It certainly comes as no surprise to anyone in the basketball world that the LeBron James free agent show would take precedence over other superstar signings in the league. James took a prime-time stage while everyone else was lucky to catch a shout-out on Mike and Mike.

Durant quietly resigned with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Amar’e jumped to New York with half a cycle of coverage. Dirk resigned to crickets. Bosh went to Miami—pre James’ signing—with a few lights flickering. And Carlos Boozer, former Utah star forward, joined the Bulls with no one outside of Chicago blowing a horn.

Lost in all the hubbub over the LeBron-Wade-Bosh machine in Miami is the branch on the power tree of the East the Bulls hurdled over by picking up a legitimate front-court presence. Already tops in the league with rebounds, Chicago got a solid 11+ rebounder, a low-post offensive threat, and a yang to Joakim’s ying who, unlike the still learning Florida star, can score consistently.

Chicago fans might be a little blue over LeBron choosing to go south—probably to skirt more Jordan comparisons—but the Bulls are looking awfully competitive in an Eastern Conference that sees a playoff team eliminated already in Cleveland, not to mention a one-year-older Celtics squad and an Orlando team still stuck with Vince Carter.

The chances of bringing this together are solid for Chicago faithful. Of course, all the online casinos for USA players and sports books would give far better odds if James joined – 11:1, in fact. But the Bulls could easily be the next-up contenders behind Miami next season. And anything can happen in the playoffs…

But no gambling man would rule the Bulls out completely. After all, Miami’s mega-star conglomerate has been tried in places like the NFL to no avail. And with Rose, Noah, Gibson and other talented players in place, Boozer joins a complete team with chemistry and simply adds to it without bringing a ball-hoggish, need-to-score approach.

You might find better odds on a slot bonus game, but the Bulls, no longer babies, are looking stronger this year than any year MJ wasn’t suiting up.

Time will tell, obviously, how everything melds. But the next time you’re floating around looking for an online casino bonus, check out the sports book link and, if you can grab some good odds on a Miami vs. Chicago Eastern Conference Finals, take it.

Saying James choosing not to come to Chicago is really a blessing in disguise would be a lie. But the Bulls have competitive fire, a score to settle, and now a legitimate piece of the puzzle to push them over the hump.

The betting lines on the 2009 Bears look pretty good.  Not necessarily good in terms of NFL betting, but good in terms of the Bears prospects for the upcoming season.  Here are some of the lines that a sportsbook had on them as of June 11:

Odds to win Super Bowl XLIV

Chicago Bears 30/1

Odds to win the NFC 2009-2010

Chicago Bears 9/1

Odds to win the NFC North

Chicago Bears 1.7/1

With Cutler on board, it appears Vegas has little faith in the rest of the teams in the North.  Although the secondary has a lot of question marks on defense, and lord knows we have legitimate top receivers, the Packers may be a bit too young and the Vikings chances are all over the board, depending on what Favre is saying that day.  I’d say the best NFL betting line right there is for the Bears to win a relatively wide open NFC at 9/1.  Ok everyone, now you get to rip apart my poor gambling knowledge.