Would be a stretch but not impossible to get to .500. So yes the Bulls are a bottom half team and with no player advancement and/or bad injury luck a bottom quarter or worse. And? They have some nice looking young players (I'm counting not yet big contract players Ayo and Coby too), a deep roster that can backfill no problem if a star consolidation trade happens (not an empty cupboard) and all their picks and swaps to pull off such a trade. I hate what the front office has put us through as well but that's a good position to build on (irregardless of the past).
What's incredible about this team is that the floor is so high. No superstar, low ceiling, but high floor due to a deep roster of replacement level players. The team has many contract year players that have incentive to try, and management that has no tank edict and so have incentive to try. The team does have character, it does have continuity. It does have 6 or 7 players that you'd expect to be better just based on year-to-year improvement.
The earned negativity around this team is all based on AK's refusal to pursue a more aggressive asset-based strategy to acquire a possible superstar (and his clear incapacity to execute that strategy), but that doesn't mean the team will be bad, and this team is clearly not going to be very bad. If someone doesn't watch the game in protest of a Reinsdorf owned marketing-forward profit milking team that should be spending like the LA Dodgers based on the brand's outsized reputation in a huge city, then that is your right and commendable. But the negativity around the players is misplaced aside from a couple prominent low-lateral-speed starters. This team will play fast, will be fun to watch, and will have qualities that in different situations you would appreciate.
This is the first non-LaVine season since.... 2016. He was a curse of a player, a low-iq, low defensive effort, crunch time cringing, ball-stopping, rotation missing player who was the marquee player following a 7 year run of inspirational play highlighted by a transcendent, generational and ultimately tragic sensation of a player. LaVine could never fill the empty space and was a complete drag.
This team doesn't have that drag. This team is guaranteed to win 35 games and I think there are pathways for 45 wins.
this will be a referendum on LaVine as a vortex of suckitude
will that counteract his ability to shoot? Because I see a team that will try hard, play fast, but miss a lot of shots and give up a lot of easy shots and lose a lot. Until later in the season when there are more schedule victories.
I think the guarantee is 30 wins and upside is also 30 wins
and roster-wise, the depth is just that they have 3rd stringers that can be serviceable 2nd stringers. The 2nd stringers are average and the 1st stringers are among the worst in the league.
Matas looks great. I think he’s going to be a good player this year.
Overall, I think the team will most likely have a pretty predictable season. They’ll be fun and streaky on offense. They’ll be really bad on defense. They’ll lose games in the middle of the season. They’ll win games at the end of the season. They’ll make the play-in tournament. They won’t make any trades at the deadline, because AK is still their team president.
My predictions for the East are the following:
1) Cavs
2) Knicks
3) Magic
4) Bucks
5) Celtics
6) Hawks
7) Pistons
8) Pacers
9) Bulls
10) Heat
That’s right. Bulls vs. Heat: Episode 4. The Death Star blows up at the end of this one.
I wanted to know how many second year players are objectively good rather than just relatively good. Various AIs came out with 6-8 players typically but project fewer this year based on last year’s worse draft class.
Here’s what ChatGPT when I asked: based on projections of advanced modes, which second year players project to be objectively good: should be, probably will, have an outside chance. I don’t necessarily agree with this “exactly” (I love Alex Zarr, but it’s not based on objective reasoning and I’d be surprised to see him being objectively good), but I think it’s generally a good list.
Should reach “objectively good” (starter-level impact most nights)
• Stephon Castle — reigning ROY; two-way guard whose rookie impact profile + role stability make him the safest sophomore bet. 
• Donovan Clingan — rim protection + screening/finishing translate cleanly; centers like this tend to grade well in EPM/DPM early. (Methodology refs). 
• Alex Sarr — tools + defensive versatility with passing flashes; projection systems typically like bigs with event creation/versatility. (Methodology refs). 
Probably will (average-plus rotation now, starter by mid-season if usage/minutes hold)
I have been a Bulls fan since the year I graduated high school (1990). This team has been mediocre at best, since the Three Alpha`s / Gar-Pax regime. Buzelis basically fell into the front office`s lap when they drafted him, and thankfully so. I don`t speak for everyone, do I hope this team win games and possibly makes a playoff push (and I mean more then the play in)? Yes. But, do I think this team is going to do anything as far as winning goes in the foreseeable future, No. I`m hopeful they`ll sign Coby & continue to build around him and Buzelis, but they`ll probably trade Coby, and this team will end up completely jettisoning everyone on the roster and rebuilding again in another couple years. And I thought Gar-Pax was bad.
I occasionally worry that the victims are the players. Will the Bullszelis become the player that the Buckszelis might have been? Maybe. Buceltis? Maybe not.
Would be a stretch but not impossible to get to .500. So yes the Bulls are a bottom half team and with no player advancement and/or bad injury luck a bottom quarter or worse. And? They have some nice looking young players (I'm counting not yet big contract players Ayo and Coby too), a deep roster that can backfill no problem if a star consolidation trade happens (not an empty cupboard) and all their picks and swaps to pull off such a trade. I hate what the front office has put us through as well but that's a good position to build on (irregardless of the past).
"irregardless"
If a grammar comment, cool, tks man! Definitely want to speak the King's English on BaB, for sure (even in a time of No Kings).
If you can't *forget* the past, well what else are you going to do? Team is moving forward, irregardless ;)
???
Dunno, Bob.
What's incredible about this team is that the floor is so high. No superstar, low ceiling, but high floor due to a deep roster of replacement level players. The team has many contract year players that have incentive to try, and management that has no tank edict and so have incentive to try. The team does have character, it does have continuity. It does have 6 or 7 players that you'd expect to be better just based on year-to-year improvement.
The earned negativity around this team is all based on AK's refusal to pursue a more aggressive asset-based strategy to acquire a possible superstar (and his clear incapacity to execute that strategy), but that doesn't mean the team will be bad, and this team is clearly not going to be very bad. If someone doesn't watch the game in protest of a Reinsdorf owned marketing-forward profit milking team that should be spending like the LA Dodgers based on the brand's outsized reputation in a huge city, then that is your right and commendable. But the negativity around the players is misplaced aside from a couple prominent low-lateral-speed starters. This team will play fast, will be fun to watch, and will have qualities that in different situations you would appreciate.
This is the first non-LaVine season since.... 2016. He was a curse of a player, a low-iq, low defensive effort, crunch time cringing, ball-stopping, rotation missing player who was the marquee player following a 7 year run of inspirational play highlighted by a transcendent, generational and ultimately tragic sensation of a player. LaVine could never fill the empty space and was a complete drag.
This team doesn't have that drag. This team is guaranteed to win 35 games and I think there are pathways for 45 wins.
this will be a referendum on LaVine as a vortex of suckitude
will that counteract his ability to shoot? Because I see a team that will try hard, play fast, but miss a lot of shots and give up a lot of easy shots and lose a lot. Until later in the season when there are more schedule victories.
I think the guarantee is 30 wins and upside is also 30 wins
and roster-wise, the depth is just that they have 3rd stringers that can be serviceable 2nd stringers. The 2nd stringers are average and the 1st stringers are among the worst in the league.
Matas looks great. I think he’s going to be a good player this year.
Overall, I think the team will most likely have a pretty predictable season. They’ll be fun and streaky on offense. They’ll be really bad on defense. They’ll lose games in the middle of the season. They’ll win games at the end of the season. They’ll make the play-in tournament. They won’t make any trades at the deadline, because AK is still their team president.
My predictions for the East are the following:
1) Cavs
2) Knicks
3) Magic
4) Bucks
5) Celtics
6) Hawks
7) Pistons
8) Pacers
9) Bulls
10) Heat
That’s right. Bulls vs. Heat: Episode 4. The Death Star blows up at the end of this one.
I wanted to know how many second year players are objectively good rather than just relatively good. Various AIs came out with 6-8 players typically but project fewer this year based on last year’s worse draft class.
Here’s what ChatGPT when I asked: based on projections of advanced modes, which second year players project to be objectively good: should be, probably will, have an outside chance. I don’t necessarily agree with this “exactly” (I love Alex Zarr, but it’s not based on objective reasoning and I’d be surprised to see him being objectively good), but I think it’s generally a good list.
Should reach “objectively good” (starter-level impact most nights)
• Stephon Castle — reigning ROY; two-way guard whose rookie impact profile + role stability make him the safest sophomore bet. 
• Donovan Clingan — rim protection + screening/finishing translate cleanly; centers like this tend to grade well in EPM/DPM early. (Methodology refs). 
• Alex Sarr — tools + defensive versatility with passing flashes; projection systems typically like bigs with event creation/versatility. (Methodology refs). 
Probably will (average-plus rotation now, starter by mid-season if usage/minutes hold)
• Zaccharie Risacher — scalable 3-and-D wing indicators; consensus “sophomore to watch.” 
• Dalton Knecht — real NBA spacing right away; shooting efficiency in year 1 gives him a clear, impact-positive path. 
• Matas Buzelis — size/handle/finishing with defensive playmaking; if the jumper holds, models tend to warm fast. (Methodology refs). 
• Reed Sheppard — shooting + instincts; preseason pop and on-ball events point to near-term positive impact if minutes are steady. 
Decent chance (credible path, but hinges on role/minutes or swing skills)
• Rob Dillingham — microwave shot creation; defense/size determine whether impact metrics net out ≥0. (Methodology refs). 
• Kel’el Ware — rim running + shot blocking profile; on NBA.com’s soph list. 
• Tidjane Salaun — motor/defense with budding shot; positive if efficiency climbs. 
• Nikola Topić — PnR table-setter; health/usage will decide early impact grade. (Methodology refs). 
• Cody Williams — wing size + touch; needs volume/3pt confidence to push models above water. (Methodology refs). 
• Ron Holland II — event creation/transition juice; shooting/turnovers are the swing items. (Methodology refs).
I have been a Bulls fan since the year I graduated high school (1990). This team has been mediocre at best, since the Three Alpha`s / Gar-Pax regime. Buzelis basically fell into the front office`s lap when they drafted him, and thankfully so. I don`t speak for everyone, do I hope this team win games and possibly makes a playoff push (and I mean more then the play in)? Yes. But, do I think this team is going to do anything as far as winning goes in the foreseeable future, No. I`m hopeful they`ll sign Coby & continue to build around him and Buzelis, but they`ll probably trade Coby, and this team will end up completely jettisoning everyone on the roster and rebuilding again in another couple years. And I thought Gar-Pax was bad.
I occasionally worry that the victims are the players. Will the Bullszelis become the player that the Buckszelis might have been? Maybe. Buceltis? Maybe not.
Asked elsewhere: Anyone doing an active but not crazy fantasy basketball that thy need someone in?