First the GOOD: Major League baseball players were polled about their favorite road cities, and Chicago was the clear favorite! Of 95 players asked, 35 responded that Chicago was their top city. While at first, one may think Chicago benefited from having teams in each lague, New York was second with 15 votes, while the Bay Area and L.A. were even farther down the list.

Now the BAD: While the Bulls players are enjoying their off-seasons and the Bulls execs are looking forward to Wednesday’s Draft Lottery, a number of former Bulls have made significant contributions to their teams’ playoff runs, including Trenton Hassell. Cut by the Bulls before the season, he has been a starter for the Minnesota Timberwolves for most of the season because of his tough defense. Minnesota is currently playing the L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Hassell isn’t the only defensive specialist the Bulls have sent packing in recent years, however. They traded away Bruce Bowen before he even played a game for them. He was second in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year. And the Bulls also traded away Ron Artest, this year’s winner of the Defensive Player of the Year. And one of the Bulls’ biggest problems in recent seasons has been defense, and we wonder why they continue to flounder 6 years after the post-dynasty rebuilding process began…