i kind of agree with LTG on this. Lumping trades in with "missed" free agents is misleading with regard to the primary argument (free agents avoiding the Bull). The problem is that as fans we focus on the Bulls, but the reality is that recent top tier free agents have chosen from only a handful of teams...thus they have "spurned" 3/4 of the league. Further, they have chosen destinations rather than teams. NYC, Orlando, Miami, L.A. And most recently Cleveland. That isn't the fault of Management. You might as well blame Rahm or Daley.

Trades and drafting are a different story but also a different argument.

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If we nominate Trump we will get destroyed & we'll deserve it.- L Graham
I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.- DJT 2016
MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!- DJT 12/25/23

We got Rondo. Landed our free agent superstar finally. I believe the Bull is now fixed. Nas, please lock the thread.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

@KCJHoop Rondo and Hoiberg watched film for an hour together during Friday visit. Both left feeling Rondo strong fit for offense.

Pretty sure it's more likely the other way around, with Rondo making the determination an anything goes coach would be the perfect complement to his offensive system Rondoball.

It is a major conflating of the argument to include trades that no one was able to make, players that colluded to sign with other teams, players that chose to resign for more money with their current team etc. That is not necessarily guys "spurning" the Bulls.

To be honest S.A never signed major free agents when they won championships. Dallas didn't sign one either. Neither did G S. Detroit didn't sign a major free agent the yr they won the championship. Miami's first was not due to a free agent signing either. Emphasis on signing of free agents is fallacious. It's only value lie in tricking said team's fan base into thinking their team is doing whatever it takes to win.

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Can someone report the first talking head they hear state that the Bulls are going to "surprise some people this season". I'm sure that comment will be made before the week is out.

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So is this the projected Bulls starting lineup?
Rondo
Butler
McDermott
Mirotic
Lopez

I'm having a hard time deciding which end of the floor they'll probably be more incompetent at. I guess it's still defense even though Lopez will probably be a significant improvement on Gasol at that end of the court.

Read where this move got them to the salary floor. So I guess it is something they had to do.

If Butler did not get along with Rose, I can only imagine the fireworks that this will bring.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Taj somewhere in there?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Man, it would have been great if Mirotic didn't suck.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Rondo and Butler will be the worst shooting backcourt in the league. This is going to get real ugly really fast. Maybe that anti-climactic Taj trade can reap more than the Maxwell Street, hot peppered Polish that it could've reaped a week ago.

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I figure Fred will try that whole McDermott/Mirotic on the floor at the same time thing again just cause he loves his offensive players far more than anything someone like Taj could bring to the table in the starting lineup. Even though last year the two of them being on the court together were such a defensive liability that such an experiemnt probably should never be repeated.

Not to mention that neither of those guys is a very effective offensive player either.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I hope not.

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It really isn't anything they had to do though since there's really no penalty for not hitting the floor; the remaining money needed to hit it would just get split among the roster. And even if they were desperate to hit the floor, I'd have preferred it to be on another young player rather than a vet who's going to do whatever he wants and suck up a lot of the minutes that could've gone for Grant and Valentine. This season's going to be a waste of time anyway because the front office's REAL goal is apparently 2017 or maybe 2018. Just definitely not this one or people might actually tie their evaluations of GarPax to the crap product they're putting out.

Yeah but there were 2 or 3 games where they both hit a bunch of 3s! If you just ignore the rest of last season, I think it's quite clear that they have a bunch of potential and will probably turn the corner this year, especially with a super unselfish player like Rondo running the offense!

Rondo is so unselfish he would regularly pass up an open lay up to pass the ball 15 feet behind himself to a trailing teammate. Gotta love that commitment to teamwork.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I think Taj Gibson, assuming he isn't traded, is starting for either Mirotic or McDermott, depending on who the 4 between McDermott and Mirotic.

Wasn't there talk also about Butler moving to the SF spot as opposed to SG?

Pairing Rondo, who dominates the ball, with Butler who also wants to dominate the ball on offense sure doesn't seem to add up. And will the team run or settle into half-court sets?

Of course there's the reported attitude issues that come along with Rajon, but in fairness to him, he is 30 now so there is the possibility he's matured. And I'm sure spending a year in Sacramento makes one appreciate their basketball world just a little bit more.

On the positive side of things, if he's committed, he can still play decent defense and can get his teammates his open shots which should benefit Mirotic and McDermott. And I know it's hip to rip on McDermott, but the guy became halfway decent out there in the 2nd half of last season.

And then there's his contract. It's not albatross and there's an option on the 2nd year so even if this thing blows up in everyone's face it'll only be on the short term.

I think if we are talking about the failures of management we have to include everything. When it came to signings most of the guys said that the Bulls were their 2nd choice. As I mentioned earlier including Deng and Tyrus Thomas prevented the Bulls from getting HoF players.

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Nas: Blago, who has single handedly destroyed CFMB?

Blago: https://youtube.com/shorts/Lftdxd-YXt8?feature=share

"You can’t love your country only when you win." -President Biden

https://youtu.be/R6e4ruziZBI?si=1G4W1vbh0eGQuHfU

They're definitely trading him. He may be more valuable now then he was last year.

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Nas: Blago, who has single handedly destroyed CFMB?

Blago: https://youtube.com/shorts/Lftdxd-YXt8?feature=share

"You can’t love your country only when you win." -President Biden

https://youtu.be/R6e4ruziZBI?si=1G4W1vbh0eGQuHfU

For people that care about P.R. it's a bad move. As far as basketball goes it neither helps nor hurts much. The Bulls can cut bait after a year. At least he now has a starting caliber point guard. Calderon and Grant are at best backups.

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If they actually sign Wade now, then they have to go up and get Jereme Richmond out of whatever halfway house or Speedway counter he's stuck behind. Too bad Q isn't still alive, they could have gotten him out of retirement for a victory lap.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Yeah what the hell, bring in Wade for a year + an option

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

I better not see any spin from Bernstein or anyone else that it's pointless to criticize GarPax because of Durant going to Golden State. It was bad enough already hearing that preemptive apology for anything they do just because Lebron plays in the East.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst: "Wade continues to hold talks with the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls. Dwyane Wade is seeking a two-year, $50 million deal from the Miami Heat."

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

$20M for Wade is plenty, if not more than he deserves.

No way you meet his asking price if you're the Bulls.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

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‏@AlexKennedyNBA
Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo have been recruiting Dwyane Wade to Chicago, according to sources close to situation.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

A Rondo/Wade/Butler/Lopez/whoever starting lineup would have some of the worst spacing in the entire league. I was already done with the excuses for Hoiberg a while ago but if he's signing off on this I don't want to hear any sympathy whatsoever about his poor misunderstood system and the players who are a bad fit for it this season.

I don't care about fits for the system as much as I care about not seeing another year of Dunleavy starting at the 3. I'd be in favor of seeing the collective dead corpses of Drazen Petrovic and Reggie Lewis if it means keeping his bum ass off the floor.

It's obvious that GarPax are trying to justify the firing of Thibs. If you are going to keep that malcontent Butler, then you might as well surround him with a few guys that know how to play.

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Fine, I just don't want to hear next off-season that what Fred really needs are guys willing to move off the ball that can sink the 3 at a high rate or that we can't yet evaluate the revolutionary system known as Hoiball and it would be unfair to hold him accountable at all. According to the press he was as enthusiastic about the Rondo signing as anyone, and if anyone thought Butler was a "malcontent" who refused to listen to the coach, they better brace themselves for Rondoball.