Elephant in the room - Chicago Bulls 1st Round Matchup

[Demographic Shift]

Spec is fun...
But...lets look at things with a harder eye..

Jimmy is 26 ... is relatively healthy (not sure what the long term outlook on the once hurt knee is but James Andrews says its OK).. He is on a cap friendly for his status... 4 year deal.
Derrick is 27.. has had major knee problems in BOTH knees and has been out of the lineup more than he has been in this year and has missed most of the past 3 years...Hard to find someone who will say that he hasn't lost a fair bit over the past 3 years and just isn't the player he once was.
Zoidberg who purportedly has had some communication issues with the team and with Jimmy in particular can be replaced next week with another new coaching genius ...finding a first team all NBA all star wing in his prime... who can score and play defense .. might.... just might take a little longer than replacing a coach ... even a genius like Freddy.

So.. given the clear light of day... its hard to see Jimmy moving anywhere....
Derrick Rose .. he might consider looking for a real estate agent if the Bulls want to start over...

[Demographic Shift]

Indy up by 32 end of the third quarter...

[Jclaw]

Is there an "exhale" emoji? The entire republic, as remote as a chance as there was, must be feeling that now.

[Raptor Jesus]

[ogi]

[Axel]

Boston. Boston beats that offer. And probably any other offer from any team out there. And if Butler's available, you can bet they'll jump. He's just the type of player they like.

Unless Boston spends their assets on Cousins.

[mjt20mik]

bye bye chitown

[Nilanka]

Happy Bulls elimination day!!!

[DanH]

Yay! Now we can go all out for 1st just for kicks. It's very possible.

[slaw]

Yay! Now we can go all out for 1st just for kicks. It's very possible.

It's not really for kicks. If you believe in this team and the long game the only way they beat the Cavs is with home court, so the #1 seed could potentially be of the utmost importance. That's why I don't think Cleveland is going to let that happen. I think they'll play Lebron 48 minutes against the Pistons and/or Hawks to make sure they retain that seed.

[Jclaw]

Might as well go for 1 (or at least, don't be upset if we get it). With the way 3,4,5,6 and 7,8 play out, there's no way to plan for an ideal 1st and 2nd round matchup. The only thing absolutely in our control is to finish second but who knows, by the time games are over wednesday, Miami might be in the 3rd or 6th seed. Just enjoy the last two games which will hopefully be our stars for most of the game at home against Philly and nothing but the bench the next night against the Nets.

[Mess]

The Bulls and Hoiberg almost solved Thib's problem of the team not having another gear for the playoffs by playing like garbage for most of the season. Unfortunately it was a slight overcompensation on their part.

[slaw]

The Bulls and Hoiberg almost solved Thib's problem of the team not having another gear for the playoffs by playing like garbage for most of the season. Unfortunately it was a slight overcompensation on their part.

The post-mortem in Bulls-land is going to be awfully interesting.... Injuries certainly played a role but that roster has a few too many long-in-the-tooth guys and ill-fitting parts. You couple that with the coaching change and the move away from that team's core identity over the last few years. I wonder if management will take the fall or if Reinsdorf would acknowledge he screwed up by firing his boys. Gonna be interesting.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

The post-mortem in Bulls-land is going to be awfully interesting.... Injuries certainly played a role but that roster has a few too many long-in-the-tooth guys and ill-fitting parts. You couple that with the coaching change and the move away from that team's core identity over the last few years. I wonder if management will take the fall or if Reinsdorf would acknowledge he screwed up by firing his boys. Gonna be interesting.

I read some rumor-type Tweets from ESPN reporters and they mused that Gasol, Noah and Rose could all be moved this offseason. It will definitely be interesting to watch it play out.

If I were the Bulls, I would basically look to rebuild/retool around Butler (along with Mirotic, McDermott, Portis and Snell) and draft picks, while the old/injured assets still have some trade value. Between the trade returns and cap space they could create, they could probably retool pretty quickly, especially since Chicago is a fairly attractive city/market for free agents.

[3inthekeon]

I read some rumor-type Tweets from ESPN reporters and they mused that Gasol, Noah and Rose could all be moved this offseason. It will definitely be interesting to watch it play out.

If I were the Bulls, I would basically look to rebuild/retool around Butler (along with Mirotic, McDermott, Portis and Snell) and draft picks, while the old/injured assets still have some trade value. Between the trade returns and cap space they could create, they could probably retool pretty quickly, especially since Chicago is a fairly attractive city/market for free agents.

I believe both Gasol and Noah are UFA's. And Rose is worth nowhere near the $21 million he's owed next year. Be interesting to see if they can dump him on some desperate team (Knicks? Kings?)