Give Tyrus ~36, Noah the remainder. I don’t see any problem with that; plus, I don’t think it’d be hard to bring in a veteran big to soak up fouls/minutes if necessary.

the next day only to insinuate it didn’t matter because he wasn’t starting.

...is choking. He could still become an All-Star; I suppose he could still fulfill all of his potential… But they could have been better last year and they would be better this year had they played him more and developed him more. Maybe “choking” is a bad word, but they’ve clearly wasted an opportunity.

And we saw it with Tyson as well. When I look at Aldridge getting tons of praise and improving his numbers, it pisses me off that Tyrus just can’t get that bump in the minutes. Maybe choke is a strong word, but they have certainly mishandled how to turn him into a very good player. Having him play out Stromile Swift’s career just damages all their credibility in my eyes.

Matt and others will argue it’s ok to overpay Ben a couple million annually, and I’m ok with him making Monta Ellis money. However, he hasn’t accepted that kind of offer, nor have the Bulls offered anything in that range either. They are now offering less, and I feel it’s unfair to him. Deng got his due despite a lackluster year. BG has been just as important to this Bulls team, giving him 11 mill annually isn’t that big of a stretch.

But, then you read all these accounts that Gordon is hell-bent on being the highest paid Bull, and they bring my hopes down of a deal getting finalized. I can’t tell if he’s being insanely stubborn, or just trying new negotiation ploys.

It boils down to an acceptable level of overpaying (66 over 6) either not being offered, or being rejected by Ben.

over keeping Lu, there’s still plenty of time before the season starts. I’m just not convinced the team cares as much. BG “digging in” so to speak makes more sense, with him currently not having a contract to play next year and needing to get paid and play somewhere. Given that the Bulls do have plenty of guys to put on the floor (regardless of what anyone thinks of the quality), and if they in fact aren’t all that concerned with it, they may not care enough to jump into a media war.

I know Pax keeps saying signing BG is a priority, but given the team’s actions I just don’t see that purported attitude reflected very much. They sort of seem like Clay Bennett standing there saying he wanted to keep the Sonics in Seattle when every action shouted an imminent move to OKC. A billion thoughts on ways to massage the cap numbers and avoid the luxury tax have been offered by non-Bulls-org people, yet the team appears to be sitting there with arms folded saying this is what we have to offer and we won’t pay the tax – and I’m not sure why people are so convinced the team doesn’t mean it.

I have no inside sources with anyone, anywhere, at any level. This could all turn out with some trade out of the blue to open up room or the team magically deciding to pay the l.t. for a year or two. It’s just when I look at what is out there, I personally am not seeing it.

aren’t that vast. And possibly preferable.

That adds up. But then it’s multiplied or exponentiated/powered (this guy will tell you the right word) because he shouldn’t be getting more than 15-20 mpg. It’s more tolerable to overpay for good players than not-as-good players.

First…

How the hell do you overpay for roles on the roster and not do so for your leading scorer?

And then…

The most profitable team in the NBA according to Forbes won’t pay their leading scorer the money he deserves.

So, you’re saying he deserves to be overpaid because the Bulls were stupid enough to overpay guys that weren’t as good as him? That’s flawed logic, in my opinion.

Just because they botched those Noc, Kirk, and Corpse contracts doesn’t mean they should continually keep handing out overly-rich contracts that will eventually bite them in the rear.

Sure, if anything, BG deserves to be overpaid moreso than the previous three, but…where does it all end? They’ve already dug themselves in a few different holes with these crappy contracts they’ve given in the past, so why give out another one when it only hurts them economically in the long run? Where does it all end?

Just because the Bulls have apparently learned from past idiotic contract antics doesn’t mean that they’re intentionally screwing over BG. I mean, they’ve made it pretty clear with the latest offer that they do value him more than the rest of the league and would like to keep him here, but it’s not worth strapping the organization with another overly-rich contract that not many (if any) other teams around the league would ever want to take on.

but, again…you do realize that when he comes back, he’s probalby not going to find anything better than 6/59, right? He’s running in circles at this point and he’s going to keep coming back to the Bulls’ (read: best) offer, whether he likes that or not. It’s a shame that it has played out like this for him, but such is the current market in the NBA.

I personally think he’s biding his time, hoping to somehow coerce the Bulls into the 62-63 mil range so he can feel that, at the least, his offer was upped from last summer. If this doesn’t happen, I do think he’ll take the 6/59 and move on with things. It’s just too much money to turn down when he won’t be able to recover from that a year from now.

that’s more than $6.2m. Probably a lot more.

Pax and Reinsdorf: “Ben signed a contract with the Indiana Pacers. We expected him to give us time to match the offer, but he did not and we needed more time. We’re disappointed in that, but we will move on with the process of the processing”

no other teams will be offering him ~10 mil per, like the Bulls are. I’ll eat a nice, hefty crow sandwich if they do.

the fact that he wants more than that, so…I just don’t see how being a UFA is going to work out very well for him. The Bulls’ offer is the best there is, and in all likelihood, will continue to be the best. Turning it down twice will most likely prove to be a large mistake.