What on earth are you talking about? Championships are won when players sacrifice personal stats for the betterment of the team. Pierce, Allen, and KG didn't care who the " number one " guy was in Boston 07-08. Wanting to play on a talented team with All Stars has nothing to do with the confidence in ones game. No one wins alone. LeBron, Rose, and Bosh may all average around 18-20 ppg if they care about winning. The offense will start with Rose. Bosh will be the number one option in the post. LeBron will fill in the holes ala Pippen.
Magic, Kareem, and Worthy are three of the greatest players of All Time. Were their rings cheapened because they played together?
If the Bulls get both LeBron AND Bosh - Damn! That would be amazing for them. I remember the year Orlando came THAAAAAAT close to nabbing Hill AND Duncan. LeBron can't play the 2 full time. But, it doesn't matter. With the lineup the Bulls are looking at, they actually WANT an extremely subservient, dirty-work nobody at the 2. Really, it will work out for the team much better than somebody with an ego and a big salary. Rose Defender/Garbage Guy LeBron Bosh Noah Deng can attempt to become a sixth-man bench anchor. As soon as he has a nice year, he should be moved for quality depth.
If the Bulls can get this done you have to hand it to 'em. They only went out and got the top-2 FA and quite possibly the most sought after FA of all-time in LeBron James.
Think Thabo Sefolosha would have looked good at the 2 spot in that line-up instead of Taj Gibson off of the bench? I do.
LeBron at PG, Rose at SG, Deng, Noah, Bosh up front. Works. Taj off the bench, plus D-Leaguers. The Bulls could conceivably go LeBron and Joe Johnson. Rose, Johnson, Noah, LeBron, Taj. Works. Deng super sub / 6th man. Plus D-Leaguers.
That's a somewhat limited offensive team that lacks outside shooting. I'm not sure it's any better than what James had in Cleveland, quite honestly. Bosh would be a huge addition, and a better option than Johnson. Johnson, Rose, and James are all used to having the ball in their hands and creating offense. I'm not sure it would work as well as you think it would work. Stoudemire would be a better option B if Bosh isn't available.
I'd prefer, LeBron/Bosh/Rose/Noah and a spot up shooter at SG. Someone who can play off the ball and defend, more easy to find. Either you need to trade Deng to get more cap space, or sign Bosh somehow and trade Deng to fill in other gaps.
While not an elite defender, JJ Reddick isn't terrible, and he would be ideal with that line-up offensively. They don't have the space to get him without giving away Deng though, do they?
Rumor was Gortat and Pietrus for Deng. It gets the Bulls ~$500K more under the cap, perhaps enough for the 2 MAX FA salaries (nobody really knows for sure outside the league). basketball-reference.com has Gortat at $5.84M and Pietrus at $5.3M. S2 had Pietrus at $6M and Gortat at $5.8M.
They need about 33.2 million to have two max contracts. They're approximately 2-2.5 million short of that. They need to shed Deng somehow if they want a third big move. I wouldn't mind Pietrus.
David Aldridge says the Bulls do have room for 2 MAX FAs. http://www.nba.com/2010/news/06/24/wizards.bulls.aldridge/index.html
I was reading a blog that said he forgot some cap holds. http://www.blogabull.com/2010/6/25/1536317/quick-cap-calculations- -jj-rumor Still a lot to work with though. Some moves can still be made.
If Chicago lands both LBJ and Bosh, it kind of makes you think what happens when Noah and Rose's contracts are up. It will be very expensive to resign those players when you consider luxury tax implications etc.
With a team like that you don't really need a bench, just anyone off the street to give 2 or 3 minutes rest to LeBron.
really though, i hope it happens, i'll be sure to root for the Bulls even though I kinda hate LeBron. haha My dad is a die hard bulls fans so he's hoping they get the King.
At least someone on this forum who isn't a Lakers fan will be happy. Enjoy another decade of dominance the rest of the Developmental NBA league will continue to wonder who wins between the top ten media market teams us other 22 teams will gladly break in up and coming Superstars for you folks. I bet dollars to doughnuts Durant ends up in the Purple and Piss.
