This season is a success as it vindicates my yearslong conclusion that Patrick Williams sucks at basketball. It's a pyrrhic victory as the Bulls are a tough watch and will likely blow their chances at a top pick, but I enjoy being right so this is a good outcome for me (if not the team or other fans).
I'm reminded of the Office Space quote "what would you say you do here?" when I watch Pat play. In Saturday's game against the Knicks, Pat was the only Bull with a negative plus/minus (-6 in 35 minutes on 39.6% true shooting). The next closest Bull playing at least 25 minutes was Vuc with a +6. While this stat rarely tells the whole story of how someone played, dude was a total non-factor all night. This was only one game but it's hard to have any optimism. Hopefully there's another team out there that can talk itself into trading something of value for a "guy who was taken in the lottery" (Gar Forman voice).
"I believed, though unintentional, that the Bulls would be in that lowest or second-lowest tier of losers."
This has been my big disagreement with you over this season. In the modern NBA, teams have to TRY to be in that tier. Any team that actually tries at all levels of the org, will be fighting for the play-in, regardless of skill.
We know Billy & the players are trying to win. That's obvious.
But AKME is trying, as well. They are terrible at the job, but they are not actively setting the team up to tank. And without actively trying to tank (or take risks to try to improve), the team will remain mediocre and fighting for the play-in.
Vuc is playing like normal, just with flashier stats. His on/off is actually worse than last year. -4.34 vs -4.07
Lonzo is great, but he's played less than 300 minutes. That's a marginal change and not enough to drop the Bulls into a completely different tier, especially considering they have one of the weakest remaining schedules and have had one of the harder schedules up to this point.
No other operating owner but lil boy Reinsdorf would put up with this. I'm sure Papa says it's your job handle it I'm over here counting nickels.
Billy is a puzzle. I think he likes the idea and portays some characteristics of being a coach. But he's afraid of the FO *and* the players, can't cross either and retains the college mentality that seniority (or high draft/big pay) get the court time, talent or upside be damned.
As Bobby Knight said, sit back and enjoy it the next few Bulls months are likely to be deeply painful.
Jimmy publicly said he wanted to have joy playing basketball again and he didn't think that could be with the Heat. So the Heat suspended him for being detrimental to the team.
I was fucking around to figure out a joke trade that would get us both Jimmy and DeMar back when I realized Jimmy for DeMar, Huerta and Devin Carter works fine. This is the ideal trade:
- Miami adds a year but it's for half the money and not fully guaranteed anyway (last year it seems only $10 million out of $27 million is fully guaranteed, scaling up with some unlikely incentives)
- They get back a guy who basically "works" for their team concept
- Carter is Sac's 1st that hasn't played, I have no idea if he's any good but a salary around that size is required and it's better than giving up a first (btw, Sac somehow has all of their draft picks, they haven't gotten the memo that they are hateful)
- Sacramento was going nowhere anyway, now they might still go nowhere but have a shot at going in a positive direction. If not: $50 million expiring and you can do the whole thing again next year.
On the other hand, whatever team Jimmy goes to is going to try to pound the snot out of the Heat every time they play them, so it'd be better if it was in the Eastern Conference. Alas.
On a positive note: Jimmy no longer has a prior obligation tonight and can make it out to Derrick Rose Night!
Surprisingly, LaVine to Sac for Demar/Huerter and Jimmy to the Bulls works in the old trade machine. I can squint and see the Kings preferring one guy who can more or less do a better job of what their two guys are doing. I don't love the haul for Miami, as Huerter seems duplicative to Robinson. And Demar, while he'd give them more juice offensively than Jaquez, does not defend like a Heat player. Your idea of Devin "Don't Call Me Jevon" Carter would be a nice sweetener, though. And with a temporarily mollified (confused?) Butler, the rest of the Bulls season would be hilarious and they would probably finish above .500.
Oh I don't think Miami has any interest in Huerter or even DeMar for that matter, I just don't think they're gonna get the Durant Package of a young star, prospects and picks for Jimmy so it's a matter of eating dollar-for-dollar on a trade with teams that are likely (a) pick depleted and/or (b) over the apron or skating on the edge of it.
Houston seems to be the magic bullet for everyone, I'm not sure they actually have any interest in giving up anything for a veteran when they can work out a sign-and-grade in the off-season, which are always cheaper to do. Those "rumors" always just seem to be some guy with a bad haircut saying "look out for Houston!" and the nothing ever happens contituency is undefeated on Houston rumors.
I've seen online speculation about a Memphis package centered around Bain, Konchar and Kennard (all of whom were injury scratches last night), that seems like about the same sort of package though obviously Bain is more appealing age-wise than DeMar. Memphis also seems like a very conservative trade partner so that would be pretty sensational.
Finding trade value for Jimmy is going to be so difficult, salary matching alone. He's in the same spot as Zach but the luxury version. He has scorched things to the point where the Heat - amazingly publicly! -want him gone. Maybe this means we get some more teams get in the mix. So much depends on what Miami wants. What's that price? Salary filler and future stuff? More?
Weirdly I'm not worried about the way Jimmy would perform in this short / end-of-season audition. As a rental, Jimmy makes a ton of sense, I just don't know where. GSW has reportedly become disinterested. Memphis would be fun. A Houston package involving Jalen Green? Maybe Dallas? Dallas could match salary with Gafford / Kleber / Marshall / PJ Washington. Does that work for anyone?
Jimmy should want the opt-in, I see zero way without a s/t that he can get 50M+ on a new contract.
Don't be surprised if the Bulls win on Derrick Rose night tonight. The Knicks played the Thunder last night and Thibs played all five starters 40+ minutes.
It'll be a good test of the commenter theory in a post ago (or two ago) that the Bulls are soft and that's why they can't win under any higher-scrutinized game like home ones
I do remember reading that and I don't totally disagree with it. With that being said, we could also look at tonight's game as a game the Bulls should lose. From that perspective, there is no pressure on them, so they may come out and perform well.
That's my general problem with that theory. It's just too ambiguous. When looking at games from one perspective, you can say there's no pressure. But then looking from another perspective, you could say there is pressure. Or more simply, I do think the Bulls probably play better when there is less pressure, however "less pressure" is hard to quantify.
Watching the end of the Spurs game on CRUNCHTIME on my phone was less than ideal, but oh my COBY. Please, NBATV CRUNCHTIME, help sad CHSN finance a new poster machine for Stacey. Also so many fun Lonzo things! So many Bulls things - Pat providing another blown tire / rejected by rim experience! josh giddey doing terrible terrible josh giddey things! Fun win
r/chicagobulls after the Wizards loss less than a week ago: "Alright, I'm ready to admit we need to fully commit to tanking and trade all of our good players."
r/chicagobulls after beating the Knicks and Spurs: "Fuck all you tank humpers! This team is good enough to make the playoffs as the 5 or 6 seed!" and then downvoting into oblivion anyone who asks what good losing their pick and getting destroyed in the first round would do.
Bulls are actually one or 2 more great defenders with size or without from contending to a higher playoff position from 5 to 7 and could host their first home play-in game ever.
LOL at that photo.
This season is a success as it vindicates my yearslong conclusion that Patrick Williams sucks at basketball. It's a pyrrhic victory as the Bulls are a tough watch and will likely blow their chances at a top pick, but I enjoy being right so this is a good outcome for me (if not the team or other fans).
Sadly I'm more of a fan of the team than I am of being right. So even when I am right, I still lose. :(
It's the picture of a man who reluctantly allowed someone to set up a dating profile for him. Caption: "Me"
Good and thorough Pat-dragging here
https://www.theringer.com/2025/01/06/nba/least-improved-players-tyrese-haliburton-jalen-green
I'm reminded of the Office Space quote "what would you say you do here?" when I watch Pat play. In Saturday's game against the Knicks, Pat was the only Bull with a negative plus/minus (-6 in 35 minutes on 39.6% true shooting). The next closest Bull playing at least 25 minutes was Vuc with a +6. While this stat rarely tells the whole story of how someone played, dude was a total non-factor all night. This was only one game but it's hard to have any optimism. Hopefully there's another team out there that can talk itself into trading something of value for a "guy who was taken in the lottery" (Gar Forman voice).
Don't drink the Koo-Aid that Arturas is telling the fans to drink.
But home court advantage tho
"I believed, though unintentional, that the Bulls would be in that lowest or second-lowest tier of losers."
This has been my big disagreement with you over this season. In the modern NBA, teams have to TRY to be in that tier. Any team that actually tries at all levels of the org, will be fighting for the play-in, regardless of skill.
We know Billy & the players are trying to win. That's obvious.
But AKME is trying, as well. They are terrible at the job, but they are not actively setting the team up to tank. And without actively trying to tank (or take risks to try to improve), the team will remain mediocre and fighting for the play-in.
Eh if Vuc played like normal and Lonzo was hurt like normal, and some other injury (like the Hornets and Raptors had) they'd be in lowest tier
Vuc is playing like normal, just with flashier stats. His on/off is actually worse than last year. -4.34 vs -4.07
Lonzo is great, but he's played less than 300 minutes. That's a marginal change and not enough to drop the Bulls into a completely different tier, especially considering they have one of the weakest remaining schedules and have had one of the harder schedules up to this point.
It really is a shit sandwich.
No other operating owner but lil boy Reinsdorf would put up with this. I'm sure Papa says it's your job handle it I'm over here counting nickels.
Billy is a puzzle. I think he likes the idea and portays some characteristics of being a coach. But he's afraid of the FO *and* the players, can't cross either and retains the college mentality that seniority (or high draft/big pay) get the court time, talent or upside be damned.
As Bobby Knight said, sit back and enjoy it the next few Bulls months are likely to be deeply painful.
The Heat suspended Jimmy for seven games. Clearly not a players-first organization...
I missed that. What happened?
Jimmy publicly said he wanted to have joy playing basketball again and he didn't think that could be with the Heat. So the Heat suspended him for being detrimental to the team.
I was fucking around to figure out a joke trade that would get us both Jimmy and DeMar back when I realized Jimmy for DeMar, Huerta and Devin Carter works fine. This is the ideal trade:
- Miami adds a year but it's for half the money and not fully guaranteed anyway (last year it seems only $10 million out of $27 million is fully guaranteed, scaling up with some unlikely incentives)
- They get back a guy who basically "works" for their team concept
- Carter is Sac's 1st that hasn't played, I have no idea if he's any good but a salary around that size is required and it's better than giving up a first (btw, Sac somehow has all of their draft picks, they haven't gotten the memo that they are hateful)
- Sacramento was going nowhere anyway, now they might still go nowhere but have a shot at going in a positive direction. If not: $50 million expiring and you can do the whole thing again next year.
On the other hand, whatever team Jimmy goes to is going to try to pound the snot out of the Heat every time they play them, so it'd be better if it was in the Eastern Conference. Alas.
On a positive note: Jimmy no longer has a prior obligation tonight and can make it out to Derrick Rose Night!
Surprisingly, LaVine to Sac for Demar/Huerter and Jimmy to the Bulls works in the old trade machine. I can squint and see the Kings preferring one guy who can more or less do a better job of what their two guys are doing. I don't love the haul for Miami, as Huerter seems duplicative to Robinson. And Demar, while he'd give them more juice offensively than Jaquez, does not defend like a Heat player. Your idea of Devin "Don't Call Me Jevon" Carter would be a nice sweetener, though. And with a temporarily mollified (confused?) Butler, the rest of the Bulls season would be hilarious and they would probably finish above .500.
Oh I don't think Miami has any interest in Huerter or even DeMar for that matter, I just don't think they're gonna get the Durant Package of a young star, prospects and picks for Jimmy so it's a matter of eating dollar-for-dollar on a trade with teams that are likely (a) pick depleted and/or (b) over the apron or skating on the edge of it.
Houston seems to be the magic bullet for everyone, I'm not sure they actually have any interest in giving up anything for a veteran when they can work out a sign-and-grade in the off-season, which are always cheaper to do. Those "rumors" always just seem to be some guy with a bad haircut saying "look out for Houston!" and the nothing ever happens contituency is undefeated on Houston rumors.
I've seen online speculation about a Memphis package centered around Bain, Konchar and Kennard (all of whom were injury scratches last night), that seems like about the same sort of package though obviously Bain is more appealing age-wise than DeMar. Memphis also seems like a very conservative trade partner so that would be pretty sensational.
Finding trade value for Jimmy is going to be so difficult, salary matching alone. He's in the same spot as Zach but the luxury version. He has scorched things to the point where the Heat - amazingly publicly! -want him gone. Maybe this means we get some more teams get in the mix. So much depends on what Miami wants. What's that price? Salary filler and future stuff? More?
Weirdly I'm not worried about the way Jimmy would perform in this short / end-of-season audition. As a rental, Jimmy makes a ton of sense, I just don't know where. GSW has reportedly become disinterested. Memphis would be fun. A Houston package involving Jalen Green? Maybe Dallas? Dallas could match salary with Gafford / Kleber / Marshall / PJ Washington. Does that work for anyone?
Jimmy should want the opt-in, I see zero way without a s/t that he can get 50M+ on a new contract.
The whole thing is sad.
Damn. I knew there were issues there, but I didn't realize they had risen to that level.
Don't be surprised if the Bulls win on Derrick Rose night tonight. The Knicks played the Thunder last night and Thibs played all five starters 40+ minutes.
It'll be a good test of the commenter theory in a post ago (or two ago) that the Bulls are soft and that's why they can't win under any higher-scrutinized game like home ones
I do remember reading that and I don't totally disagree with it. With that being said, we could also look at tonight's game as a game the Bulls should lose. From that perspective, there is no pressure on them, so they may come out and perform well.
That's my general problem with that theory. It's just too ambiguous. When looking at games from one perspective, you can say there's no pressure. But then looking from another perspective, you could say there is pressure. Or more simply, I do think the Bulls probably play better when there is less pressure, however "less pressure" is hard to quantify.
Yeah now they have the big home win for AK to be proud about too. Total victory.
Home court advantage flags fly forever.
Gums is smug spelled backwards.
Watching the end of the Spurs game on CRUNCHTIME on my phone was less than ideal, but oh my COBY. Please, NBATV CRUNCHTIME, help sad CHSN finance a new poster machine for Stacey. Also so many fun Lonzo things! So many Bulls things - Pat providing another blown tire / rejected by rim experience! josh giddey doing terrible terrible josh giddey things! Fun win
In a strange turn of events, Zach somehow had more missed dunks last night than Pat did, and Pat didn't have zero...
That lob from Lonzo would have been awesome
Man, I love the internet.
r/chicagobulls after the Wizards loss less than a week ago: "Alright, I'm ready to admit we need to fully commit to tanking and trade all of our good players."
r/chicagobulls after beating the Knicks and Spurs: "Fuck all you tank humpers! This team is good enough to make the playoffs as the 5 or 6 seed!" and then downvoting into oblivion anyone who asks what good losing their pick and getting destroyed in the first round would do.
What a time to be alive!
Bulls are actually one or 2 more great defenders with size or without from contending to a higher playoff position from 5 to 7 and could host their first home play-in game ever.