i wanted a free burger

If I were Noah or Thomas I’d be flattered to think someone would want me in a trade for Bosh. That sorta implies they are good pieces that people value. It isn’t like what happened to Thabo for example or how the Lakers got Gasol. If a trade goes down they’d be going to another team as main pieces, not as scraps.

And in Ben’s defense…this is like the third off season that everyone has been talking about him as either trade fodder to help the team or simply someone to write off the books to help the team. He is likely desensitized to throwing around scenarios like that at this point. Why is it taboo to speculate other moves that could help the team win? How many times have we heard “If we sign Gordon we won’t be able to get Bosh etc”. How about “If we are not willing to trade Noah and/or Tyrus we won’t be able to get Bosh?”

I just think he has had such a long time to separate himself emotionally from this song and dance that it likely didn’t occur to him that it might be considered rude to talk about moving players in and out being a player himself. He is only allowed to talk about working hard and liking his teammates and some abstract idea about winning (forget the fact it will be hard to do that without moving players and getting Bosh…).

We’re talking tens of millions of dollars here. I’m not accusing BG of doing anything except what a vast majority of pro athletes do all the time. I’m not faulting him in particular for it. Just talking about him here because it’s his contract situation that’s the topic of this thread.

if Gordon wanted to take less for the sake of the team, it’d make more sense to do it for the benefit of some other team.

So my question is, does BG know what the definition of “Fair Market Value” is? It means what people are willing to pay him, not what he thinks he is “worth” or entitled to because he is the team’s leading scorer. And I agree that he is contradicting himself. You usually go for money/playing time/be “the man” or you take less/play a role on a team that is a contender. That is why so many players stay with their crappy franchise for years and make bank and then at the end of their career go “Oh crap, I actually care more about winning now, so I guess I’ll take less money to play on a great team.” BG isn’t there yet. He wants above fair market value, because everyone else on the team currently has gotten above fair market recently, so understandably, he does as well. But the Bulls aren’t going to win a championship by paying a lot more for him than anyone else is willing to pay. And over paying for players more often turns out like the NY Knicks than it does the LA Lakers. The Lakers have a top 3 MVP canidate every year and the greatest coach of all time and an owner in Buss that is in love with his team and is willing to pay to see it succeed. Our best player is a rookie who still needs so time to develop into a true star and we have “The Hair” as coach and JR as an owner, who cares more about the White Sox than the Bulls and I mean way more. And yet he tries to micro manage. Darn it, I just made myself really depressed. I’m starting to lose my optimism for the Bulls actually going somewhere besides playoff bottom feeder.

I’m simply making the point that I wish more players would recognize that they can help the team win by not taking up so much of the cap room, and with team success comes more income from endorsements.

Remember the Beef Wennington?

this is the first I’ve heard of this.

Oh wait, he did. THAT couldn’t have helped things.

really don’t know what they are going to do. Count all the suggestions that are posted and times them by two and then you have what the Bulls have.

that had the Bulls at the tax limit for that season. But for that season they could’ve kept everyone, yes.

I’m trying to find the most recent conversation about the merits of pulling the offer after the arbitrary deadline. I’m not saying we can’t discuss it, I just didn’t like StephenAA’s assertion like he somehow ‘got’ me for being UNFAIR for not addressing in this post a subject that has been poured over for months.

except….you’re unfairly criticizing the players. I like them and am super super positive about them. Annoyingly so. You basically describe Tyrus Thomas as an immature simpleton, and praise the ‘character’ of Reinsdorf hardballing and winning a negotiation (at the possible expense of his team). We value different things, not necessarily have different mindsets.

Additionally, I’m positive…that Vinny is a crappy coach until proven otherwise. I don’t think it’s impossible to become a better one, I just don’t see the reason for him to go through the learning process on the Bulls dime.

If you’re a mole from inside Bulls land, I wouldn’t be surprised:

These aren’t just mistakes he’s making. It’s life-skills learning that needs to be awakened in him. Pax took a risk in drafting TT knowing that these things needed adjustment in his life. Maybe, just maybe, Pax and Vinny care about TT the person just as much as TT the player.

Ok, maybe not a Bulls mole, but Stephon Marbury?

only if you reason that he doesn’t technically do enough to be criticized for the fortunes of his team.