I’m also worried that they’re just waiting until the holiday weekend to announce the Giddey contract.
However, I do find it interesting that an actual credible national reporter (Windhorst) apparently said he heard there won’t be a deal for Giddey anytime soon.
AK should just wait as long as it takes for Giddey to accept a very team friendly offer. I’m not even convinced he’s much better overall than Tre Jones, so what’s the rush?
I think that's the reason they traded for Okoro. He can talk to Giddey in the building and tell him how this was a difficult negotiation and he settled for less in the end but it's alright!
Yeah I think I may have seen the quote also and not the article, though also had seen the Grimes thing. Regardless it definitely seemed legit that it wasn't just some news suppression.
I don't understand the idea that low first round picks are important for TEAM BUILDING. They aren't. Most end up as bench players at equal or lesser replacement value than G Leaguers (more than 50% of NBA players play in the G League at some point) or the usual free agent roster fill ins. As a path to significant players low first rounders are a shot in the dark.
Yes low first rounders and second rounders have trade asset value, but largely because in the NBA the number of tradeable assets is low overall. There's just not that much to package up into trades.
To me, the question for AKME is whether they are building a roster and asset base with a goal of acquiring a star? Because intentionally or unintentionally in my opinion they've done exactly that. They have all their picks and swaps. They've got some decent young talent. They've got depth to have something left if they trade some of that young talent away. And they've got contracts to aggregate.
Any competent front office could do some good work with this sort of setup.
Anyway, while the Bulls - by virtue of not being good enough to sell out their future much - have a decent stockpile, among the non playoff teams they are pretty far down the list that I cobbled together pre-draft: https://www.blogabull.com/p/the-bulls-didnt-win-but-were-draft
You partially answered your own question when you said "Yes low first rounders and second rounders have trade asset value".
Beyond that, saying that "most" low picks end up as unimportant players is misleading. Most high picks also end up as unimportant players.
If you don't know what you're doing, everything is a shot in the dark. If you're good at what you do, then every pick is an opportunity.
But the bigger issue is that you can't "unintentionally" build anything. Maybe the Bulls could "trade for a star" but they've been pretty clear that they're not gonna do that.
It goes back to issue that if you don't know what you're doing, you can't get anywhere. There's no lucking into sustained success.
Not true. Plenty of late first rounders become above average players on actual good teams. Hello most of the Pacers starting lineup were drafted in the 20s or the early second round(Siakam, Nesmith, Nembhard). Not to mention players like Desmond Bane, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, Herb Jones, Daniel Gafford, Dillon Brooks, Jokic.
plenty of top 10 picked players don't amount to jack. The draft is a crapshoot so it serves you to take as many rolls as you possibly can to hit something good.
And yes they are pretty damn important as trade assets.
So yea I'd rather take a blind shot in a pick rather than taking a player that i already know is mediocre(Okoro for example)
Just about all of the things you say the Bulls have done unintentionally would also be true if they were prioritizing picks. Even just looking at the Lonzo and Caruso trades, if the Bulls asked the Thunder for two firsts (last year's #13 plus another) instead of Giddey and did the Marcus Smart + Memphis pick for Lonzo, you'd have a roster even better suited to a star because you wouldn't have the Giddey contract situation or off-ball questions.
Just those two trades - not even including trading Vuc for 2nd rounders at the trade deadline, taking the same Pelicans offer the Hawks did for #13, or wondering how the lottery would've even played out sans Giddey's late season heroics - would have given the Bulls +/- a billion dollars of expiring salary, more draft assets, and a team of truly complimentary pieces. So even in the fake scenario that any star wants to play for this team, we'd STILL have been better off playing for picks.
I was looking at a “winners and losers” article, and it was interesting to see what teams that actually want to win the most possible games do, and the West is going to be so brutal, even at the top:
Thunder: SGA, Dort, Williams, Holmgren, Hartenstein, Wallace, Caruso, Joe, Williams2, Wiggins, and of course, they’re going to have 2 lottery pick rookies in Topic and Sorber
Rockets: VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Eason, Kevin freaking Durant, Sengun, Adams, Capela, Jabari Smith, Dorian Finney Smith, Aaron Holiday and Reed Shepherd. Reliant on Van Bleet, but that’s fearsome.
Nuggets: Murray, Braun, Cam Johnson, Gordon, Jokic, Valencuianas, Tim Hardaway, Jr., Bruce Brown, Peyton Watson, Strawther? Some actual depth and a viable back-up Center finally.
Not to mention the older but good teams of Minnesota, Lakers, Golden State, Clippers.
(I wonder who will get the still good if not great Chris Paul.)
And my not-so-sleeper pick, the Spurs: Fox, Castle, Vassell, Barnes, Wemby, Harper, Sochan, Johnson, Kornet
Here’s my dumb trade idea. It won’t happen, but why not have “fun?”
Bulls out: Ayo, P. Williams, 2026 Top 10 protected, Phillips
Bulls In: Walker Kessler, John Collins, Kuminga on a 4-year, $100 mill S&T starting at 28 and going down to 23.5
Warriors Out: Kuminga, Santos, 2026 Top 10 protected
Warriors In: Ayo, Vucevic
Jazz Out: Kessler, Collins
Jazz In: Williams, Phillips, 2two 2026 Top 10 protected
Bulls:
Giddey - Jones - Carter
White - Huerter - Terry
Kuminga - Okoro
Buzelis - J. Collins - Essengue
Kessler - Z. Collins - Smith
You’re trying to figure out a way that Kuminga, Buzelis, and Essengue work out long-term, and there’s not enough bankable shooting with this team, but I think with Okoro, Kuminga, Buzelis, Kessler, and Collins, you have enough defense to make up for Giddey and White and Heurter.
Warriors:
Curry - Poedzimski - Dunsunmo
Hield - GPIII
Butler - Moody
Green - Post
Vucevic - Jackson-Davis
Jazz:
Who cares? They get two 1st rounders next year and Williams, Santos and Phillips for whatever they’re trying. Maybe after getting Clayton and Bailey this year, with their own pick and these two, they might get some actual talent.
Meh, they were mentioned as old but still good teams. I like them. They just didn’t really do anything to make themselves better, which was more my point of the post. But you’re also right if an implication of re-signing/extending Randle, Reid, Joe Ingles is at least a sign of a team “trying to win” rather than giving up.
I do like their moves as they’re risky, but they also give them a chance to transition in 2-4 years to a team led by prime Edward’s and McDaniels and supplemented by Dillingham, Shannon, Jr., Clark, and Beringer plus others.
Could it be that the Bulls are quiet because they are part of the rumored 7-team trade that's supposedly being announced on Sunday? On the one hand the Bulls don't seem like the kind of team to get involved with a complicated transaction, on the other hand it's another chance for AK to dump 2nd round picks and we know how hard it is for him to pass that up.
Here's what I want to know. We've gotten a couple different stories over the last few days stating Giddey's camp and the Bulls are pretty far apart still.
We all know Giddey's camp has zero leverage. Do we think they're still standing so firm just because they know AK is an idiot and might eventually cave? What other reason would there be for them to be so stubborn in a situation where they have zero leverage?
Let's say Valanciunas decides to leave the NBA, and the Nuggets are willing to allow him out of his contract. I would think they could still trade him to help acquire another player, with the idea that the acquiring team would agree to release him from his contract after the trade? Specifically, I'm wondering if they could do something like re-route Valanciunas and add Nnaji for Vooch. Then the Bulls release Jonas after the transaction. I think the money should work, since the Nuggets will be under the apron after the Porter Jr. trade. I'd expect the Bulls to get some kind of draft compensation, but ya know...
Cam Whitmore had for two second round picks. I've been told by even AK bashers that these aren't valuable so have to (why?) give him a pass on that part of job failure
I wanna go conspiracy theory, and, with Kuminga, Grimes, and Cam Thomas also not signed as RFAs, I’m thinking the league or someone has said: You gotta stop overpaying for good-but-not-great restricted free agents. The only ones of note that I’ve seen signed are Santi Aldama and Davion Mitchell, who signed for 3 and 2 years, respectively.
This theory allows me to not give any credit to AKME, so I’ll run with it.
Jay Huff was acquired by Indiana from Memphis for some 2nd round pics. He's the type of center that might be interesting in a Giddey oriented offense. One of Giddey's strengths is rebounding, and maybe with that you can incorporate cheap pieces that aren't great at rebounding but can shoot 3s, move well and be extra big like Jay Huff.
He'll be making 3mil for the next 3 years. If the bulls stockpiled 2nds then they could easily have just got this guy, stored him on the bench this year and rolled with 4 centers all season.
He's not even outside the type of player that AK likes, although at 26 maybe you can say he isn't young.
I’m also worried that they’re just waiting until the holiday weekend to announce the Giddey contract.
However, I do find it interesting that an actual credible national reporter (Windhorst) apparently said he heard there won’t be a deal for Giddey anytime soon.
AK should just wait as long as it takes for Giddey to accept a very team friendly offer. I’m not even convinced he’s much better overall than Tre Jones, so what’s the rush?
Source on that Windhorst quote?
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/bulls-rumors-chicago-labeled-fit-165942143.html
Thank you! To me that is actually legitimate reason for hope.
So can we just sign Grimes to the MLE and let Giddey kick rocks? I think a backcourt of White and Grimes would be better than White and Giddey.
they could do both! have a $17M TPE if Sixers would sign-and-trade Grimes
I don't think Grimes is better than Giddey or a better fit with Coby, BUT it's closer than what the contracts will indicate
actually if Grimes is commanding ~MLE, Sixers would probably keep him.
I think that's the reason they traded for Okoro. He can talk to Giddey in the building and tell him how this was a difficult negotiation and he settled for less in the end but it's alright!
Yeah I think I may have seen the quote also and not the article, though also had seen the Grimes thing. Regardless it definitely seemed legit that it wasn't just some news suppression.
Here's another one, Bobby Marks
https://heavy.com/sports/nba/chicago-bulls/bulls-josh-giddey-gulf-of-mexico-apart/
I don't understand the idea that low first round picks are important for TEAM BUILDING. They aren't. Most end up as bench players at equal or lesser replacement value than G Leaguers (more than 50% of NBA players play in the G League at some point) or the usual free agent roster fill ins. As a path to significant players low first rounders are a shot in the dark.
Yes low first rounders and second rounders have trade asset value, but largely because in the NBA the number of tradeable assets is low overall. There's just not that much to package up into trades.
To me, the question for AKME is whether they are building a roster and asset base with a goal of acquiring a star? Because intentionally or unintentionally in my opinion they've done exactly that. They have all their picks and swaps. They've got some decent young talent. They've got depth to have something left if they trade some of that young talent away. And they've got contracts to aggregate.
Any competent front office could do some good work with this sort of setup.
Lebron incoming??
it's not that hard to understand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgct3Jn8pFA
Anyway, while the Bulls - by virtue of not being good enough to sell out their future much - have a decent stockpile, among the non playoff teams they are pretty far down the list that I cobbled together pre-draft: https://www.blogabull.com/p/the-bulls-didnt-win-but-were-draft
You partially answered your own question when you said "Yes low first rounders and second rounders have trade asset value".
Beyond that, saying that "most" low picks end up as unimportant players is misleading. Most high picks also end up as unimportant players.
If you don't know what you're doing, everything is a shot in the dark. If you're good at what you do, then every pick is an opportunity.
But the bigger issue is that you can't "unintentionally" build anything. Maybe the Bulls could "trade for a star" but they've been pretty clear that they're not gonna do that.
It goes back to issue that if you don't know what you're doing, you can't get anywhere. There's no lucking into sustained success.
Not true. Plenty of late first rounders become above average players on actual good teams. Hello most of the Pacers starting lineup were drafted in the 20s or the early second round(Siakam, Nesmith, Nembhard). Not to mention players like Desmond Bane, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen Brunson, Herb Jones, Daniel Gafford, Dillon Brooks, Jokic.
plenty of top 10 picked players don't amount to jack. The draft is a crapshoot so it serves you to take as many rolls as you possibly can to hit something good.
And yes they are pretty damn important as trade assets.
So yea I'd rather take a blind shot in a pick rather than taking a player that i already know is mediocre(Okoro for example)
Just about all of the things you say the Bulls have done unintentionally would also be true if they were prioritizing picks. Even just looking at the Lonzo and Caruso trades, if the Bulls asked the Thunder for two firsts (last year's #13 plus another) instead of Giddey and did the Marcus Smart + Memphis pick for Lonzo, you'd have a roster even better suited to a star because you wouldn't have the Giddey contract situation or off-ball questions.
Just those two trades - not even including trading Vuc for 2nd rounders at the trade deadline, taking the same Pelicans offer the Hawks did for #13, or wondering how the lottery would've even played out sans Giddey's late season heroics - would have given the Bulls +/- a billion dollars of expiring salary, more draft assets, and a team of truly complimentary pieces. So even in the fake scenario that any star wants to play for this team, we'd STILL have been better off playing for picks.
The Bulls just released their summer league roster and fucking Josh Primo is on it.
https://x.com/chicagobulls/status/1940832919452307679?s=46&t=ZSOVCRbS7N9ur50jmhMuqg
sigh...this would really look bad for ownership if they were paying attention
I mean - they signed him for like a day last year and he was also on the windy city bulls roster after that! it's now just beyond embarrassing.
Just looked at the roster and Maozinha Pereira was there!!
The Bulls are really scraping the barrel. This guy was playing in our local league a month ago and believe me, nobody was thinking "NBA player".
I was looking at a “winners and losers” article, and it was interesting to see what teams that actually want to win the most possible games do, and the West is going to be so brutal, even at the top:
Thunder: SGA, Dort, Williams, Holmgren, Hartenstein, Wallace, Caruso, Joe, Williams2, Wiggins, and of course, they’re going to have 2 lottery pick rookies in Topic and Sorber
Rockets: VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Eason, Kevin freaking Durant, Sengun, Adams, Capela, Jabari Smith, Dorian Finney Smith, Aaron Holiday and Reed Shepherd. Reliant on Van Bleet, but that’s fearsome.
Nuggets: Murray, Braun, Cam Johnson, Gordon, Jokic, Valencuianas, Tim Hardaway, Jr., Bruce Brown, Peyton Watson, Strawther? Some actual depth and a viable back-up Center finally.
Not to mention the older but good teams of Minnesota, Lakers, Golden State, Clippers.
(I wonder who will get the still good if not great Chris Paul.)
And my not-so-sleeper pick, the Spurs: Fox, Castle, Vassell, Barnes, Wemby, Harper, Sochan, Johnson, Kornet
Good lord. That’s just ridiculous.
Here’s my dumb trade idea. It won’t happen, but why not have “fun?”
Bulls out: Ayo, P. Williams, 2026 Top 10 protected, Phillips
Bulls In: Walker Kessler, John Collins, Kuminga on a 4-year, $100 mill S&T starting at 28 and going down to 23.5
Warriors Out: Kuminga, Santos, 2026 Top 10 protected
Warriors In: Ayo, Vucevic
Jazz Out: Kessler, Collins
Jazz In: Williams, Phillips, 2two 2026 Top 10 protected
Bulls:
Giddey - Jones - Carter
White - Huerter - Terry
Kuminga - Okoro
Buzelis - J. Collins - Essengue
Kessler - Z. Collins - Smith
You’re trying to figure out a way that Kuminga, Buzelis, and Essengue work out long-term, and there’s not enough bankable shooting with this team, but I think with Okoro, Kuminga, Buzelis, Kessler, and Collins, you have enough defense to make up for Giddey and White and Heurter.
Warriors:
Curry - Poedzimski - Dunsunmo
Hield - GPIII
Butler - Moody
Green - Post
Vucevic - Jackson-Davis
Jazz:
Who cares? They get two 1st rounders next year and Williams, Santos and Phillips for whatever they’re trying. Maybe after getting Clayton and Bailey this year, with their own pick and these two, they might get some actual talent.
rather just get Kessler and skip Kuminga
Sure, but gotta include another first.
Not that it matters, but I feel compelled to point out Sorber was the first pick after the lottery...
The two time western conference finalist TWolves get no respect.
Meh, they were mentioned as old but still good teams. I like them. They just didn’t really do anything to make themselves better, which was more my point of the post. But you’re also right if an implication of re-signing/extending Randle, Reid, Joe Ingles is at least a sign of a team “trying to win” rather than giving up.
I do like their moves as they’re risky, but they also give them a chance to transition in 2-4 years to a team led by prime Edward’s and McDaniels and supplemented by Dillingham, Shannon, Jr., Clark, and Beringer plus others.
Thanks for pointing it out about Sorber.
Get Grimes and say good bye to Giddey. You will have enough money to keep White and get a decent shot blocker at least 6"11.
It's a signing! Lachlan Olbrich is signed! A two way contract. I hope the kid can play.
Of all the Bulls things that were never gonna happen, taking Beal's contract was the most never gonna happen
https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2025/07/suns-discussing-possible-bradley-beal-buyout.html
Could it be that the Bulls are quiet because they are part of the rumored 7-team trade that's supposedly being announced on Sunday? On the one hand the Bulls don't seem like the kind of team to get involved with a complicated transaction, on the other hand it's another chance for AK to dump 2nd round picks and we know how hard it is for him to pass that up.
The 7 teams are all in announced but not yet official signings, and the Bulls haven't signed anyone from another team
Cowley doesn't actually know anything so not worthwhile to speculate, but we have nothing else to go on so let's be reckless
https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2025/07/bulls-rfa-giddey-reportedly-still-seeking-30mm-annually.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky
AK should put Giddey's reps on speaker, Call the Magic and ask if they would trade Suggs for Giddey making $30M or even $17M
Here's what I want to know. We've gotten a couple different stories over the last few days stating Giddey's camp and the Bulls are pretty far apart still.
We all know Giddey's camp has zero leverage. Do we think they're still standing so firm just because they know AK is an idiot and might eventually cave? What other reason would there be for them to be so stubborn in a situation where they have zero leverage?
Giddey may well take the QO.
How is taking the QO, not being able to be traded next year and then go wherever he wants for whatever he wants at seasons end not leverage?
I agree that's his leverage, but it's not much. And he'll 'want to go' where he gets paid, which will not be every team
But it only takes one team. If he bets on himself and continues the upward trajectory the Bulls will look foolish like they always do
We are a hard out.
Noa Essengue signed! I think they just waited until they had all the youtube media finished up.
Let's say Valanciunas decides to leave the NBA, and the Nuggets are willing to allow him out of his contract. I would think they could still trade him to help acquire another player, with the idea that the acquiring team would agree to release him from his contract after the trade? Specifically, I'm wondering if they could do something like re-route Valanciunas and add Nnaji for Vooch. Then the Bulls release Jonas after the transaction. I think the money should work, since the Nuggets will be under the apron after the Porter Jr. trade. I'd expect the Bulls to get some kind of draft compensation, but ya know...
Draft compensation, no. Cash considerations however...
Cam Whitmore had for two second round picks. I've been told by even AK bashers that these aren't valuable so have to (why?) give him a pass on that part of job failure
https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2025/07/rockets-to-trade-cam-whitmore-to-wizards.html#ref=home
It's like the "we have food at home" meme.
AKME don't make that trade because "We already have Cam Whitmore at home". And the sad version at home is Patrick Williams.
"and the food is way more expensive and we can't throw it out for five years"
I wanna go conspiracy theory, and, with Kuminga, Grimes, and Cam Thomas also not signed as RFAs, I’m thinking the league or someone has said: You gotta stop overpaying for good-but-not-great restricted free agents. The only ones of note that I’ve seen signed are Santi Aldama and Davion Mitchell, who signed for 3 and 2 years, respectively.
This theory allows me to not give any credit to AKME, so I’ll run with it.
Jay Huff was acquired by Indiana from Memphis for some 2nd round pics. He's the type of center that might be interesting in a Giddey oriented offense. One of Giddey's strengths is rebounding, and maybe with that you can incorporate cheap pieces that aren't great at rebounding but can shoot 3s, move well and be extra big like Jay Huff.
He'll be making 3mil for the next 3 years. If the bulls stockpiled 2nds then they could easily have just got this guy, stored him on the bench this year and rolled with 4 centers all season.
He's not even outside the type of player that AK likes, although at 26 maybe you can say he isn't young.
News broke that Tre Jones 3rd year is a team option, that is technically better than it not being that
I'm just glad someone finally explained the difference between team options and player options to AK. Maybe that's what got Patton fired.