2. Interesting point about a balanced team being easier to rebuild. That’s also a credit to Dumars, though, right? He definitely messed up the rebuilding aspect, but if he can build the team up again, I see no reason he’s likely (or unlikely) to repeat the rebuilding mistakes. But if his plan lends itself to rebuilding on the fly, he’d have a leg up on other GMs.

3. The Cavs offered Villanueva nearly as much as the Pistons did. Gordon was ranked as the No. 2 free agent by Sports Illustrated and Yahoo. The year before, the Bulls offered him about $50 million, and that was before his series against the Celtics. Some people liked the signing. Some didn’t. But enough did that I’m convinced Gordon wasn’t instantly viewed as overpaid.

As far as Hamilton for Boozer, I believe it. I get why you don’t. If Drew Sharp’s column was the only place I’d heard it, I wouldn’t either. I’m certainly not 100 percent, but between believing it and not, I believe it.

2. 100% of it. Every last one of those good moves was succeeded by a future bad one. Joe extended Rip into oblivion, ended up paying him to go away, and now he’s stuck on our books for two seasons at a hefty price. Tayshaun is well on his way to the same fate. Joe chose to re-sign Sheed over Okur and eventually let Sheed walk for cap space… and we all know where that money went. And the less I say about Chauncey the better. So it’s not like he’s done a damn thing to roll over these assets he gets so much praise for.

One unsung benefit of having built a winner without a superstar is that nobody is untouchable. You don’t have a Tim Duncan situation where he can’t be converted into anything. His jersey needs to be hung from the rafters, and there’s nothing you can do to get value for him. Joe created a great situation for continued success, but he squandered every last asset he had.

3. Not a chance in hell. If you want it done right, he’s literally the last person who should be in charge. Not only has he been an unmitigated disaster and bar none the worst GM in the league for over half a decade solid, but he’s also too closely connected to all of the problems that got us where we are, since he’s entirely responsible for all of them. There’s no way to expedite the rebuilding process without eating a SHITLOAD of crow. There’s so much dead weight on the books, it would require far more humility and accountability for Joe to address. Gores wrote him a blank check to make Rip go away,and it’s no coincidence that this was the achievable change that left the least egg on Joe’s face since Rip had already long been a scapegoat here. Never mind who created the situation that led to Rip’s discontentment.

As usual, I’m virtually in lock-step with MFMP, and I’m questioning Feldman’s analytical prowess. I mean, 0% of people ever thought Rip, Gordon or Villanueva could hae been easily moved on those contracts. Let alone for anything worth having. Those contracts never made sense. And you’ve got to be utilizing some seriously defective thinking to use an unsubstantiated rumor about a nebulous dream of a farfetched, unrealistic trade of an aging, overpaid shooting guard owed long-term salary for a borderline all-star power forward on an expiring contract. It doesn’t make a lick of sense, and if you’re inclined to use it as any sort of argument that Joe hasn’t been doing a disastrous job, you’re not thinking clearly.