Weekend Diversion: Night Of The Ponies
Pedway, First Store Open At Block 37
Around Town
Around Town
Red-Light Cameras Not So Special?
Maybe we got a bit ahead of ourselves when we dreamed of Greg Oden trading in the red jersey of Ohio St. for a red Bulls uni, on account of the Bulls holding the right to swap picks with the New York Knicks in this year's draft as part of the Eddy Curry trade.
But you saw how bad the Knicks were in '06, right? And then they added Isiah Thomas to their bench as head coach? The guy who, since retiring as a player, made sure the Pacers' best chance for an NBA title went unfulfilled, bankrupted an entire pro basketball league, and then built the highest-paid, worst-performing roster ever? Did he actually manage to compile Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Jalen Rose and Jamal Crawford on one team at the same time then decide to try and coach them? How could they not be the worst team in the NBA this year?
Alas, the Knicks were only a mediocre 33-49, and not the 10-win train wreck we envisioned. And thus, unable to overcome 1:25 odds of winning one of the top two picks, the Bulls ended up with the ninth pick in next month's draft. No Greg Oden. No Kevin Durant.
With a roster already full of young talent, what do the Bulls do now? Their clearest need is for low-post scoring. But can they find that with the ninth pick in the draft? After spending lavishly on Ben Wallace last offseason, and with Ben Gordon and Luol Deng coming due for big extensions, we don't anticipate the Bulls adding any major parts via free agency.
We think the Bulls would be best off using their lottery pick as part of a package to trade for some inside scoring. None of the big men likely to remain on the board when their turn comes will be what they need — does anyone think Roy Hibbert or Joakim Noah will get the Bulls into the NBA Finals? We don't. But who can they trade for that would help?
Image via NBA.com.
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Hibbert just announced he's staying put at Georgetown for at least another year. And Noah a project off the bench, at least, for whatever team drafts him.
When the Knicks won their last game of the season, the Bulls chances of getting the first pick went from 5% to 1.9%. Who got the 5% chance of getting the first pick then? That's right, the Trailblazers! Oh what could have been if only the Knicks would have lost...
Although it would have been tremendous to get Oden, the Bulls can still get an extremely high quality player at the ninth spot.
Noah could be a huge help off the bench, a high energy worker in the post much like Varajao (sic?) is for Cleveland. It's not always the marquee player who puts teams over the top, and the Bull's biggest playoff problems are coming out flat and a lack of execution in crucial situations more than any deficiencies in personnel.
BEGIN Mildly Off Topic Rant/
All this talk of how Noah would have been the first player chosen if he would have come out last year, like the guy made a mistake by growing his skills for another year and winning another national championship. There is this weird process every draft, where players who have demonstrated their skills and their ability to play well in clutch situations and to win a championship are denigrated and their stock falls in favor of players who have tickled the fancy of the Hype Machine (Yeah, sure Jordan canned that clutch shot to win a National Championship but Sam Bowie is REAL TALL!!!). Next year there will be much talk about all the floundering players that were taken higher than Noah, who will immediately contribute high quality minutes to whichever team is smart enough to pick him./END off Topic Rant/
you are a fool. the knicks will win a title before the bulls. u heard it here first. eddy curry would be the best player on the bulls and crawford second u friggin idiot? blow me
Wow, pat, you really put everyone in their place, didn't you?
My prediction? Eddy Curry will win the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest before he ever approaches an NBA title.
Hey Pat, ya dropped your thesaurus!