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The Bears Made a Jimmy Butler-Style Trade Once Too

By
Erik Lambert
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chicago bears jimmy butler

The news and opinions keep flowing in. After a couple years of flirting with the idea, the Chicago Bulls finally traded All-Star Jimmy Butler. He heads off to Minnesota while the team gets back young players Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and a top 10 draft pick. As always with big trades there are people on both sides of the fence. Some like it, others hate it. There really is no way to understand how the Bulls are feeling at this moment. As it turns out though another team in their home city might. Fans may not know there was a Chicago Bears Jimmy Butler type of trade at one point in time.

It’s true. The setup was almost identical. In the mid-’70s the Bears were a team hovering in mediocrity. In 1977, they made the playoffs and were absolutely dismantled by the eventual champion Dallas Cowboys. So GM Jim Finks decided a change was needed. Going into the 1978 draft he made the surprise decision to trade defensive end Wally Chambers to Tampa Bay.

At this point in time Chamber was 27-years old and already gone to three Pro Bowls. In return the Bears got tight end Bob Moore and the Buccaneers’ first round pick in 1979. A lot of people were critical of the move. Sacrificing a proven player on a future gamble.

Chicago Bears Jimmy Butler type deal paid off huge

If anything their move was even more bold. The Bulls knew they were getting the seventh pick in the draft for their deal with Minnesota. The Bears had no clue what pick they’d have. As it turns out, they got lucky. The pick become the fourth overall in the draft. Finks used it to take a big white kid from Arkansas by the name of Dan Hampton.

Chicagobears.com can explain what happened after that.

“Hampton played all 12 of his NFL seasons with the Bears from 1979-90. He was voted to four Pro Bowls—two at defensive end and two at defensive tackle—and named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1980s. Hampton was an integral part of the Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl championship team and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002.”

The point of it all being that the Bears know the risk the Bulls took by making this move. There’s a chance that Butler could go on to great success in Minnesota while they get nothing from their deal for him. The potential is there for things to take off if nurtured properly, just as it was with Hampton. Of course much of that depends heavily on whether Forman and Paxson can rebuild the rest of the roster within the next couple years.

Not exactly a reason to feel confident for Bulls fans.

Bulls Draft Lauri Markkanen, Who is He?

By
Matthew Milakovich
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Some of you may be asking yourselves, who is Lauri Markannen?

Birthday: May 22, 1997

Position: Power forward

Height: 7’0″

Weight: 225 lbs.

Hometown: Vantaa, Finland

High school: Helsinki Basketball Academy

Well, he’s a seven foot sharpshooting forward from Finland. And now he is the newest member of the Chicago Bulls.

Draft analysis per Sports Illustrated:

Strengths: Markkanen is arguably the premier shooter in the draft. He drained 42.3% of his attempts from the outside at Arizona, hoisting 4.4 per game. The NBA three-point line also won’t pose a challenge for his fluid mechanics. He’s a good rebounder, although he won’t make a living on the offensive glass. Scouts who evaluated his European performances also rave about his ability to handle the ball, both in transition and in half-court isolation settings. The thought of Markkanen running 4-5 pick-and-rolls with Karl-Anthony Towns or Kristaps Porzingis could induce nightmares for opposing NBA coaching staffs.

Weaknesses: What promise Markkanen brings on the offensive end, he equally lacks on the other. The defensive boards he gobbled appear translatable on tape, but he will struggle defending in space at the next level. For someone who attempted over 13 shots a game at Arizona, Markennan was an extremely limited playmaker, dishing just 32 assists in 37 games. There’s a legitimate fear he will never grow into more than just a knockdown shooter who spaces the floor for his teammates. That’s certainly a valuable player in the modern NBA, but those picking in the top 10 are certainly hoping to add a prospect who can provide far more.​

Bulls Officially Trade Jimmy Butler

By
Matthew Milakovich
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bulls jimmy butler tom thibodeau secretly person
CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 11: Jimmy Butler #21 of the Chicago Bulls confers with Head Coach Tom Thibodeau during a break in action against New York Knicks on April 11, 2013 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

Well, it’s official.

The Bulls have traded Jimmy Butler and their #16 pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach Lavine, Kris Dunn, and the #7 pick.

Keep in mind Zach Lavine is still recovering from a torn ACL. We will continue to report on this as details emerge.

 

Jose Abreu Gets The Scoring Going With 2-Run Missile

By
Emmet McClain
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Well that didn’t take long. Jose Abreu stays hot and hits an absolute rocket into the stands. He now has 13 home runs, all on the road.

Immediately after, Avi Garcia roped a double into the corner. And after that, Todd Frazier did this.

The White Sox offense is coming out firing in the finale of this 3 game set. White Sox currently lead 4-0 in the first.

Blackhawks Could Try To Get Rid Of Marian Hossa’s Contract, Insider Says

By
Matt Barbato
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ANAHEIM, CA - NOVEMBER 27: Marian Hossa #81 of the Chicago Blackhawks skates during introductions before a game against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on November 27, 2015 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks announced Wednesday that longtime winger Marian Hossa will not play for the team during the 2017-18 season and will be placed on long-term injured reserve.

That LTIR designation has sparked a bit of controversy around the league, as some people around the NHL are upset that the Blackhawks will likely get out of paying Hossa his full $5.275 million salary next season. Instead, Hossa will only accrue a cap hit of $1 million for the 2017-18 campaign. Of course, the NHL will officially make a ruling on this situation by July 1, but other teams have used this loophole to get out of massive contracts in the past (see Chris Pronger and the Philadelphia Flyers). This situation shouldn’t be any different, even though the circumstances are almost convenient for Chicago.

The question is what happens after next season. Hossa hasn’t formally retired and that word has serious cap ramifications for the Hawks. If Hossa were to actually announce his retirement, the Hawks would be slapped with a cap recapture penalty of $3.675 million per year through the 2020-21 season. He still has four years remaining on the 12-year, $63.3 million contract he signed with Chicago in 2009. The collective bargaining agreement penalizes teams if a player with such a long-term deal retires before completion of the contract.

That could be a perilous blow to the Hawks, who are currently $2.52 million over the $75 million salary cap for the upcoming season. The Blackhawks also must wait until July 1 before they can place Hossa on LTIR, but are allowed to be 10 percent over the cap in the summer until the regular season gets underway.

But that potential recapturing penalty makes the latest nugget from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman even more interesting. He speculated the Hawks could try and trade Hossa away to rid themselves completely of his contract.

This is where things could get weird. Obviously, the team and fans would prefer Hossa finish his career as a Hawk, but it appears as if the future Hall of Fame winger’s career is essentially finished. Perhaps it’s best for the Hawks, who are constantly banging their heads against the cap ceiling, to deal Hossa away with plans for a commemoration ceremony when he’s officially retired.

The bigger question is whether the Blackhawks could find a willing trade partner to take on Hossa’s salary even though there’s a very slim chance he’ll ever take a shift for them. As we saw when the Flyers dealt Pronger to the Coyotes in 2015, there’s definitely a possibility.

But which teams might be willing to give the Blackhawks a break?

Per Cap Friendly, the salary floor for the 2017-18 season will be $55.4 million. As of right now, 14 teams are currently below that threshold. When you throw out contenders such as the Penguins, Capitals, Canadiens, Predators, Lightning and Oilers, you’re left with eight teams. Let’s assume Central Division foes Winnipeg, Colorado and Dallas aren’t interested in helping their division rival financially and throw them out too.

That leaves us with the Panthers, Devils, Sabres, Hurricanes and Coyotes as possible partners. Panther general manager Dale Tallon was the man who signed Hossa to that monstrous contract eight years ago. The Hurricanes have acquired Teuvo Teravainen, Bryan Bickell and Scott Darling through recent trades with the Hawks. The Devils and Sabres are still in rebuilding mode and could afford a draft pick or two to speed up the process, and the Coyotes have done this before and probably wouldn’t mind doing it again.

Hossa won’t factor into any of Chicago’s decisions on the ice this season, but his absence could play an enormous role in how the roster is managed.

Mark Zagunis Is Making His MLB Debut With The Cubs Tonight

By
Aldo Soto
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The Chicago Cubs demoted Kyle Schwarber to Triple-A Iowa and placed Jason Heyward on the disabled list before the start of an 11-game road trip and to begin their series against the Miami Marlins yet another prospect is making his MLB debut. Mark Zagunis, who was drafted in the third round of the 2014 draft, has been called up by the Cubs and Joe Maddon has him starting in right field and batting ninth on Thursday night.

Zagunis, 24, has shown incredible patience at the plate during his minor-league career, putting up a .401 OBP in 338 games. This season at Triple-A Iowa, the right-handed hitter had a .249/.399/.474 slash line, with 11 home runs.

Anthony Rizzo remains the leadoff hitter against Jeff Locke.

And by the way, Zagunis will wear the No. 21.

Ben Zobrist is still out with his wrist injury and he’ll go on a rehab assignment when he’s healthy again. Back to Heyward, his DL stint is retroactive to Tuesday.

The Cubs will be on the road for the next two weeks, coming back to Wrigley Field to play six games prior to the All-Star break.

Chicago Blackhawks 2017-2018 Schedule Has Been Released

By
Marc-Louis Paprzyca
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It was reported yesterday that the Chicago Blackhawks will open their 90th season at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 5. The rest of the schedule was released today and here are some of the highlights.

One of the first things you will notice is that there is no more “Circus Trip” or “Disney on Ice Trip” this season. Well, there is no more Ringling Bros. Circus anymore and who knows about the Disney trip. The longest road trip of the season will be six games from December 21-January 3.

There will be 19 of the 41 home games played on weekend with six Friday, four Saturday and nine Sunday games. The longest homestands will be a six-gamer in January and five-gamer in February.

Now, to who the Blackhawks will play. There will be a total of 26 division games with four games each (two home/two away) against the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues. The boys will have five tilts against the Minnesota Wild (three home/two away) and Winnipeg Jets (two home/three away).

The Blackhawks will play the remaining Western Conference teams three times each for a total of 24 games. As far as the Eastern Conference is concerned, they will play each team twice (one home/one away) for a total of 32 games.

You can see the full schedule for yourself below.

Follow @Pappy_Hour on Twitter for more Blackhawks news and musings.

Quintin Demps Reveals Secret For More Turnovers To Young Bears Safeties

By
Erik Lambert
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quintin demps

The Bears safeties were a mess when it came to forcing turnovers in 2016. Harold Jones-Quartey had two while the rest of the position had zero. It’s a big reason why the team invested heavily at the position for another offseason. Eddie Jackson was drafted in the fourth round. The most important addition though may have been veteran Quintin Demps.

The 32-year old is coming off his best year as a pro with six interceptions for the Houston Texans. Clearly he’s figured out certain tricks to getting more takeaways. Indeed he has. During a discussion with JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago, Demps revealed his secret. The funny part is it has less to due with instincts, athleticism or speed.

Turns out it all goes back to the fundamentals.

Quintin Demps stresses learning to tackle before intercepting

One of the lost arts in the NFL these days is tackling. It may seem like one of the lesser important jobs for a defense but that’s far from the truth. Teams that are often the most efficient in tackling tend to play great defense. This was a persistent problem for the Bears, who missed routine tackles to allow extra yards. That’s something Demps intends to put a stop to.

“Turnovers are like, it’s not something that you go get, it’s something you let come to you by doing your job first and then helping out,” Demps said. “And then you’d be surprised how they come to you by doing your job and being aware of when you can help somebody out. A lot of times when you get help is when you get picks and turnovers.

I tell my safeties all the time, we gotta tackle first,” Demps said. “Tackle first, don’t miss any tackles and then the picks are going to come. I promise you that.”

That video indicates what Demps is referring to. It’s less about seeking the big play and more about doing his job. The idea being that if he and 10 other guys on defense do their jobs right, the takeaways are going to be there. That’s just something a young group of players is still figuring out. It’s also why Demps was signed in the first place. That is exactly what the Bears coaches and front office wanted him to do. Mentor and teach, both through words and by example.

It mind sound boring and technical, but there’s a reason for that. It works. Part of what made those Lovie Smith defenses so great a decade ago was their ability to tackle. They strung drives out, forcing opponents to work their way down the field. This increased the odds of them making a mistake. More of than not, it proved true.

Demps understands this.

Kyle Schwarber To Iowa, Jason Heyward To DL, Mark Zagunis, Dylan Floro Called Up By Cubs

By
Aldo Soto
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Sports Mockery’s Adam Nissen broke the news earlier today that Kyle Schwarber was going to be sent down to Triple-A Iowa. However, the Chicago Cubs aren’t done making roster moves today. Jason Heyward is going to be placed on the disabled list, while outfielder Mark Zagunis and left-handed pitcher Dylan Floro will be called up.

After helping the Cubs win the World Series in November, Schwarber never took off batting leadoff in 2017. Manager Joe Maddon eventually moved the 24-year-old out of the No. 1 spot in the lineup, but Schwarber never improved. Through 64 games this season, Schwarber put up a .171/.295/.378 slash line. Schwarber struck out 75 times, drawing 36 walks, while hitting 12 home runs. The power has been there, but the overall struggles were too big to overlook.

The Cubs want Schwarber to take a break for a few days and just stay away from baseball before reporting to Triple-A, but Theo Epstein didn’t give a time table for his return back to the Cubs.

In recent weeks, Schwarber was in a platoon, only starting in left field against right-handed pitchers. The weird thing about Schwarber’s short MLB career is that he’s seemingly had a lot of success, but he still hasn’t played in 162 regular season games. He came up until the summer in 2015, missed basically all of the 2016 season, and then became the leadoff hitter. Schwarber has 539 career plate appearances in 135 MLB games. Yes, that’s still a relatively small sample size.

The hope is Schwarber works on the specific things the Cubs have told him to work on and he gets his confidence back. Epstein was on 670 The Score on Thursday, and his main point was that Schwarber became a slugger instead of being a hitter.

Yes, it’s the minor leagues, but before Schwarber was called up for good by the Cubs he hit .333 in Triple-A. He can hit. That’s why the Cubs drafted him fourth overall in the 2014 draft. But right now, he’s simply lost, but we’ve seen incredible things from Schwarber before. He can easily get it back. The Cubs are on the road for two weeks and then the All-Star break starts a week later, so maybe Schwarber spends a month down in Iowa before coming back.

The bigger loss for the Cubs right now might actually be Heyward’s departure. The gold glove right-fielder injured his hand against the Pittsburgh Pirates and wasn’t available against the San Diego Padres this week.

PHOTO: Jason Heyward Shows Off Nasty Cut After Sliding In Foul Territory

Heyward has been better at the plate this year, but his defense in right is going to be missed even more.

As for the players coming up, we’ve seen Floro pitch out of the bullpen, but the intriguing name is Mark Zagunis, who could be the new Cubs leadoff hitter?

Yes, even though Anthony Rizzo established himself as the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time, ideally the Cubs want him batting third. Zagunis put up a .399 OBP in 65 games with the Iowa Cubs, with an .873 OPS.

Zagunis, 24, was drafted in the third round of the 2014 draft. In 338 minor league games, the right-handed hitter has a .401 OBP.

Cavaliers Reportedly Out Of The Running For Jimmy Butler

By
Matt Peck
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We’re just a few hours away from the 2017 NBA Draft, and trade rumors are in full swing. For the Bulls, the question of the day is whether or not Gar Forman and John Paxson will finally pull the trigger and sell high on Jimmy Butler.

According to Brian Windhorst, who covers the NBA for ESPN and follows the Cleveland Cavaliers closely, LeBron James & Co. are out of the running to land Butler.

So there’s that, from a fairly reliable source.

Even if the Cavaliers failed to work a three-team trade for Butler or Paul George, the Bulls will likely still be receiving calls leading up to the draft tonight. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics have all been tied to Butler through reports and rumors.

More updates to come as news warrants.

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