Jake

I don't think I want Lance in my team's locker room if last year is any indication of what that's like

That's stupid. So you have to vote for someone for the HoF even when you don't believe anyone deserves it? That's a great way to get undeserving guys in there

I think it's going fabulously well. It was really iffy, inconsistent, and time consuming at the beginning of the year, but it has really improved since the first month or so of the year. The only thing I'd like to see changed, though I don't know exactly what to do about it, is the awkward period of time in which the manager waits for a signal from the dugout.

Also dealt with hamstring injury this year

Kevin Love is NOT a top 5 player in the NBA. Get real, damn

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 15, 2014 -> 11:19 AM) I remember reading multiple different times over the years that you could find an "injury" for pretty much anyone who has pitching for an amount of time. With all of the ligaments and tendons and muscles, that there was always technically something wrong with any pitcher. True? No? Well, yes and no. Injury? not exactly. Abnormalities? Yes. Almost all professional ballplayers show some abnormality on an MRI. Houston is arguing that this is a meaningful one and more than what one would expect. I don't know if they are right.

I think Mirotic will definitely struggle with strong post players that are going to throw their weight around against him. He'll probably also be relatively unproductive on the glass. I wouldn't expect Mirotic to easily defend the 3, either. But that's okay - nobody really expects him to be great at those things. The key is whether his offensive game is in a place where it will make up for his other shortcomings right off the bat. This is the same question as McDermott. They're both going to put the ball in the basket, but will they be able to do it enough as rookies to make up for the things they almost certainly won't do well. QUOTE (LDF @ Jul 15, 2014 -> 11:01 AM) here is a question to those who are more knowledgeable than I with re to snell. is he really a prospect to play or is the bulls stuck with him b/c he was a 1 rounder? I am trying to read up on sports site and I can't get a good feel for his potential. I think the jury is out on Snell. He's pretty athletic and has a nice jumpshot. He's shown flashes of more rounded scoring ability as well, but has always lacked the killer instinct that a scorer needs. Defensively, he looked at least solid last year and he has the athletic skillset and size to be a very valuable defender. I don't think he's there yet defensively, but there's definitely reason to be optimistic for him to become at least a defense-oriented roleplayer. The questions are whether he will get that jumpshot to fall enough (I think shot selection was an issue last season) and if he can get aggressive and confident enough to contribute more than three pointers on offense. I think a reasonable expectation for Snell is that he'll be a good end-of-rotation player, if that makes sense. He should definitely be the type that provides value as a 20-25 minute, 7th or 8th best guy. There's upside for better than that, like becoming a sixth man on a very good team or a journeyman starter. His downside as a journeyman 5-10 minute per game player is also still looming.

Interesting how this is working out. Sounds like Aiken's camp is now openly talking to the media, which is interesting. Tough to say without info or medical training whether HOU is BS'ing. Is there any means by which Aiken's camp can contest the idea that the physical is failed?

Whether on our team or elsewhere, he would be well-served to learn how to play 2B and LF

This is an interesting idea and while I'm not sure I could stomach it, it would make a lot of sense to get a feel for what the market for him would be. The key would be taking my most trusted evaluators' opinions on Gillaspie to heart and if they think this won't last, then he gawn.

I like the team. They're fun to watch, for me. Should be a lot more fun this year

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 08:44 AM) i just want to fast forward past speculation. this thread is gonna be such an argumentative downer until the season starts In what way will the season make it stop being an argumentative downer? We could win 70 games and the complaint would be that we're a regular season team only

I'm not going to fret about losing DJ Augustin

Taylor has a curious problem - a guy with massive natural power that doesn't take aggressive enough hacks at the plate or look to loft/pull. No reason not to give him a shot if a chance comes up.

I'm not a fan of comparing Abreu to other rookies. He's 27 years old. By no means does he deserve veteran expectations, but it isn't the same as 21-24 year old rookies.

Aggrey Sam ‏@CSNBullsInsider 49m Re-signed for more than vet minimum, but took less than he was offered elsewhere, according to source. Charlotte, Utah among other suitors. Well that means that at the worst the Bulls aren't the dumbest, right? I like Kirk on the team, but I'm afraid he's Thibodeau's Darin Erstad/Rob Mackowiak. Do not give the guy too much playing time. Just accept that he can only offer certain things and don't push it like it's 2004 or something

I hope he shows some ability to start drawing walks. Go on FanGraphs and filter all 1B in the last 30-40 years and show me one that walks as infrequently as Abreu. The best comp I could find was Andres Galarraga. With that said, Abreu's rather quick adjustment to what looked like a serious strikeout issue has already been very impressive. One thing at a time.

I have a feeling that Augustin is going to get a whole bunch more than he's worth. You can't crack jokes about the Bulls overvaluing players and then say we should sign DJ Augustin for much of anything above the vet's minimum

You'd have to have a very specific personality type to even begin to convince yourself that you're enjoying yourself in prison

Maybe we can dump Gordon over the break

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 12, 2014 -> 04:45 PM) For the last years we have been hearing that the conservative moves of the Bulls was because they wanted "flexibility" for major additions in the 2014 offseason. The 2014 plan was touted by KC Johnson. That's fine if you are going to do that. The Bulls never declared their only plan was to go all in on FA in 2014. Was always one of several possibilities. They know as well as anybody that you never put all your eggs in that basket. The TWolves are reportedly taking offers for Kevin Love. They don't need to move him now. They can wait 12 months and get more for him if they think that is necessary. He's not "available" in the same way Carmelo was. False equivalents. You and I both have no clue what we really offered or are willing to offer. This is BS speculation if you are going to argue that we didn't offer enough or something of that ilk. Perhaps the 16 and 19 aren't the assets you think they are. What possibility did we pass on to instead move up in the draft? And while you aren't a big Doug McDermott fan, you don't know a f***ing thing about how he'll do or how he is perceived as a potential asset by other GMs. Given this front office's track record in this part of the draft, he probably isn't believed to be (or actually is) is a non-athletic, non-second option player. I'd venture to guess there are several GMs that would have much more interest in McDermott than the 16 and 19 before the draft. This is where you're spouting more complete bulls*** speculation. Do you really think we left any doubt in Carmelo's mind about how much he might earn? You need to not selectively pick out your rumors about our courtship of him as we heard just as often that we laid out several options, including the option to get a maximum deal with us as we would spin off our various salary commitments. Melo could make as much money as he wanted with us. Be honest with yourself and realize that we will never know exactly what kept Melo away. Truth is that he stayed with his previous team, on his hometown, and will likely take an offer more lucrative than we were allowed to offer. We added a premier scoring talent in Doug McDermott, a many time All-Star post player who can both score and move the ball among the best of those at the position, added Nikola Mirotic who Fran Fraschilla says would have been a top 4 pick in the Supposedly amazing super draft of 2014 and have shredded salary on the process of all this. The team is really deep and added at least two more 3 point shooters, which are the new premium asset in the NBA. Melo could have come to the Bulls and gotten max salary, or he could have come to a Bulls team chock full of good players and gotten close to the max salary. Given what happened, who knows what turned him away. Heck, it could have been LBJ's soliloquy on playing for his hometown. Given the reported price for Love, I don't see how he makes sense for us. To be competitive with some of the other supposed offers, we'd probably need to give up Taj, Mirotic, Butler, and likely one or more future firsts. At that point, you're looking at a gutted team that is relying on Rose to be it's best player and needs to win before Noah's contract ends. If you says it's worth risking the need to rebuild to get Love in the fold... Then what's so wrong with instead spending a season finding out what you have in some of the new blood you've brought in here, instead? Either way, you're completely hitching your wagon to Rose. Love isn't even close to good enough to make the team a real contender without Rose, especially given that we'll lose depth to get Love. Without Melo, a guy for whom there is no evidence we ever could have gotten away from NY, we're stuck in this position: hoping our home-grown superstar gets back into stride. That's the truth. There's no one else we can reasonably get that remedies that issue. There aren't any other franchises that would expect any level of success without their best player on the court and healthy. We already did the difficult thing, which is get a superstar. Now we just hope he isn't Grant Hill. The Heat trio has warped the expectations of everyone. You can't just get all the best players to play for you. You'll soon realize they aren't even that great (Heat) or that it isn't even enough (Rockets, Thunder, Heat two times out of four). Your only shot at feeling anything resembling certainty is to get the league's best player on your team (LeBron) or stacking your team with "really good" players, as many role players as you can, and a superb coach (the guys that just beat LBJ). The latter plan is essentially what everyone wants to do in every other sport, which is just put the best team out there that you can. Bulls fans need to f***ing relax and be grateful that they're fans of one of the best run franchises in the league.

If you want guarantees, you're not going to get them. It was guaranteed the Big Three would never lose a title. It was guaranteed they'd win the Finals last year once they got past the Spurs in 2013. It was guaranteed the Bulls would win an NBA championship in 94-95 until our star played baseball instead. You're playing the lottery and demanding profits. We've got decent odds. Only in the NBA do people have weird expectations like this. Do people want to fire Hahn unless he wins a World Series? Should Virginia McCaskey sell the Bears since they haven't gotten a title in 30 years?

I see no scenario where we can both get Love and walk away a better team

We'll see. Lots to like on this team. I don't subscribe to the "you need one or more of the best ten players in the league on your team to have a prayer" philosophy. Lots of talent on the Bulls and a phenomenal coach. I'm excited to see how it comes together.

Ask Dan Hudson and Gavin Floyd about getting TJS just because it's a cinch and you're better off afterwards