In addition to the MLE, the Bulls also have the BAE of $5,135,000, a Trade Exception from the DeRozan deal of $675,875 that expires July 8th and a TE from the LaVine deal of $17,186,573 that expires February 3rd.
I wonder if AK gets really confused during PWill's trade talks. He's a distressed former lottery pick who's only 23! Surely they'll take him on without asking for any draft compensation and exchange a winning player. AK himself would love a guy like this. High upside, great athlete, with the right development... Why's he trying to trade him again? Wait, who's he talking to? Another GM? About PWill? Ha, take a hike, pal. That's MY guy!
Before cold, cruel reality comes crashing down, I wanted to wishcast a plausible and not-overly-complicated path forward for the Bulls this summer that wouldn't make me sad. I will, no doubt, be sad.
Trade 1
Nets get: Vooch
Bulls get: Claxton
Mostly I’d like to see Vooch traded for something. Anything, really. For everybody’s sake. I like the turn Vooch into Claxton plan, and this seems like a simple way to get there. Could also see something like Vooch to the Celtics and Simons to the Nets, or Vooch to GS and Kuminga to Nets as a possible 3-team avenues. Not sure who, if anybody, needs to kick in draft picks here, so leaving it out. The souped-up version of this trade would also include Cam Johnson coming to the Bulls and PWill + picks going to the Nets.
Trade 2
Rockets get: Ayo
Bulls get: Whitmore
Would love to see the Bulls nab Whitmore, and there’s been some rumor reporting to suggest they are exploring it. An Ayo/Whitmore swap is the simple version (and again I’m not sure about picks, so leaving them out). The souped-up version of this trade would be something like Coby/Phillips for Whitmore/Sheppard. But there are probably reasons both sides might balk at that.
Re-sign: Giddey and Tre Jones
They’re already here, so why not?? I’m resigned to Giddey’s being re-signed and just hoping the number is more $24-26m and not $30m+. This would leave a roster spot to grab a developmental / end of bench 2 or 3. Or maybe Bulls would want to nab one of Dariq Whitehead or Keon Johnson from the Nets as a throw-in, assuming the Nets might want to clear some roster space.
Giddey / Jones / Carter
Coby / Huerter / ???
Whitmore / Akoro / Terry
Buzelis / PWill / Assengue
Claxton / Collins / Smith
I wouldn’t be mad at this. Younger and more interesting, with at least one additional upside play in Whitmore. Still room for some some in-season maneuvering (sha right!), and if not a lot of money comes off the books next year. If everything breaks “right”, maybe a playoff-team in a crappy East. But also some possibility they really stink and find themselves with some lotto balls.
Among other torturous elements of being a Bulls fan, how depressing is it that we've felt resigned about re-signing every one of our own players since...I can't remember when? Probably pre-injuty DRose, maybe Jimmy's 2nd contract? Zach was the quintessential example of "well, I guess we kind of have to..." but over the past decade-plus there have been so many other re-signings that have ranged between "meh" and "oh Dear God, no!" Giddey will fall somewhere on that spectrum.
I think as catchphrases go, "resigned to re-sign" is just a notch below "cash considerations" in capturing the ethos of Bulls management.
Yes for the teams that don't get free agents, but what's in it for the Bulls to not pretend. Win-win, either they sign someone, or they don't have to add payroll
Mavs have another young player they likely want to give up on (why this is AKME strategy is another question) in Jaden Hardy. Also Max Christie but I think they like him
I actually really like Jones as a player. I just don't understand why the Bulls feel the need to re-sign him. They already have a million guards, unless they expect to trade one of Coby or Ayo.
i'm not so sure, their logic suggests that since Lonzo Ball is out, they have to fill in another guard
and Billy plays 3 guards all the time, so Huerter and Okoro and Terry are SF. They want to pretend Jevon Carter isn't even on the roster, who signed that guy anyway!?!
According to Anthony Slater, the Bulls and Heat are front-runners to get Kuminga. Warriors are looking for a stretch center and are hoping to sign Horford with their $5.7m MLE haha. They may need to settle for Vuc.
Because he's only 22 and he will keep getting better. I thought he showed a lot of heart over the last year when Kerr took him out of the rotation. And then when Curry went down in the playoffs JK stepped up.
I think for the most part the 22 year olds that help with winning are the strong defenders who can make the open 3s. I don't think Kuminga is a bad defender but he is not and probably will never be a 3-and-D guy.
Off topic, but if the Knicks replace Thibs with Mike Brown, then we might legitimately have only two 50+ win teams in the East next year (Cavs and Magic).
it's pointless shouting in the void, but wouldn't Bulls be better off working with the Grizzlies to take on Cole Anthony's $26M/2yr (AND GET SOMETHING FOR IT) instead of re-signing Tre Jones?
How many hours/days will pass until the Tre Jones signing is referenced as the reason we couldn't get in on a deal for a player who's better than Tre Jones?
no need to track all the real NBA teams making moves as the Bulls are not competing with them, but they are competing with worst front office in basketball so it's funny to see the Pelicans give out $16M multi-year contract to minimum player Kevon Looney
Kornet is interesting. He's 7'2" and for the first half of his career the Knicks and Bulls tried unsuccessfully to make him a stretch-5. Once he got to Boston they moved him under the basket, and he got 3/4 of his shots inside 3 feet. Maybe Spurs want Wemby to see up close how that's done?
I still can’t get over how weird it is that the GM went on the radio and told the world that all of the vets who played in the play-in game are coming back.
He told the world that the Bulls are no longer open for business FOUR MONTHS before the season begins.
How does that make any sense? And how is the local media not taking the front office to task for this? Cowley essentially defended their lack of activity at the trade deadline by saying they “laid the groundwork” for a Vuc trade. So he should criticize them if they don’t trade him now, right? RIGHT????
Cowley is a fraud and an outright idiot, I appreciate when he rips on management but understand that he is not an ally on the side of rational thought
for example, he touts Vuc's trade 'groundwork' and value in general not because he knows what he's talking about, or that he's very well sourced, but because he personally likes Vuc and thinks Vuc is good
Yes, I was thinking the same thing, and posted something similar on here a couple days ago. But re-reading Everly's comments just now, what I think he meant by "everybody's coming back" is that they were all still under contract.
So I think that ME was just bad at getting his message across. I hope we have more deals to make.
Yeah, we'll have to see what happens. I think he was talking about the play in game, which Ball didn't play in. It was in any case a disappointing presser.
In addition to the MLE, the Bulls also have the BAE of $5,135,000, a Trade Exception from the DeRozan deal of $675,875 that expires July 8th and a TE from the LaVine deal of $17,186,573 that expires February 3rd.
Coby, Ayo, Buzelis, Essengue are the only guys on the team worth keeping. And given Coby's contract status, probably makes sense to trade him too.
I really miss caring about the Bulls. But we're years away from getting a team worth investing time in.
I totally feel that way about wishing I cared more. Yet I am still here waiting for news, lol.
I wonder if AK gets really confused during PWill's trade talks. He's a distressed former lottery pick who's only 23! Surely they'll take him on without asking for any draft compensation and exchange a winning player. AK himself would love a guy like this. High upside, great athlete, with the right development... Why's he trying to trade him again? Wait, who's he talking to? Another GM? About PWill? Ha, take a hike, pal. That's MY guy!
PWill is one of those young guys with experience that AKME love!
Before cold, cruel reality comes crashing down, I wanted to wishcast a plausible and not-overly-complicated path forward for the Bulls this summer that wouldn't make me sad. I will, no doubt, be sad.
Trade 1
Nets get: Vooch
Bulls get: Claxton
Mostly I’d like to see Vooch traded for something. Anything, really. For everybody’s sake. I like the turn Vooch into Claxton plan, and this seems like a simple way to get there. Could also see something like Vooch to the Celtics and Simons to the Nets, or Vooch to GS and Kuminga to Nets as a possible 3-team avenues. Not sure who, if anybody, needs to kick in draft picks here, so leaving it out. The souped-up version of this trade would also include Cam Johnson coming to the Bulls and PWill + picks going to the Nets.
Trade 2
Rockets get: Ayo
Bulls get: Whitmore
Would love to see the Bulls nab Whitmore, and there’s been some rumor reporting to suggest they are exploring it. An Ayo/Whitmore swap is the simple version (and again I’m not sure about picks, so leaving them out). The souped-up version of this trade would be something like Coby/Phillips for Whitmore/Sheppard. But there are probably reasons both sides might balk at that.
Re-sign: Giddey and Tre Jones
They’re already here, so why not?? I’m resigned to Giddey’s being re-signed and just hoping the number is more $24-26m and not $30m+. This would leave a roster spot to grab a developmental / end of bench 2 or 3. Or maybe Bulls would want to nab one of Dariq Whitehead or Keon Johnson from the Nets as a throw-in, assuming the Nets might want to clear some roster space.
Giddey / Jones / Carter
Coby / Huerter / ???
Whitmore / Akoro / Terry
Buzelis / PWill / Assengue
Claxton / Collins / Smith
I wouldn’t be mad at this. Younger and more interesting, with at least one additional upside play in Whitmore. Still room for some some in-season maneuvering (sha right!), and if not a lot of money comes off the books next year. If everything breaks “right”, maybe a playoff-team in a crappy East. But also some possibility they really stink and find themselves with some lotto balls.
Among other torturous elements of being a Bulls fan, how depressing is it that we've felt resigned about re-signing every one of our own players since...I can't remember when? Probably pre-injuty DRose, maybe Jimmy's 2nd contract? Zach was the quintessential example of "well, I guess we kind of have to..." but over the past decade-plus there have been so many other re-signings that have ranged between "meh" and "oh Dear God, no!" Giddey will fall somewhere on that spectrum.
I think as catchphrases go, "resigned to re-sign" is just a notch below "cash considerations" in capturing the ethos of Bulls management.
Lots of veterans being waived and/or bought out as teams recognize expiring contract has no utility outside of taking on worse money
But will Bulls realize this with Vuc...and how much does Vuc *really* want to play for a contender
This is also true of cap space in 2026.
Yes for the teams that don't get free agents, but what's in it for the Bulls to not pretend. Win-win, either they sign someone, or they don't have to add payroll
Throwing out an Ayo trade: to the Mavs for O-Max Prosper, who has done nothing but is definitely bigger, younger, cheaper
And for the Mavs, they just need guards and I don't think will have as high of a standard as Houston or that tier
Mavs have another young player they likely want to give up on (why this is AKME strategy is another question) in Jaden Hardy. Also Max Christie but I think they like him
Those guys are some real duds. I'd be ok with Christie I guess.
Stein&Fischer backing up reporting that Bulls want Tre Jones back. https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2025/06/stein-fischers-latest-jerome-kennard-capela-lakers-bulls-more.html#ref=home
I actually really like Jones as a player. I just don't understand why the Bulls feel the need to re-sign him. They already have a million guards, unless they expect to trade one of Coby or Ayo.
I think they expect to trade one of Coby or Ayo.
So who do we think they'll 1-for-1 swap for?
I keep seeing white for kuminga. because we need another guard/forward swap lol.
That would be such a horrible swap, so it makes perfect sense.
bulls gonna bulls.
i'm not so sure, their logic suggests that since Lonzo Ball is out, they have to fill in another guard
and Billy plays 3 guards all the time, so Huerter and Okoro and Terry are SF. They want to pretend Jevon Carter isn't even on the roster, who signed that guy anyway!?!
Lol
According to Anthony Slater, the Bulls and Heat are front-runners to get Kuminga. Warriors are looking for a stretch center and are hoping to sign Horford with their $5.7m MLE haha. They may need to settle for Vuc.
Link
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6455296/2025/06/30/warriors-nba-free-agency-2025-jonathan-kuminga/
Do you like Kuminga? I'm pretty down on players that Steve Kerr won't play.
Yes I do. Kerr is in win-now mode and Kuminga makes lots of mistakes.
Why do you like a guy who's played 4 seasons of ball and is so mistake prone that he doesn't help winning?
Because he's only 22 and he will keep getting better. I thought he showed a lot of heart over the last year when Kerr took him out of the rotation. And then when Curry went down in the playoffs JK stepped up.
I think for the most part the 22 year olds that help with winning are the strong defenders who can make the open 3s. I don't think Kuminga is a bad defender but he is not and probably will never be a 3-and-D guy.
ya know what, not giving Giddey a contract already is actually a good start lol
it's probably done and they are waiting to slip it in with some league-altering news
Off topic, but if the Knicks replace Thibs with Mike Brown, then we might legitimately have only two 50+ win teams in the East next year (Cavs and Magic).
it's pointless shouting in the void, but wouldn't Bulls be better off working with the Grizzlies to take on Cole Anthony's $26M/2yr (AND GET SOMETHING FOR IT) instead of re-signing Tre Jones?
We could do both.
no, didn't you hear: roster's full
TRE JONES BACK
$3yr/$24M
another pointless contract for a low-ceiling player, Go Bulls
but I will give them benefit of the doubt and wait for more information: maybe all three years are non-guaranteed
lmao, from John Hollinger:
"Chicago gets a great deal, setting Bulls up to trade him to a contender two years from now and receive no draft picks."
Zing!
LOL got eem
I do think he's a better player than Cole Anthony, and he was an offensive savant in the 18 (March) games with the Bulls.
I think he's better too
but so what? Bulls aren't in position to have the 38th versus 45th best point guard in the league
but as I just said, I am already tired of thinking of ways they *should* be operating. They are incuriously stupid and will continue to be.
How many hours/days will pass until the Tre Jones signing is referenced as the reason we couldn't get in on a deal for a player who's better than Tre Jones?
right, if I cared to, I could dig up every Bulls observer mentioning "fine deal" Jalen Smith from a year ago
something I don't see mentioned with Jones is he suffered a foot sprain and missed the end of last season
now watch this is career-altering and we will be yelled at when the Bulls can't trade him "what did you expect he's hurt!"
no need to track all the real NBA teams making moves as the Bulls are not competing with them, but they are competing with worst front office in basketball so it's funny to see the Pelicans give out $16M multi-year contract to minimum player Kevon Looney
the Kornet deal seems pricey to me for SA
agreed, Zach Collins vibes, but they can afford to be dumb with the core they have
Kornet is interesting. He's 7'2" and for the first half of his career the Knicks and Bulls tried unsuccessfully to make him a stretch-5. Once he got to Boston they moved him under the basket, and he got 3/4 of his shots inside 3 feet. Maybe Spurs want Wemby to see up close how that's done?
I still can’t get over how weird it is that the GM went on the radio and told the world that all of the vets who played in the play-in game are coming back.
He told the world that the Bulls are no longer open for business FOUR MONTHS before the season begins.
How does that make any sense? And how is the local media not taking the front office to task for this? Cowley essentially defended their lack of activity at the trade deadline by saying they “laid the groundwork” for a Vuc trade. So he should criticize them if they don’t trade him now, right? RIGHT????
Cowley is a fraud and an outright idiot, I appreciate when he rips on management but understand that he is not an ally on the side of rational thought
for example, he touts Vuc's trade 'groundwork' and value in general not because he knows what he's talking about, or that he's very well sourced, but because he personally likes Vuc and thinks Vuc is good
Yes, I was thinking the same thing, and posted something similar on here a couple days ago. But re-reading Everly's comments just now, what I think he meant by "everybody's coming back" is that they were all still under contract.
So I think that ME was just bad at getting his message across. I hope we have more deals to make.
he wasn't talking contracts, this was Eversley's response to a question of what the fans have to look forward to!
whether or not it's definitive, it is cementing the mindset that they *want* everybody to come back
notice Lonzo Ball wasn't mentioned
Yeah, we'll have to see what happens. I think he was talking about the play in game, which Ball didn't play in. It was in any case a disappointing presser.
what does "'laid the groundwork' for a Vuc trade" even mean? Probably that AK got out the CBAFAQ and discovered that players can, in fact, be traded.
Clint Capela just signed for 3 years what Vuc will make in a single season
And for less than Looney