Dwight Howard to Bulls???

If you have a chance to grab the best player at ANY position to pair up with your superstar, don't you just HAVE to do it? Howard turns 26 on Thu...pair him with 23-year old defending MVP Derrick Rose without giving up your entire roster and THAT is something. I'd throw Noah, Taj and Luol plus the Charlotte pick along with a Bulls top pick at Orlando for Howard and whoever else makes the salaries line up including Turkoglu if that's what it takes. That's WAY better than any of the other proposed deals I've read. Noah is a near All-Star (would have made it last year if he didn't get hurt) and is easily the best player I've heard in any rumors...Taj is a defensive animal and awfully good shot blocker whose offense is coming around...it's tough to trade Luol after the great 2-way year he had on both offense and defense...definitely an underrated player in this league.

But Bynum? Come on...dude plays like 50 games a year and is such a head case, he's suspended for the first 5 games this year due to his horrendous conduct in the playoffs last year. Gasol? Hasn't he already proven he can't be the best player and actually win plus he's 31! Lamar Odom? Dude doesn't even start for his own team and he just turned 32...how is Orlando supposed to rebuild around him? And Brook Lopez from the Nets plus a couple picks? 6 rebounds per game for Brook...isn't he a 7-footer? Sounds more like Brooke Shields...

The Bulls would be AWESOME with Howard, Rose, Boozer (doubt Orlando would take two big contracts so they'd pick Deng over Boozer...less money, younger player, fewer years), Caron Butler (now you could use a 3), and Brewer/Korver...plus you still have some guys on the bench like Omer, rookie Jimmy Butler and hopefully veteran and solid overall player Kurt Thomas.

The problem with a deal like this is GarPax is too much like ex-Cub GM Jim Hendry...too in love with their own players...so they won't pull the trigger on this under the excuse that they had the best record in the East already and just need a better 2. The problem with that theory is the only good 2-way players are going to make more $$$ than you can give them under the CBA...I'd love 26-year old Arron Afflalo (yep, that's how he spells it) as he'd fit right into Thibs' defensive philosophy plus his offensive game is coming around with more playing time, but with half of his team's players literally stuck in China, I have to think Denver will do whatever they can to keep him. The next guy on my list at 2-guard is Jason Richardson, but he'll be 31 next month and he didn't play too well for Orlando at the end of last year. After that, I think my favorite name is Shane Battier...unfortunately, he's not a 2-guard and is better suited to play the 3.

I guess worst case is what happens if Howard goes somewhere that hurts like NY or Boston or stays in Orlando and gets paired up with CP3? That would be bad, right?

M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!

There has been a LOT of talk around the NBA "circles" (are these crop circles because I haven't seen any circles labeled NBA) about our own Derrick Rose for MVP. Derrick tried to nominate himself for the title in the pre-season by asking the question "why not me?" when asked about the MVP. Most people laughed it off, but take a look folks...he's doing it...he's right there in the mix. And we've been hearing the chants when he steps to the free throw line at the United Center...I thought it was a little premature back in November, but apparently not. Heck, he's hearing those chants on the road too! The Bulls are #1 in home attendance (#2 in home percentage) and #4 in road attendance...so lots of people are seeing this team and more specifically, this kid of ours play some ball.

For me the MVP must be the answer to the following question...can Player X' team win without him? Obviously any player on this list is affecting his team's win total so I'm not asking...can his team win at the same rate, but rather can they win at a decent rate...say .500 or so?

The top 3 guys this year in my opinion are LeBron, Dirk, and Derrick Rose...so let's talk about each of them one at a time...

So can the Heat win without LeBron? I would argue that YES, the Heat can win without LeBron as they have another superstar (and NO, I am not talking about "fake tough guy" Chris Bosh!) on their team that can and has already carried them at times even with LeBron in the lineup. LeBron has only missed two games this season as he continues to prove that he's a pretty durable player...he's never played in all 82 regular season games, but he's never played fewer than 75 either. The Heat are 0-2 in those two games which occurred back-to-back against the Nuggets (as a side note, Wade has never beaten Carmelo in Denver) and Bulls. While that's obviously not .500, it's hardly a large enough sample size to call that record a determining factor...the Heat also lost the game before with the Clippers while LeBron played nearly 40 minutes and the game following against the Hawks while LeBron played 44 minutes in an OT loss.

So can the Mavs win without Dirk? Well, Dirk has missed 9 games this season and his Mavs went 2-7 over that time frame so the instinctual answer is NO. They also lost Caron Butler in the middle of Dirk's absence although they had already lost the first two with Butler. The Bulls swept the season series with the Mavs this year and Dirk played in both games; Derrick played in both games; Butler played in the first game in Dallas, but missed the second at the UC; no Boozer for the first, and no Boozer and no Joakim for the second as Derrick was the only Bull in double figures in that second game...result - Bulls 2; Dallas 0.

Can the Bulls win without Derrick Rose? Ummm...I really don't think so especially in this first part of the season with Boozer out, Joakim out or even both guys out. Can they scrape together a win or two out of 10, maybe. The Bulls lost the only game Derrick has missed this season (knock on wood!) although it was in heartbreaking fashion when Melo hit that fade-away J over Luol at the buzzer. But let me explain by bringing up a situation from last season...the Bulls lost Joakim Noah for a 10 games in the second half...they went on to lose ALL 10 which seemed to end their playoff hopes in March (luckily Chris Bosh had already given up in Toronto so the Bulls were able to slip into the playoffs with a bit of a late season surge going 10-4 to finish up 41-41). That was last year...this year, Joakim has already missed the last 28 games, but this is Derrick's year...he's not only kept the Bulls going, but they are 21-7 in those 28 games. Of course, the Bulls have played the entire season with either their #2 or #3 players hurt or out or even BOTH out at the same time (Derrick's Bulls are 2-1 with both out) and yet, they still have the 5th best record in the NBA! I'm sorry, but THOSE are MVP numbers. Need more...here's a quote from ESPN's Maurice Brooks who does the "Awards Watch" page for them (http://espn.go.com/nba/notebook/_/page/Awards-110215/nba-awards-watch) - "On 13 occasions, the Bulls have trailed in the fourth quarter only to have Rose rescue them. That is another stat on what is turning into a long list of reasons to give him the award." Really...what else is there!

So how will Derrick perform as the starting (and healthy) point guard for the Eastern Conference All-Stars? I don't know...this type of show-off game isn't really his thing as he's not the ego-maniac LeBron, Kobe, Amar'e, and Wade are...I think he's probably going to want to show he belongs so its not like he's going to be cowering in the corner...he still loves to play in front of the big stage...he sure proved that Thu night on TNT in front of a national TV audience, so I expect him to have a pretty good game.

I don't know why I didn't think about this before with Michael and Scottie as regulars in the All-Star games, but how will these guys even get along? The East consists of 3 Heat, 4 Celtics, 2 Hawks, 1 Knick, 1 Magic, and Derrick...that's all 12 guys representing the top 6 teams in the East right now. I know Derrick is a very competitive guy, but most of the rest of the guys really seem to enjoy this type of game. Interestingly, he'll be paired in the starting lineup with LeBron and Wade, both of whom spurned the Bulls this summer; otherwise we could have potentially watched the three of them play together every night. In addition to playing with two of the Three Am-EGOS to start, the third Am-EGO is also there as a reserve and then there's the issues with the cheap shots by new teammate Dwight Howard which helped somewhat ruin Derrick's last trip to the All-Star Game. Then there's the 4 Celtics including Rajon Rondo who Derrick beat out in the voting to become the starter. Remember that epic playoff series between the Bulls and Celtics in the first round during Derrick's rookie season? NOBODY that I've ever heard has ever said anything really negative about Derrick so I'm sure he'll do well with everyone.

Other than the 4 Celtics who each won a ring 3 years ago, the rest of the East has just one ring combined. The West have a LOT more rings on their side as the West has pretty well dominated the ring collection since the Bulls second three-peat winning 9 of the last 12 NBA Titles. So what kind of game can we expect to see from Derrick tomorrow? I'd be thrilled to see him throw down a couple of nice 2-handed dunks and dish out about 12 assists...most importantly, I want him to really enjoy the moment and learn from it just like he did with the Team USA experience over the summer.

Let's keep those M-V-P! chants going nice and loud at the UC! Heck, I've even been hearing it on the road when he goes to the free throw line; let's keep em going there too!

By the way, I started writing this earlier in the week before the San Antonio game...if you weren't convinced of his MVP status before that game, hopefully his career high 42 points pushed you in the right direction. He shot 18-for-28 against the league's best team and added 8 assists and 5 boards. It started out as a battle between Rose and San Antonio's Tony Parker...kind of a battle between two of the leagues best PGs. This was the 3rd such match-up in the Bulls last 4 games after matching up with and totally outplaying Deron Williams in Utah (longest tenured coach in US pro sports was gone following that game) and Chris Paul in New Orleans back-to-back the week before.

Charles Barkley (a lot smarter than he makes himself out to be) thinks Derrick's Bulls are the best team in the East now that Joakim Noah is coming back following the All-Star Game tomorrow. I tend to agree, but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself...but I am REALLY excited at the same time.

GO BULLS!

Hold on one minute D-Wade...

I am working late tonight with a long night ahead of me, but I have the TV on in the background and saw an interview with The Three Am-EGOS (I guess it hasn't caught on quite yet, as I didn't see that as a caption...). At one point they were talking about the backlash and whether these three knuckleheads were surprised. Well, I wasn't surprised that only Wade and Bosh responded. Bosh basically said he didn't care...he's been on a losing team (most would suggest he was part of the problem) and he's just happy not to be in that situation any more ("I've struggled; I know"). Wade though decided to challenge the thought that Michael Jordan, Magic, and Bird "did it by themselves" in comparing how these guys must feel like they need each other to win. He disputed that those REAL legends "did it by themselves"...of course, they didn't do it by themselves! Nobody said they did Dwyane! The argument against you guys colluding to join the same team BEFORE the season was even over (and give me a break that this wasn't the case - Bosh quit on his team the last week of the season so the Raptors didn't even make the playoffs and LeBron gave up on his team in front of his then home crowd in Game 5) was that each of the legends named stuck with their teams (MJ in particular) rather than bolting for another team when things got tough. They each took on the challenge (LeBron, do you even know what this word means?) to get their OWN teams over the hump rather than bail and go join someone else's team. Well, I hate to break it to you guys...that's PRECISELY what you guys have done and diminished each of your legacies and marketability. I'm sure LeBron is starting to figure that out when he talks to Nike when his shoes stop selling. I'm sure they're trying to figure out how to spin this disaster as they are masters at doing just that...that must be why they have been so quiet since The Decision.

Best defensive team of all-time?!? That is what Wade is looking forward to? Really? I like Dwyane Wade and while he has quick hands and gets his share of steals and LeBron gets his share of blocks from behind, these guys are hardly defensive stalwarts. And Bosh?!? Really? Who is he going to guard because I've yet to see him play D in 7 years? He's averaged exactly 1.0 blocks from the front court and 0.6 steals per game the last 3 years running! I'm sorry, but that's not defense! Maybe you should have watched some tape of your new teammate because I think you're going to be a little disappointed. LeBron, while he certainly gets his share of highlights shone on ESPN, also averages 1.0 blocks but does get an extra steal per game (1.6). The block "king" from The Three Am-EGOS is actually Wade averaging a whole 1.1; he also leads the group in steals with 1.8. Let's totalize those numbers - 3.1 bpg and 4 spg. Dwight Howard averaged 3.5 bpg by himself while Manu Ginobli nearly matched The Three Am-EGOS on his own with 2.6 spg. I'm sorry, but defense is NOT at all what first (second, third, fourth, fifth...eightieth) comes to my mind with these three guys.

Bosh has started his last All-Star Game and will be a barely above average player starting today as long as Wade and LeBron are healthy. First, being the third option is certainly going to crush his offensive numbers; second, who is going to vote for him besides people in Miami? The health of these guys is certainly no guarantee - remember LeBron's elbow? What about the numerous Wade injuries and all the miles on his 6'4" frame while getting beat to a pulp bouncing off all those big guys for the last 7 years. And now that Bosh will seemingly be forced to play C most of the time, he'll be banging with the big boys too which he REALLY doesn't like to do so his rebound numbers could take a hit too.

Let's face it...the number one piece of the plan was exactly how LeBron announced his decision...to take your talents to South Beach...oh ya, and we might play some basketball in Miami too! Have fun boys...LeBron likes to win 60 regular season games, but he seems to prefer to take the summer off...that'll work out perfectly as Miami gets a little too hot in June anyway.