FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[BH]

I think what's important is that Eli thinks both the Cubs and Bulls are not worth getting too excited about for the foreseeable future. 

Am I the only one who thinks this?

I legitimately do not think this. 

I'm not expecting the Cubs to win a World Series in the next 2 years, but I'm legitimately interested and still excited about this rebuild. 
Granted, it doesn't make "watching baseball" that fun, but my definition of "following my team" has changed so much with age, technology and family changes that this still works for me. 

For the Bulls - it's a huge bummer and this year sucks, but I'll still get psyched for their hopeful 7-seed and first round playoff matchup and then next year - right back in the saddle. 

Watching the bulls get under the luxury tax will be exciting.

[CT III]

I think what's important is that Eli thinks both the Cubs and Bulls are not worth getting too excited about for the foreseeable future. 

Am I the only one who thinks this?

I legitimately do not think this. 

I'm not expecting the Cubs to win a World Series in the next 2 years, but I'm legitimately interested and still excited about this rebuild. 
Granted, it doesn't make "watching baseball" that fun, but my definition of "following my team" has changed so much with age, technology and family changes that this still works for me. 

For the Bulls - it's a huge bummer and this year sucks, but I'll still get psyched for their hopeful 7-seed and first round playoff matchup and then next year - right back in the saddle. 

Watching the bulls get under the luxury tax will be exciting.

Well, watching the Hawks get under the cap in 2010 was exciting.  In a way.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

[R-V]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

The problem is that there is a very small handful of guys who qualify for 1 stud status, and it's damn near impossible to get one without getting really bad first.

[PenFoe]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

The problem is that there is a very small handful of guys who qualify for 1 stud status, and it's damn near impossible to get one without getting really bad first.

LeBron in Cleveland and Chris Paul to the Clippers are the only recent examples of teams that drastically changed their fortunes with the addition of a single player. 

I'm sure there are a couple others, but not many. 

[Internet Apex]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

It's really hard to rebuild in any sport. In basketball, it's easy to rebuild in the sense that a team can bottom out and take a shot at a high draft pick. But the odds are against anything outside of a top 3 pick making the kind of impact that virtually guarantees his team perennial success. There are about 10 guys in the league who, when healthy can assure their team a .500+ record. Getting not one, but two of those guys is the only way to keep your team in the hunt for a championship.

And with a rigid salary cap in place, it becomes absolutely deadly to be wrong on one of the max contracts. Very few teams can afford to go over the salary cap, so they absolutely have to be right or they'll end up like New York or now... the Lakers (heh heh).

tl;dr: You only need to find two blue chippers to be a contender but there aren't enough of them to go around. So be lucky and be right. Or be the Knicks.

[Internet Apex]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

The problem is that there is a very small handful of guys who qualify for 1 stud status, and it's damn near impossible to get one without getting really bad first.

LeBron in Cleveland and Chris Paul to the Clippers are the only recent examples of teams that drastically changed their fortunes with the addition of a single player. 

I'm sure there are a couple others, but not many. 

Some Others:

Harden to the Rockets
Howard to the Lakers (heh heh)

[PenFoe]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

The problem is that there is a very small handful of guys who qualify for 1 stud status, and it's damn near impossible to get one without getting really bad first.

LeBron in Cleveland and Chris Paul to the Clippers are the only recent examples of teams that drastically changed their fortunes with the addition of a single player. 

I'm sure there are a couple others, but not many. 

Some Others:

Harden to the Rockets
Howard to the Lakers (heh heh)

Rockets:
2011-2012 (Pre-Harden): 34-32 (.519) 9th best team in the West. 
2012-2013 (With Harden) 45-37 (.549) 8th best team in the West. 

They're trending in the right direction, but a little too early to call drastic improvement. 

[Eli]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

A few people have covered the gist already. But you can't really collect prospects like in baseball and the finances are far more complicated, since you have to match salaries and live within various types of salary exceptions. No trading an established player for prospects, contract be damned, as in baseball. Those financial restrictions also make large contracts a huge risk and headache, as Apex said.

It's also tougher to build through the draft since you get two picks a year and the second pick is almost always useless. The lottery is also a disadvantage, since the worst team doesn't necessarily get the best pick. The Bobcats ending up with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist instead of Anthony Davis after a seven-win season is a serious kick in the nuts.

And compared to the NFL, there's just not as much parity, so the gap between bad teams and good teams is monumental.

[Tony]

It's much easier to rebuild in the NFL. Look at what Emery did this year with the offense, and what he'll hopefully do next year with the defense. And with the parity half the league is around 500 right now with a shot at the playoffs.

The Bulls were only contenders because they lucked into getting Rose in the first place.

[BH]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

A few people have covered the gist already. But you can't really collect prospects like in baseball and the finances are far more complicated, since you have to match salaries and live within various types of salary exceptions. No trading an established player for prospects, contract be damned, as in baseball. Those financial restrictions also make large contracts a huge risk and headache, as Apex said.

It's also tougher to build through the draft since you get two picks a year and the second pick is almost always useless. The lottery is also a disadvantage, since the worst team doesn't necessarily get the best pick. The Bobcats ending up with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist instead of Anthony Davis after a seven-win season is a serious kick in the nuts.

And compared to the NFL, there's just not as much parity, so the gap between bad teams and good teams is monumental.

Timing also plays a key part.. some years the draft has lots of talent like this years will. Other years there are no real superstar franchise players.

[Tony]

The DRose bad news has made it to rural Ohio because my in-laws heard about it on the radio. And apparently my father-in-law, who is not a sports fan at all, was going on and on about how dumb it is to build a team around one player. So I'm looking forward to spending Thanksgiving unsuccessfully explaining the how the salary cap, free agency, and the NBA draft work.

And that reminds me of a caller on the Score yesterday that asked why NBA teams don't plan to back-up their superstars. Stupid Gar-Pax... why don't you have John Wall or Kyrie Irving on the bench in case Rose blows out a knee?

[Internet Apex]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

A few people have covered the gist already. But you can't really collect prospects like in baseball and the finances are far more complicated, since you have to match salaries and live within various types of salary exceptions. No trading an established player for prospects, contract be damned, as in baseball. Those financial restrictions also make large contracts a huge risk and headache, as Apex said.

It's also tougher to build through the draft since you get two picks a year and the second pick is almost always useless. The lottery is also a disadvantage, since the worst team doesn't necessarily get the best pick. The Bobcats ending up with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist instead of Anthony Davis after a seven-win season is a serious kick in the nuts.

And compared to the NFL, there's just not as much parity, so the gap between bad teams and good teams is monumental.

Timing also plays a key part.. some years the draft has lots of talent like this years will. Other years there are no real superstar franchise players.

[Eli]

Start trading, start tanking and start looking at the deep 2014 draft for the next franchise player, with the hope that healthy

They won't, of course. Thibs wouldn't stand for it and he's such a good coach that they could squeak into the back end of the playoffs based solely on defense and effort. He's almost a liability to a team that needs a complete and total overhaul.

I can't quite get behind the idea of tanking and trashing everything but I don't have a good reason why. Partially because it's really hard to rebuild in the NBA so I'm not convinced it'll even work. And partially because I can't believe this happened and I'm still processing it. Plus, there are quite a few other teams who are trying to tank for Wiggins and Parker and they're better equipped to suck this year.

But to your point, yes, the Bulls are in NBA Hell.

Rose could be a top-notch complimentary piece

"Great shot, Jabari! Nice work!"

It is?  I've always figured it's easier to rebuild in the NBA than the other 3 main North American professional sports leagues on account of the fact that you only play 5 guys and suit up a dozen.  I would think that 1 stud in the NBA gives you a bigger jump than 1 stud in the NFL, MLB and NHL.  If it's hard to rebuild in the NBA then it would seem next to impossible to rebuild in those other 3 leagues.  Not trying to troll; I'm honestly perplexed by that statement.

A few people have covered the gist already. But you can't really collect prospects like in baseball and the finances are far more complicated, since you have to match salaries and live within various types of salary exceptions. No trading an established player for prospects, contract be damned, as in baseball. Those financial restrictions also make large contracts a huge risk and headache, as Apex said.

It's also tougher to build through the draft since you get two picks a year and the second pick is almost always useless. The lottery is also a disadvantage, since the worst team doesn't necessarily get the best pick. The Bobcats ending up with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist instead of Anthony Davis after a seven-win season is a serious kick in the nuts.

And compared to the NFL, there's just not as much parity, so the gap between bad teams and good teams is monumental.

Timing also plays a key part.. some years the draft has lots of talent like this years will. Other years there are no real superstar franchise players.

Holy crap. I thought that picture was had the wrong dimensions and was stretched but no, Anthony Bennett is just fat. He's also 9-for-42 from the field this year, which would be bad for Larry Hughes on a bender, much less a forward.

[PenFoe]

Is this still the Bulls thread?

It's from a few days ago, but Woj calls the Bulls one of the two front runners for Carmelo.

The article mentions that the Bulls would need to amnesty Boozer (fine) and trade Taj (that sucks) to make room for Carmelo.

Alternatively, they could try some package of Gibson, Boozer and Butler to go after Kevin Love, who I'd rather have than Carmelo, though that's a fairly steep price.  

Excited to do this all summer again.

Edit: Here's a pretty good rundown of some of the options for the Bulls.