Saturday, September 22, 2007

The Tricks of the Trade


I have trouble believing trade rumors nowadays. I think trade rumor credibility was recently tarnished thanks to Kobe Bryant. At the end of the 2006-2007 season, Bryant declared that he wanted to be traded and did not wish to be a Laker anymore. He also mentioned that the Chicago Bulls was one of the teams on his list that he would like to be traded to. Bulls fans knew that in order for this trade to happen, this meant that Chicago would have to give up either Deng or Gordon, as well as other players. But then Mr. Raperman Bryant decided to just stick with the Lakers. Regardless, It's so hard to know what the Bulls should do in times like these because everyone knows that practically every player on the Bulls has a tremendous upside and still has time to grow into an all-star caliber player.

It seems that every major trade rumor has involved the Chicago Bulls. Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Zach Randolph, Pau Gasol, etc...why does it seem like Chicago is the best place for one of these players? What is so great about the Chicago Bulls??? I'll tell you what...FUCKING EVERYTHING! This shows that I'm not the only one who has noticed that Chicago is consistently getting better and all the NBA is taking notice of it. And the lack of a true all-star has the major players looking to Chicago as a place where they can make an immediate impact, and even eventually bring a championship back to the windy city.

But I don't know if they understand that the reason why the Bulls keep improving every year is because they already have the basic role players, besides a scoring big man. In order to bring one of these all-stars to Chicago, this would mean that Chicago would have to sacrifice Deng, Gordon, Nocioni, Duhon, or someone else that still has time to get better and has already made a major contribution to the success of the team. With the acquisition of Ben Wallace, the Bulls did not lose anything, except maybe a little too much money. Since Wallace was acquired through free agency, no core players were lost from the year before. However, Tyson Chandler was traded to New Orleans for P.J. Brown.

The reason why I bring up this trade talk is because I recently read a blog speaking of how Utah F Andrei Kirilenko requested to be traded. Kirilenko declared this only a few days after he helped Russia win the gold in the European championships. Andrei has sorta been on a downward spiral. This past year, he only average 8.3 points, which is the lowest of his career. Injuries have whooped his ass the last three seasons. But after his showing in the European championships, where he averaged 18 points and 8.3 rebounds, there is no doubt that Kirilenko still has game. Mainly known for his defense, Kirilenko would be able to contribute to the the high powered defense already covered by the Bulls. But I doubt anything will become of this trade because I doubt that Chicago's salary cap can cover Kirilenko. But I think we'll be fine without Kirilenko.

But I'll leave you with some skills that Andrei Kirilenko could bring to Chicago.


1 comment:

Insignificant Wrangler said...

Seems to me like the Bulls are in every trade because they need a low-post scorer (as you frequently point out). They'll continue to market their "babies" until either someone grows up to own the post or they decide to run and gun like those pesky Suns.

I agree with you: the Bulls are better off without AK.