What a great move by the Bulls. This instantly gives them a HUGE chance to make it to the finals. They are already a good team, but with Wallace, this team is now even better. I was stunned when the Bulls offered him 60 million dollars! Although Wallace in my opinion isn't worth 60 mill because he doesn't offer much on offense, it was still a great move for the Bulls.
I think that Chicago is now the Eastern Conference favorite to make it to the Finals. Miami is too old, Cleveland is too one-dimensional, and Detroit's team is being broken up.
They really look like that on paper. They have a nice mixture of talents on that team. Nice scorers in Ben Gordon and Loul Deng. Nice ball-handlers who can hit the shot in Kirk Hinrich and Chris Duhon. And Andres Nocioni was just so nice shooting the ball in the playoffs. Plus you have good defenders in Eddie Basden, Chris Duhon, Kirk Hinrich, Viktor Khryapa, Andres Nocioni, and Ben Wallace.
I agree with you on what you say about the Heat and the Cavs. Some ageing players in Gary Payton, Shaq, Antoine Walker, Derek Anderson is getting older, and so is Jason Williams.
The Cavs are very one-dimensional. Other then Lebron James and Larry Hughes, you don't really have much of anything else. Besides Zydrunas Ilgauskas. What is even more scarier for the Cavs is that James has one more year on his contract, and the Cavs have offered him a extension worth 80 mill, and he has been very silent about it.
If LeBron James leaves the Cavs, he will be one of the most hated players in Cleveland history! The Cavs aren't a bad team, they just need to add a supporting cast to LeBron. If they had a good all around team, they could be in the fight for the title.
I agree with your take on the Cavs. I think that they could add a supporting cast around him, but it just doesn't feel like a winning situation in Cleveland. Don't you remember free agency last year? The Cavs tried to get Michael Redd and all those other players and none of them wanted to go because Cleveland isn't championship worthy. At least not yet.
If he leaves, James would become one of the most hated athletes in the city of Cleveland but I think John Elway will always be the most hated up there.
I believe now that the Cavs have been in the playoffs now, and actually won a series, people will consider them more. I turn off for me about the Cavs is that LeBron gets 99% of all the credit for the Cavs. If I drop 20 ppg and I'm a Cav, but get no apprecation, I would want to be traded. If LeBron does not sign this extension, I will think either he hated the Cavs, or he is all about the money. You are not going to get much better then 80 mill.
I could be wrong, but I don't think LeBron is going to leave Cleveland. He has lots of charity foundations set up in Cleveland, and his hometown is just a few miles away. The Cavs won 50 games last year, and should be even better in 06-07.
The Bulls look legit. I'm not going to count out Dwyane Wade just yet, but Miami has to be concerned about them. I still think Phoenix will win the NBA Championship next year, however. That team took Dallas to six games, and will be getting Amare Stoudamire back.
I don't think that the Suns will ever win a championship playing the style they play. Just like the Colts will never win a Super Bowl playing the style they play.
That is a good point. Stoudamire is a monster and with him on the court, the Suns are 100% better. Stoudamire will force the double-team in the paint, and all they have to do is kick it out to their outside shooters in Steve Nash, Raja Bell, Leonadro Barbosa, and Eddie House. Not to mention other big-men that can make a 3 in Shawn Marion. It is a shame Tim Thomas left, they would just be amazing.
