When I first heard the news of the Chicago Blackhawks traded Artem Anisimov to the Ottawa Senators, it was a head scratcher. Then it’s an even swap for a guy who only scored 14 goals in the last two seasons. My reaction was, “What are the Blackhawks trying to accomplish? Plus it’s a swap of offensive players when we the Blackhawks, need help on defense. Maybe another goalie to go with the unpredictable Cory Crawford with his battles with concussions. Then the thoughts of when the Blackhawks got rid of Artemi Panarin, an up-and-coming superstar of the NHL, came racing inside my mind. What does Zack Smith of the Senators offer, that Anisimov does not?

The first thing about this trade is, it is a salary dump for the Chicago Blackhawks. This is not a new thing for the Hawks either. They are paying their core of the past, some big money still from winning those Stanley Cups. They have no trade clauses. Some of them are not pulling their own weight. Some of them are ageless. This trade gives the Blackhawks 1.3 million to work with. This money can help them keep restricted free agent, Brendan Perlini. Perhaps money left over can go into more moves to improve the depth of this roster.

They look like they are trying to go a different direction with their roster this season since they missed the playoffs again. Toughness might be the ONE GOAL this season. Reacquiring Andrew Shaw. Now adding a physical type of player in Zack Smith. Zack gets in on the forecheck in his game. He is terrific with the face off. Career-wise he is at 50.7% percent while Anisimov is at 45.9% on face off battles. Zack Smith played his whole career in Ottawa as he was the 3rd pick in 2008. Zack tallied 9 goals with 19 assists last season. In his career he has 94 goals with 99 assists in 612 games.

Artem Anisimov came to the Hawks in the 2015-16 season. He is 31 years old. He scored 20 or more goals for the Black Hawks in 3 out of the 4 seasons playing in Chicago. Artem’s best season was the 2016-17 season where he notched 22 goals and dealt out 23 assists. Last season when the team was an offensive juggernaut, he only had 15 tallies. He did have 23 assists. Is it safe to say Artem Anisimov’s play is on the decline? Numbers don’t lie, but playing on different lines can make your numbers explode off the charts or drop like a ton of bricks.

This move does many things for the Blackhawks. Obviously it frees up salary and gets you money you need to spend in other areas. Trading Artem Anisimov when he has a higher ceiling point to get you something in return is huge. With the emergence of Dylan Strome, he could be the X-factor that makes people forget about Artem Anisimov. I think Zack Smith can offer the team more versatility. In the 2015-17 season, Zack Smith tallied 14 goals playing with a better line that season, his far best year in his career. His numbers could go up playing with Toews or Kane. The thing the Hawks have lacked over the years is toughness. Getting guys like Andrew Shaw and now Zack Smith that can play hard nose hockey and do the little things. These guys can create some magic on the ice and pick the puck away from their opponents. Give the big dogs more opportunities and more shots on goals. Artem Anisimov was a nice player to have, but I think the Blackhawks have too many of his type. Now let’s hope the team can shore up things on the defensive side.

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The Chicago Bulls were no way going to land one of the big fish on the open market. It’s hard to get one super star to play in Chicago, let alone three of them. Bulls have to rely on the draft to grow a superstar like they did with disgruntled Jimmy Butler. These days the Bulls have been building through the draft and making under the radar trades trying to construct a roster that will have the players grow together. This off-season they drafted well and signed some free agents. Under the radar types of free agents. They even made a trade. You could say they reshaped their roster perhaps into a playoff team. They are playing in the Eastern conference so a 7^th to 8^th seed could be in the cards for this Bulls team. I would like their chances better if they would have brought back Robin Lopez. They let him walk, not too far, as he joins his brother in Milwaukee.

Since the Chicago Bulls landed Robin Lopez from the New York Knicks, they have not used him the right  way. The Bulls sent Derrick Rose to New York and Robin was one of the players received in return. He was a player that never fit in a Fred Hoiberg type offense with the quick pace and quick shot temple. I think when the Bulls had to use Robin Lopez, they were shocked at what the big guy actually offered. He can play good defense. He can get you some rebounds while blocking some shots. In Fred Hoiberg’s system, defense did not exist. However, injuries did exist for the Bulls. Robin had to play and he showed you he can score against the best centers in the league.  He averaged 9.5 points last season in 74 games. He had some monster nights during the season scoring in the high teens or in the twenties.

Robin Lopez played three seasons in Chicago. Three seasons where the Bulls were in rebuild mode. That seems like the common thing when it comes to Chicago Bull basketball. Robin could have easily demanded a trade throughout all of this. Even when John Paxton & Gar Forman, the idiot brain trust, wanted Robin Lopez to ride the bench to get the younger guys playing time. Robin did not make a peep. However the league did. Robin Lopez was your blue-collar worker and did the little things in the game that are going extinct every year. He was a guy that also helped the young players. Robin and his fiery attitude, scared of no one on the court and not afraid to get in the face of an opponent doing wrong to his teammates. He spoke his mind to referees about bad calls that would not disrupt or hurt his team. He did all positive things and is a team guy. Why would the Bulls let a guy walk like that? Even with new coach Jimmy Boylan, who wants his players to play solid defense.

Robin Lopez could start for quite a few teams in the NBA right now. He will join his brother in Milwaukee, who is also a big man. Some say the big men in the NBA are on their way out of the game. Centers should be quicker and have an outside shot. The true fact is defense still wins championships and I think it is very important to have a few even if they come off your bench. Because they clog the middle. The Bulls have Wendall Carter Jr as their starting center. Robin Lopez will come off the bench for Milwaukee. That’s what I see a Robin Lopez as, a guy that can do damage coming off the bench. A guy that can play major minutes if needed because he stays healthy. Could that not help the Bulls who lead the league in injuries? Wendall Carter Jr had injuries last season. Robin Lopez can do a lot with his defense and he can score some buckets as well. The Bucks made a very nice move signing Robin. While the Bulls still baffle me not seeing things right in front of their eyes. The Bulls look good on paper right now. But this move that would have not cost you much salary, the Bulls brass will look like another season where they arrived from Jersey on a turnip truck. We will watch Robin Lopez make some nice contributions for the Bucks and remember we had that guy. We will miss his hair as well. We let a team guy just walk out the door to the rival. Perhaps we let Robin win the lottery playing with his brother and away from the stench of the Bulls organization.

The Chicago Blackhawks are like the Blues Brothers trying to get the band back together. Situations with the salary cap and the Blackhawks have traded away some key pieces that have helped their team win a few Stanley Cups. Like Jake and Elwood Blues finding their musicians who have other jobs, the Blackhawks are doing the same thing. This time the Blackhawks acquire back Andrew Shaw who was traded to the Montreal Canadians in 2016 from Chicago. In an off-season, the Blackhawks desperately need defensive and goal tending help, with Cory Crawford a huge question mark. Other moves need to happen to fix those holes. Bringing back Andrew Shaw is a good move.

Andrew Shaw is that pesky forward every team needs. Originally a fifth round pick in 2011, he played five seasons in Chicago and helped the team win two Stanley cups. The Blackhawks are hoping and perhaps praying they can make it back to the playoffs as jobs could be on the line. Last time the Black hawks were in the playoffs, they were quickly dispatched by the Predators in a four game sweep. Bringing back an Andrew Shaw, who has 16 goals and 19 assists in 67 playoff games, can help your team in the playoffs. I still remember that big overtime goal he scored off his shin in game one of the 2013 finals versus Boston.

The Blackhawks have given up plenty to the Canadians for a playoff hero. Two picks in next year’s draft a 2nd and a 7th rounder. Plus another pick in 2021 which is a 3rd rounder. That is quite a lot for Shaw, however he is coming off a career year where he punched in 19 goals and had 28 assists for career highs. It seems like Shaw has been around a very long time, but he is only 27 years old compared to some of the other older guys on the roster with no trade clauses, His contract is salary cap friendly and they would have him more than one year.

The Blackhawks were a very high scoring team last season. Andrew Shaw will add more tallies because of his net presence in front of the net. He is that type of guy who treads water around the net, finds the rebound and puts the biscuit in the basket. He has that toughness the Blackhawks have been missing for years. He takes the punishment from the defense as he jumps on the rebounding pucks like a vulture. He’s a guy that can block the goalie’s view which can allow a screaming puck from long distance to whiz by the net commander’s glove. Andrew Shaw will also go blades of steel on any guy and throw down the gloves. He is a guy that can find redemption after one of your own guys getting hit in an unfair type of manner. Andrew Shaw does the small stuff and most of the dirty work like Dennis Rodman did on the court for the Bulls’ championships all those years. The dirty work has not been done all these years the Blackhawks have been home for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Will Shaw’s work be enough to lift this team back to that level of greatness? Probably not, as other moves will have to happen. Hopefully one good move will set off a chain reaction of great moves for this team in the off season.

The LA Lakers best days were when Magic Johnson led the teams during the 1980s. They were a group to remember with Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s legendary sky hook shot. James Worthy was awesome. Pat Riley with his oil slicked hair had his talented Lakers in the thick of things every single season. You could say in NBA terms they had their big three assembled during that time. Then the Lakers still dominated years later with those Phil Jackson teams with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Now they are down to the big two. However they had two hall of famers and another hall of fame coach in Phil Jackson. Present days, the Lakers have the king Lebron James and they just acquired Anthony Davis so they have the big two assembled. Is Boogie Cousins considered a superstar to make this a big three of superstars? They are coached by Frank Vogel. Who the hell is he? Why would people think the Lakers are a legit team to win anything? They probably are not even the best team in LA. In my opinion since signing Lebron James, this franchise is like a dead body thrown in the ‘Laker’ sunk at the bottom of the pond.

The Lakers had a young team before they even signed Lebron James. They were assembling a team through the draft which these days in the NBA is unheard of. It’s all about the big three. In the Lakers case, it’s all about the big one. The King. Yes, Lebron James, that many think is the greatest basketball player ever. Stats will tell you he is one of the best of all-time. You might say he is one of the best GM’s of all-time as well. To take his talents down to South Beach. To form a big three down there. When Lebron James was in Cleveland for his second stint, who the hell was the coach or coaches during that stretch? Sure they had some kind of puppet on the bench that looked like he was doing something.

Overall you can say the King was his own coach and did things his own way. That worked and did get the Cavaliers a championship they never would have won without the King. I think it’s Lebron James that will sink the purple and Gold and not even Jake the Snake Plissen could escape LA.

You know its all Lebron James’ team when Magic Johnson steps down from his job as one of the main staples in the front office. You know it when the Indiana Pacer fans shout out to one of his teammates who was shooting a free throw and missed, “the King is going to trade you.” The Lakers did that when they traded what they were creating to get Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans. Sure it forms the big two instantly in this trade, but you gave up a lot of stock for this superstar.

Now to form the big three in Lebron’s eyes, they put all their eggs in one basket as they thought they hoped and prayed for Kawhi Leonard. Instead they did not get him as he is in LA, but is a Clipper instead of a Laker. A Clipper team that has some young talent and actually made the playoffs last season. Plus the Clippers, once the laughing stock franchise in all sports, did their own red rover red rover trade and brought in Paul George from the Thunder. Looks like the Clippers have a big two and some nice young pieces to play with.

The Lakers have added veterans since they failed to get Kawhi Leonard. They have added Rajon Rondo who is not the same player he once was in Boston. He is well traveled over the last several years for those reasons. The Lakers added Boogie Cousins. Did Golden State Warriors win a championship with the Boogie man? When the Warriors had several injuries, Boogie was all quiet on the home front. To consider him a superstar, your mind is away with the band.

In the Western conference the Golden State Warriors are not going away. The Houston Rockets have gotten better. The LA Clippers have gotten better. Portland Trail Blazers blazed their way through a few rounds of the playoffs without one of their stars. Lakers have an inexperienced coach. They have Lebron James who is getting up in age and is not the same player he once was. They have a cry baby who wanted out in New Orleans. The rest of the cast is nothing to get excited about. I see the Lakers making it to the playoffs. Who are they going to beat once they get in with 7th or 8th seed? This will not end up as one of the great Laker teams of the past. The Lebron era will just be purple and black crowds surrounding the Staples center while the second fiddle of LA will now be the main story on the court in LA. Lebron might need to watch Escape LA because his time there is going to get rougher as one of the proudest sports franchises will slowly sink away in lake like the mob getting rid of a material witness.