For the Bulls’ sake, let’s really hope that’s the case.

In case you didn’t know, two-time All-Star forward Carlos Boozer has agreed to a five-year, $76 million deal to play for the Chicago Bulls in the coming 2010 NBA basketball season.

Anticipating about $30 million in cap room, the Chicago Bulls were looking to make a big splash in free agency after consecutive first-round playoff exits. Adding Carlos Boozer strengthens their standing in the Eastern Conference.

Boozer has spent six seasons with the Utah Jazz, and he averaged 19.5 points and 11.2 rebounds last season. His arrival gives the Chicago Bulls a formidable pair in the frontcourt with Joakim Noah, not to mention a good pick-and-roll partner for All-Star point guard Derrick Rose. Boozer said he felt like the Bulls were the team for him from the beginning of his free agency.

“I came up here on the 1st. I was here on Thursday and Friday as soon as free agency opened up. It felt like it felt right the entire time,” Boozer said. “I went to talk to some other teams, of course, both for my due diligence and to see what the other teams had to offer. But Chicago always felt like it was the best fit.”

This is because Boozer believes the Bulls have the potential to win NBA championships. “They want to win, and that was the biggest thing for me,” he said.

With Boozer, the Bulls finally have a big man who will command double-teams — something they’ve craved for years — and can hit the jumper. They now have two double-double players, with Noah averaging 10.7 points and 11.0 rebounds last season, and can still add a perimeter player.

When he looks ahead, Boozer likes what he sees. He had a…

Five – time All Star Chris Bosh is expected to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Toronto Raptors.

You read it, leaving more than $17 million on the table, in order to join a free-agent class that could also include LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire before the 2010-11 NBA basketball season kicks off.

Chris Bosh has said he expects to earn the NBA’s maximum salary on his next contract, and whether he returns to Toronto or joins a new team is anyone’s guess.

”Nobody knows, not even me,” Bosh said as the Toronto Raptors cleaned out their lockers. ”That’s something only the future holds. Everybody keeps looking for answers. There are no answers right now. There will only be answers when it’s time.”

”I wish I knew” Chris Bosh added. ”I’d let everybody know so that everybody would leave me alone.”

With so many big names on the market, Bosh knows plenty of people will be asking questions.

”The possibilities are endless,” he said. ”You can say, ‘He’s going here, he’s going there, what do you think, what’s your opinion?’ It’s good barbershop talk.”

A seven-year veteran, Bosh averaged career highs with 24.0 points and 10.8 rebounds this year. His season ended two minutes into an April 6 game at Cleveland when he was accidentally elbowed in the face by Antawn Jamison. Bosh suffered two facial fractures and required nasal surgery.

The injury dealt a fatal blow to Toronto’s playoff hopes…

Whichever team wins Game 1 will take control of the series.

Although that is not necessarily the case since we saw quite a few Game 1 winners who have eventually lost their respective best of seven affairs in the 2010 NBA playoffs like the Portland Trail Blazers and just recently, the top seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, but STILL, winning Game 1 of a seven-game series is STILL huge, especially when you’re up against the Lakers.

On Monday night, the Phoenix Suns will try to take control of the Western Conference Finals by beating the Los Angeles Lakers on their home floor in Game 1. That is, of course, easier said than done since the Lakers are STILL the defending NBA champions and they are STILL a team built to win that very title again but if there’s a team that can dethrone the Lakers, it would have to be the Suns.

The Phoenix Suns are clicking at the right time after a regular season full of doubt. Hell, they came this close from dealing their franchise player, Amar’e Stoudemire before the trading deadline for crying out loud.

Who would’ve thought that Amar’e Stoudemire would still be a Sun playing this deep into the postseason with an opportunity to win the Western Conference and reach the NBA Finals again since Charles Barkley lost to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls back in 1993?

The Pacific Division rivals couldn’t wait to meet each other to play for the Western Conference championship. Both the Lakers and the Suns made quick work of their second round opponents, sweeping the Jazz and the Spurs respectively to face-off against each other in the playoffs again.

However, while the Suns should be the sentimental favorites in…

Cleveland has secured the top spot in the East for quite some time. As for the rest, here they are.

The matchups in the East for the 2010 NBA playoffs are finally… um… finalized and while the Cleveland Cavaliers have secured the top playoff spot in the conference a few weeks ago, the remaining few seeds were not determined until the final few days of the season.

As it turned out, the no.1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers will be taking on the no.8 seed Chicago Bulls, who secured the last playoff spot in the East after beating the playoff-pound Charlotte Bobcats, hence denying the Toronto Raptors of postseason play for the second straight year.

Kudos to coach Vinny Del Negro and the rest of the Chicago Bulls for overcoming a late-season injury to Joakim Noah and the publicized rift between coach Del Negro and team manager John Paxson. Congratulations guys, you’re in the playoffs.

Your reward? LeBron James. (I don’t know if the Bulls would still be happy about that in a few days…)

The Orlando Magic will be this year’s no.2 seed as they look to make a return to the NBA Finals when they take on no.7 seed, Charlotte Bobcats. Thanks to some key additions to the Magic roster, more specifically the addition of Vince Carter, the Magic have become…

Man, how long can the Mavericks keep on winning?

The last time we took notice of the Mavericks’ ridiculous winning streak this 2010 NBA basketball season was five days ago, when they were going after their 9^th straight win and remain the hottest team in the league at this point of the year.

The Dallas Mavericks were up against the Minnesota Timberwolves then and, to nobody’s surprise really, they got their 9^th straight victory. Five days later, the Mavericks are still winning and we’re picking them up right now as these guys go for their 12^th straight win.

What’s funny is the fact that we’re picking up the Mavericks just before they kick the living daylights out of the Minnesota Timberwolves again. Yup, for some reason, the Wolves find themselves right in the middle of this freight train’s tracks, for the second time in five days. Ouch.

With wins over the Suns, the Magic, the Heat, the Pacers, the Lakers, the Hawks, the Hornets, the Bobcats, the Wolves, the Kings and just recently, the Bulls, the Mavericks” 11-game winning streak is now arguably the best any team has accomplished this season. They are playing like the best team in basketball right now. Don’t believe me? Just ask the Bulls.

In the Mavericks’ win over the Chicago Bulls, shades of that 2006…

We’ll find out soon enough.

After failing to acquire another legitimate player to help Dwyane Wade before the trading deadline expired in the 2010 NBA basketball season, the Miami Heat should consider going to their initial plan of getting a free agent in the offseason.

While the New York Knicks, the Chicago Bulls, the Washington Wizards, the L.A. Clippers, and the Sacramento Kings made a surplus of combined trades to give them major cap relief after the season, the Miami Heat were caught on the sidelines watching their advantage fade away.

Chicago and New York were already expected to make a run for Dwyane Wade, but now they can offer him the chance to possibly play alongside LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire, or Joe Johnson.

”You pay attention and notice what’s going on around the league because you’re a player in this league, and there’s also a business factor,” Dwyane Wade said of teams looking to join the summer sweepstakes.

”But no team is more important than the team you play for, and seeing your team put itself in position to win at a high level for a long time.”

A Chicago Bulls tandem with Derrick Rose or any of those names would have to be enticing for Wade. If Miami isn’t able to convince him the team will contend next year, the Chicago native would have a hard time saying no to a Bulls offer like that.

Same goes for New York. Would Wade really pass up the chance to…

If they do, then you can bet your ass the Knicks will be the team to beat next season.

After getting the services of multi – time All – Star Tracy McGrady this 2010 NBA basketball season from a three team trade with the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings, the New York Knicks were able to clear enough salary-cap space for the Knicks to possibly sign two maximum-salary free agents this summer.

That’s right, the New York Knicks could recruit LeBron James by giving him the option of choosing which other free agent he wants from the likes of Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire and Dirk Nowitzki.

However, getting LeBron James out of Cleveland won’t be easy since the Cavs, who own the league’s best record, bolstered their lineup with the addition of former Wizards forward Antawn Jamison. If Cleveland advances to its second NBA Finals stint in four years with LeBron, the odds of him leaving his home state figure to be diminished.

Sorry Knicks fans.

The New York Knicks aren’t the only team to clear cap space. The Chicago Bulls, a team featuring point guard Derrick Rose and a better core group of players than…

We already know who are the starters, now it’s time to familiarize ourselves with the reserves.

The 2010 NBA All-Star Game is just around the corner as the NBA’s midseason classic will officially shift the attention to hoops with football season officially over. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade lead the East as they take on Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony of the West.

As far as the reserves are concerned, we have a few first-timers. Four first-timers come from the Eastern Conference; Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford, Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace and 2009 Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls.

Completing the East reserves are Toronto’s Chris Bosh, Atlanta’s Joe Johnson and Boston’s Paul Pierce.

Rondo is the second All-Star from the Draft class of 2006, joining the Blazers’ Brandon Roy, who earned his third All-Star selection this year. Horford joins the Thunder’s Kevin Durant as the first All-Stars from the Draft class of 2007 while Rose is all alone as the first All-Star from the class of 2008.

Derrick Rose will have a very busy weekend in Dallas. He and his fellow sophomores will take on the rookies in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam on All-Star Friday and as the reigning PlayStation Skills Challenge champion, he’ll likely defend his title on All-Star Saturday.

Another first-timer on the East is Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace. With…

Odds to win 2010 Eastern Conference 
All wagers have action. The team that wins the conference final in the playoffs will be graded the winner. (This Prop is Closed for Betting)

Competitor
Price

Atlanta Hawks

21.00    

Boston Celtics
[...]

Odds to win 2010 NBA Championship 

Competitor
Price

Atlanta Hawks
46.00    

Boston Celtics
5.00

Charlotte Bobcats
101.00 

Chicago Bulls
46.00    

Cleveland Cavaliers
4.33

Dallas Mavericks
31.00 

Denver Nuggets
16.00

Detroit Pistons
46.00   

Golden State Warriors
126.00 

Houston Rockets
51.00 

Indiana Pacers
101.00

Los Angeles Clippers
91.00

Los Angeles Lakers
3.00 

Memphis Grizzlies
101.00

Miami Heat
46.00

Milwaukee Bucks
51.00 

Minnesota Timberwolves
151.00

New Jersey Nets
101.00   

New Orleans Hornets
36.00

New York Knicks
76.00

Oklahoma City Thunder
101.00 

Orlando Magic
9.00

Philadelphia 76ers
66.00

Phoenix Suns
61.00  

Portland Trailblazers
21.00 

Sacramento Kings
151.00

San Antonio Spurs
8.50

Toronto Raptors [...]