To Seattle: Ira Newble, Adrian Griffin, and Donyell Marshall
To Cleveland: Delonte West, Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, and a future 2nd round pick from the Bulls  
To Chicago: Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons, and Shannon Brown

First off, I love this trade for Cleveland. Hughes never fit next to LeBron, and his contract almost matches Wallace. So taking Big ben on is no loss finacially. If nothing else, they are taking a flier on Wallace to see if he can still be a contributor on a winner. The beauty for them however, is they get Delonte West, Joe Smith, and Wally Szczerbiak too. Now, it is a three-horse race in the East. Drew Gooden for Joe Smith is basically a wash. Smith is more consistent, and will probably be a better threat in this year’s  playoffs because of it, bit Gooden is younger. On a team with so little young talent outside LeBron, it is tough to give it up. Szczerbiak goes from the outhouse to the penthouse. Spot him up in the corner and let him wait for LeBron to draw his man in, he couldn’t have asked for anything better. West, while not a great point is certainly more than capable of splitting minutes with Gibson. He hasn’t fit into Seattle’s new style, and has admitted to feeling lost, so this change of scenery could be the be huge for him. I’m not sure where Wallace really fits in. He’s fills the same role as Varejao, and only slightly better. Maybe teaming Z and Ben to start and then come off the bench in tandem with Smith and Varejao will work, but I wonder if they’ll be able to keep everyone happy. It certainly looks like a decent front line. It certainly is worth the risk. They were bogged down by Hughes’ deal anyway, and wasn’t benefitting at all.
Seattle is right up there with Minnesota as organizations who should be ashamed of themselves. They didn’t even get a pick. The tanking that is taking place is just bad for the league. Ownership doesn’t want to be in Seattle, so they are just biding time and stockpiling lottery balls until the city lets them leave to Oklahoma City. If I was Blake Griffin, an Edmond, OK native, and playing like a madman at OU, I’d declare this year figuring that there will be a 50-50 chance the Sonics take him if they don’t get a chance to take Beasley. As much as I like Durant, it is going to be hard for me to ever like that team for what they are doing to Seattle.
On the Bulls newcomers:

Hughes makes $12M this year and is owed more than $26M after through 2010. I’ve never minded him as a player, but he didn’t really fit in well next to LeBron. I wonder where he fits here. He’s going to be here, but he plays the same position as BG and Thabo. It appears be a very clear sign Gordon is on his way out if not next summer then soon after.

Gooden is making $6.4M and another $7.3M next. He’s not the post threat they have been missing. His jump shot isn’t as good as that of Smith, and isn’t nearly as smart of a player. Statistically, at least, he has regressed this year. That said, he’s a capable player who will fill some of the rebounding void by Wallace leaving. He won’t tip three or four balls to teammates per game to keep possessions alive like Wallace did when he wanted to, but he’ll be good enough to keep them from being manhandled.

Simmons is making $1.6M his year and has one more guaranteed year next when he will make almost $1.75M. He is another try hard big man who has no offensive skills. I guess now that they have Mike Brown on the staff, they figure they’ll get him a full class to work with.

Shannon Brown was another player who never fit in with Cleveland. When he played this year, it wasn’t like he stunk, but he couldn’t get minutes from the Cavs less than impressive stock of guards. If nothing else, he is an expiring contract.

Overall:

It is a lateral move at best, but at least they don’t have two major free agents and two recent lottery picks battling for minutes. I don’t think they will be better off in the short-term by giving Thomas and Noah more minutes. At this point, it will expose them more. The games where they haven’t played are those where the other team has big men who would just foul them out or embarass them.

Hughes is the wildcard. He’s never been a highly regarded for his basketball IQ and better known for his poor shot selection than his impressive skill set. It is very possible that once he assumes the starting SG position that he will have a statistical resurgence. The Bulls need scorers and he showed in Washington that he can score. I wouldn’t be surprised if he looks good over the final month and a half. The problem is the front court appears to be awful, and even if his scoring punch gets them to catch Philadelphia, I’m just not sure he will be a difference maker in getting the Bulls into a better position to be more than just a one-and-done in the playoffs.

No team should have to suffer through prolonged stretches without their three best players. Imagine the Spurs without Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili or the Celtics without Garnett, Pierce, and Allen. Certainly Hinrich, Gordon, and Deng are not in the same stratesphere as those Big 3s, but their presence in suits instead of shorts have had a large impact on the 2007-08 season. As a result, Chris Duhon has started sixteen games. Thabo Sefolosha has been brought back from the dead. Tyrus Thomas is seeing minutes at small forward.

Make no mistake, this is not a good thing. The more a team starts Thabo Sefolosha at shooting guard now, the more likely it is that OJ Mayo or Eric Gordon will be starting there later. The more minutes Joakim Noah plays in the middle, the better the chance that DeAndre Jordan is taking part in pre-draft workouts against Roy Hibbert in the Berto Center in June. While many want to applaud Thabo Sefolosha’s emergence during this difficult time, he is averaging 12 points per game over the past fourteen games while playing 33 minutes on average. The team is 6-8 in that stretch. This puts him in a category with Anthony Parker and DeShawn Stevenson, solid rotation players no doubt, but not long-term starters at the shooting guard position for a contender.

I have long thought that if Thabo maxes out, he would be a Raja Bell-type. For this to happen, of course, Sefolosha has to develop a consistent jump shot, not the 39 percent from the field and 28 percent from behind the arc he is currently at. And even if he does, is that what the Bulls want out of a starting shooting guard? I don’t see Steve Nash or Amare Stoudemire walking through that door, I see Kirk Hinrich and Ben Wallace.  The Bulls need a big time scorer at the two guard position. Ben Gordon can provide that, but as most can see he is better off battling Leandro Barbosa for 6th man of the year awards for the next decade. With the Bulls sifting closer and closer to the lottery, they are two and one-half games out of the 8th spot and also only one and one-half games ahead of Charlotte who has the sixth worst record in the NBA. At some point, the question is going to have to be posed whether if this team gets a high lottery pick where do they go. They have gone big in the past two drafts, and spent $60M for Ben Wallace and Joe Smith in free agency. While they still don’t have a post presence, if Paxson was presented with the option of getting a guard with star potential in O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose, or Eric Gordon, has Thabo done enough to sell him that the backcourt is set? Likewise, if a team with cap room makes a sizeable offer to Ben Gordon, is Paxson willing to let him go in either a walk or sign-and-trade? I wouldn’t, but I think Paxson is a bigger fan of Thabo than I am.

Likewise, the injuries have opened up more minutes for the Bulls young bigs. Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah have gotten more consistent minutes with Nocioni manning the small forward spot and relieving some of the glut at the four. While both have had their moments, neither has showed any consistency in their play. Noah will have a game where he picks everything out of the air and drops it in, like he did against Indiana and Charlotte, and then have a road trip where he was invisible. Tyrus Thomas is easier to get a read on, because in games against teams that run, he plays well. He can run, jump, and play in space. It is the style that made him a lottery pick, but against teams like Portland and Utah that have real bigs he gets beat on both ends. Basically for Thomas to have a big game with the Bulls, he needs to face an opposition that does not care if he does.

Much like with Thabo, the Bulls young bigs have showed just enough to make them intriguing. Nobody doubts that Tyrus Thomas is a world class athlete, or that Joakim Noah can spark a game-turning run by diving all over the place and keeping plays alive. I’m not sure, however, that this is enough. Unless the Bulls change course, draft an open-court point guard, hire a coach from the Suns staff and become a running team, they aren’t main cogs of a championship contender. Certainly the possibility is there that the Bulls can get lucky in the lottery and have a chance to get Derrick Rose, pluck Alvin Gentry or Phil Weber from the Suns staff, and make a few moves to reform this team into a free-flowing unit. It is possible, and with each passing game the lottery becomes more and more of a reality as well as the likelihood that Jim Boylan will not be retained as the head coach. Then again, wouldn’t just be simpler to just admit that Thabo, Tyrus, and Joakim aren’t all that good and rebuild the old fashioned way by finding and developing real talent?

After going 2-3 over a stretch they needed to do better, fans are left to ponder where do the Bulls go from here? What the past week has showed is that without Gordon and Deng this team cannot score the basketball. This speaks volumes for how thin is this team’s talent level. The Clippers have played all year without Livingston and Brand, yet they can still score 90 points per game. Last night, the Clippers were without Kaman and Maggette in addition to Brand and Livingston and scored 95. These past few Bulls have been completely unwatchable. Other than Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni, they don’t have any options offensively. Everyone knew when they signed Ben Wallace that he wasn’t an offensive threat. All he has done is reaffirm it. Thabo Sefolosha cannot be a shooting guard at this level and play 30+ minutes if he can’t hit a jump shot. It is easy to fall in love with his length and the steals that he can get, but he kills them on offense. Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas aren’t physically or emotionally mature enough to play 30 minutes per game. Noah numbers don’t look awful, but he got smacked around defensively. Tyrus appears to lose interest in the game when he can’t just jump around to block shots and dunk.  These are first round picks who were supposed to be important parts of the Bulls success this year and beyond, but they can’t be relied on.

The lack of development of those three really leaves the Bulls in a bind for this coming offseason. Chris Duhon is an unrestricted free agent, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon with be restricted free agents. Certainly, Gordon and Deng are with better leverage after seeing that the Bulls are a glorified D-league team without them.The Bulls could extend them, put themselves well above the cap for the next three or four years, and maybe by dealing their 1st round pick and proper use of the mid-level exception can get back to respectibility. Maybe this year is just a fluke. Maybe Hinrich has righted whatever slowed him, maybe it was just bad luck that Gordon, Deng, Duhon, and Smith have been battling injuries at the same time. Even then, they aren’t a legit contender. They might win 45 games, but won’t go anywhere. Dwight Howard and LeBron aren’t leaving the Eastern Conference. The Celtics and Pistons have another couple years before they fall off. As a Bulls fan, I am really nervous about the possibility of the Heat tanking the rest of the season and teaming either Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley with Dwyane Wade for the next decade. If the Bulls keep this core together, it won’t be enough. Maybe if the Bulls had this core, as well as bring in Zach Randolph or another beast on the block, the picture would be different, but that is just wishful thinking. Dealing for big men is never easy, and almost never cheap.

This brings me to the question of whether Paxson would break it up. Would he deal Luol Deng, or is he still untouchable in Paxson’s eyes? Is he still blinded by the ceiling of Tyrus Thomas? Does he still find passion and energy to be more valuable traits than overall skill sets? Given the way Tyson has thrived in New Orleans, it is easy to think that Paxson might be a bit gunshy on trading young players, but how else could this team ever get back to playing at a championship level? Danny Ainge pulled the trigger last summer, and it has paid off. Isiah Thomas has made many moves that have not. Pat Riley went all in, won a title, and now has the worst team in the NBA. No one can guarantee that change would be for the better, but because of the failure of the status quo, how can they not look and see?

After putting up yet another stinker in Memphis yesterday afternoon, the Bulls have yet to make a run in the part of the schedule which appears to be the weakest. In a month where they should have played .600-.700 ball, they are 5-6 this month with losses to Atlanta, Memphis, and New York. The idea of this team turning it on and making a run towards repectability is getting more absurd by the day. They can’t put together a win streak and have been blown out by bad teams. This upcoming stretch of games to finish month will tell whether the Bulls have any chance of making the playoffs this season. They have two games against Minnesota as well as home games against Indiana, Charlotte, and Phoenix. If they can win four of five, they should position themselves to at least tread water when they head out on their Pacific coast trip.

Right now, the Bulls are two games behind Indiana and Atlanta in the standings for the 7th and 8th spots. They need to go into February even with those two, because their Febraury schedule will kill them. They simply will not have a winning month in February. The goal has to be to just stay within a realistic distance of catching the bottom spots. First, they will head out to the Pacific for five games in eight days where they’ll be lucky to walk away 2-3. They then return home for a homecoming ceremony for Tyson Chandler. I just know that somewhere Jerry Krause is going to be popping champaign that night. After a game against the hapless Heat, they go to New Jersey whom they never beat on the road and a home date with Denver. Then just when you think it can’t get worse, they go to Texas to play Houston and Dallas back-to-back. They close the month with a game at Indiana and then hosting Washington. At best, they will go 6-7 and could conceivably go 4-9 or 3-10. They have been a bad basketball team this year, but not among the worst in the league. If they don’t start getting on track now, the season will be over by the trade deadline. How funny would that be, a team who thought they were so flush with talent and depth being a seller. And truthfully, who would they sell? Nobody is going to take Ben Wallace. Hinrich and Nocioni just signed big extensions so they aren’t going anywhere. Gordon and Deng will fetch about 50 cents on the dollar. Basically the only guys who they sell off would be Joe Smith and Chris Duhon, neither of whom would get much in return. The picture could get really ugly really quick if this team doesn’t turn it on soon.

Joakim Noah plays hard. I believe that he wants to win. He’s the son of a champion athlete, and I have no doubt that it has been engrained in him from a young age the importance of competing hard and winning. It also doesn’t matter. Joakim Noah cursing out Ron Adams was a punk move. It wasn’t the first time this has ever happened. Phil Jackson chronicled how Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal cursed out Tex Winter when he criticized the way the Lakers ran the triangle offense. I remember reading that Michael Jordan cursed out Tex for his abandoning the triangle as well. It happens all the time in every sport. Competitive athletes who compete at the highest levels are sensitive about their weaknesses and how they respond to criticism. 

Noah isn’t on the level of Kobe, Shaq, or Jordan. He has not earned the right to be a jerk. I think what happened is that the Bulls two veterans, Adrian Griffin and Ben Wallace, saw what happened and felt that Jim Boylan let him off easy and felt that humiliating Noah publicly would be the best punishment. One game for Noah doesn’t mean much. He has a few DNP-CDs this season and rarely played significant minutes in meaningful situations. He is one of the least skilled players in the NBA, and certainly has the ugliest looking shot. He doesn’t know where he is supposed to be on plays. Part of this team’s many problems is trying to get him and Tyrus Thomas minutes when Joe Smith plays the same position, only better. Neither the team nor Noah are affected by one game. A public flogging might put Noah in his place. It might get him to realize that the #9 pick overall in the draft who really only brings energy has the right to be a primadona. I would have approached it differently. If I was a decision-maker with the Bulls, I would have simply sent him to the NBDL. No public suspension, send him on a bus to Des Moines. If he thinks he is above Ron Adams’ coaching, is above showing up on time, then send him to Iowa where he can continue being bad and late. It really should not have been a big deal.

The reason this bothers me is that it lets the rest of the team off the hook for an absolutely disgusting effort against the Hawks. NBA matinee games usually are telling as to the commitment level of the team. These are guys who are used to work days for the average 7:30 game day working until midnight. If they have to travel afterwards, they might get off a plane at 4 or 5am. By design, they aren’t morning people. It takes commitment to do what they have to do to be ready for an early January afternoon game. I was impressed that Portland, who had a 10am body clock start in Toronto take the Raptors to double OT. Teams like the Spurs and stars who love the spotlight like LeBron and Kobe usually thrive in these games. This was a kind of game the Bulls have feasted on the past two or three seasons, and they got embarrassed by the Hawks. The Bulls with their “high character” guys got worked by Josh Smith and Joe Johnson. Kirk Hinrich should have just given Joe Johnson a massage, because Joe got anything he wanted. Josh Smith and Marvin Williams just threw Andres Nocioni around like a rag doll. The block Josh Smith had on Nocioni was the hardest block I have ever seen. Even when the Hawks wanted to give the game away by being just awful in the 3^rd quarter, the Bulls couldn’t take advantage. I knew that if they got the lead down to ten by the start of the 4^th that they would pull it out. Of course, they never did. They should thank Joakim Noah for taking the attention away from the fact that the little hustling team who would grind away opponents is a thing of the past. Now they are just another bad team who can’t be coached. 

The quarter opened well with Aaron Gray getting a bucket to up the lead to 13. One would think against a poor defensive team who was 1-13 on the road that a 13 point lead in the 4th quarter was safe. One would think that after Joe Smith scores with 9:11 left that the Bulls would score more than 6 points for the rest of the game. One would think that with Ben Gordon on the floor that the Bulls would get one point in the final four minutes. Yet, the Bulls found a way to lose it. The 2007-08 Bulls really are amazing in that respect. Last year, no deficit was too big. This year, no lead is safe. Then again, with Deng hurt and Nocioni slowed with the flu, the Bulls were going with Tyrus Thomas, Joe Smith, and Ben Wallace as their front court down the stretch. As much as I am a fan of Joe Smith, I cannot think of one other team who has trotted out a worse offensive frontcourt in crunch time. Throw in the fact that they let the Knicks get three shots on the game deciding possession, I am at a loss of words as to why anyone would think that the Bulls put their best lineup possible down the stretch. If they can’t score, rebound, or stop the Knicks big men, then what good are they?

I am also wondering why Viktor Khryapa continues to get suited up when the team doesn’t have enough confidence to put him in the game when both Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni are out? Is he really that bad? If so, then why is he still on the roster? He’s in the final year of his contract, they can cut him without it hurting them long term. Having him suited up when they have no intention to ever play him one meaningful minute is hurting this team.

Also, Thabo Sefolosha had his best game in the past month on Saturday against Sacramento. He played three minutes tonight. A night where they needed someone to step in on the wing they couldn’t find a way to play him more than three minutes. I’m not the world’s biggest Thabo fan, but they sure do love yanking him around.

Finally, I want to write this before I read the papers windering why Aaron Gray doesn’t get more minutes… he had three fouls and two turnovers in ten minutes. He did a nice job of picking up the garbage tonight and got 12 points in ten minutes, which is nice. For a back up center, that is a solid outing. It doesn’t change the fact that he is almost an anti-presence defensively in the middle. He couldn’t guard Curry on the block at all. If they played him 20 minutes, he would have fouled out. He also isn’t this great post presence that the Bulls have been missing. For all the love the Bulls announcers throw Gray’s way, he is still a downgrade as a post threat from Sweets. The more they play Gray, the farther they go from being a playoff team and closer to being a part of the Michael Beasley sweepstakes.

What was disappointing about yesterday was that everything was looking to be pointing in the Bulls direction. Despite having Deng sitting out most of the game with an injury, the Bulls had the game under control. Portland really didn’t have much going for them other than Brandon Roy. Aldridge has a nice jump shot, but whenever he got the ball on the block it was a good thing for the Bulls. Webster and Outlaw didn’t appear to be interested in playing defense. Blake appeared to try chasing around the Bulls, but still wasn’t effective. The stretch in the 2nd quarter where the Blazers had Jack and Rodriguez sharing a backcourt was as bad a showing of guard play as one could expect from NBA players. It wasn’t just Portland screwing up, Ben Gordon and Joe Smith gave tremendous games. I’m a big Joe Smith fan, but I didn’t think he had a 31-11 game left in him, even against Travis Outlaw. Geez, even Ben Wallace gave them a good second half/overtime. They still found a way to lose it.

Gordon losing the ball in overtime happens. I can’t get upset over that. I’m not going to lie, I thought once Gordon got going and was draining jumper after jumper down the stretch, the Bulls had the game wrapped up, but they didn’t. Roy outshined Gordon down the stretch. It happens, but that isn’t what lost the game. What I am upset over is that with a fourteen point lead in the 3rd quarter all but gone, Boylan trots out the worst offensive lineup possible. Duhon/Hinrich, Gordon, Griffin, Noah, and Wallace. So really, it was 1 on 5, except for the fact the offense during that stretch didn’t revolve around Gordon. They had possessions where he didn’t even touch the ball. It bothered me to no end. I understand that with Sefolosha inactive with a finger injury and Deng out after a quarter that the Bulls are short on men, but that can’t be the best the Bulls put on the floor. Why have Viktor Khryapa on the roster if not to use him when two wings are hurt? I know he isn’t a complete stiff. In EuroBasket over the summer, he was one of Russia’s best players in their championship run. His numbers were good. If he can’t cut it, then why not activate either JamesOn Curry or bring back Demetris Nichols from Iowa? I know that they are 2nd round rookies, but both of their strengths are shooting the ball. And if Curry, Nichols, and Khryapa are so bad or unprepared, then why not Tyrus or Gray instead of Noah or Wallace. I’m not a Tyrus fan, but he’s more of an offensive threat than those two. Gray won’t stop anyone, but it wasn’t like Channing Frye was going to do anything, and alongside Wallace or Noah both of whom can block shots, Gray’s lack of quickness might be negated.

I still believe that the Bulls will put together a nice run. With the Kings, Knicks, 76ers, and Hawks coming up next, I have to believe that the Bulls will put together their first winning streak of more than two games the season. The Kings are without Kevin Martin, Mike Bibby, and Ron Artest. The Knicks and Sixers are a mess. The Hawks have to be the worst over .500 team I’ve seen in a long time. They should win all four, and need to come away with at least three. If not now, then when?

John Paxson released the guillotine on Scott Skiles today after a disappointing start to the season.

While making the move on Christmas Eve looks bad, from a basketball schedule point of view, it was a now or never decision. The Bulls are going to win at a better rate than they have been, the January schedule will guarantee that, and if Paxson determined that Skiles’ fiery, piece of garbage personality and inability to work with big men was a hindrance to the Bulls, he had to make the move now. I for one am pleased for I have never been a big fan of Skiles, but I don’t think his being fired will make a huge difference right away. I don’t think the ups and downs of Hinrich, Gordon, and Deng are a result of Skiles’ style. I don’t think it makes Tyrus Thomas  smarter, Gray quicker, Wallace healthier, or Noah more skilled. Skiles has a lot of flaws as a coach, but he was a smart basketball mind who on game nights probably did far more good than bad for the Bulls.

That said, I think some of the players are doing cartwheels right now. Instead of having to be exiled to the Knicks or Oklahoma City like Eddy and Tyson were, he is getting his second chance with the Bulls. Thomas needs to make the most of it. He needs to be smarter, but players respond to coaching differently. Skiles always had Tyrus on a short leash, and it is possible that part of Thomas’ mental problems stemmed from being afraid to make a mistake. While I could see a change help Tyrus make a big step in his development, it could also just allow him to continue to be dumb without being reprimanded. While I think Thomas will be happy with the move, whether it is for the best is anyone’s guess. 

Another player who I think is happy is Ben Wallace. I have no evidence to back this thought up, but I do believe that Ben Wallace and Skiles were on the verge of a major fight. Wallace has been beat up and tried to play through it and was punished for it. Don’t get me wrong, Wallace has been bad, but he’s been banished to the bench in games where he has played well. I have a hard time that he is so washed up that he can’t be better than he has showed. I know that the ankle and foot injuries have really hindered his leaping ability, but I do not think that is the entire story. I’m not acusing him of quitting on Skiles or dogging it, but something doesn’t add up with his rapid decline. Chicago has way too much money wrapped up in Wallace to not find out if a new coach will breathe new life into him. The way I look at it, if Wallace is completely washed up, they won’t be able to deal him and are out the $40M that they still owe him. As he is playing right now, he might have one of the most immoveable contracts in the NBA. If, however, they get some return on their investment in Wallace by spending a couple million more for Skiles to go away, then they have to do it.  

I still think that the greatest problem facing the Bulls is the number of players who are non-threats offensively. I think teams have figured out how to handle the Bulls drive-and-kick game by cheating off the bigs and Sefolosha and staying extended on Deng and Gordon. While Skiles being gone might be the best thing for Tyrus Thomas’ long-term development, he isn’t going to go from a bad shooter to a good one over night. Hopefully, whoever they bring in will figure out a rotation and style that allows them to score at a better clip against teams who are interested in stopping them.

What I fear, and I hope I am wrong, is that Paxson made the move because he felt Skiles was screwing with his picks, namely Thabo, Noah, and Thomas, and whoever he brings in will basically be ordered to force feed them minutes. For me, this would be disasterous. I don’t think that Skiles has been wrong in limiting their minutes. The blame I put on Skiles isn’t in his eye for talent, but in his ability to develop it and communicate what he wants from his players. As far as X’s and O’s and identifying strengths and weakness of a player, Skiles was great, but that isn’t as big a role in coaching at this level as communicating with players and teaching. I can’t think of very many upper echelon teams who would be playing poorly skilled rookies and second year players big minutes, and if the Bulls make a big run, not just a move towards the 7-8 seed and a sweep at the hands of Boston or Detroit, I don’t think it will be because Noah, Thomas, and Sefolosha are each playing twenty minutes per game. 

The season is 24 games old, and while seventy percent of the season is left, the Bulls 2007-08 campaign can already be chalked up as a disappointment. This was the year where John Paxson spent the offseason refusing to ante up in negotiations to get Kobe or KG because he was going to win with his guys playing his way. Well, he was wrong. The Bulls are 9-15 and have been embarassed on an almost weekly basis when a legitimate playoff team blows them out of the gym. The Celtics just destroyed them last night.

Don’t get me wrong, the Bulls will make the playoffs, a soft month of January should push them back around .500 and many NBA observers will forget that the Timberwolves and Hawks aren’t who they will see in April, but regardless, the Bulls are caught in NBA hell. They aren’t good enough to compete for an NBA title or even the East. Unless one or two of their Big 3 get hurt, the Bulls have zero chance against the Celtics in a seven game series. Bye bye hopes of June, but at the same time, aren’t bad enough to get a draft pick who will put them over the top. Michael Beasley is not walking through that door. And starting next year, the Bulls will not only be stuck in the middle of the NBA, but also be really expensive if they hold to their guns that they will match any offers on Deng and Gordon. They are the Spurs without Duncan or the Pistons without Rasheed. And to throw salt on the wounds, KG is leading the Celtics to the top of the league, Kobe is once again carrying a mediocre cast towards the top of the West, LaMarcus Aldridge has Portland well ahead of schedule, and Tyson Chandler is averaging 12-12. What can I say, ’tis not the season.

It is hard to look at the Bulls with a 6-12 record, with half their wins coming against the Hawks and Bobcats, and have much reason for optimism. Certainly a weekend split is no big accomplishment, especially when they needed Ben Wallace to hit 8-9 from the line in order to do so, but subtle changes in the rotation are starting to show. As a team, they have adjusted to being a miserable team from behind the arc by taking a couple steps in and taking the two or going to the bucket and getting fouled. This enabled them to stay competitive eventhough Ben Gordon has a miserable shooting weekend and Deng was held in check by Boston. Ben Wallace appears to be moving much better leading me to believe that his early season funk was mostly a result of trying to rush back from his ankle injury. It isn’t much, but is a sign of hope.

Additionally, for the Bulls to bench Tyrus Thomas in favor of Joe Smith, Andres Nocioni, and occassionally Joakim Noah speaks volumes. He was the #2 overall pick, chosen instead of LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Gay, or Brandon Roy, and he isn’t working out. They tried to force feed him into the starting lineup when he does not fit what they do. For all the highlight reel dunks and blocks he can provide, Thomas still looks lost in the offense. He still can consistently hit a 15 footer when left alone, and apparently does not know all the plays and sets. Thomas will eventually get another chance to play, but if the past two games are any indication, maybe they shouldn’t. While Smith is aging and not as athletic as he once was, he can still give 20-25 minutes of solid basketball. Nocioni is showing that he is at his best as an undersized power forward who can spread the floor and pester bigger opponents. And while Noah lacks many of the same skills that limit Thomas, he appears willing to be a hustling, scrapping pest. Noah can’t shoot or dribble. When he gets the ball on a kick out or reversal, I wish someone would just run to him and take it back. Yet somehow, Noah is still been a positive for the Bulls in their past five games. He keeps balls alive, rebounds, and dives all over the floor. While he is much to weak to be a decent finisher, he is hitting a good percentage of his side-spinning free throws. It is unlikely that he will ever be good enough to be a starter on a contender, but sooner than I would have thought, Noah will be able to be a solid big off the bench. He appears willing to be another Anderson Varejao, which isn’t exactly what one would want out of a lottery pick, but in the right situation can be of use to a team trying to compete in April and May. The Bulls are in a tough spot with Thomas. He has talent, and if the Bulls give up on him will catch on somewhere else. By benching him and Skiles openly ripping him, they have killed his trade value. It is a shame that the Bulls organization have not yet learned how to handle and develop big men.

Lastly, Skiles has seemingly accepted the fact that Duhon needs to be the first guard off the bench. Hinrich will eventually fix whatever is making him a brutal point guard. I cannot believe that he has completely lost it. In each of his first four years, his numbers and overall efficiency improved, and while he might have peaked, this kind of drop in overall productivity is incomprehensible. Other than the Hawks triumverate of point guards, I don’t think there has been a team with worse production out of that spot. I have to believe he’ll right the ship, but until then the Bulls need to lean on Duhon when Hinrich isn’t any good. Sefolosha has showed that he isn’t the answer as a big guard. He can’t shoot or run the point, which means he can’t ever be a major contributor. Hopefully with the Sonics, Pacers, and Knicks coming up Hinrich can take advantage of poor defensive teams and start his turn around.