February 6, 2019: The Business

For all the trash I talk about today’s NBA, the one thing that I like to watch is the trade deadline. It’s that time of year; the Bulls jumped into the fray on Wednesday night just before the tip off with the Pelicans. The Bulls traded Bobby Portis, Jabari Parker, and a 2023 2nd round draft pick (whatever) to the Wizards for Otto Porter Jr. When I first saw it come across the wire via a text from my guy, I liked it.

I almost hate to like something GarPax did. I’d rather not like it, and just pile on the hate their way. It’s the thing to do; rightfully so. The one negative thing we can say about this deal is the money Porter will get paid; 55M the next 2 years. But, this is the NBA, and a lot of guys get a lot of money; is Otto worth it? Is anybody worth it? At least it’s 2 years we’re talking about, and not like 5-6, although if this guy pans out, and becomes one of the pieces to this puzzle, and since he is so young, maybe we’d wish he was under contact longer. Ok, that’s a stretch right now; let’s see him play a game in a Bulls uniform first.

Adios to Jabari; no sweat there. The guy does have some offensive skill, don’t get me wrong, but everything else about him sucks. One of the memories that pop to mind is when he threw an alley oop like 2 feet higher than Wendell could jump. He went over to him and tapped him on the head, like he should have had that…and Wendell’s look at him; that was funny. Trading Bobby Portis brings mixed feelings. I liked his heart. I liked the fact that he got fired up…one guy that showed a pulse during these last two dying seasons. I also liked the fact that he wanted to be here; he wanted to be a Bull for life. Not many guys would say that, especially nowadays. You always want guys to want to be where they’re at; if you don’t want to be here, adios. Well, I guess even if you want to be here, adios; that’s the bad part. The OK part: he’s not even a starter, and he’s going to want to get paid. Are we going to pay a 6th man a lot of dough? See above guys getting a lot of money that shouldn’t. But that answer should be no. Could Bobby be a starter? I think we’ll get to see how that plays out in Washington. The other thing that I think about is the whole Niko thing. For some reason, it brings a scene from the Godfather to my head. At the end, when Carlo thought he was clear, but Michael told him he’d have to pay for Sonny. Maybe this was Bobby paying for Niko; that’s the business.

Overall, after further review, I’m sticking with my initial reaction. I’m good with it. And oh yeah, this guy can actually shoot the three; it’s nice to have another guy besides Lauri who is actually good at shooting threes (40%). Let’s see how it goes; things can’t possibly get worse, right? Go Bulls!