I Can't Take This Anymore

First LeBron James was definitely going to the Bulls, then he was going to Miami, now they're starting to talk about the Mavericks and his hometown Cavaliers. This was all in the last 24 hours. I can't handle this anymore. I am emotionally drained at this point and I suspect that I may have a bleeding ulcer. To top it all off, Paul Pierce has just notified the NBA that he's opting out of his contract with the Celtics so he too is now an unrestricted free agent.

As a Chicago Bulls fan, I simply discredit any report that comes out that says LeBron's not going to Chicago, yes I know it's completely unhealthy but what do you want from me. Earlier today a report came out that Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James all sat down somewhere in Miami to talk about their futures. According to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, the three superstars agreed to align themselves with the Heat next season. That scenario would be comparable to the apocalypse for every other Eastern Conference team. If that happened, David Stern would move to Miami, Donnie Walsh would be run out of New York with pitchforks and torches, and the rest of the owners in the Eastern Conference would be drinking poisoned kool-aid in a mass suicide.

Fortunately for me and anyone else who isn't a Heat fan, it has been proven that no such meeting took place. Wade had a court hearing on Friday in Chicago, then was seen at a Cubs vs. White Sox game Saturday night and flew out of Chicago on Sunday but not to Miami. I would love to know who Smith's sources are because they were obviously dead wrong. Everyone has their sources but if you keep backtracking through everyone's sources, in a situation like this, someone just made something up. It's as simple as that.

The truth is that no one has any idea who's going to sign where. I sure as hell don't know anymore. Right now I'm questioning everything I know about life after all of these conflicting reports. A source close to the Chicago Tribune claims that LeBron will commit to the Bulls by July 3rd. Of course, this source was not named. What fun would that be? No the media wants to screw with us as much as humanly possible before midnight tomorrow night.

My advice to you is to lock yourself in some sort of bomb shelter, a closet should do, and come out in a few days, hopefully we'll have a much clearer image by then. I'm going to sit here at my laptop and agonize for the next 48 hours.

LeBron And Bosh To Chicago A "Done Deal"

The whispers of LeBron James and Chris Bosh going to Chicago have been getting louder and louder over the past month and now there's been a major advancement in the free agency saga. An unidentified NBA executive said he believes that LeBron James going to the Chicago Bulls is all but official. He also added that there's a great chance Chris Bosh will be going with him.

"I think it's a done deal," the executive claimed.

About three weeks ago World Wide Wes, the owner of LeBron James' agency, came out with his comments.

"We're going to Chicago and Bosh is coming too".

Obviously if Chris Bosh and LeBron James go to Chicago to team up with all star point guard Derrick Rose we're looking at a top contender for the Larry O'Brien Trophy next season. I would take it a step further. If this trio does in fact formulate I think we're looking at the NBA's next great dynasty. The only concern for next season would be the bench because the Bulls have traded basically all of their assets in order to clear up cap space for this summer.

The starting lineup would look like this:

PG-Derrick Rose (All Star)

SG-?????????? (Possibly Luol Deng, though I doubt it)

SF-LeBron James (All Star)

PF-Chris Bosh (All Star)

C-Joakim Noah (All Star Caliber)

Bench

Taj Gibson

Luol Deng

Brad Miller (If he re-signs)

NOBODY ELSE

That's the glaring weakness of this potential team. However my guess is that if the big three of Rose-James-Bosh does in fact develop then players are going to come out of the woodwork to come off the bench for that team. When Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce in Boston in the summer of 2007 James Posey and Eddie House volunteered to go there. The Celtics didn't have to go get them, I think it would be a similar case with the Bulls.

According to multiple sources this Bulls fan fantasy is about to become a reality.

It's Finally Here

Free Agency 2o1o has been the topic of many NBA conversations for two full seasons. A free agency period that features LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, David Lee, Carlos Boozer, and Dirk Nowitzki promises to be the biggest splash, or the biggest letdown in free agent history.

For the biggest name of the summer, LeBron James, the winds are blowing towards Chicago. Every move made this offseason is based off where James will end up. The only teams that are rumored to have a legitimate shot at the two time reigning MVP are the Bulls, Knicks (though many doubt that, including me), and the Heat.

For James the appeal of Chicago is obvious. Play in Michael Jordan's city, play in Michael's house, play for one of the most storied franchises in league history, and get his big market team which so many seem to put an emphasis on. It has been widely speculated that James is scared to play in Jordan's shadow in fear that he will be engulfed and lost in the depths of history. However word from LeBron's camp claims that he would be excited to try and create his own legacy. The only possible deal-breaker with the Bulls is that LeBron will not be able to do what he wants or be a player-coach-GM like he is in Cleveland. Let's be honest, Mike Brown was in the suit but LeBron was running that team. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that LeBron made Brown fetch him Gatorade during practice. In Chicago LeBron would be strictly a player and he would be treated as such. That's the best thing for him, it just depends on how big his ego is.

Going to Miami would unite him with the Eastern Conference's other main superstar Dwyane Wade. To me this is more of a fairy tale scenario and the least likely outcome. Is LeBron really willing to share his stardom with another megastar who is arguably better than him in many regards? I highly doubt it. In Chicago he would be playing alongside Derrick Rose who's unselfish nature would help the relationship. In New York LeBron would be nothing short of Jesus Christ Himself, in popularity at least.

Staying in Cleveland would certainly increase my respect for him but I really think Chicago is sitting pretty in the LeBron James sweepstakes.

Once LeBron is off the market all eyes will be on Wade, assuming that LeBron doesn't go to Miami. Wade is also rumored to Chicago. This next piece of evidence is the most interesting. Someone in Air Jordan's shoe division leaked what Wade's next shoe will be, and it bodes well for the Bulls. The shoe's name is "W3lcome Home" and it has Bulls colors. To the surprise of no one, the rumor mill was spinning fast once this information dropped. The other reason to believe Wade-to-Chicago is a possibility is because last summer he sold his house in Miami and bought another one in Chicago. He already has a house for his mother. Why get another one?

Despite the rumors of what his new shoe foreshadows, there is plenty of evidence to support the theory that Wade is headed back to Miami. "Do I want to leave? Nope. Mmm-hmm. I want to be in Miami." That pretty much defines where his heart is. Clearly he's only going to leave Miami if the front office, otherwise known as Pat Riley, disappoints him again. At the end of the day I think Wade is going to stay in Miami.

Chris Bosh, I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, is also heavily rumored to the Bulls. The dream off-season for the Bulls is landing LeBron James through a routine signing, then pulling off a sign and trade for Bosh. That trade would send Luol Deng and his mammoth of a contract to Toronto which clears up the salary cap space to have both Bosh and LeBron. If he doesn't go to the Bulls there are four other locations that Bosh has indicated interest in. They are New York, Los Angeles, Miami, or going back to Toronto which I just can't see happening. After Chicago, I think Miami is calling his name. The opportunity to play with Wade is something that he just can't pass up, if he does then winning is clearly not his top priority. He and Wade would fit well based on their styles of play and I really can't think of any reason why it couldn't work.

Joe Johnson's stock fell drastically this season. He suffers from something I like to call the Ben Gordon syndrome. That is when a player massively overrates his value and rejects an extension only to be forced to sign a worse deal the following offseason. It happens all of the time and Johnson is the latest case of the illness. My guess is that he ends up in New York because that's what happens to the Knicks. They get good players on the decline of their careers, get nothing out of them and go nowhere. Do Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, or Penny Hardaway ring a bell? Next in that line of disaster stories is Joe Johnson.

Some people were surprised when Dirk Nowitzki decided to opt out of his last year with the Mavs and test the free agency market. This one is easy to predict, there is no way in hell Mark Cuban lets Dirk leave Dallas. He's the best player in franchise history and his number is destined for the rafters. In situations like that the player usually stays with the franchise and sometimes it works out (Paul Pierce).

Carlos Boozer's free agency stock raised big time this season. Everyone knows he can play but the issue was always his durability. Boozer played in 95% of the games this season which means more dollar signs for the 28 year old, double double machine. Like Bosh, Boozer has an equal chance of landing in Miami. Last summer Boozer turned some Utah fans against him when he characterized Miami as his, "paradise." There is little doubt that if he's given the chance he will end up with the Heat. If he does end up in Miami, it's safe to say the Heat missed out on Bosh and Amar'e Stoudemire. Boozer is third in line behind those two.

After the all star break Amar'e Stoudemire played better than any big man in the league and guaranteed himself a pretty nice contract this summer. I don't think he'll get a max deal unless he goes to the Knicks because no good team is going to pay that type of money for that many years on a guy they can't depend on. Stoudemire is yet another big man rumored to Miami. It seems that no matter what happens the Heat are going to be getting a great big man.

David Lee is by far the most uninteresting and least talented major free agent this summer. It's not a knock on him, it just speaks to how strong this free agent class is. My guess is that he's going to stay in New York. Lee is a talented big man but he's nowhere near good enough to make any demands at this stage in his career. If he's smart he will try to go somewhere with a future, namely anywhere other than New York or New Jersey.

Finally, this is how I see the probabilities of each player.

LeBron James: Chicago Bulls 45%, Cleveland Cavaliers 25%, Miami Heat 15%, New York Knicks 15%

Dwyane Wade: Miami Heat 85%, Chicago Bulls 15%

Chris Bosh: Chicago Bulls 37%, Miami Heat 36%, New York Knicks 14%, Toronto Raptors 13%

Joe Johnson: New York Knicks 30%, Atlanta Hawks 24%, Chicago Bulls 23%, Miami Heat 23%

Carlos Boozer: Miami Heat 50%, Utah Jazz 25%, Chicago Bulls 20%, New York Knicks 5%

Dirk Nowitzki: Dallas Mavericks 100%

Amar'e Stoudemire: Phoenix Suns 47% , Miami Heat 33%, Chicago Bulls 20%

David Lee: New York Knicks 80%, Dallas Mavericks 12% , Chicago Bulls 8%

Let's Put This To Rest Right Now

Kobe is not........no wait.......Kobe is.............I don't know how to say this. Well, there's no way in hell Kobe's better than Jordan.

After securing his fifth championship Thursday night against the Celtics Kobe Bryant pulled within one championship of the immortal Michael Jordan. Needless to say, the conversations on who's better have been firing since the final buzzer sounded. Let me just clear this up.

Michael Jordan is so much better than Kobe Bryant that it's almost comical. Jordan has the upper hand in championships, in classic moments, in scoring, and really any other category you could think of.

1. Jordan has 10 scoring titles, Kobe has 2

2. Jordan has never lost in the Finals, Kobe's lost twice

3. Jordan has 5 MVP awards, Kobe has 2

4. Jordan won a 3peat, RETIRED then came back and won another 3peat. I'm sorry but that's just unfair. Good luck to Kobe trying to do something that could beat that.

5. Jordan has a Defensive Player of the Year Award, Kobe doesn't.

6. Jordan retired for 3 full years, came back on the Wizards at age 40, and was still a scoring force in the league.

7. Kobe got to play with Shaq and still doesn't have as many titles as Jordan.

8. Jordan has 6 Finals MVP trophies, Kobe has 2 (because Shaq facilitated the first three championships Kobe got on his resume)

9. Kobe has been in the league for 13 seasons (as many years as Jordan was in Chicago) and his achievements are nowhere near Jordan's. So unless, in the next two seasons, Kobe manages to win 8 scoring titles, 3 MVPs, a defensive player of the year award, two more championships, win three straight titles....retire....come back and win three more then he is not on Jordan's level.

Kobe is a fantastic player, the best of his time. But in no way, shape, or form does he even approach Jordan's plateau. Sometimes he does things that are Jordanesque but that's considered a big occurrence for him. It's described as Jordanesque because Jordan did it all the time.

In game 6 of the Western Conference finals Kobe went berserk in the final quarter scoring in jaw dropping fashion pouring in 30 points to put away the Phoenix Suns on the road. That was the best playoff game of Kobe's career. In the 1993 NBA finals Jordan averaged 41 a game. Coincidentally that was also against the Suns. And he also beat them in 6 games. The point is that whatever Kobe does, Jordan did it better.

The highest scoring average Kobe's ever had is 35.4 PPG, a pretty amazing number. Jordan's highest average was 37.1, almost two whole points above Kobe. Kobe's best record in a season is 65-17, Jordan's is an NBA record 72-10. In fact, Jordan won over 65 games three times in his career.

Jordan was a better scorer but scoring isn't everything. Let's look at assist numbers. Jordan's career assist average is 5.3 APG, with his highest mark in a season at 8 APG. Kobe's career assist average is 4.7 APG and his best season was 6 APG back in the 04-05 season.

Jordan was a better scorer and was more unselfish but points and assists aren't everything. Let's look at rebounding numbers. Jordan's career rebounding average is 6.2 RPG and his best single season rebounding average was 8 RPG. Kobe's career rebounding average is 5.3 RPG with his best season at 6.9 RPG.

But points, assists, and rebounds aren't everything. Let's look at steals. Jordan's career steals per game (SPG) average is 2.3, Kobe's is 1.5. Jordan's best single season SPG average was 3.2 in the 87-88 season. Kobe's was 2.2 in the o2-03 campaign.

Let's be fair to Kobe. Points per game, assists per game, rebounds per game, and steals per game aren't everything. Let's look at their efficiency. Jordan's career shooting percentage is .497 to Kobe's .455. And best single season? Kobe can't even come close. Jordan's best single season shooting percentage was a whopping .539 in his first championship season back in 90-91. Kobe's was .469 in 01-02.

Well numbers aren't everything. It doesn't matter that Jordan has higher numbers in points per game, assists per game, rebounds per game, steals per game, and shooting percentage. What really needs to be examined are classic moments.

Jordan has his 63 point masterpiece against the Celtics, his two dunk contest duels, the shot over Craig Ehlo to knock the Cavaliers out of the playoffs, his switching from right to left in mid air against the Lakers in the 91 finals, his shrug after hitting his 6th three in the first half of game one in the 92 finals, and the pose after hitting the game clincher of game 6 of the 1998 finals in Utah.

Kobe has his game 6 scoring barrage against the Suns in the 2010 playoffs, his 81 point dismantling of the Toronto Raptors, you're going to be hard pressed to come up with many more after that.

Hopefully you get the point. Jordan is ahead of Kobe in every statistical category, in every award count, and in classic moments. Kobe has had a 13 year career which is as long as Jordan was in Chicago. Kobe's had the time to compile the accolades. They don't add up or really even scratch the surface of Jordan's. If this article doesn't solidify Jordan's dominion over Kobe then I don't know what will.

Tom Thibodeau To Coach Bulls

The long coaching search is over, Tom Thibodeau is the new coach of the Chicago Bulls. According to a report on Bulls.com Thibodeau accepted a three year, 6.5 million dollar contract early Saturday morning.

On June 2nd (a day before game 1 of the NBA Finals) Bulls' VP of Basketball Operations John Paxson and GM Gar Forman flew to Los Angeles to interview Celtics assistant coach and defensive guru Tom Thibodeau. Reports surfaced that both sides came away impressed and that a contract offer was to come in the near future. Jerry Reinsdorf (Owner) spent much of the day on Friday at the Bulls' practice facility to talk more about offering Thibodeau the job. Apparently those conversations went well because he was offered the job early the next morning.

The two elements the Bulls were looking for in a coach was a defensive mindset and the ability to be an effective leader. Thibodeau serves both of those needs and his track record is as impressive as any assistant coach in the league.

Everyone knew this was going to be an active offseason in Chicago and the first move is already out of the way. Next for the Bulls is sign a top tier free agent. Having such a highly respected coach in place can only help.

Best Five Point Guards Of The 2009-2010 Season

Point Guards

1. Deron Williams

This year Deron Williams distanced himself from the rest of the pack, posting 18.7 PPG and 10.5 APG Williams carried his Jazz to a 53-29 record. Coming into this season the general consensus was that Williams and Chris Paul were the two best point guards in the league. It is possible that if Paul didn't have an injury plagued season he would be sitting atop this chart, but for now Williams holds the title. The game that really sold me was his performance against the Bulls on March 9th. 28 points (11-15 fg) 17 assists and 1 turnover?! That's just not fair. He had a 19 assist game later that month but that game was against the Warriors. Big numbers mean much more when they come against a good team. Williams is one of those players whose stats don't tell the full story. Despite the great statistical season that Carlos Boozer is having, it's Williams who's the heart and soul of that team. Numbers don't make a good player great and Williams is a perfect example of that. Last year I would have said Chris Paul was the best PG in the league because he took a pretty bad team to the playoffs. Last year Williams' numbers were better than they were this year. The difference is that this year Williams is playing more like a Chauncey Billups, only better. Williams now realizes that being the floor general is better for the team than trying to do everything alone. That's something all young point guards eventually need to learn.

2. Derrick Rose

If you're a basketball fan pay attention to the Chicago Bulls. Since Rose's early season ankle injury recovered the second year guard out of Memphis emerged as a legitimate superstar in this league. Rose, almost singlehandedly, took his Bulls to the playoffs as major components of the team were constantly coming in and out of the lineup due to injury. I felt that Rose was in the conversation for the second best point guard in the league for a long time. People finally started accepting it around the all star break when he became the first Bulls all star since Michael Jordan in 1998. The icing on the cake was when Rose promised that the Bulls would defy the odds and beat out the Raptors for the eighth and final playoff spot. That run was highlighted by a 39 point masterpiece against Rajon Rondo and the Celtics in the second to last game of the season. As Rose continued to show his dominance in the second half of the season the Rose vs. Rondo debates were starting to come to a close. Once Rose absolutely torched Rondo on national television, the verdict was in.

3. Rajon Rondo

Rajon Rondo's emergence as a premier point guard started in the 2008 playoffs. In the big 3's first season together the question was whether or not the Celtics could win a championship with Rondo running the team. Rondo's defensive superiority started to surface in the 2008 finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. On the world's biggest stage Rondo hounded the Lakers' bigs nonstop. In the deciding game 6 Rondo had 4 steals in the Celtics' 131-92 rout. That was two seasons ago and Rondo has matured into a great point guard. The main reason why he's third on the list is his inability to be a prolific scorer as well as his inability to take over late in games. Both Rose and Williams can take over in the last 5 minutes, Rondo not so much.

4. Steve Nash

At 36 years old Steve Nash is still running up and down with the best of them. Nash guided his Suns back to the playoffs this season in the midst of all kinds of trade rumors involving nearly everyone on his team. Nash is no longer the most valuable player in this league but he's still by far the best passer. This guy throws passes that make your head spin in disbelief and he's been doing it for over a decade. Leading his Suns all the way to the Western Conference Finals is a commendable achievement. It is unknown what the future holds for Nash but it's safe to say he's had a legendary career, the only thing missing is a ring.

5. Chris Paul

The primary reason why Paul isn't higher up on this list is because of his injury plagued season. He had some games where he played like the CP3 we all now and love but there were many games where Paul just didn't seem like himself. I don't know if the emergence of Darren Collison made him question his job security (I doubt it) or not but something was definitely wrong with him both mentally physically. In all likelihood it was probably that Paul was scared to death of being re-injured as that is the common mindset of a player coming back from injury. This list is not of the best point guards of the 2009-2010 season, it's a list of the best point guards in the league as of right now. And as of now Chris Paul is the fifth best point guard.