The answer is…the Miami Heat.  James is going to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form a super team.  This big three is better than any other star combination in the league. I believe they can win at least four championships.  The question now is, who will Pat Riley to play with the super team.  We will find out the answer to that later this summer.

This is depressing. The Bulls traded their entire team away except for five players: Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, Luol Deng, James Johnson and Joakim Noah.  While trading the team away they signed expiring contracts at the end of the 2009-2010 season so they would have money to spend.  They even fired their head coach.

With James deciding to go to the Heat, the Bulls missed out on all three of the big free agents.  The only move they have made was by signing Carlos Boozer.  This move is good, but he is not a franchise player.  The Bulls still need a lot help on their roster to even be an eighth seed in the eastern conference.

The Bulls are going to be hurting for quite some time now. The elite talent is already signed.  They didn’t pick up anybody in the draft because they traded their pick away.

What are they going to do?  They need scoring, especially perimeter shooting.  Ray Allen is going to stay in Boston.  The only options in the free agency market are Mike Miller, Kyle Korver or J.J. Redick.

Rose is a on the verge of becoming a superstar.  Boozer is a legitimate all-star when he is healthy.  Joakim Noah is a scrappy garbage bucket collector who is a solid low post defender.  Taj Gibson showed a lot of potential his rookie year to be a solid front court role player. Luol Deng can do everything, but at mid-level,  he will not be an all-star.  What do the Bulls plan to do with this lineup?  This lineup is the first stage of a rebuilding process.  The Bulls wanted to immediately build an elite team, they failed.

The Bulls are by far the biggest loser of free agency.  The Bulls were the best option for Bosh, Wade and LeBron but something about Chicago’s proposal didn’t work.

Looking at this with the most optimism I can, the Bulls still have money to make some moves.  Like I said, the roster needs some shooters and some lengthy defenders.

Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf needs to seriously think about firing his front office.  General Manager Gar Forman and Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson should be forced to pack their bags and find a new career because obviously getting the best NBA talent  available is too difficult for them.

Chicago has six players on the books for next season: Luol Deng, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich and James Johnson.  They are allowed to have 15, so there is room for nine more players.

The NBA projects next year’s salary cap to be $56.1 million.  Chicago only has $33.6 million spent, meaning they have $22.5 mill to go shopping with.

Fortunately for the Bulls, they have plenty of money to replace at least one of these empty roster spots with an elite NBA athlete and add a few strong counter parts to the young and talented nucleus all ready on the team.

Let’s start by getting rid of the free agents that have no chance of coming to Chicago.

Paul Pierce has the early termination option in his contract.  The Boston Celtics are a serious threat to win the championship this year.  He has been in Boston his entire career and is loved there.  They looked old all season, but now, look like they’re in their early 20′s come playoff time. Rajon Rondo is a superstar and will be the new face of the Celtics, but Pierce is going to stay to pass the torch.  Plus, Doc Rivers doesn’t want to disband the big three: Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.

Manu Ginobili already signed an extension with the San Antonio Spurs.  There was no reason for him to leave.  San Antonio is his city and he proved he can still play and lead them to victory when healthy.

Tracy McGrady is washed up.  He had his spot as an NBA superstar taken away by injuries.  In 13 seasons, he has only played in 70 or more games five times.  He can’t stay healthy and he can’t play at the elite level he thinks he can.

Shaquille O’Neal is at the end of his career.  He is still a legitimate 12 points and 7 rebounds a game kind of guy.  This isn’t bad for a center in the NBA these days.  Shaq’s size is also a positive for a low post presence on offense and defense.  He is just too slow and will not fit in with the Bull’s offense.  Chicago likes to push the ball.

Jermaine O’Neal is at the end of his career as well.  He didn’t do anything to help Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat in the playoffs, he would be a waste of money.

Yao Ming has health injuries just as bad as his ex-teammate McGrady.  Ming is a scoring and defensive presence, but his ankles, feet and knees can’t hold up.

Josh Howard is too much baggage.  He can play, but he is inconsistent and has let off the court situations interfere with his NBA career.

Michael Redd would be a great piece to add because of his shooting.  He is one of the best pure shooters in the league but he can’t stay on the court.  In the last two seasons he has only played 51 games.  I would like to add him to the “get” list, but I don’t know how he’s going to bounce back from his injuries.

Tyson Chandler is all ready on the Bulls, Joakim Noah.  They play a similar style, except, Noah is younger, plays with more energy and can score further from the basket than Chandler.  If the Bulls get a big man, they need a scorer, not defense and rebounding.

Anybody not mentioned is up for grabs in the next 10 posts, come back tomorrow to find out who number ten is.

Three players scored more than 20 points.  Joakim Noah scored 25, Derrick Rose 23 and Luol Deng 20.  Instead of getting killed by 12 rebounds, they grabbed one more than the Cavs 37-36. Including 13 offensive rebounds, seven of which were grabbed by Noah.

For the most part, a Bull was always in the face of a shooter.  Jamario Moon got a couple open three pointers in the corner, but other than that, the defense was respectable.  Deng and Noah were in the right position for some timely blocks leading to fast break points.

Rose and Hinrich continually drove into the lane for layups or to dish to an open Taj Gibson and Noah under the basket.  They pushed the tempo at the right time.  I say the right time, because the Bulls will not win a marathon against the Cavs.  In this game, the Bulls ran off of steals and any opportunity where the man count was in their favor.  In game one, they constantly slowed the pace down, they hardly ever ran.

The Bulls also took care of the ball.  In game one they had seven turnovers in the first half.  In game two they had four giveaways in the entire game while Cleveland committed 11 turnovers.  Chicago paid attention to the defensive schemes and took what the defense gave them instead of taking risks.

Like I said, the Bulls played a fundamentally sound game with some big highlights.  Deng and Noah blocks, Noah dunking on a three-on two fast break and Rose gashing the Cavs front line for any look he wanted.

The reason they didn’t win,  Lebron James.  What else can be said?  Everyone knows what Lebron is going to bring to the game.  The Bulls have little chance to stop him, they can only hope he has an off night.  Tonight he scored 40 points off of 16-23 from the field.  He was hitting three pointers with Deng and James Johnson in his face.  He even cut down the middle of paint and dunked on Johnson, making him the wrong guy in the poster.

He was perfect from the free throw line, 6-6, and had 10 rebounds and assists.  There is absolutely nothing the Bulls can do.  When Lebron turns on the switch, there isn’t much anyone in the league can do.

Game three is Wednesday in Chicago.  Maybe, being back in Chicago will give Noah (who said he didn’t like being in Cleveland) and the Bulls the extra momentum to get them past the Goliath named Lebron James.

DO YOU THINK LEBRON IS TOO MUCH FOR THE BULLS TO GET AT LEAST ONE GAME??

John Salmons and Tyrus Thomas were traded for five expiring contracts and a first round draft pick. Plus four preexisting contracts will be expiring as well, including, Brad Miller, the over paid and never played Jerome James, the down and out Lindsey Hunter and Tim Thomas.

The only contracts on Chicago’s pay roll next year is the young talented nucleus of Deng, Rose, Hinrich, Noah, Gibson and Johnson.

The question is, what position will the Bulls shop for? I am hoping for a big man. Noah and Gibson have done their thing all season long, but it will not get them far in the post season if nobody else is added. The Chicago Tribune asked Taj Gibson if he was cool with being a number two forward; he said not a problem.

This is the best attitude Gibson could possibly have. He is right. If Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Tyson Chandler or a skilled big man comes to Chicago, Gibson is going to learn more about the game. He will lose minutes, but the ones he gets will be more valuable.

There are certain rookies who have the right to be a first year starter, Derrick Rose is one of them. Gibson, however, is the type of player who needs to start his career by coming off of the bench and then work his way into the line up during injuries or in his second or third year, after he shows he can handle the NBA game on a nightly basis.

Right now, Gibson is getting more minutes than he knows what to do with. He is playing well, no doubt, but learning from one of these guys will help him out in the long run. Hopefully, his long run will be with the Bulls and hopefully Bosh can be his mentor.

Would it be better for Gibson to learn on his own or have a veteran teach him a thing or two?

When the Bulls traded John Salmons and Tyrus Thomas, I believed they had a strong chance of picking up one of the two and turning the Bulls into a deep playoff threat instead of a first round out. 

Then I read Chicago Bull’s blogger Sam Smith’s post about the Bulls opting for plan C.  I have changed my mind.

Smith is right.  One big name player could change the climate of a team, but it could fail too.  Chris Bosh has been playing with Hedu Turkoglu and a bunch of scrubs.  Dwayne Wade has been playing with Michael Beasly, an up and comer with plenty of talent, and then a bunch of scrubs.

Smith did state, the Bulls do have a strong nucleus of Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, so they would be a formatable change for Wade or Bosh.

In our society, everything revolves around money.  In the NBA it is called a salary cap. With the cap, the Bulls could only get one of these players and would probably have to lose a Hakim Warrick, Brad Miller, Ronald Murray and maybe a few others or different players.

The back bone of the Bulls would be gone.  There would be a strong starting five, but no depth to back up injuries or foul trouble.

Put in Smith’s plan C.  Smith is right, trading Kirk Hinrich for Monta Ellis, James Johnson and the number one pick from the Thomas trade.  Throw in another Golden State Warrior to add with Ellis to not make it extremely one sided and it is a great deal.  Of course, the Bulls could then drop the extra or package him in some other trade.

Ellis would be the 2010 Ben Gordon.  He can slash in the inside, can hit the long trey, runs the fast break well, plays D and averages five assists a game on a bad team.  I would love to see Ellis and Rose in the Chicago backcourt. 

The next part of Smith’s plan C is to pick up New York’s David Lee.  Perfect!  Lee is an athletic big men who can score, rebound and defend in the post.  Adding him to the roster would mean the starting five would have the hustling, blocking, ball hawking  Naoh and a scoring, technicaly sound Lee.

Also, there would be money left over to resign one of the role players the Bulls would not want to draft. 

I am still in favor of seeing Bosh or Wade in a Chicago uniform.  This might not be a great financially idea for the Bulls, though.  This could simply be my bias for the Bulls to have another extremely impactful player. 

However,  I do see the value in Smith’s plan C.  This would mean the Bulls would have three All-Star caliber players in Rose, Lee and Ellis and possibly Noah.  Deng would complete the package being the all around talent he is and there would be good players coming off the bench. 

This is a great idea.

This was long awaited.  Before the ten games, I said the schedule would be a test to see how the Bulls will do going into the playoffs. They were slated to play nine games against teams in the playoff race, Indiana was the only opponent not in the hunt.   At that time, they were the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.

Ten loses later, the Bulls are two and a half games behind the Toronto Raptors for the last playoff spot.

Derrick Rose and Luol Deng have been hurt.  Joakim Noah has been out for a month but returned in limited minutes in the 76er win.  Kirk Hinrich was suspended for a game and James Johnson negated a starting spot because he can’t make it to practice. Taj Gibson is the only starter to play in all of these games.

The good thing is, Noah is working his way back from his left foot injury.  He only played nine minutes but having him in a game attempting to work back to playing normal minutes is a good sign.

The Bulls needed Rose back in the line-up.  The team had an awkward or not a flow at all in his four game absence.  Rose came back from his wrist injury and scored 23 points against the 76ers.

Kirk Hinrich had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists.  His contributions came in clutch minutes when the 76ers were trying to make a comeback.

I don’t know what has happened to James Johnson but Gibson is becoming a star in Chicago. Gibson was the steal of the draft. The Bulls took the 5th best player in the draft with their second pick.

He is averaging 9 points and 7 rebounds a game.  He has started 50 of the 62 games he has played for the Bulls.  Gibson is leading all rookies in rebounds and blocks.  He also has more double-doubles than any other player in his draft class.

I honestly believe he is a top five rookie.  Gibson might not be an immediate star but he is a solid low post role player a team like the Bulls needed.  Here are the other four on my list.

#1, Tyreke Evans is beasting for the Sacramento Kings.  He is the rookie of the year,  no doubt. #2, Brandon Jennings has been spectacular for the Milwaukee Bucks especially in his 55 point game in November.

#3, The Golden State Warrior’s Stephen Curry has proved to be what we thought he was going to be, an excellent shooter.   #4, Jerry Flynn has been better than I thought he would be.  He is a big reason the Minnesota Timberwolves are not the worst team in the league, but they are still one of them.

Darrren Collison has done a great job filling in for the injured Chris Paul on the New Orleans Hornets.   He is leading all scorers in ppg since the All star break.  I think Collison has had a couple of good weeks but he has not been consistent.  It may be because he is on the same team as Paul but Gibson is on the same team as Joakim Noah and has been playing well most of the season.  I think he is 6th on the rookie list, right behind Gibson.

When Noah developed plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Gibson stepped up.  He isn’t posting the double-doubles on a nightly basis like Noah was but he is getting them at a solid rate for a rookie.  Gibson is second on the team in blocks and third in rebounds.  Gibson gives the team great minutes.

He plays both sides of the court and is consistent.  Gibson is similar to Noah but is a more reliable scorer.  He is a hustle player and picks up his defensive assignments better than every big man on the team besides Noah.  If Noah gets healthy this semester, Brad Miller should take the bench.  Gibson and Noah are one of the best  front court defense and rebounding tandems.

Gibson is definitely in the top 5.

What do think,  who are the top 5 rookies in the NBA this year?

The Bulls played without Joakim Noah and Luol Deng.  The starting roster included both of the Bull’s rookies, Taj Gibson and James Johnson.  Gibson has started and played well in 48 out of 60 games this season while this contest was Johnson first start of his 48 games.  Johnson had nine points, two blocks and two rebounds in 24 minutes.

Chicago was over powered. Atlanta out rebounded the Bulls by 26. Gibson had 13 rebounds and Miller 7.  The Hawks had five players with seven or more rebounds, including four of their starters.  Josh Smith had 18 rebounds.

Atlanta shot 33% from the 3-point arch compared to Chicago’s 11%.  The Hawks had more assists, more steals and less turnovers.

The Bulls have lost their last two games.  Their next game is against Memphis on Thursday.  The Bulls are enduring a rough stretch of their schedule and need to get victories if they want to stay in the playoff hunt.

They are currently in 6th place but the Milwaukee Bucks at 7th and Miami Heat at 8th are close to passing them.

Even after he made it past Christmas, rumors were still being typed on the web, printed in papers, heard on the radio and discussed on countless Chicago street corners.  Then about a month ago,  the Bulls started to play the game they are being paid for.

The Bulls had a 7 game west coast road trip at the end of January.  They lost the first two games and then went on to win the last five.  Before the 5 game road win streak, they won four straight in mid-January, including a win in Boston.

Winning is any team’s main goal but watching a team that looks like they want to win the game means a lot to Chicago fans.  They finally look hungry.  The dull uninterested demeanor has been replaced with Rocky’s eye of the tiger.  Del Negro was blamed for the dull, why not be praise the reversal.

Some said Del Negro had lost the team.  In Friday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, Del Negro was pacing the sideline guiding his team with plays and advice after mistakes.  The Bulls lost,  but a ten point hard fought loss is superior to the way the team was getting beat earlier in the season.  Of course the Bulls have to defend and play an entire game with tenacity  so they score more than 11 points to Atlanta’s 27 but it is an improvement.  They were at least in the game at the end.  Also,  Josh Smith’s triple-double earned his squad the win.

Del Negro has done something.  The team is playing as a team.   Before,  John Salmons or Luol Deng would hoist up any shot they pleased.  The odds of making their shots with a defenders hand in their face were not good.  Now, they are patient.  All the Bull’s shooters are waiting for the open look or the room in-between the defender to go baseline and dish to a cutter.  The offense is beginning to look crisp.

Instead of every player on the court trying to do everything,  they are playing their roles.  Joakim Noah has never really been an offensive factor.  He does not step out for a mid-range jumper.  Tyrus Thomas is on the same level.  He quit lurking around the elbow because he knows he will not get the ball there.

Del Negro’s changes in the starting lineup have given the second team a better look with more offense.  Kirk Hinrich has replaced Salmons.  This gives Derrick Rose and Luol Deng more looks to start the game and Salmons more looks in his minutes.  It seemed like the three of them were fighting for shots.  Hinrich is an assist first guard who is going to look them instead of Rose, Deng and Salmons all trying to find their own open shot.

Defensively,  Del Negro is finally taking advantage of his athletic big men.  Even with his eye away from the basket, Thomas knows where the ball is and will swat anything into the bleachers.  The rookiies,  James Johnson and Taj Gibson, defend in the paint and grab all rebounds that come their way.  The wings have been stepping inside adding extra pressure to a driving opponent.

These improvements may be the players realizing their talents.  On the other hand,  it could be the head coach realizing what he has and using it to win games.  Why shouldn’t he get some credit?  His team went from having the sixth worst record in the league to being a game under .500.  Also,  if the playoffs started today,  the Bulls would be a 6th seed playing Boston.  We all know what happened last year.