Thibodeau introduced! NBA Draft Tonight! Deng Trade Rumor!

By Sean Mackey

The Chicago Bulls introduced Tom Thibodeau as their 18th head coach on Wednesday.

While his introduction wasn't as smooth as Vinny Del Negro's, Thibs did a pretty good job of letting the press know what he was all about. Defense first and then easy baskets. He also mentioned his family was his support system mentioning his siblings and nieces/nephews but leaving out any wife or children. I'm assuming he's not married and may just be all about his job.

I'm down with all of that and I'm pretty sure the organization and Bulls fans have a lot to be excited about. If Derrick Rose can improve defensively, this team is going to be DAMN good. I don't really feel like writing out the entire press conference but you can view the whole video at Bulls.com.

Tonight, the real excitement begins. The 2010 NBA Draft will take place tonight live on ESPN @ 7:00 p.m. Are you excited? You better be.

While the Bulls own a rather mediocre pick at the #17 spot, there may be some hidden gems hanging out around there. Whether the pick is Avery Bradley or James Anderson, it doesn't really matter. The Bulls are in a great spot (the best spot) to land a top notch free agent this summer. Speaking of free agents, LeBron James to Chicago rumors were in full effect yesterday after former NBA player and current ESPN analyst, Jalen Rose posted this on this Twitter account:

"my sources say that it is almost CERTAIN that LEBRON JAMES WILL NOT be returning to the CAVS! (Bulls/Heat/Clips)"

&

"as of 2day the Bulls have the best chance of landing LBJ...Miami would need to make more roster moves...Clips have a punchers chance! "

While I'm a firm believer of not reading into rumors posted on Twitter, you can't help but wonder how legit ESPN analyst's sources are. I would imagine pretty legit, especially a former player like Jalen Rose. I'm not getting my hopes up but I'm certainly excited.

There was also a major trade rumor that was posted last night by Chris Broussard and Chad Ford at ESPN that the Clippers and Bulls were talking a trade that would send Luol Deng and the 17th pick to Los Angeles for the #8 pick. I'm assuming we would attempt to draft Xavier Henry if we had this pick which was something I was pretty okay with about 3 or 4 months ago. This would also save the team a ton of money and put the Bulls in a position to be about 2 million short of a 2nd max contract. Would Chris Bosh take a pay cut? Doubt it, but it would definitely look appealing to LeBron if the Bulls possibly get David Lee or Joe Johnson first.

With the Miami Heat trading away Brian Cook & their draft pick to the Thunder yesterday, I put them in a slightly better position than the Bulls. They now how the cap space to re-sign Dwayne Wade, sign LeBron James along with a 2nd tier kind of player such as Joe Johnson or David Lee. It'll be interesting to see how the Bulls respond to that this evening. It should be noted that Bulls may draft a player at #17 for another team to package in a Luol Deng or Kirk Hinrich trade. However, I'm still standing by my word that Kirk will never be traded.

Draft at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN! It's gonna be a trade crazy night and you know some sort of blockbuster completely out of left field will happen. Very exciting indeed.

Lakers Win the 2010 NBA Championship!

By Sean Mackey

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers for closing out the Boston Celtics and winning the 2010 NBA Championship. It was an UGLY game (REALLY ugly) but the Lakers got lucky in the end and Ron Artest hit a big 3 to seal the game. This was also the last game with Boston for newly hired Bulls head coach Tom Thibideau. His defensive sets got his team this far and I'm really anxious to see what he can do for the Bulls, Joakim Noah & Taj Gibson especially. Thibideau will be introduced to the media on Monday morning so Bulls fans get excited!

I think it's really awesome that Ron Artest has a ring now. I also think it's awesome that the Celtics were taunted by Artest's entourage after the game. That's what you get Boston for having the WORST fans in the NBA. I hope Phil Jackson returns but I want the Bulls to win the whole thing obviously. I'm hoping this Laker win prevents them from wanting to trade away Andrew Bynum for Chris Bosh.

Adam Morrison 2 rings....D.J. Mbenga 2 rings....LeBron James 0 rings.

If LeBron comes to Chicago....the next 3 seasons are ours.

Why the Lakers need to win game 7

By Sean Mackey

The Los Angeles Lakers miraculously forced the first NBA Finals game 7 since 2005 last night when they blew out the Boston Celtics 89-67. Kobe Bryant had 26 points and 11 rebounds. Pau Gasol was one assist shy of a triple double tallying 17 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists.

For Chicago Bulls fans, this was a game that needed to be won.

While our new coach is the main assistant for the Celtics, that doesn't mean we need to root for him until next week when he's introduced to the media. Bulls fans should root for a Los Angeles Lakers championship. A Lakers loss Thursday night could force ripple effect throughout the NBA and a huge shakeup in LA. The most likely scenario being that our original free agent target, Chris Bosh would be traded to LA for Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum. Bosh is really the key to free agency. He's the sidekick that every great player wants. While it's hard to pinpoint where exactly he'll go next season, the Bulls need him more than LeBron or Dwayne Wade do.

Bosh is most likely going to want to participate in a sign & trade situation which will give him a max deal that includes an extra 30 million he couldn't get from any other sort of deal. The Bulls can offer Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng plus multiple draft picks (which isn't bad). Miami doesn't have the goods for a trade. If Pat Riley couldn't get Keyon Dooling for Beasley, he's surely not going to get Chris Bosh. New York has zero assets. New Jersey could offer Devon Harris plus some filler if they're feeling crazy enough. The Rockets & Mavericks have some tradeable pieces but when it comes down to it, the Lakers have the best package to offer.

Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol along with Ron Artest & Luke Walton for Chris Bosh & Hedu Turkoglu would work. This is a trade that could become a reality if the Lakers lose game 7. Jerry Buss is going to be pretty angry if he's paying for a team that's underachieving and he's going to have to re-load. While I'm not sure if Pau Gasol & Chris Bosh could co-exist, it would be worth a shot to get the often banged up Andrew Bynum out of town. This trade would keep the Lakers as contenders for the next five seasons. It would also ruin 2010 free agency.

As much as I respect Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson, the Pau Gasol trade was bizarre and changed the Lakers into title contenders. Pau was a guy the Bulls were in active trade talks with for almost 2 seasons. The Bulls would have offered one of their core players for Gasol (Deng or Gordon) plus some garbage and probably multiple draft picks. The Grizzlies wanted both Deng & Gordon and at the time that wasn't a good deal (however, if Pax could have done that last season he would have pulled the trigger in a second). Instead, the Grizzlies took the contracts of Jarvis Crittenden & the rights to Pau's brother Marc. The Bulls were offering better talent yet the Lakers still got him for tooth picks and a few happy meals. A Bynum for Bosh trade would be the 2nd screwy trade the Lakers had pulled off in 3 years and this time, Bulls fans will be legitimately mad about it. We're not going to be happy with Joe Johnson. We want Bosh....and that LeBron guy seems pretty decent too.

Go Lakers.

Bulls hire Tom Thibodeau for head coaching gig

By Sean Mackey

First of all, sorry for the lack of updates this week. You'd think that when the Bulls finally make a HUGE move like hiring a new coach, we'd write something about it as soon as it happens. Blogger was down most of yesterday and I was unable to post anything. That and we keep finding ourselves checking the plays on our Bulltimate Warrior video which has left us completely baffled. It was a shoddy effort at best but somebody out there must be spreading the word about it or else it wouldn't have 35,000+ views in a week. Expect a less rushed follow-up in HD if this continues.

Anyways, let's get to the real excitement. The Bulls hired a coach and it's not even July! Instead of going through a full stable of interviews like 2 years ago, John Paxson and Gar Foreman flew out to Los Angeles on the eve of Finals Game 1. With a 3 year offer already on the table from New Orleans, the Bulls had to act fast if they wanted a shot at Celtics defensive specialist Tom Thibodeau. After news broke of a semi-secret Pax-Gar interview, New Orleans pulled their offer and gave it to Portland assistant Monty Williams. Thibodeau agreed to become Chicago's new head coach.

Tom Thibodeau wanted the Bulls job over anything else that was offered to him and can you blame him? The Bulls are in the best position they've been in for a long time. They have Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and a bunch of possible trade chips along with enough room to sign one max contract free agent. Thibodeau is a defensive guru which totally fits the philosophy of the Bulls organization. Del Negro was a holdover until this season and everyone knew it. This is really the guy we wanted to takeover from where Scott Skiles left off.

The most curious perk about Thibodeau is that he's signed to William Wesley's agency, the same as LeBron James. Thibodeau was rumored to swear to never join an agency but he did. It also wasn't until after he signed with Wesley's CAA, that the Bulls became serious about signing him to a 3 year $6.5 million dollar deal. Thibodeau is expected to keep Bulls' Pete Myers on his staff along with former Bulls assistant Ron Adams and possibly Mo Cheeks to fill out his bench.

While I was leading the Kevin McHale bandwagon over the last month, Thibodeau was the best hire possible for Chicago. I'm glad the Bulls actually got what they wanted this time and didn't just interview everyone and settle with a no-namer. The NBA Draft is 16 days away, and July 1st, 2010 is 22 days away. This is becoming an exciting summer, I hope everything pans out in Chicago's favor.

The Bulltimate Warrior

By Sean Mackey



Here's our submission for Waddle & Silvy's "Bring Bron to Chicago" video. While we only mention LeBron a few times, this is more of a plea to the Bulls to make some moves. Give Alex credit for being a good sport.