36 Comments
User's avatar
Shiu's avatar

Bulls FO breathing a sigh of relief now that they don't have to do anything except for makibf a plan for throwing Zach under the bus once he's traded sometime next season. I just knew this was coming when the Pistons trade rumors started to appear. There is no way in hell Zach would end up in Detroit

Expand full comment
H_Vaughn's avatar

I think of gangster films, where the crime boss sneaks the protagonist under cover of night to a back-alley veterinarian to sew up his wounds.

Expand full comment
granvillator's avatar

Maybe it's a cargo cult thing: the last time he had season-ending surgery he was traded!

Unrelated Theory: The introduction of the play-in round has snuffed out Jerry's preferred way of operating, which is to get as much playoff revenue as possible every season without going into the luxury tax. As we've seen in the past and especially in the Eastern Conference over the last two decades, you can half-ass your way into an 8th seed every year — a sub-.500 team basically just needs to win 7 of their last 10. Halfassing your way to 6 is a lot different. Getting as high as the 6th seed has been a pipedream for the last 2.5 seasons: you actually have to be trying, at least a little, to get HIGHER than 6 to get to 6. AIMING for 6 likely leaves you at 7, 8, 9 or 10 — and that's likely just one game of revenue, maybe none.

This team was introduced right when the play-in was, and ultimately it means his standing operating procedure since at least 2005 and probably earlier is now defunct. You actually have to be trying to win to be assured of playoff revenue now.

Expand full comment
Shiu's avatar

I wouldn't be surprised if they try and spin making the play in tournament, this season and going forward, as a positive thing. At least it improves their chances of getting to the first round of the playoffs. I seriously doubt they will be getting the 8 seed or better anytime soon. And by soon, I mean then next five years.

Expand full comment
your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

yes perhaps, as AK is not a good salesman (among other things) so while for one year he can tell everyone including 'dorfs 'hey we almost beat the team that went to the finals, which is kind of like making the playoffs if you think about it', that doesn't get them actual revenue

Expand full comment
H_Vaughn's avatar

Let's double-down on Zach's superstition, then, by packaging Vooch and Lonzo's money for Wiggins, thus reuniting The Enigmatic Duo, as sure a harbinger of change as robins in Spring.

Expand full comment
Chi-Fed's avatar

Will Zach miss enough games for Jerry to collect the injury insurance payout? That’s what Jerry really cares about.

Expand full comment
MikeDC's avatar

Thankfully, no. You have to miss 40 games before insurance kicks in, and Zach's last game was game 43. So... fuck you Jerry, you're on the hook.

Expand full comment
CE's avatar

40 consecutive games? If it's the same injury that was bothering him in the first part of the season, it'd be 40 games for that one particular injury.

Expand full comment
Dionysus2.0's avatar

According to the Coon FAQ, they do not have to be 41 consecutive games missed...here is the relevant quote:

"The waiting period can span seasons, and the player even can attempt to come back -- if he does and finds that he is unable to play, the 41-game count resumes (as long as he stopped playing due to the same injury)."

Link - http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q73

Expand full comment
granvillator's avatar

So another $20 million of "equity" floods into the coffers... of Jerry's pockets.

Hope he "reinvests" 1% of that ($200k) to hire four more ex-beat writers to degrade themselves on his behalf.

Expand full comment
MikeDC's avatar

He didn't stop playing because of the same injury though. He came back and was fine, then rolled his ankle. The foot had nothing to do with it, so if I were the insurer, I'd tell Jerry to piss up a rope.

Expand full comment
CE's avatar

I heard this surgery is related to the original injury. Man I hope this gets litigious.

Expand full comment
granvillator's avatar

Man I am so geeked that my hometown basketball team doubles as a true crime YouTube channel.

Expand full comment
Jeremy Jet's avatar

While it wasn't a knee this time around, I thought that it was six kinds of dumb to give him a max contract after his second knee injury.

Expand full comment
MikeDC's avatar

How could we foresee that this guy who gets hurt a lot would continue to get hurt a lot?

Expand full comment
CE's avatar

In 6 seasons prior to the contract, he averaged 53 games. 67 in his pre-contract season was his max. He could only manage to play 67 games in a _contract_ season.

Expand full comment
Brent_LZ's avatar

“The Acme Corporation is a fictional corporation that features prominently in the Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote animated shorts as a running gag. The company manufactures outlandish products that fail or backfire catastrophically at the worst possible times.

The company name is ironic, since the word acme is derived from Greek (ακμή, English transliteration: akmē) meaning the peak, zenith or prime, yet products from the fictional Acme Corporation are often generic, failure-prone or explosive.”

Expand full comment
barronitaly's avatar

What sucks the most about this situation is there isn't even anyone to root for! Zach, Klutch, and the Bulls are all unsympathetic characters. Zach is a distracted former All-Star on a max contract who doesn't contribute to winning. Klutch is a wannabe kingmaker with no scruples about collecting money for their clients who'd rather be "injured" than honor their contracts for teams they don't want to play for. Finally, the Bulls' front office sucks and their medical team does have a bad history of mis-diagnosing serious injuries. Everyone's a villain. It's a shit sandwich on shit bread.

Expand full comment
granvillator's avatar

It's a good day for Billy who no longer has to deal with this asshole, at least for a few months. But he was still wheeled out to note for the record how bad he feels for Zach.

Expand full comment
MikeDC's avatar

So I think it's pretty weird that there's been no description of what kind of surgery Zach is having. For that matter, I don't recall any specific description of what specific injury he suffered to his foot. It's all a bunch of really generic stuff. His foot is "inflamed" and now, suddenly, months later, he's having undescribed but season-ending surgery? WTF.

Expand full comment
MikeDC's avatar

And...If it's something they can do surgery on, it's something that will show up in a physical. Teams get to do physicals and can nullify a trade if they see something they don't like.

Which actually makes the whole affair even more befuddling. Assuming no crazy conspiracy theory stuff (like he really has no injury at all and next week, after the deadline when he's safe from being traded to Detroit, he'll announce he's reconsidered), concealing it wouldn't work. It'd just give the Bulls and Klutch another black mark against their name. They probably already have one for wasting all these other teams' time with BS trade negotiations for a player that was seriously injured.

I get that team's all think other teams are dumb, but that's pretty egregious.

Expand full comment
Jeremy Jet's avatar

It's painfully Bullsian, as you know.

I have little doubt that the Org. is frightened of having its medical decisions scrutinized, and has been at least since the Noah/Rose/Deng period debacles.

Expand full comment
your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

yeah as much as I'm holding out hope that the Bulls will still cut bait on Zach now (because his value is only going lower this offseason), nobody will bite if they don't even know what kind of surgery he's having

the announcement was just that surgery was planned for 'this week'. Klutch likely waiting until a minute after the trade deadline

Expand full comment
THEKILLERWHALE's avatar

Tin foil hats gang. Is this Klutch's way of sending a message to the league? Don't mess with us about these trade requests.

Expand full comment
MikeDC's avatar

It's both Klutch and the Bulls sending the message that they're morons who shouldn't be trusted.

Expand full comment
Rich Karpinski's avatar

Meanwhile days BEFORE this news it was all over that the Bulls might have to attach an asset to trade him. Who would have thunk it?

https://www.google.com/search?q=lavine+attach+assets&oq=lavine+attach+assets&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBBzc0M2owajeoAgCwAgA&client=ms-android-google&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

Expand full comment
your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

maybe they should now so they don't have to attach two assets later

Expand full comment
thekiltedwonder's avatar

On the plus side, Detroit (or some other tanking team) might might be even more interested, since him being out combined with trading away assets will make it easier to tank.

Expand full comment
MikeDC's avatar

This is pure wishful thinking. If a team wants to tank, they can just not play guys. Either play them less or not at all.

If they do feel like they "have to" then they can trade for an expiring contract, not a guy who's injured and owed $140M for three more years.

Expand full comment
thekiltedwonder's avatar

Shush! Let me drink my hopium in peace!

Expand full comment
John Burkey's avatar

How about Tyler Herro for Caruso, fill in cash or pick to make it work. Herro would liven up the Bulls and it doesn’t matter if he’s got a couple years to develop into a plus player - Bulls will suck for 3 years at least regardless. Caruso would help Heat and get to be in the playoffs.

Expand full comment
thekiltedwonder's avatar

I don't want any trades with the Heat. They are far too disciplined to give up enough assets to make trading Caruso worthwhile.... especially with AKME doing the negotiating.

I'd be far more interested in trading Caruso for Giddey. OKC has picks to burn and Caruso is exactly the type of player they need.

Expand full comment
John Burkey's avatar

They need to dump Herro - his development doesn’t fit their schedule- he’s a dynamic offense player (better than LaVine ). Similar D - but the Bulls mostly need a pulse.

Interesting on Giddey - if OK wants to tap gas on their schedule that makes sense. I bet they don’t though - lots of youth and Sha will be ok for another year of their development.

Expand full comment
thekiltedwonder's avatar

OKC has the best record in the West and 2nd best overall. They are 6th in championship odds. How much more time do you think they need before they are competing for championships? I feel like they haven't peaked, but are ready to compete for championships.

I think Caruso is exactly who they need. A veteran presence who plays team ball at a high level, plays top tier defense, is a really good teammate, and doesn't have an ego that prevents him from coming off the bench as the rest of the players develop.

Giddey, on the other hand, is being overshadowed by his teammates. He's become the 4th choice ballhandler, when that is his strength. Instead he's being forced to lean into his weaknesses. While that may be helpful for his development into a complete player, it doesn't add much to the team and doesn't seem like it would affect his trade value much (at least while being overshadowed in regards to his strengths).

I could be completely off base. Presti is a genius at trades and seeing value, while I'm a rank amateur.

Expand full comment
ExpiredTradeException's avatar

AK should take this as a sign to blow it up and cash in DeMar for whatever he can bring, Drummond, AC, etc. But no doubt it won't happen and we'll hear excuses about how the plan was to push for the playoffs and there wasn't time to adjust since this all broke so close to the deadline.

Months more pointless speculation and terrible basketball to look forward to now.

Expand full comment