Was listening to Dunc'd on today on the league's worst contracts and they gave a shout out to Blog a Bull.
Also,
Zach Lavine was #2 (2nd worst contract in the league).
Vuc was #5 (impressively bad GMing since he was the only guy on a freshly signed contract). Described as actually harmful to winning on both sides of the ball.
Lonzo Ball wasn't on the list but I'm sure the Bulls will be happy that he was "in the conversation".
lol at Vuc - I’m still mad at those that said, “Vuc contract is bad, but if they want to win, he’s their best choice.” Nope, NOPE, NOPE!!! Dude has always been a negative asset on defense, but he was trending downward on offense, being merely “equal” value on offense. Now that his shot has cratered this year, woof. and sure, it could come back up, but that’s already one of the three years “lost” and the contract only gets higher.
Vuc sucks. That they brought him back, bidding against themselves, is just the epitome of the ineptness of this franchise. But it was a tall Eastern European so maybe AK had a soft spot?
And despite adding Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, the org didn't really change much. Maybe the outright awfulness of the late Garpax era is over and there are fewer locker room snitches and coach-choking, but they've come into the Bulls org and been swallowed by the beast. Who's still the Senior Advisor, Basketball Operations? Who's still the Director of Pro Personnel?
This isn't to say that AKME have gazed into the abyss of institutionalized mediocrity for too long and it's imprinted on their souls; after their Big Rebuild™️ they've meekly played out the thread for as long as they can and that's probably always who they were. But the Bulls org has also enabled it.
Have any of us ever seen a leaked Bulls strategic plan?
I stupidly challenged a guy on Youtube who was talking about how great Vooch is. My general point was that Vooch is a statistically mediocre center and his contract and age only make him worse.
I used Isaiah Hartenstein as a counterexample for a couple of reasons. First, he's statistically better than Vooch. Second, he's a guy the Bulls could have targeted last summer instead of re-signing Vooch. And third, he's supposedly a backup-level center that has been starting a lot this year with Mitchell Robinson constantly being injured.
With all that in mind, he has been a better center this season than Vooch has while making less than $8 million. The guy I was arguing with was having none of it and just kept pointing to Vooch's better basic stats (PPG, RPG, APG), so I eventually just stopped responding to him. My point wasn't to say Hartenstein is some super underrated center that everyone is sleeping on. It was to say that a backup center that has been shoved into a starting role has been better than our "star" center who is old and on a bloated contract.
Vooch is such an enigma because he's not necessarily bad (or at least hadn't been until this year). It's just that basically everything is working against him. He's old on a team of mostly young guys (at least the ones that will be around for a while). He's old and unathletic in a league that has very much moved in the direction of mobile big men where defense and rim protection are by far the most important aspects of a center's job - the two things Vooch is very bad at. He's on a team that needs paint protection more than it needs a big man with good court vision.
Offense is supposed to be the thing Vooch is good at. The problem is that's not what most teams need from centers anymore, and his offense isn't actually that good. It could be argued that it was never that great because it wasn't efficient, but that's beside the point. His offense right now in this season has been terrible. You can't be bad on offense and defense and expect to be paid $20 million a year. Well, I guess you can when the man writing the checks doesn't actually care about winning.
so that's the first AK-loss of the post-deadline season, right?
they were "competitive"...for 2.5 quarters. I suppose he would still try to count that as a positive.
but otherwise: large margin of loss, especially from three. Home crowd chanting for opposing team (per Julia Poe). Onurlap Bitim played minutes. Luke Kornet dabbed on them...
I was at the game unfortunately. Free tickets and went with a Celtics fan who I couldn't disappoint by not going.
Bulls "fans" seemed way more interested in Benny than the basketball being played. Lots of green in the stands. Justifiably, given that the Celtics play modern NBA basketball at a high level while the Bulls play a shitty version of offensive basketball that stopped working at least 10 years ago. If you aren't there to see Benny and the halftime act and the t-shirt cannon I don't know what you think you're paying for.
This is just a terrific team. In some ways they remind me of those late 80s/early 90s Blazer teams with their extremely high level of play, depth, versatility, and seldom having the best player on the floor in the playoffs.
going with tried and true precedent when it comes to predicting free agents for the Bulls
agent Mark Bartelstein: Joe Harris
to a lesser extent there's their fruitful(?) relationship with Klutch. Juan Toscano-Anderson is in the GLeague and a free agent. Maybe do them a solid for some return favor when it comes to getting Lonzo off the cap
this has zero impact on this season. Bitim won't play (they could've been playing him all season on the two-way)
this is just thinking ahead, but in a cheapass Bulls way: Bitim likely is signed through next season making less than the veteran's minimum, which is gold when it comes to staying under the tax. (could also just have not picked up Dalen Terry's option, but whatever)
>"Even if Bitim doesn't play, his imminent signing to a multiyear deal adds a value contract for the offseason that can be included potentially for salary matching in trades. The multiyear deal is expected to feature either non-guarantees or guarantee dates well into next season."
the Arcidiacono return likely used as cover to then release (to media via protected account) news that Patrick Williams is indeed having foot surgery and is out for the season
I don't know what's more Bulls-y about this:
1) releasing it Friday afternoon
2) slow-playing the diagnosis weeks ago
3) having Billy Donovan give the ham-handed updates in the time since
4) the official PR release has 5 members of the comms staff on the masthead
Great review. You echo my feelings exactly. All this crap while Reinsdork is trying
to get the city to pony up a billion for a new stadium and forget about the old one.
I wish owners were only allowed one free stadium in their lifetime
::sigh::
Was listening to Dunc'd on today on the league's worst contracts and they gave a shout out to Blog a Bull.
Also,
Zach Lavine was #2 (2nd worst contract in the league).
Vuc was #5 (impressively bad GMing since he was the only guy on a freshly signed contract). Described as actually harmful to winning on both sides of the ball.
Lonzo Ball wasn't on the list but I'm sure the Bulls will be happy that he was "in the conversation".
lol at Vuc - I’m still mad at those that said, “Vuc contract is bad, but if they want to win, he’s their best choice.” Nope, NOPE, NOPE!!! Dude has always been a negative asset on defense, but he was trending downward on offense, being merely “equal” value on offense. Now that his shot has cratered this year, woof. and sure, it could come back up, but that’s already one of the three years “lost” and the contract only gets higher.
Vuc sucks. That they brought him back, bidding against themselves, is just the epitome of the ineptness of this franchise. But it was a tall Eastern European so maybe AK had a soft spot?
And despite adding Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, the org didn't really change much. Maybe the outright awfulness of the late Garpax era is over and there are fewer locker room snitches and coach-choking, but they've come into the Bulls org and been swallowed by the beast. Who's still the Senior Advisor, Basketball Operations? Who's still the Director of Pro Personnel?
This isn't to say that AKME have gazed into the abyss of institutionalized mediocrity for too long and it's imprinted on their souls; after their Big Rebuild™️ they've meekly played out the thread for as long as they can and that's probably always who they were. But the Bulls org has also enabled it.
Have any of us ever seen a leaked Bulls strategic plan?
Yeah, to me the first red flags for AKME was that they took this job in the first place.
22 and 14 against the Celtics, our constant!
(19 shots, which is actually efficient for him. But team was -18 in his 34 minutes womp womp)
I stupidly challenged a guy on Youtube who was talking about how great Vooch is. My general point was that Vooch is a statistically mediocre center and his contract and age only make him worse.
I used Isaiah Hartenstein as a counterexample for a couple of reasons. First, he's statistically better than Vooch. Second, he's a guy the Bulls could have targeted last summer instead of re-signing Vooch. And third, he's supposedly a backup-level center that has been starting a lot this year with Mitchell Robinson constantly being injured.
With all that in mind, he has been a better center this season than Vooch has while making less than $8 million. The guy I was arguing with was having none of it and just kept pointing to Vooch's better basic stats (PPG, RPG, APG), so I eventually just stopped responding to him. My point wasn't to say Hartenstein is some super underrated center that everyone is sleeping on. It was to say that a backup center that has been shoved into a starting role has been better than our "star" center who is old and on a bloated contract.
Vooch is such an enigma because he's not necessarily bad (or at least hadn't been until this year). It's just that basically everything is working against him. He's old on a team of mostly young guys (at least the ones that will be around for a while). He's old and unathletic in a league that has very much moved in the direction of mobile big men where defense and rim protection are by far the most important aspects of a center's job - the two things Vooch is very bad at. He's on a team that needs paint protection more than it needs a big man with good court vision.
Offense is supposed to be the thing Vooch is good at. The problem is that's not what most teams need from centers anymore, and his offense isn't actually that good. It could be argued that it was never that great because it wasn't efficient, but that's beside the point. His offense right now in this season has been terrible. You can't be bad on offense and defense and expect to be paid $20 million a year. Well, I guess you can when the man writing the checks doesn't actually care about winning.
The broadcast is really working that "top 10 record since 5-14" angle.
so that's the first AK-loss of the post-deadline season, right?
they were "competitive"...for 2.5 quarters. I suppose he would still try to count that as a positive.
but otherwise: large margin of loss, especially from three. Home crowd chanting for opposing team (per Julia Poe). Onurlap Bitim played minutes. Luke Kornet dabbed on them...
I was at the game unfortunately. Free tickets and went with a Celtics fan who I couldn't disappoint by not going.
Bulls "fans" seemed way more interested in Benny than the basketball being played. Lots of green in the stands. Justifiably, given that the Celtics play modern NBA basketball at a high level while the Bulls play a shitty version of offensive basketball that stopped working at least 10 years ago. If you aren't there to see Benny and the halftime act and the t-shirt cannon I don't know what you think you're paying for.
OKC waiving Poku. Hmm...
https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1761045227266019746?s=20
To be clear this would of course be a disaster. But it could possibly be interesting!
I'm flying Air-Poku, book your flight now.
Someone check on MikeDC if he's alright :-)
This is just a terrific team. In some ways they remind me of those late 80s/early 90s Blazer teams with their extremely high level of play, depth, versatility, and seldom having the best player on the floor in the playoffs.
I love all reminders of one of the eternal truths of sports: it's a bunch of obsessive compulsives with 5% body fat being ultra catty with each other.
going with tried and true precedent when it comes to predicting free agents for the Bulls
agent Mark Bartelstein: Joe Harris
to a lesser extent there's their fruitful(?) relationship with Klutch. Juan Toscano-Anderson is in the GLeague and a free agent. Maybe do them a solid for some return favor when it comes to getting Lonzo off the cap
LOL, well roster's full, so nevermind:
>"@ShamsCharania - The Chicago Bulls are converting two-way F/G Onuralp Bitim to a standard multiyear NBA deal"
let's see if it can come before his 25th birthday next week
This is some extreme version of "He's basically still a rookie"
this has zero impact on this season. Bitim won't play (they could've been playing him all season on the two-way)
this is just thinking ahead, but in a cheapass Bulls way: Bitim likely is signed through next season making less than the veteran's minimum, which is gold when it comes to staying under the tax. (could also just have not picked up Dalen Terry's option, but whatever)
how many times is KC going to fall for this man:
>"Even if Bitim doesn't play, his imminent signing to a multiyear deal adds a value contract for the offseason that can be included potentially for salary matching in trades. The multiyear deal is expected to feature either non-guarantees or guarantee dates well into next season."
what a schlub
why... NVM. Your next post answers the why.
UGH
the Arcidiacono return likely used as cover to then release (to media via protected account) news that Patrick Williams is indeed having foot surgery and is out for the season
I don't know what's more Bulls-y about this:
1) releasing it Friday afternoon
2) slow-playing the diagnosis weeks ago
3) having Billy Donovan give the ham-handed updates in the time since
4) the official PR release has 5 members of the comms staff on the masthead
This is certainly the Bullsiest day in recent memory.
My god, they're awful.
5) having to make a contract decision on an injured player
Holy fuck
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24622-bone-marrow-edema
Read through this. It's a career-threatening situation. And some of the underlying causes are downright scary.
But Pat's is just ACUTE bone marrow edema! Basically no worse than a minor sprain!!