Jackson won six NBA championships in Chicago and five, still counting, in Los Angeles, but there are reasons to believe in his heart he would side with the red and black over the purple and gold.

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Jackson said in his interview he had trust in Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to continually come back to the team and put up hall of fame numbers. Besides the two superstars, players such as John Paxson, Horace Grant and Toni Kukoc came to Chicago and stayed there for most of their careers.

In Los Angeles, everyone remembers the Shaquille O’Neal debacle and the struggles the Lakers went through from the time he left until they won another championship two seasons ago. O’Neal isn’t the only one to come and go in Los Angeles, even Derek Fisher left for a season and then came back. Kobe Bryant and Fisher are the only two people on this team who helped the Lakers win the three-peat from 2000-03.

Yes, 2003 to 2009 is six years compared to the three years in-between Chicago’s first three-peat and fourth title and the NBA seems to age knees and feet quickly, but the entire team was changed, not just a few members.

A few players were different in Chicago from season to season, but Jackson still had his solid core, his Chicago Bull family. The only players he could say that about in Laker land is Bryant and Fisher.

In Chicago, Jackson was healthy for the most part, while he has had to take leave of absences with the Lakers, including an entire season in 2005-06. Everyone remembers their youthful days while trying to push the elderly ones out of memory.

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The Bulls made Jackson what he is today and what he was in 1999 when the Lakers signed him. If he would have been a bust with the Bulls and wouldn’t have won six championships with the likes of Michael Jordan, do you think Laker owner Jerry Buss would bring him to Los Angeles to work with Bryant and  O’Neal?

No way. Jackson had proved he could work with star talent and mold the right role players around them to win.

He went to Los Angeles and did the same thing he did in Chicago, a little different, but rather similar. Without the experience in Chicago on his resume, he wouldn’t have received the job to help him win five championships to add to the six in Chicago making him the all-time NBA ring barer with 11.

Jackson has done great things for the Lakers, but he did it for a city which already knew what winning championships was about. The Bulls hadn’t won a championship in it’s 25-year existence until Jackson, Jordan and Pippen made it happen.

It just seems to me as taking a team from nothing to one of the best teams in history is a more valuable honor than taking a team considered as one of the two best franchises in history to more championship parades.

Although every Oct. makes me giddy as a little school girl, 2001 even made my cheeks blush and palms sweat because my favorite athlete to ever play in any sport was on the cover and the main feature, of course, it’s Michael Jordan.

If you haven’t got the chance to play NBA2k11 yet, stop what you’re doing, even if it means not reading the rest of this post, and go buy it. But if you already have it, are broke, or just think I’m coco for coconuts, read this post and the next nine of the series known as the Jordan Challenge Breakdown. If all works out, my posts will excite you about the game.

In each post of the series, I’ll break down each challenge and tell you why it was one of the best video game modes ever played, or why it should have been substituted for another one of Jordan’s great moments because let’s face it, there is more than 10.

The first Thechallenge in NBA2k11 is called “the Arrival” and is based on the 1986 playoff game against the Boston Celtics, in which Jordan set a league playoff record by scoring 63 points.

History lesson:

1985-1986 was Jordan’s second season in which he only played 18 games because he broke his foot in the regular season. This game was the first time MJ scored more than 50 points. Although, he had a dominant performance, the Bulls lost the game in double overtime and were swept by Larry Bird and company.

2K11:

In any Jordan Challenge, there are goals a player needs to defeat to be able to consider it completed.

“The Arrival” challenges Jordan to score 63 points, shoot 50% from the field and record six assists.

Although, it wasn’t easy to score 63 points in five minute quarters, I did it in one try. Shooting three-point baskets isn’t the key with a young Jordan who hasn’t developed the long ball yet. As mentioned above, he is young which means he is “His Airness”, so take it to the hoop. Jordan dunks on everybody from Robert Parish to Kevin McHale to Bird.

If a defender happens to force Jordan to change his shot, he makes a circus layup, just like in the actual game. He is also unstoppable from mid-range unless someone blocks his shot.

Besides playing with Jordan, this challenge gives gamers the opportunity to use John Paxson, Bulls current Vice-President of Basketball Operations, Charles Oakley and NBA legend George Gervin, who only played one year with the Bulls. Although, he had already been in the NBA for 12 years at this point, it was still fun trying to take it to the hoop with the “Iceman”.

Each player in the game is at the accurate time of his career. In the box score, move the cursor to Michael Jordan and hit R3 and it will only give his stats for two years in the league and will have a picture of Jordan from 1985, not 2010. This is a nice touch, and makes it seem as if this game came out in 1985.

The one thing the game could have done better, is to get the entire rosters. The Bulls have seven players while the Celtics have only the starting lineup. Although Bill Walton was at the end of his career, it would have been nice to be able to dunk on him with Jordan as well.

Visual Concepts, the creator of the game, was able to create every person from the actual game whether they were a Bull, a Celtic, a coach or a fan.

The player’s shorts are low cut, shoes are one color (except for Air Jordans), black or white, and the fans look as if they were in the Bill Cosby Show with brown pants and simple colored polo shirts. Besides the people, the score board and the Boston Garden looks vintage with hardly any advertising, which today’s venues have them everywhere, big block lettering and numbering.

As mentioned above, Visual Concepts made it seem like I was part of the game in 1986, not playing a video game in 2010.

With everything said, this was a nice start to the Jordan Challenge and gave a feel for how real Visual Concepts attempted and succeeded to make NBA2K11.

On a scale from 1-to-10 with 10 being the highest, I give it a 8.

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Jerry Reinsdorf, Gar Forman or John Paxson, whoever is involved, MAKE THIS DEAL HAPPEN. If the Bulls front office wants the team to return to greatness, a deal for Carmello Anthony should be a simple decision like firing Vinny Del Negro was.

The Bulls have a few players they could get rid of to sign Melo. James Johnson will never be more than a seventh or eighth man off the bench, move him. Luol Deng is consistently a big number guy for the Bulls, but he fails in comparison to Anthony on every level: scoring, rebounding and helping his team play better. The only category Deng may be better is defense, but Melo picked his defensive game up last season and looked committed to advancing his skills.

Deng and Johnson wouldn’t be enough for the Nuggets to agree on a trade. Instead of adding in Taj Gibson, who is a great back up big man behind Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, put in a first round draft pick. The Bulls will not make the lottery this year, so they’ll have a pick in the late 20′s. Sometimes a team gets lucky, but for the most part the players who will be selected at this stage of the draft are role players, sometimes minimal role players. This means the Bulls would only give up Johnson, a role player who really didn’t prove anything as a rookie, a late first round draft pick who would be a player based only off of potential, and Deng, a legit starter.

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For Melo, sign the deal already. We are talking about one of the NBA’s elite scorers who brings it every night. He takes it to the hoop, he knocks down treys, he rebounds and he is great in the open court whether he is creating for himself or others. Maybe, I understated this, not great but fantastic. Melo is hands down one of the top five players in the league. Why wouldn’t the Bulls want to get him?

Everyone saw the determination the front office had in efforts to sign LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh this past year. Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons and Tyrus Thomas were traded for expiring contracts. Hinrich had been the heart and sole of the Bulls for at least the past five seasons, while Salmons and Thomas played key roles. Salmons was usually the second or third leading scorer and Thomas was the inside stopper. If the Bulls will trade away big pieces of the team for hope, why not trade two small pieces (Johnson and draft pick) and a equal piece ( Deng) to get Melo?

The Bulls gave the three of them up in hopes of signing one of the big three players. None of them came, but they picked up players needed to play well with Rose, Noah and Deng. If Melo comes, the starting lineup will look like this:Rose, Ronnie Brewer, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah, while the back up list includes names such as Kyle Korver and Taj Gibson.

The Nuggets are going to lose the entire core of their team. Chauncey Billups, Kenyon Martin and Carmello Anthony are all in the market after this season. Instead of simply losing Melo, the Nuggets should trade him to Chicago in order to make sure they get something in return. If Melo hasn’t signed the three year $65 million contract extention the Nuggets offered a few months ago, he is not going to stay in Denver. This is the biggest offer he is going to see.

Once again Bulls front office, make this deal HAPPEN.

If Melo is in a Bulls jersey, the United Center is sold out every game, the team never falls under .500 and a deep run in the playoffs is a certainty. I’m not saying these things might take place, they will be a reality.

I asked the question to you,  who would be a better for the Bulls, Kerr or Paxson.  Kerr dominated Paxson, getting 36 of the 52 votes.  I wonder if Kerr would beat Gar Forman, like he did Paxson. 

Steve Kerr was a back up point guard for the Bulls in the mid-to late 90′s and helped win a few championships with his sniper three point shooting.  Paxson did the same thing in the early 90′s. 

[picappgallerysingle id="8936579"]Kerr’s Suns made it to the western conference finals this season, losing to the now NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in six games.  He helped the Suns by building a roster around his two key players, Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. Kerr added athletic players who could run and gun, just like his two stars instead of different tempo and skill set guys. 

He did make some questionable trades like Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal, but he made up for it by getting a second round draf pick, Sasha Pavlovic who is a solid back up player, $500,000 and a soon to retire Ben Wallace when he traded O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

[picappgallerysingle id="1997911"]Paxson’s resume is okay.  He hasn’t had a star, until Derrick Rose was gifted wrapped to him with a bow as the first overall pick in the 2008 draft.  Last season, he traded inconsistent Andres Nocioni, overrated Drew Gooden and Cedric Simmons to the Sacramento Kings for John Salmons, Brad Miller.  The trade helped the Bulls get the 6th seed in the post season and in the epic first round series against the Boston Celtics.  Both immediately fit well with the team, hitting key buckets when needed.  

This season, he made room in the team’s payroll to sign one of the big name free agents this summer. Paxson traded away a bad character guy in Tyrus Thomas to the Charlotte Bobcats  for two expiring contracts and a future first round pick.  He then traded John Salmons and a couple of second round picks for two expiring contracts.

[picappgallerysingle id="8616832"]If Paxson can land Lebron, Wade, Bosh or if it’s financial possible for two of them,  keep him.  He has repeatedly made deals to get the Bulls to the playoffs.  But if he can’t make THE deal, I would love to see Kerr in the Bulls front office.  He turned the Suns into a winning team, he could do the same for Chicago.

Steve Kerr at a press conference

What if, he only did this for a year and decided he wanted an office job in the NBA once again?  Honestly,  he won’t jump back into it in the 2010-2011 season, because most guys like a break, but maybe he would want to come back the following year.  This  happens all the time in every sport.

Chicago could be a destination for him to go to.  Lets think about it.  John Paxson has been stuck in a rut for the last few years.  The Bulls finish the regular season right around .500, or, for the last two seasons, exactly at the average level with 41-41 records.

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He has been the GM since 2003 and has only been past the first round once.  The only way he has got players who fans or management want to stay on the team is via draft.  He can’t make a deal to bring in players who will take the team to the next level.  If he fails to bring in Dwyane Wade, Lebron James or Chris Bosh during free agency, he needs to be fired.

There isn’t a single reason why they shouldn’t want to play in Chicago.  Money for their big contracts, Chicago has it.  Solid basketball players to play with,  Chicago has them in Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and possibly Kirk Hinrich.  Plus, who knows what other role players will be coming off of the bench next year.  Hopefully, someone who can shoot the ball. Only Paxson and the front office will.

[picappgallerysingle id="7391349"]Eddy Curry can’t stay healthy, glad the Bulls ditched him.

Plus, the other teams with money to spend are not appealing.  New York has been in a tailspin for the past ten years.   There is nobody to help the big named free agents get an eighth seed, let alone an NBA championship.  Miami, has Wade, but if he leaves, nothing.  The Los Angeles Clippers seem to have some kind of lineup, but they always seem to do and always tank.

The New Jersey Nets are awkwardly enough the second best place to go besides Chicago.  They just hired Avery Johnson, great move, and have two solid players in Devin Harris and Brook Lopez. After them,  anyone can tell why they were the worst team in the league this past season.

Steve Kerr’s resume in Phoenix is impressive.  The Suns were just in the western conference finals, although some people had them being eliminated in the first round by the Portland Trailblazers.  Brandon Roy’s injury might of had something to do with the Sun’s dominance, but they won it sure handily.

Kerr did make a bad trade, sending Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal.  To his defense, their problem the previous year was they didn’t have a big man.  Kerr made an executive decision to make a change, Shaq simply couldn’t play with the run and gun Suns.

[picappgallerysingle id="3000473"]Shaquille O’Neal

He made up for his blemish by trading him away to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ben Wallace, who will retire and be free money, Sasha Pavlovic, who can hit the trey, a draft pick and cash.  He got more than enough value out of the decaying O’Neal.

Kerr would be a good general manager for the Bulls.  I think Paxson deserves a final chance, but if he fails to make this roster look spectacular on paper, then fire him and pursue Steve Kerr.

His statement sparked some interest to see if any players have worked for the team after retirement.  I knew John Paxson, Johnny Red Kerr, Norm Van Lier and a few others had returned to work with the Bulls, but I didn’t know the full lineup.

Norm Van Lier

I contacted the Chicago Bulls office, and exchanged emails with Bull’s public relations man,  Shaun Hickenbottom.  He was able to give me a lengthy list of ex-players who work or have worked within the organization or have been an ambassador for the Bulls in the community.

Jerry Sloan, now head coach of the Utah Jazz, played for the Bulls for ten seasons 1966-1976. His #4 jersey was the first hung in the United Center. He returned to be a scout, assistant coach and eventually head coach for three seasons 1979-1982.

Jerry Sloan

Norm Van Lier played for the  Bulls from 1971 to 1978.  He became a television pre-game and post-game analyst for the Bulls in 1992.  Van Lier held the position until he passed away in 2009.

Johnny Red Kerr played basketball from 1954 to 1966.  He was selected by the Bulls in the NBA expansion draft in 1966 but opted to retire.  He was the Bulls first head coach, reaching the playoffs in the first two years of the team’s existence.  He left, then came back to work in the front office.  He began commentating in 1975 and continued until the 2007-2008 season.  He passed away the same day as Van Lier.

Bob Love played in Chicago for eight seasons, 1968-1976.  His #10 jersey was the second hung in the United Center rafters.  In 1993, he became the director of community relations.

Bob Love

Randy Brown was a member of the Bulls during their second championship three-peat, 1996-1998.  Brown was hired in July of 2009 as the Director of Player Development.

Sidney Green was the Bulls fifth overall pick in the 1983 draft and played in Chicago until 1986.  In September of 2009, Green was hired as Player Development Assistant.

Mike Brown, not the Cleveland Cavaliers ex-coach,  played one season with the Bulls 1987-1988, in his eleven year career.  He has been an assistant coach working with power forwards and centers since 2008.

Pete Myers played for the Bulls in 1986 and then came back to be the starting shooting guard during Jordan’s first retirement during the 93-94 and 94-95 seassons.  He was hired as a scout and was an interim head coach when Bill Cartwright was fired in 2003 and in 2007 when Scott Skiles was let go.  In-between his two short stints as interim coach, he was an assistant.

Bill Cartwright was the Bulls center during their first championship three-peat from 1991-to-1993.  He became an assistant coach for Phil Jackson and was a member of the coaching staff when they won championships in 1997 and 1998.  After Jackson left and Tim Floyd was hired and fired, Cartwright was the head coach for one full year and two partials.

[picappgallerysingle id="2731444"]John Paxson

John Paxon played in Chicago from 1985-to-1994.  He was a large contributor for the first three-peat.  He was an assistant coach under Jackson, then went to radio.  In 2003, he became the Vice President of Basketball Operations replacing Jerry Krause when he retired. On May 21st, 2009, he was replaced by Gar Foreman as general manager. Now, he is only titled as the VP of Basketball Operations for the Chicago Bulls.

B.J. Armstrong played for the Bulls from 1989-to-1995, winning three championships.  He returned for one season, 1999-2000, and then retired.  He was then named as an assistant to former-VP of Basketball Operations Krause.  Once Paxson took over, Armstrong became a scout and later became an agent.  He is currently Derrick Rose’s agent.

Bill Wennington was a center with the Bulls during their second three-peat.  He is now a radio color commentator for the Bulls.

Stacey King was also a center who won three championships with the Bulls.  He was a member of the team during the first three-peat.  King is currently a television commentator for the Bulls on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

Lindsey Hunter was waived from the Bull’s roster March 3rd of 2010 after two seasons of service 2008-2010.  He was immediately hired as a Player Development Assistant.

The players who are or have been ambassadors for the Chicago Bulls in the community are:

Scottie Pippen

Artis Gilmore

Tom Boerwinkle

Dickey Simpkins

Dave Corzine

Mickey Johnson

Toni Kukoc

Derrek Dickey

Brad Sellers

Jay Williams

Johnny Back (Assistant Coach)

Wade can’t even add Pippen to his statement because he still represented the Bulls during events and speeches around the Chicago community.  The Bulls have had a large list of players who have come back to the organization in one form or another.  Many of them being members of the championship teams.

[picappgallerysingle id="1577424"]Scottie Pippen

Michael Jordan is not on the list.  Okay.  Many superstar players work for another organization if they stay in the business.  Pippen and Armstrong came back to the Bulls at the end of their careers so they could retire as a Bull.

The involvement the ex-players have with the Chicago Bulls shows all sorts-of-signs of loyalty towards their players, especially the ones who helped win championships.

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Wade said Jordan and Pippen are no longer in the organization and it is because of the Bulls not being loyal to them.

Bulls General Manager Gar Foreman said people are misinformed about the organization if loyalty is a question during this year’s free agency.

Wade hasn’t took back his comments but has said the free agents are going to have a summit to discuss where everyone is thinking they’re going to go.

It might have been a good idea to do this before he made the comments.

I think Wade is uninformed.  Many Bulls have come back to the organization in some way or another.  John Paxson is the current Executive Vice President of Basketball Operation.

There hasn’t been any sign or statement within the organization or from MJ and Pippen proving Wade’s theory true.

Retired Bull’s General Manager Jerry Krause may have had a play in this disloyal debate.  Phil Jackson and him didn’t get along.  Still, there isn’t any reason to blame an organization for one man, who isn’t even in the company anymore.

Unfortunately, I think this means Wade is not going to come to the Chicago Bulls.

It could be a good sign, because I don’t know if Wade and Rose would have worked well together. They play the same style of game.  The bad part is, will his comments and stand against the Bulls influence other free agents.  Boozer said he would play in Chicago, but what about Chris Bosh, Lebron James or even Ray Allen?

[picappgallerysingle id="8603038"]Del Negro has one more year left on his contract worth $2 million.  The Bulls are making the right decision by ”eatting ” the money and replacing him with somebody who can make a difference.

The Bulls have one of the top five point guards in the league, Derrick Rose.  They have a solid power foward they stole with the 26th pick in the 2009 draft, Taj Gibson.  Joakim Noah has developed into a rebounding machine; he’s good for a double-double everytime he steps on the floor.  Luol Deng is a decent strong scoring threat and defensive stopper to opponents long and athletic wings. 

[picappgallerysingle id="8280855"]The players are talented, but still young, they need guidance and to be taught how to play as a cohesive unit.  Del Negro couldn’t get the best out of them until the end of the season in his tenure as the head coach. 

I give Del Negro props for teaching his young squad defense, but other than that, he didn’t get everything he possibly could from his roster.  In critical momemts of a game, fans expect the best players on the team to be on the court, not with Vinny.  Rose and Noah (when he was healthy) were watching on the sideline. 

[picappgallerysingle id="7368832"]There have been reports of him and managment having problems.  The last episode with John Paxson was all over the news during the their last ditch effort to make the playoffs.  Events like this easily distract young talent,  good thing the Bulls have high charater guys. 

Tomorrow’s announcement will be marked on my calender as a great day and  until the beggining of next season, I will flip back to May, look and smile, thinking of the postive future the Bulls could have.

I agree the Bulls fell apart in the second half of the season.  Trades, injuries and a head coach who should have never got the job justify their losing ways. Joakim  Noah was hurt for almost two months, Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng have all missed games.  John Salmons, one of the Bulls top scorers, was traded; same as a key defensive player in Tyrus Thomas.  Enough said,  I get Redmond’s point.

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But to blame the NBA and the playoff structure for the Bulls having a chance to get in is crazy.  Eight teams on each conference is perfect.  Some of the most memorable series have been 1 against 8.  Remember the Utah Jazz against the Sacramento Kings, the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks and more recently, the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors.

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The playoff structure works well.  There is no need for tampering.  The games are exciting to watch.  Even if they are blowouts, we get to see the real dominant teams.  No one thought the Orlando Magic were going to make it to the finals last year until they dismantled Philadelphia in the first round and successfully challenged the reigning champions, the Boston Celtics.

I think those series are needed.  One, it prepares the young guys for the harder seven game series they will face later in the playoffs.  The earlier series help gain confidence and exposure to the bigger stage.  This isn’t the regular season anymore, nerves grow.

Plus, why blame the Bulls, or the NBA for that matter, when it is the team’s owner and the general manager who build the roster and the basketball program.  When the Bulls have a horrible team,  I blame Jerry Reinsdorf for spending his money on bad players and John Paxson for making the decision.  Each team can be held accountable for their own actions.

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The Bulls shouldn’t get blamed because the Pacers, 76ers, Knicks, Pistons, Wizards and the awful Nets can’t win games.  Shouldn’t it be the 76ers for making the trade for Elton Brand who has been a huge bust.  Washington went through a fire sale. The Pacers have done nothing to help Danny Granger.  Joe Dumars traded their glue player, Chauncey Billups, for the don’t know what is going on Allen Iverson.  The Knicks put Isiah Thomas in charge,  we all know what happened with the situation in New York and the Nets,  no one knows where to start with their problems.

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Each team has the same salary cap.  Each team has the opportunity to draft players out of college.  The bad teams have a better chance of landing a better player.  It isn’t the NBA’s fault when a team drafts a bust.

The number eight seed isn’t going to be playing for the NBA Championship anyway but they should be given some props for beating out the other eight teams.  If the eight only wins one game in the first series, oh well, they got things to work on for the future.

None of this is the Bull’s fault.  Does it suck for the Memphis Grizzlies and the Houston Rockets, who have better records than the Bulls but won’t make the playoffs in the Western Conference?  Of course it does.  They could have won more games.  They knew the strength of other teams in the west and didn’t exceed it.

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If the Bulls get in, it is because they won more games then the teams below them.  Sure, they didn’t have a great year, but they did what they needed to do to survive.  Sometimes the cookie crumbles in your mouth and sometimes all over your favorite shirt.  This is how the world works, sports included.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, “Big Z”, is officially a free agent.  The Washington Wizards, who picked him up in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers shortly before the deadline, bought out his $11.5 million contract and then released him.

Big Z can not go back to the Cavaliers for 30 days but could be picked up by any team immediately with a prorated share of the veteran’s minimum.  He is still valuable and could help teams make the playoffs or into later rounds.

He is a solid veteran big man.  The Cavaliers were his team before Lebron James dropped in the team’s lap.  Besides having knee problems in his first couple of seasons, his numbers are very consistent. He was only a few rebounds away from averaging a double-double for a season multiple times in his 10 years on the team.  A couple years ago,  he was the only respectable center in the eastern conference.

Plenty of teams around the NBA could use him.  Portland lost Greg Oden and Joel Przybila for the season.  They traded for Marcus Camby and he has already rolled around on the court grimacing in pain.  The Blazers can always use big men.

There has been pleas from bloggers or all teams.  Well, here is the plea from a Bulls fan for Big Z to come to Chicago.  WE NEED YOU!

The two visible problems haunting the Bulls in every game are closing out the victory and front court depth.  The Kings beat them after being down by 35 points.  Remember that.  Also, it was disappointing when the Washington Wizards scored 14 straight points to open the third quarter on Monday.  The Bulls had the game but couldn’t finish it off.

Big Z is a scoring center who is an excellent passer when double teamed.  During his career he has shot a .48 field goal percentage and 76 percent from the free throw line.  The bulls could use a tall talented guy to come off the bench.  Even if he doesn’t play at the end of the game, the guy replacing him will be well rested.  The Bulls have looked tired at the end of recent games.

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Joakim Noah is hurt. Hakim Warrick isn’t an established re-bounder or inside scorer .  Brad Miller has been in the NBA the same amount of time Big Z has but plays very aggressive, which leads to fatigue and foul trouble.  Taj Gibson is a forward, not a center.  He needs help when his teammates get tired or get into foul trouble.

There are risks of course, but John Paxson has made a living off of his questionable roster decisions.  Big Z has a lot of miles on his battered knees.  Honestly,  he probably has two years left of his NBA career until he officially fades into the abyss.

A deal with the Bulls might only be for the rest of this season.  If this is the case, it’s a great idea.  Big Z won’t cost a ton of money and it will not be on the books for free agent shopping.  He will also do what the team asks him too.  Big Z won’t pull a Allen Iverson and refuse to come off the bench.  Plus,  a veteran amongst a team full of young players is always a great idea.

Should Big Z be in a Bulls uniform?