paxson poster so it looks like blood splattering everytime one of my darts pierce Johnny Jumpshots heart.
:derbulls:

 

[pinkizdead]

Have you considered that paxson might not be to blame? Even gar might not be the source of all that is evil in the world.

 

[theCHI_Life84]

id much rather throw darts at JR's melon. at least pax hit some game winners back in his day.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Pax's draft picks might be part of the issue. xD Paying Deng and Noah...that's why we're financially handicapped right? :lol:

:andruw:

 

[scottiepippen1994]

id much rather throw darts at JR's melon. at least pax hit some game winners back in his day.

LoL, I could make an unguarded open jumpshot too if I had Jordan on my team being triple teamed.

Its pathetic to be a starting point guard in the NBA(paxson) and have to have your small forward (pippen) carry most the point guard dutys......Good grief.

 

[clonetrooper264]

LoL, I could make an unguarded open jumpshot too if I had Jordan on my team being triple teamed.

Its pathetic to be a starting point guard in the NBA(paxson) and have to have your small forward (pippen) carry most the point guard dutys......Good grief.

How dare you besmirch the great name of John Paxson! :fist:

 

[houheffna]

Well Prokhorov has only been the owner for 2 years. The team he had was the team he had. He tried getting LBJ/Bosh/Wade just like we did, but couldn't. Next year though, the Nets are estimated to be 12 million over the luxury tax level. He's also estimated to pay 260 million dollars in luxury tax until 2016 for just Williams, Lopez, Wallace, Humphries and johnson. That's not including all the other guys they'll have on the roster. He also said this when asked about the LT: "I am only interested in what will bring us a championship team," Prokhorov said. "That is the sole criterion." So clearly money isn't an issue for him if it means getting players that will help him win a title. Same would apply for Buss, Dolan, Cuban, etc.

Reinsdorf was willing to pay the luxury tax for Gasol this past season. The problem? The Lakers didn't want Boozer...can you blame them? Reinsdorf has stated constantly that he will go over the cap to get a player that will help them win a title. Where is that player? And since when did Kyle friggin' Korver become that important?

And I'm not saying having a high pay roll = titles. Obviously, the Knicks are an example of that. But the Knicks also spent money stupidly on players they were overly high on. And yeah, the 2 years they were under the Tax level they made the playoffs.. but they weren't a threat to win it all. They totaled 1 win in 2 post-seasons.

Paxson also spent money stupidly. Hinrich, Ben Wallace, Carlos Boozer...that is over $100mil on Wallace and Boozer alone. Neither has made a significant difference for the Bulls, yet they were paid at a very high rate.

But while being over the tax level doesn't mean you'll be playing for a title, it seems like every year the team that wins it is paying the tax. sometimes, they're way over the tax level. Like the Lakers and Mavs for example. The Lakers payroll was over 90 million last time they won a title, and the Mavs payroll was around 93 million when they won theirs. There also seems to be a correlation between teams that suck and their payrolls, which is usually low.. like around 45-50 million. And then there's everyone in between.. the teams that spend between 50-65 million. most of those teams are just the "middle of the pack teams." And that's where the Bulls have been for the most part over the last 10 years. spending between 50-65 million a year, not paying the tax but at the same time being good enough to make the playoffs, but not being good enough to win the title.

Wow...when I stated last year that the Bulls weren't good enough to win it all...I was vilified. Good luck with that man...lol. Again, can you name a free agent of superstar status the Bulls haven't gone after over the last 8 years? I can't.


For this season, yeah. It's dumb to go out spending money on players that aren't good enough to put us over the top.



Well what we want/don't want doesn't effect Paxson or Forman at all. They realized we needed a 2nd star player, but the reason why we didn't get them wasn't because some people didn't like the idea of Rose/LBJ together or because fans didn't want to give up too much for Melo/Howard. The reason why we didn't get LBJ, wade and Boah is because they didn't wanna play here. We didn't trade for Howard because he wouldn't commit here. I don't know what was going on with the melo trade, but I'm sure there's a reason why that didn't get done. I know that. You know that. A lot of other people know that. Blaming Paxson, Foreman and Jerry for that is just dumb because at least they tried.

Of course its dumb, which is why one big dummy stated that the Bulls made a poor impression on Lebron by showing him video of Jordan...proof? None. Just a dumb ass statement to support a dumb ass argument.

I just think the frustration stems deeper than what has been going on the past 2 years. When you see teams with less assets than the Bulls had year after year making block-buster deals that improve their team, you start to get frustrated and wonder why we aren't getting stuff like this done.

In the past, back in the "baby Bulls" era, we had a lot of attractive pieces that a lot of teams wanted. Deng, Kirk, Noah, Tyrus, gordon, etc. were all guys we could have easily packaged for a star player. And since a lot of them were on their rookie contracts and we had more cap space to work with, we could have done a lot to really improve the team and make us a title contender. Yeah, maybe that would have meant going deep into the tax, but who cares? The Bulls are "holding pattern" for a good reason right now. There's no way for us to improve to the point where we'll compete for a title, so it's dumb to spend money. But in the past, the Bulls would stand pat just 'cause they wanted to watch the team grow and let them develop. If you're the thunder and you have Durant, Westbrook, Green/Ibaka and Harden, that's a good idea. Those guys had a shit ton of potential. When you have guys like Hinrich, Deng, Gordon, Tyrus and Noah... yeah. Especially when so many teams were interested in those guys. If it wasn't for crazy luck and getting Rose, the Bulls probably would have missed the playoffs 2 years outta the last 4, maybe more.

Remember the Kobe trade talks? Gordon, Hinrich, Deng...all were in the deal supposedly. But Bulls fans were getting upset...they didn't want to trade those players for Kobe Bryant. Even typing that makes me nauseous. People complained about trading Luol Deng for Kobe...ridiculous.

I don't remember anybody breaking doors down to get to Hinrich and Gordon? I only remember Deng coming up in conversation with the Lakers and Kobe. And the Bulls were more...MORE than willing to trade or even dump those players to get a shot at Lebron James. Yes, I believe Paxson and to a certain degree, Reinsdorf feel in love with their players. But so did the fans. If Gordon is so attractive a basketball player to GMs...why did he leave the Bulls and wind up with the Pistons...and then the Bobcats?

Look at the Celtics trade for KG as an example. The Celtics gave up a 21 year old Al Jefferson who was coming off a 16/11 season, a 20 year old Gerald Green who was coming off a season where he averaged 10 PPG and seemed like he had a lot of potential, a 24 year old Ryan Gnomes who was coming off a 12/6 season and also seemed like he had a good future and a first round pick + Sebastian Telfair for a 30 year old KG. Can you ever see the Bulls making a deal like that? I honestly can't.

Not because they were lazy...

"Kevin Garnett appears about to be traded, though not to the Bulls. Well, I was half right....That possible deal from a year ago, when the Bulls were strongly pursuing Garnett, remains a far better deal than the one the Timberwolves reportedly are poised to make. It would signal a major rebuilding and make them potentially one of the NBA's worst teams," writes Sam Smith.

http://www.nba.com/news/kgarnett_traded_celtics.html
I think Jerry has proven that he's willing to spend money on players that showed they are worth it. But overall, I feel like the Bulls have been pretty conservative with their money and decision making over the last decade and it hasn't translated in titles. It's been nearly 15 years since we last won a title.. i think people are just starting to become very impatient.. and the "let's see how this team grows and develops" mentality the Bulls seemed to have doesn't help.

Jerry Reinsdorf really isn't helping himself though. Few years ago, as well all know, he had his famous quote where he said he'd trade in all 6 NBA championships for a word series title. Then recently he said baseball is a religion and that baseball is american.. and basketball is just a game. To top that off, He has made over a billion dollars since owning the Bulls but hasn't really spent over 70 million dollars on the bulls roster. We sell out all our games and the ticket prices are high.. but he still isn't dishing out a lot [well compared to other teams] of money on the Bulls. At the same time, the White sox can barely crack the top 20 in attendance, he isn't making much profit off the Sox and he's dishing out close to or over 100 million dollars each year on the Sox. Is it wrong for Jerry to favor one team over the other? Not at all. It's his money and they're his teams. But I don't think it's unreasonable for Bulls fans to question Jerry's heart when to comes to the Bulls.

I think what is unreasonable is trying to please dumb fans who don't know what/who they want. Its obvious that the Bulls have tried, bad luck? Bad players? Both? I will have a problem with Reinsdorf when I see players available and the Bulls not pursuing.

I don't understand the issue with Reinsdorf liking baseball more. So what? He is 75 years old and baseball was his favorite sport as a kid. He is from a different generation. I have pointed out in the past numerous owners who own multiple teams. I don't think they are affected in that way either. I think which sport he loves the most is totally irrelevent. When the lux tax rules were nonexistent, Reinsdorf spent millions over the cap for ONE PLAYER. Nobody mentions this...but he spent a lot of money and got players signed. I really think history exonerates him. But we will se what happens in the future.

You make a worthy argument, I just disagree.

 

[Glide2keva]

JR GOAT Owner

Gar/Pax GOAT GM's.

Mitch Kupchak God GM: Trades for Nash and Howard and doesn't send Bynum to ORL or give up Pau to anyone.

Buss Family God owners 10 titles and counting.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Just one thing I'll say regarding the whole Kobe-Deng issue from years back.

Wasn't the issue with Kobe in that he didn't want Deng included in such a trade? I remember somewhere that Kobe wanted to play WITH Deng and thus he wouldn't accept a deal in which he was included. I think at that point Deng was still in fans' doghouse due to his injuries so they would've been fine trading him for Kobe. We all know how Gordon and Hinrich are received by the fan base...

 

[Glide2keva]

Yes he did say that, but Kobe was doing what other players do, use the Bulls as leverage with no real intention of coming here to play.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Yes he did say that, but Kobe was doing what other players do, use the Bulls as leverage with no real intention of coming here to play.

The only players that come here are rejects. :tiptoe:

 

[Glide2keva]

The only players that come here are rejects. :tiptoe:

Pretty much.

 

[scottiepippen1994]

Just one thing I'll say regarding the whole Kobe-Deng issue from years back.

Wasn't the issue with Kobe in that he didn't want Deng included in such a trade? I remember somewhere that Kobe wanted to play WITH Deng and thus he wouldn't accept a deal in which he was included. I think at that point Deng was still in fans' doghouse due to his injuries so they would've been fine trading him for Kobe. We all know how Gordon and Hinrich are received by the fan base...

Pax could of tried harder to find a 2nd or 3rd, even 4th team to make the deal happen.
Even Jerry Krause would of got that deal done somehow.

Personally I was ready and willing to wave bye bye to both Gordon and Deng for Kobe.
Let me see, how many championships has Kobe won since then?
1 or 2? :thinking:

I remember how excited I was when they announced on T.V that Kobe would be a Bull for certain by the next day on ESPN. It was like almost official according to the dumbass media. Missed an opportunity twice to get Kobe....Just the fact that Kobe was interested in the Bulls was enough to make a deal happen if you were a GM with balls....Twice man, TWICE!!!!!

Pax is soft when it comes time to deal making or he's just a puppet and yes man to Jerry.

Serious question: Does anyone know how much the Bulls would probably sell for? How much exactly are the Bulls worth right now?

Any member here wealthy? Ill pitch in my 10 cents to be a part owner.
Anyone got 5 on it?

 

[clonetrooper264]

Back to the actual topic for a sec...

Did anyone else find it funny that the Magic lost Dwight to the Lakers...the same team that they lost Shaq to like 16 years ago? At least this time they got stuff in return...even if that return was pretty crappy.