Brains & Balls

Well the Chicago Bulls decided to turn it up a notch today, and not a moment too soon. The day started ominously for the Bulls with the news that Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh will be together in Miami Heat uniforms for the upcoming season. Wade and Bosh also had plans of trying to lure LeBron down to Miami as well.

Not a good start to say the least. It certainly didn't get any better with multiple reports of LeBron heading to the Knicks, which also included little nuggets like MSG stock trading through the roof today with the understanding that LeBron to the Knicks is a done deal. There was also news of the Nets being very close to signing Carlos Boozer in an effort to lure LeBron to signing with the Nets. The Bulls pursuit of LeBron seemed to be on life-support, as well as their plans to at least walk away with one splashy free agent signing. Just when it seemed like it was all over...the Bulls sprang back to life.

They managed to do so by not only indicating that they haven't been told "no" by LeBron and his camp yet, but also by stealing away Carlos Boozer and signing him to a 5 year, $75-$76 million dollar range! Carlos Boozer, in my opinion, is a much better fit for what the Bulls are going to do this year. Tom Thibodeau is a staunch believer in defense, and Boozer is much more committed to defense, aggressive low-post play, and while not the scorer Chris Bosh may be, isn't exactly Joakim Noah with the ball either.

What does this mean for the Bulls signing LeBron? Probably nothing, especially with late word out of Miami that LeBron is meeting with Pat Riley, but at least they've done something smart and gutsy. At worst case scenario, the Bulls got a Two Time All-Star who is a really good player and a really good fit for what they want to do. Boozer has also said he will try to lure his one time teammate to signing with the Bulls as well. So maybe this signing will either directly or indirectly get LeBron to sign? It's still anybodys guess but at least the Bulls showed they are NOT out of the running.  

On a side note, ESPN has really embarrassed themselves by deciding to air this special tomorrow. Think about it, if you are supposed to be one of ESPN's Inside Reporters (say for the sake of argument Rick Bucher) and you get a lock-down-money-in-the-bank confirmation that LeBron is definitely signing with Team X...you cannot report it because ESPN is in the conflict of interest position of trying to drum up television ratings for tomorrow night! Yet another nail in the coffin for the Worldwide Leader's Journalistic Integrity. Shameful...