If you read this site regularly and/or follow me on Basketbawful, you probably already know how I feel about the catch-all “flu-like symptoms” excuse. Still, against all reason, part of me wants to give Tyrus Thomas the benefit of the doubt. After all, the alternative is to accuse Tyrus and possibly even the Bulls organization of lying about the situation. Plus, if we find out in the next couple days that Tyrus has swine flu, I’d feel pretty bad about pointing a finger at him.
Well, Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune sure didn’t hesitate to do a littler finger-pointing on his blog: “The story goes that the Bulls sent home Tyrus Thomas with flu-like symptoms. Sounds like code for the fact that they’re the ones who are sick — sick of Thomas. I mean, just look at the timing: On Sunday, the alleged starting forward sat the entire fourth quarter in a loss in Miami, and then on Monday, the Bulls officially chose not to extend his original contract. And on Tuesday, he’s supposedly sick? Please. The flu? That’s as good as either the Bulls or Thomas can do? Do we all need a vaccine against stupidity? … If Thomas is still a Bull by next summer — you wonder if he’ll still be on the roster by tomorrow — then he’ll be an restricted free agent, which means he’s restricted by the fact that nobody who has coached him here apparently wants anything to do with him.”
Wow. If Rosenbloom is right, that sound you hear might be the Tyrus Thomas Countdown Clock ticking, ticking, ticking…
Update! More news: Thomas did not practice today and most likely will not play in Thursday’s game against the Cavaliers in Cleveland. Said Vinny Del Negro: “Tyrus is sick. He showed up this morning, he’s still pretty sick. He’s at home. He’ll see a doctor today and tomorrow and then we’ll re-evaluate and see if he can fly into Cleveland, but he’s pretty sick still.” When asked if there was any chance Tyrus would meet the team in Cleveland, Vinny said: “Maybe. I don’t know. Let’s just see how it goes. See how he feels. He’s pretty sick, though. So we just want to make sure he gets healthy.”
I doubt they trade him. I don’t see a point in doing it. His contract’s done by the end of the year, and I don’t really see any team willing to give up a decent piece to acquire him.
Kris — Yes, it seems unlikely, although he could always be used in a trade that leads to a salary dump since his contract expires next summer. Plus, there are always teams that see a player’s potential and think, “I bet we can unlock that potential.” And hey, it worked with Tyson Chandler in New Orleans. For a while, anyway.
I’m seeing a Thomas & Miller trade during mid-season to dump some expiring contracts.
Though this event will not have any effect on what I just said. I legitimately believe Ty is sick especially if he isn’t even a go to fly with the team yet.
What’s wrong with the NBA requiring teams to decide whether to give contract extensions to guys after 3 games. How are the Bulls supposed to know how much Tyrus is worth. If they had a couple months they would have time to see whether he has improved this year and deserves more money
now tyrus will be mad about not getting his extension and not try hard and the team will lose to any good team they ever play. extensions should be dealt with later in the season or in the offseason to avoid these distractions.
Bill Simmons once wrote an article featuring “flu-like symptoms”… it referred to Bill seeing Derrick McKey out on the town with two drunk females the night before a big game.
He missed that big game… the reason?
Flu-like symptoms. 😛
Paul — Actually, I wrote that story for Basketbawful:
http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2007/02/word-of-day-flu-like-symptoms.html
But I’m flattered you thought I was Bill Simmons. I think.
Guess Rosenbloom owes Tyrus an apology. Nice effort at speculative journalism.