Re: Hollinger Chat: Bulls will "dither," not sign anyone Contra Hollinger, I think it's almost certain the Bulls will sign someone with their FA money. The Bulls have spent a lot of time and marketing energy selling this plan already. So it’s sort of too late to pull out now. In some ways, i think the Bulls are over-committed. The smart thing to do might be to not spend if Lebron, Bosh, etc are off the board and their remaining alternative is to commit a bunch of money to a soon to be declining player. In reality, the argument gets turned on its head. Because Reinsdorf cares more about making money than winning, he’ll go for the big splash to the declining player. This will sell more hope, and thus more tickets over the next couple years. On the other hand, if they save money and sign no one, fans will be pissed and stop coming. In the long-run, saving the money would promote winning. You could lock in another player at a reasonable price, buy a couple draft picks, whatever. Then make a big push down the road. Spending the money on, say, Joe Johnson guarantees you a couple years of above mediocrity, but you end up locked into a shit sandwich in the long run.
Re: Hollinger Chat: Bulls will "dither," not sign anyone You can make full use of cap space without signing a FA. You have the space to absorb a max salary in trade for something like a 2nd round pick.
Re: Hollinger Chat: Bulls will "dither," not sign anyone I predict less dithering this time around but more dawdling and the emergence of some dilly-dallying.
Well sure, they could take someone in trade too. But the Bulls will still be spending on salary because they've created the expectation they will. So whether it's trade or free agency, they'll acquire someone and tell folks he's shinola and not shit.
Re: Hollinger Chat: Bulls will "dither," not sign anyone I still have my copy of "Bullseye" with Ron Mercer on the cover. It says "SHOWTIME! The Bulls sign the electrifying Ron Mercer."
Re: Hollinger Chat: Bulls will "dither," not sign anyone If it is Joe Johnson, his price tag has come down this week. And Hollinger was the same guy who said that Rose's teammates were upset that he wasn't passing more... Reinsdorf is in a perfect situation: he's got enough talent and fan favorites in Rose and Deng and Noah to make the playoffs and sell out the stadium for the foreseeable future. Plus he's got Forman and Paxson over the barrel for the way the Vinny thing played out. So if they don't sign anybody, because they didn't want to overspend for Johnson or Amare, they are covered. Reinsdorf can claim fiscal responsibility, or he can ax his GM's. And if they do sign somebody, he can dump Pax and Forman if it doesn't work out and bring somebody else in to try and get the pieces.
