I know Peterson is probably going to be picked by the Jazz at 2, but discussions are going to be interesting for that FO since Carlos Boozer is a part of it.
Literally every scouting report notes that he doesn't have high level NBA athleticism. Though to be totally fair, there's obviously biases in those kinds of things. Guess we can see how he measures out in the combine.
Still doesn't seem like a "SLAP" type prospect to me
Sure, but that’s only in reference to jumping and straight ahead speed. Derrick Rose had that in spades, but he struggled with lateral and backwards agility that limited his defensive ability. James Harden was considered subpar athlete, but he has (had) the best deceleration in the league, which is why he introduced and dominated with his step-back 3. There’s also the “keep your normal person athleticism while being huge” like Wembanyama, Shaq and Embiid. Then, there is also the body control athleticism and spatial awareness or proprioception athleticism like an SGA.
I do accept Stirtz is not athletic like we typically think, but he still had a 72% finishing rate at the rim. The only other players to have a 70% finishing rate and 25% assist rate since 2008 are Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, and Lonzo Ball. All guys who weren’t considered athletic but all who have also never heard of”he’s just not athletic enough” once they got to the NBA.
Jumping without contact and being fast is important in the NBA, but having body control while taking contact is just as important to me, as are all the other ways they don’t measure athleticism.
I think people see Stirtz and see “not athletic”, but I think that they often take far too narrow of a definition of what athleticism is.
As a fellow Iowa alum (that's you Tyger, right?), I've also seen my fair share of Stirtz, and I think he should very much be in play around the 15th pick. His live ball movement is super nice, and I'm very interested to see him in more of a secondary creator role in the NBA (or at least not the sole creator). In terms of guards, I personally prefer Swain or Carr, but I wouldn't be mad if the Bulls went with Stirtz.
There's also a chance it could be Peterson! And like... Any of those three might actually turn out to be the best player out of this draft. This rules so hard.
They should also totally throw bags at Watson and Duren or Kessler.
Like you could squint and say the Jazz could go jumbo with Ace at the 2, Lauri at the 3, and Boozer at the 4 (with JJ to help cleanup after them). But I tend to agree with you - I don't know if I see Peterson getting past the Utah.
I could absolutely see Peterson being the guy. It feels like he's gonna be the guy (somewhat fairly, somewhat unfairly) who gets crapped on for the next month about "questioning his love of the game" or somesuch. Ignoring the fact that he is the most talented scorer in the draft.
But this really is (should be) a no-brainer, right? Sit there at number 4, and take the one that's left among the big 4. Then hope for Mara/Lexenborg/Steinbach at 15. Just so damn exciting, I gotta say.
If the Bulls jersey someone bought during the "Boozer era" was a Carlos Boozer jersey (given all the other choices available), then I'm not sure I trust their "life hacking" judgement. LOL.
(I'm such a non-fan of who Boozer was for the Bulls, so I'm biased against Boozer fans. Didn't help that he was the consolation prize in the LeBron/Bosh sweepstakes, which I know isn't his fault).
I am rememinded of when Drew Gooden was with the Bucks and he tweeted out an open call for people to post photos of Bulls jerseys in the toilet, to which sombody replied with a photo of his Bulls jersey in the toilet. To which the only response is "you own a freakin’ drew gooden jersey?", but of course he couldn’t say that.
PF's like Gooden and PWill definitely make Boozer look like a stud in retrospect! But I if I found a Carlos Boozer jersey in my house it would be gone by the next trash pickup (wouldn't want it to clog the toilet).
I came here to say something similar. You might really be able to grab value with #4 - and future 1sts are very appealing for a team on our timeline. Having the #15 pick also makes trading down/forward more palatable since no matter what we'll be able to get a rookie with strong upside at that slot.
On the flipside, a trade UP could also leverage the market dynamics if Graham was sold on someone like Darryn Peterson being a future superstar but Utah was fine with either Boozer or Wilson. The premium to move from 4 to 2 might not be as steep as it would be in other circumstances (maybe a future pick swap or protected 1st?)
The clear play for the Chicago is to swap down with Brooklyn and acquire multiple picks from them in the future, specifically because you can acquire “best of” Knicks and Nets for several years - akin to the Atlanta pick this season acquired from Pelicans with Bucks odds attached. With lottery reform, stacking picks is the way to improve your upside odds, rather than just being bad.
This would also help push Brooklyn towards using their cap space to bring more competitive, further enhancing the value of the Bulls cap space as a salary dump for picks asset, since Brooklyn is the only other option for teams to call.
I read somewhere that the Bulls would suck as long as the Reinsdorf's were the owners. It looks like that angle was dropped, given today's euphoria. Wait, does AKME-bashing still drive traffic?
On a lighter note, winning the #4 pick in the lottery also makes the Bulls a more attractive destination for 2026 FA's, as well as for a GM and HC. After Bryson Graham's extraordinary good luck, he'll never be given any credit for his talent.
i mean someone joked that the NBA should do the bulls a solid and gift them picks like they did in post Jordan Krause era..but they screwed up that rebuild too
You can't even get your grievances straight. If it's hopeless no matter the owner, then that counteracts AKME bashing. Which is why I don't have that mindset. Though to be fair you did say you read that 'somewhere' and not here
The bashers say it's hopless, not me. The two Jerry's won six NBA championships.
I think your grievances are more intense than mine and they're largely misdirected at AKME. I've laid SOME of AKME "errors" at Reinsdorf's feet ... but there's no defending PWill's $90 mil contract extension and his draft was a reach (but sometimes that works).
My earlier points were that AKME's major decisions were at Reinsdorf's direction or with his OK: digging the Bulls out of the hole (that GarPax dug) with players like Vucevic, DeRozan, Caruso and Ball; playing .500 ball is preferable to tanking; the eventual firesale in Feb 2026; and cutting Jaden Ivey in March. I haven't heard AKME's side of these stories.
I'm turning the page to the draft and FA signings where I'm in "watch and learn" mode, not scouting college and the entire NBA, but egregious offenses will be noted.
I've said enough about why I defend AKME. But maybe you and I should join in the defaming of them. No, I just said I'm turning the page. You make up your mind.
BTW, I'd prepared drafts of longer replies (while "watching" the SAS-MNT game) but slept on it and had a phasmological dream; my interpretation: Time is short. Move on.
It kind of seems like everyone else has moved on but you? We're all celebrating the positive direction. You for some reason are stuck in a grievance about a front office that had 6 years of under .500 ball with a single playoff win.
Actually not. "your Friendly Bulls Blogger" spent more time bashing AKME than praising Bryon Graham on that joyous yesterday. I felt compelled to smooth the transition before turning the page.
Lies, damned lies and statistics: After the final 3 miserable seasons under GarPax, ACME brought us 4.5 seasons of .500 play, preceeded by 1 rebuild season and a .5 season tank.
AK put all his eggs in the LaVine, DeRozan, Vucevic, Ball basket so to speak. At the time of the Ball injury (Jan 2022), the Bulls had the best record in the Eastern conference 27-13. Who's to say what would have happened if Ball never gets hurt. The problem is that without Ball, the Bulls just weren't good enough but had all the big contracts on the books. In fairness, maybe it could be said that AK needed to recognize sooner that without Ball, the LaVine, DeRozan, Vucevic (and Caruso etc) nucleus wasn't going to be enough and try to unwind the roster. But getting rid of big contracts is very difficult if not impossible.
I pretty much agree with you. Also, they wanted an improved record without tanking for lottery picks. They probably traded for the best players that were available. Some have said that it wasn't a championship caliber team. I don't disagree. You don't go from .350 to .650 in one offseason. But the roster upgrade was generally praised then. After Ball's injury, at Guard they still had White, Caruso and Ayo, plus I'd call LaVine and DeRozan shot creaters and ball handlers. Maybe they didn't have the assets left to trade for a replacement of Ball.
They had started a complete overhaul when the Ivey Affair happened. Why couldn't he have spoken out two months earlier or two months later?
1. The "overhaul and investment" and "personnel" will take more than a season.
2. The Bulls won't pay the luxury tax in the next two seasons.
We'll see whether Bryson Graham, the team's search committee or the last 11 seasons have convinced the Reinsdorf's that an overhaul is past due. The two Jerry's did win 6 NBA Championships but that was 3 decades ago.
1. I'm hoping they can outbid the league for a young RFA Center and/or PF (change the PF to something else if they draft Boozer);
2. Maybe the #4 pick and new ExVP will be attractive to the new potential GM and HC, and all of that will be attractive to the FA's.
AKME have been the scapegoats or whipping boys for a while, and now they're gone. People need to work. Hope springs eternal. Hell, many fans are ecstatic over yesterday.
yeah I don't know that I see the connection between #4 and FA necessarily.
But the good vibes could help make the bulls a more attractive destination. If the franchise is looking like it's on a stable positive trajectory over the next ~12-24 months.
And true that FA is pretty weak. But I feel like Watson and the RFA centers make solid sense as targets.
It’s certainly possible. His physicality and defense are two things Graham will like.
With that said, he made comments during his press conference that made it sound like he doesn’t place a high value on traditional lead guards. I tend to think he prefers versatile forwards.
Damnit, Bulls, why did you make me have to go and feel something again? What is this warm glow in the pit of my previously numb soul? Like....hope? Please do not hurt me yet again.
Nah, there’s no chance of that happening. The Bulls are rebuilding.
He’s either going to the Rockets, Warriors, or Heat. There’s also a chance that the Bucks completely blew this and he’ll still be on their team next season.
1. I just REALLY don't want Boozer. If he's the guy at #4 we've got to trade down. Would be thrilled with any of the other 3. He might be most likely to win ROY and least likely to get future MVP votes.
2. May 28 is going to be one of the most consequential days in the modern history of the NBA. If the Board of Governors adopts the current anti-tanking proposal, most current wisdom about team-building completely changes. The Bulls played like a bottom-3 team after the trade deadline (I believe they were tied for 3rd worst record). The Wizards and Pacers are going to be much improved next year. Right now I think many are saying "trade anyone with value, go super young, pursue a long rebuild" -- but the question is how we're going to avoid being a bottom-three team in 2026-2027? And while the current free agent class is weak, we can't just keep our powder dry -- we're going to have to sign some pieces to keep us from falling below the 25-30 win threshold. I think that's going to be the "new normal" for avoiding relegation.
My takeaway quote from that article: "He’s slow, he isn’t a great leaper, and often looks pretty stiff in tight spaces."
I have no doubt young Booz is going to have a nice NBA career. But I'm 100% convinced that he's NOT a future superstar. He may be an All-Star (and possibly within his first few years) and may be a "2nd/3rd best player on a great team" type of guy, and he'll be a great pick for the right team.
But the Bulls need to be focused on franchise-altering superstar potential right now. That's what you need to start your ascent towards a championship. I really don't think Boozer is that guy at an NBA level. Just because doubters were wrong when they thought his game wouldn't translate from HS to the ACC, doesn't mean that they're wrong about how he'll look in the NBA.
Note, as an Illini fan I share many of the same concerns about Keaton Wagler (who I LOVE but don't want anywhere near the Bulls). Lack of explosiveness often doesn't become an issue until you're playing elite teams in the playoffs. But it will eventually be a limiter.
I guess time will tell. I do think he'll start off well, my concerns are longer term.
If they're set on picking a player at #4 and he's the last of the Top 4 left, then I agree he's the only option. But if they're open to a trade they could get a HAUL if one or more teams are convinced Ricky is correct.
This isn't football. You don't want a haul. You want a talent infusion. Boozer can be an offensive engine in a way that really only Jokic and Embiid are (themselves acouple of slow, stiff, non leapers incidentally).
I think folks not interested in Boozer are letting their memories of Carlos influence their thinking. They're quite different players. 6'9 forwards with elite strength, shooting, and basketball IQ don't grow on trees.
get ready to learn deep dish pizza, caleb wilson
I know Peterson is probably going to be picked by the Jazz at 2, but discussions are going to be interesting for that FO since Carlos Boozer is a part of it.
There was no “karma” here. It was just good old fashioned tanking that worked.
When I said thé trade deadline was good and the vast majority of people bitched about it, I said it was good for two reasons:
1) they were going to suck, and that would probably lead to a departure of AKME, and
2) they have more assets (however little) for the next to regime to use.
And I’ve consistently said thé best other forward for this team was to tank and hope. Well… anyway.
Also, how many athletic power forwards does one team need? Fourth time’s a charm!
the funny part is they didn't even tank until the trade deadline lol. they were trying to win
"sets fire to every scouting report left over from Karnisovas or Eversley (or, really, any of their underlings)"
Man, I know AKME's underlings sucked, but setting fire to the left-over underlings is a bit harsh.
lmao
1 - Draft Wilson, draft Stirtz, pay Walker Kessler à front-loaded 4-year/$125 million contract with à 15% trade kicker.
2-Have plans to offload Giddey and Williams but not needing to do anything immediate.
3-have à stupid but fun interesting plan of starting:
PG - Stirtz
SG - Buzelis
SF - Essengue
PF - Wilson
C - Kessler
And then just hope you can 20-25 or so 3FGA attempts out of those guys with 35% hit.
Stupid fun. lol
Lol drafting a non-athlete Iowa guard would be one of the more wildly disappointing moves I can imagine
He’s not unathletic. But sure. Think what you want.
Literally every scouting report notes that he doesn't have high level NBA athleticism. Though to be totally fair, there's obviously biases in those kinds of things. Guess we can see how he measures out in the combine.
Still doesn't seem like a "SLAP" type prospect to me
Sure, but that’s only in reference to jumping and straight ahead speed. Derrick Rose had that in spades, but he struggled with lateral and backwards agility that limited his defensive ability. James Harden was considered subpar athlete, but he has (had) the best deceleration in the league, which is why he introduced and dominated with his step-back 3. There’s also the “keep your normal person athleticism while being huge” like Wembanyama, Shaq and Embiid. Then, there is also the body control athleticism and spatial awareness or proprioception athleticism like an SGA.
I do accept Stirtz is not athletic like we typically think, but he still had a 72% finishing rate at the rim. The only other players to have a 70% finishing rate and 25% assist rate since 2008 are Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, and Lonzo Ball. All guys who weren’t considered athletic but all who have also never heard of”he’s just not athletic enough” once they got to the NBA.
Jumping without contact and being fast is important in the NBA, but having body control while taking contact is just as important to me, as are all the other ways they don’t measure athleticism.
I think people see Stirtz and see “not athletic”, but I think that they often take far too narrow of a definition of what athleticism is.
Genuinely interesting perspective. Thanks! I'll keep an open mind on him.
As a fellow Iowa alum (that's you Tyger, right?), I've also seen my fair share of Stirtz, and I think he should very much be in play around the 15th pick. His live ball movement is super nice, and I'm very interested to see him in more of a secondary creator role in the NBA (or at least not the sole creator). In terms of guards, I personally prefer Swain or Carr, but I wouldn't be mad if the Bulls went with Stirtz.
This legitimately is the biggest day for this franchise in over 10 years.
Likely going to be either Wilson or Boozer. Either will be awesome.
If it’s Boozer, he could pick #5 for his jersey and save a bunch of Bulls fans who kept their old jerseys a lot of money.
If it’s Wilson, he’s going to accidentally be called Caleb Williams by a bunch of barflies in Chicago for the next decade.
Early predictions for Stacey King catchphrases:
If it’s Boozer, he’ll say “Get back on the Booze cruise!”
If it’s Wilson, he’ll just tell “Wilson!” like Tom Hanks in Castaway.
There's also a chance it could be Peterson! And like... Any of those three might actually turn out to be the best player out of this draft. This rules so hard.
They should also totally throw bags at Watson and Duren or Kessler.
Bulls gonna be fun next year!
It could be Peterson!
Although, given the current front court of Bailey, Markkanen, and JJJ, I’d be a little surprised if the Jazz pass up on him.
Like you could squint and say the Jazz could go jumbo with Ace at the 2, Lauri at the 3, and Boozer at the 4 (with JJ to help cleanup after them). But I tend to agree with you - I don't know if I see Peterson getting past the Utah.
I could absolutely see Peterson being the guy. It feels like he's gonna be the guy (somewhat fairly, somewhat unfairly) who gets crapped on for the next month about "questioning his love of the game" or somesuch. Ignoring the fact that he is the most talented scorer in the draft.
But this really is (should be) a no-brainer, right? Sit there at number 4, and take the one that's left among the big 4. Then hope for Mara/Lexenborg/Steinbach at 15. Just so damn exciting, I gotta say.
PS, hey Jay!! Hope all is well!
If the Bulls jersey someone bought during the "Boozer era" was a Carlos Boozer jersey (given all the other choices available), then I'm not sure I trust their "life hacking" judgement. LOL.
(I'm such a non-fan of who Boozer was for the Bulls, so I'm biased against Boozer fans. Didn't help that he was the consolation prize in the LeBron/Bosh sweepstakes, which I know isn't his fault).
I'm not a Jersey person, but boozer would be high on my list if I were. He was an awesome presence on that team, as maddening as he also was
I remember 95% maddening and 5% awesome. Mostly I remember him for "Gimme Dat" and all the other silliness. This is perfect: https://www.reddit.com/r/chicagobulls/comments/p18nr/how_carlos_boozer_decides_what_to_yell/#lightbox
I am rememinded of when Drew Gooden was with the Bucks and he tweeted out an open call for people to post photos of Bulls jerseys in the toilet, to which sombody replied with a photo of his Bulls jersey in the toilet. To which the only response is "you own a freakin’ drew gooden jersey?", but of course he couldn’t say that.
I am just imagining a sheepish father coming home like "they were all out of Luol Deng jerseys, but I got you this" while his son sobs uncontrollably.
PF's like Gooden and PWill definitely make Boozer look like a stud in retrospect! But I if I found a Carlos Boozer jersey in my house it would be gone by the next trash pickup (wouldn't want it to clog the toilet).
There should be a rule for draft comps that anyone with a ceiling at Carlos Boozer should have a floor at Drew Gooden.
If the new EVP doesn’t like the consensus player, he can trade down and arbitrage the public consensus. This would be an exceptional outcome.
I came here to say something similar. You might really be able to grab value with #4 - and future 1sts are very appealing for a team on our timeline. Having the #15 pick also makes trading down/forward more palatable since no matter what we'll be able to get a rookie with strong upside at that slot.
On the flipside, a trade UP could also leverage the market dynamics if Graham was sold on someone like Darryn Peterson being a future superstar but Utah was fine with either Boozer or Wilson. The premium to move from 4 to 2 might not be as steep as it would be in other circumstances (maybe a future pick swap or protected 1st?)
The clear play for the Chicago is to swap down with Brooklyn and acquire multiple picks from them in the future, specifically because you can acquire “best of” Knicks and Nets for several years - akin to the Atlanta pick this season acquired from Pelicans with Bucks odds attached. With lottery reform, stacking picks is the way to improve your upside odds, rather than just being bad.
This would also help push Brooklyn towards using their cap space to bring more competitive, further enhancing the value of the Bulls cap space as a salary dump for picks asset, since Brooklyn is the only other option for teams to call.
Great ideas. Best to draft for greatness.
Brooklynn is in a great position to get very good fast. If I am Brooklynn, best to be patient.
Same with the Bulls. Be patient.
Sure hope that the Bulls can pick Wilson. Don't want Boozer at all.
I read somewhere that the Bulls would suck as long as the Reinsdorf's were the owners. It looks like that angle was dropped, given today's euphoria. Wait, does AKME-bashing still drive traffic?
On a lighter note, winning the #4 pick in the lottery also makes the Bulls a more attractive destination for 2026 FA's, as well as for a GM and HC. After Bryson Graham's extraordinary good luck, he'll never be given any credit for his talent.
Just trying to help out with the storyline.
i mean someone joked that the NBA should do the bulls a solid and gift them picks like they did in post Jordan Krause era..but they screwed up that rebuild too
If it wasn't already, total confirmation this year lottery isn't rigged because they wouldn't 'award' the Clippers like that
yeah Im not a conspiracy person, was just something someone said. I think it might have been King Goofing
I don't know. Silver seems to care more about good teams tanking for one year than any mis-behaviour from the owners.
You can't even get your grievances straight. If it's hopeless no matter the owner, then that counteracts AKME bashing. Which is why I don't have that mindset. Though to be fair you did say you read that 'somewhere' and not here
The bashers say it's hopless, not me. The two Jerry's won six NBA championships.
I think your grievances are more intense than mine and they're largely misdirected at AKME. I've laid SOME of AKME "errors" at Reinsdorf's feet ... but there's no defending PWill's $90 mil contract extension and his draft was a reach (but sometimes that works).
My earlier points were that AKME's major decisions were at Reinsdorf's direction or with his OK: digging the Bulls out of the hole (that GarPax dug) with players like Vucevic, DeRozan, Caruso and Ball; playing .500 ball is preferable to tanking; the eventual firesale in Feb 2026; and cutting Jaden Ivey in March. I haven't heard AKME's side of these stories.
I'm turning the page to the draft and FA signings where I'm in "watch and learn" mode, not scouting college and the entire NBA, but egregious offenses will be noted.
Is AK like a friend of yours or something? Why are you still defending him?
I've said enough about why I defend AKME. But maybe you and I should join in the defaming of them. No, I just said I'm turning the page. You make up your mind.
BTW, I'd prepared drafts of longer replies (while "watching" the SAS-MNT game) but slept on it and had a phasmological dream; my interpretation: Time is short. Move on.
It kind of seems like everyone else has moved on but you? We're all celebrating the positive direction. You for some reason are stuck in a grievance about a front office that had 6 years of under .500 ball with a single playoff win.
Actually not. "your Friendly Bulls Blogger" spent more time bashing AKME than praising Bryon Graham on that joyous yesterday. I felt compelled to smooth the transition before turning the page.
Lies, damned lies and statistics: After the final 3 miserable seasons under GarPax, ACME brought us 4.5 seasons of .500 play, preceeded by 1 rebuild season and a .5 season tank.
Defaming them???
AK put all his eggs in the LaVine, DeRozan, Vucevic, Ball basket so to speak. At the time of the Ball injury (Jan 2022), the Bulls had the best record in the Eastern conference 27-13. Who's to say what would have happened if Ball never gets hurt. The problem is that without Ball, the Bulls just weren't good enough but had all the big contracts on the books. In fairness, maybe it could be said that AK needed to recognize sooner that without Ball, the LaVine, DeRozan, Vucevic (and Caruso etc) nucleus wasn't going to be enough and try to unwind the roster. But getting rid of big contracts is very difficult if not impossible.
I pretty much agree with you. Also, they wanted an improved record without tanking for lottery picks. They probably traded for the best players that were available. Some have said that it wasn't a championship caliber team. I don't disagree. You don't go from .350 to .650 in one offseason. But the roster upgrade was generally praised then. After Ball's injury, at Guard they still had White, Caruso and Ayo, plus I'd call LaVine and DeRozan shot creaters and ball handlers. Maybe they didn't have the assets left to trade for a replacement of Ball.
They had started a complete overhaul when the Ivey Affair happened. Why couldn't he have spoken out two months earlier or two months later?
A decent draft pick does not make a winning team.
This team will not be winning or even decent without:
1. A significant overhaul and investment in basketball operations personnel.
2. Commitment to pay whatever salary and luxury tax costs necessary to build and maintain a winning program.
3. A hell of amount of time and luck during which the commitment to the previous two are not questioned.
As the first two are totally off of the table under the current ownership regime, yes, we cannot compete in this league.
BACK ON THE TREADMILL BOYS!
I agree but with two qualifications:
1. The "overhaul and investment" and "personnel" will take more than a season.
2. The Bulls won't pay the luxury tax in the next two seasons.
We'll see whether Bryson Graham, the team's search committee or the last 11 seasons have convinced the Reinsdorf's that an overhaul is past due. The two Jerry's did win 6 NBA Championships but that was 3 decades ago.
not trying to be negative, but 1. the FA class isn't very good and 2. getting the #4 pick isn't going to be a deciding factor in potential FAs
again not trying to be negative for no reason but that's just the honest truth
Maybe so, but:
1. I'm hoping they can outbid the league for a young RFA Center and/or PF (change the PF to something else if they draft Boozer);
2. Maybe the #4 pick and new ExVP will be attractive to the new potential GM and HC, and all of that will be attractive to the FA's.
AKME have been the scapegoats or whipping boys for a while, and now they're gone. People need to work. Hope springs eternal. Hell, many fans are ecstatic over yesterday.
yeah I don't know that I see the connection between #4 and FA necessarily.
But the good vibes could help make the bulls a more attractive destination. If the franchise is looking like it's on a stable positive trajectory over the next ~12-24 months.
And true that FA is pretty weak. But I feel like Watson and the RFA centers make solid sense as targets.
Wasn’t the defining lesson of the AKME era that we somehow weren’t negative enough? Let the words "benefit of the doubt" be stricken from this site.
Just a hunch, but I think they end up falling in love with Flemings.
It’s certainly possible. His physicality and defense are two things Graham will like.
With that said, he made comments during his press conference that made it sound like he doesn’t place a high value on traditional lead guards. I tend to think he prefers versatile forwards.
I wore my old Derrick Rose shirt today for good karma!
Thank you 😎
Wemby just threw a massive elbow
Its crazy that he did not get suspended even 1 game.
Would like for the Bulls to draft Wilson at #4 and Cenac at #15
Damnit, Bulls, why did you make me have to go and feel something again? What is this warm glow in the pit of my previously numb soul? Like....hope? Please do not hurt me yet again.
better get in on the Giannis rumors
Nah, there’s no chance of that happening. The Bulls are rebuilding.
He’s either going to the Rockets, Warriors, or Heat. There’s also a chance that the Bucks completely blew this and he’ll still be on their team next season.
Just FYI - I think because your username is so long, your comments get cut off on the mobile browser version of the site (Chrome/Android).
Can confirm. Gonna have to go back to just JB?
I think the origin is that there was another JB who was universally loathed. But it's so far in the past even I don't really remember
That’s essentially correct lol. It was a way to distinguish myself from another JB who everyone disagreed with.
i been here a bit, dont remeber
Just change it to NotThatJB. Or JBtheGood.
if you hold it sideways you can see the whole thing
the bulls will be linked, for fodder
Thoughts today...
1. I just REALLY don't want Boozer. If he's the guy at #4 we've got to trade down. Would be thrilled with any of the other 3. He might be most likely to win ROY and least likely to get future MVP votes.
2. May 28 is going to be one of the most consequential days in the modern history of the NBA. If the Board of Governors adopts the current anti-tanking proposal, most current wisdom about team-building completely changes. The Bulls played like a bottom-3 team after the trade deadline (I believe they were tied for 3rd worst record). The Wizards and Pacers are going to be much improved next year. Right now I think many are saying "trade anyone with value, go super young, pursue a long rebuild" -- but the question is how we're going to avoid being a bottom-three team in 2026-2027? And while the current free agent class is weak, we can't just keep our powder dry -- we're going to have to sign some pieces to keep us from falling below the 25-30 win threshold. I think that's going to be the "new normal" for avoiding relegation.
Somehow, Boozer has become underrated.
Everyone needs to do themselves a favor and read Ricky’s write-up about him:
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/1113333/cameron-boozer-scouting-report-best-prospect-2026-nba-draft-duke
My takeaway quote from that article: "He’s slow, he isn’t a great leaper, and often looks pretty stiff in tight spaces."
I have no doubt young Booz is going to have a nice NBA career. But I'm 100% convinced that he's NOT a future superstar. He may be an All-Star (and possibly within his first few years) and may be a "2nd/3rd best player on a great team" type of guy, and he'll be a great pick for the right team.
But the Bulls need to be focused on franchise-altering superstar potential right now. That's what you need to start your ascent towards a championship. I really don't think Boozer is that guy at an NBA level. Just because doubters were wrong when they thought his game wouldn't translate from HS to the ACC, doesn't mean that they're wrong about how he'll look in the NBA.
Note, as an Illini fan I share many of the same concerns about Keaton Wagler (who I LOVE but don't want anywhere near the Bulls). Lack of explosiveness often doesn't become an issue until you're playing elite teams in the playoffs. But it will eventually be a limiter.
I think you’re too low on him. His comps include Sengun and Kevin Love. I’d happily take their careers for the Bulls.
Would I take him over Peterson or Wilson? I’m not sure, but if he’s the only guy remaining from that top four, that discussion doesn’t matter.
I guess time will tell. I do think he'll start off well, my concerns are longer term.
If they're set on picking a player at #4 and he's the last of the Top 4 left, then I agree he's the only option. But if they're open to a trade they could get a HAUL if one or more teams are convinced Ricky is correct.
This isn't football. You don't want a haul. You want a talent infusion. Boozer can be an offensive engine in a way that really only Jokic and Embiid are (themselves acouple of slow, stiff, non leapers incidentally).
I think folks not interested in Boozer are letting their memories of Carlos influence their thinking. They're quite different players. 6'9 forwards with elite strength, shooting, and basketball IQ don't grow on trees.
he dominated the tournament games I watched