The asset evaluation here is spot on. Minnesota's constraint of having no tradeable picks forces them to overpay in volume of mediocre prospects, which is basically asking the Bulls to do the Wolves scouting work for free. The Rob Dillingham situation is intresting because he fits the archetype AK usually chases but his production gap is too wide. If the goal is rotation player lottery tickets, you're right that Tre Jones math works but Coby/Ayo dont.
Yeah, Dillingham looks like he's going to be a bust. He's young enough there is still a chance for him to be a rotation player but I think that's about it.
Shannon is definitely a bust. Leonard Miller is big and athletic and also looks like he might become a 10th man someday.
The only guy I would say is a potential NBA starter is Beringer. He spent most of the season on the bench, but when Gobert went out a couple weeks ago he got a chance to play and looks better. I doubt Wolves would give him up but that's their call. There's no reason for us to do a deal without him included.
As others have said, I think Beringer is a good prospect that also fits what the Bulls need (rim protection). But as you said, probably not enough for Coby (or Ayo).
the Bulls need assets to acquire players. So I am treating any return for Coby on a valuation scale with a pick. Like hypothetically would a team trading a good player to the Bulls this summer rather have Joan Beringer, or the #29 pick (Pistons) in this year's first round? Or of much smaller importance, would Leonard Miller be a better 10th man than Julian Phillips?
Fair question. I guess the answer depends on the team and whether they want to develop a young center. Do you think Wolves would trade Beringer for a 29th pick?
Bulls are looking at bringing in young players first, and accumulating draft picks 2nd. And we need centers.
We are probably using our cap space this off season to sign players, but I could see situations where we do a trade. If Phoenix decides they don't want to pay luxury tax to re-sign Williams we could do a sign-and-trade. In that case would Suns want Beringer or a pick? It could go either way. Or if we did an S&T with Denver for Watson, what would they preference? I don't know.
As to Miller, I thought he looked good in Summer League. I'm surprised he hasn't got more play with the Wolves. They do have a deep front line.
as I replied elsewhere the Bulls don't really follow the conventional logic of what teams want in trades. But typically a team sending the good player (so not the current Wolves) wants picks. There's a bit of a 'new car off the lot' philosophy. The #29 pick could be anything, it could even be Joan Beringer!
We don't need to beat this to death, but again it depends. For rebuilding teams draft picks are good. They're like currency, you don't have to use them right away, and you can add them up. For a contending team, they usually want players that can give quality minutes now.
FWIW I listened to Dunc'dOn talking Timberwolves trade deadline and they also said with no picks (do have 2028 swap rights) the TWolves don't have the assets to get Coby.
The content mill is churning out so many different Bulls trades/scenarios right now...it's kind of making me nauseous. Mostly because almost everything I read is so bereft of context, and articles/posts usually speak to why another team would want one of our guys, or why we'd want one of their guys, but almost never to why a deal makes sense to BOTH teams.
Really, for most Bulls media and fans (including myself, often), the main motivation for wanting a trade seems to be: "it makes things more interesting". We're mired in boredom and malaise as Bulls fans, and we need something to care about, to distract us for a bit.
But thinking hard about the team's vision and strategy turns boredom into depression. Because, unless something drastically changes in the next few weeks, what's the point of anything we could do at the deadline? There are three realistic paths forward:
1. Try to be good soon (make a push)
2. Try to be bad now, in order to be good later (tank)
3. Try to stay around where we are: "avoid being accidentally bad by not risking too much to be good"
Lots of trade scenarios I've seen would lead us down either paths 1 or 2, but I don't see the team trying or succeeding at either strategy. Even a good GM would be hard pressed to get us into contention this year, or be able to strip away enough for a productive short-term tank.
So we end up at #3. And actually, it probably makes more sense to stand pat than make many trades in service of that goal. It's just super boring and feels dumb. But what is AKME going to do besides just shuffle out some middling expirings for middling assets that'll keep us in middling territory? What are they even trying to achieve?
I agree we should expect #3. Any big deal that gets done would be for salary cap management reasons, not basketball reasons. There are several teams that may want to shave salary: Houston, Phoenix, Denver, Boston and maybe a couple others. Those teams are all contenders, so I doubt any of them will actually do anything major, but if they do, us and the Jazz are the teams that have useful expiring contracts and room to take on salary. (I'd say the most likely is Boston, since with Tatum coming back they might be less concerned about trading off rotation players.)
ACME will make a trade at the deadline if the offer for his player(s) is good enough and if his projection for the player(s) during the offseason is worse. He wants youth and/or picks and added years of control of the player(s)' contracts, not to mention quality or potential and fit in their system. It takes two to tango. No GM is trying to help the other team. Standing pat is what most teams do and it's better than making a bad trade to appease the critics.
The Bulls are a .450 team that made four major trades in the last two years involving DeRozan, Caruso, LaVine and Ball. If they maintain that pace, we could soon see trades involving Vucevic, Carter and maybe even White and Williams.
prior to that they made no trades for 3 years, so that could also be their 'pace'
I don't know what being a .450 team is supposed to mean without judgement. They're a bottom ten team in basketball and maybe the worst or second-worst of teams not trying to lose
DeRozan and Ball trades were not 'major'
and sad to say Vuc is not going anywhere, Jake Fischer just suggested 'likely to stay' in Stein's latest newsletter an hour ago
No, these years they're in trade mode. They're a middle 10 team. For DeRozan and Ball they got a 1st round pick and a healthy starter. Worst case with Vucevic is they free up $20 million in cap space for one or two of the 2026 RFA's; either they get a player(s) back in a trade matching salaries, or they can sign this coming summer's version of Keminga or Giddey.
No Bulls GM is going to blow it up. Reinsdorf has a stadium to fill up. They ain't tankin'. I do my part by not buying game tickets or a Sports Network subscription, but some sports bars carry their games. Tanking doesn't guarantee a championship but it does lead to empty seats.
To each their own. I think there's more fun in watching a young team with high potential trying to improve and learn how to win (only Buzelis on the Bulls fits that description) than a middling everlasting groundhog day.
I know they had some longer losing streaks earlier in the season but it's just hard to see the bottom falling out if they have a full-ish roster. they're just good enough to stick around right where they're at no matter who they're playing. they have a decent amount of guys playing pretty damn well.
the key may be simply 'does Patrick Williams have to play'? because when he does that's usually because their (sigh) critical bigs in Jalen Smith and John Collins cannot. And Vuc, as infuriating as it is, has been...well, better than Pat and helped the Bulls win some close games
When Patrick Williams is out, gets a DNP, or plays fewer than 10 minutes, the Bulls are 7-1
I have my fingers crossed for some of the games against the Heat and Bucks. So many games are decided in the final minutes, just the way the NBA likes it.
Rumor update: I don't consider Jake Fischer a top-tier rumormonger like his mentor Marc Stein, but in their latest newsletter Fischer did confirm the only-prior-reported-by Cowley+ClutchPoints that the Bulls are interested in Pelicans rookie-scale center Yves Missi
As this would require the Bulls sending out a draft pick they probably won't and shouldn't do this, but the other rumor is that Pelicans are interested in Ben Mathurin so perhaps they'd take a Bulls guard under contract in lieu of picks.
Missi gets a lot of offensive rebounds amd blocks some shots. It's possible he can learn to do other things. Maybe we're looking for another big body for after we trade Vuc? He'd be fun to watch.
Josh Giddey returns tonight. But unfortunately Patrick Williams returns too. Hopefully Billy *somehow* can figure out that he doesn't HAVE to play the latter even when healthy.
Justin Termine was talking this afternoon about the Bulls-Wolves game tonight. He said he heard today that the Wolves, after three straight losses, are looking to add a bench scorer and a backup rim protector.
"Backup rim protector " is code for Nick Richards, I think. And so, if Wolves don't think Beringer is ready for playoff minutes maybe they would trade him.
Wolves get:
Richards
Ayo
Phillips
Bulls get:
Beringer
Miller
Shannon
Suns get:
Two stiffs from Wolves
Suns just want to take back $4.6 million or less so they can duck the luxury tax. Any two minimum salary players would do.
Wolves get their upgrades, Suns duck the tax and Bulls get a couple young bigs. And we could still sign Ayo back in the off season if we want (although I think he will be too expensive for us.)
I do think the Bulls should know, now, how expensive Ayo can be. I figure he won't be. In which case they'll keep him unless maybe a mid-round first is available but I doubt that.
Sure, but we are just lending Ayo out for the rest of the season. I don't care if we have him or not the rest of this year, and we can sign him back, just like Coby, or any of our other expirings, in the off season.
I think there will be a healthy market for players like Ayo, because there are a bunch of team that can use their $14 million MLE to sign a player. Once you get over that amount, there will only be a few teams with cap space. And they will not all be buyers, so we should be in a good position to go for the $15-25 million players.
"There have been rumors about the Wolves talking to the Bulls about guards Coby White ($12.9MM), Ayo Dosunmu ($7.5MM) and Tre Jones ($8MM). It’s understandable why Minnesota would be interested in those players, but it’s hard to see why Chicago would be intrigued by Conley, Dillingham, Shannon and second-rounders. Reid might be a different story.
"The main reason Reid makes sense as a trade candidate is because the Wolves lack bench depth and valuable assets to acquire those sorts of players. Reid makes enough money ($21.6MM) that he could bring back multiple quality reserves in return.
"What if, for example, the Wolves offered Reid for Dosunmu and Jalen Smith? I’m not sure either club would go for a deal like that, but it makes some sense. The Wolves would save money (at least in the short term — Dosunmu is on an expiring contract) and add two solid players for one, and the Bulls are reportedly looking for a long-term answer at center."
I really don't think there is any contract worse because it goes THREE more seasons after this. Maybe the Bulls could trade Pat for a more expensive one - add an expiring - that's a bit shorter.
there's also the problem that he's not an NBA rotation player right now, and keeps getting worse. It's why I was always admonishing people over the past year who said his trade value couldn't get lower.
thought of one, maybe: Jakob Poeltl? much better player, but his contract goes out one more year than Pat (and escalates to $27M) , and has this persistent back injury
I was thinking 'problem' like ja morant etc, but who wants to deal with that unless pat was somehow included. and then why would Memphis even bother with pat unless morant is that much of a pain. and if that's the case would the bulls tolerate morant as well. what a mess
That was such a good win. Yes it may have been more telling of the Timberwolves flaws: bad bench, clutch screw-ups, and they've now lost four straight. But there wasn't a rest or injury caveat, the Bulls played really well to keep it a close game to even allow for their stupid clutch magic.
The depressing part is, yes, AK is grasping at any success, and with Giddey's return "we'll see what we have" even though it's only 8 games or so until the trade deadline. So he'll still "want to see what we have" and keep everyone.
But the truth is that'd be the case no matter where the Bulls record was. Even if they were in Milwaukee's standings position AK would feel that way. He'll never be realistic, always delude himself because it makes him look better to the 'dorfs.
was quite something to see Anthony Edwards fuck up almost every single possession in crunch time while Tre Jones made every single play necessary to win
Yes, I’d much rather root for a 40-something win team than a 30-something win team.
I just want there to be an actual plan. What’s going to be done to elevate this team above the play-in tournament? Why is it acceptable that AK doesn’t have an answer to that question?
We're 4 games out of the #3 spot in the East right now, 2.5 games behind the #5 spot. We just beat an elite team (the "runner up" in the WCF 2 years straight), at full strength on their home floor. We're getting healthy for the first time all year.
I know much of that is fairly meaningless in the grand scheme, but there's no way AK isn't using those facts to rationalize the "we're a team that can win as currently constructed" narrative in his brain (and it's what he's been feeding to his bosses and the media all along).
ANT struggled last night. I was never a big Okoro fan but lots of stars have had off nights against us when he's guarded them. And he's still a bit awkward on offense but starting to make those corner 3's (not to mention hustling for offensive rebounds and loose balls).
We're also really bad on D when he's been out (I think our record is 1-6 or something). And the Cavs aren't exactly running away with the East in his absence.
We have some other decent trade chips but not all of their games are built for playoff basketball. If I'm the FO of a contending team, Okoro is the guy I have my eyes on as a potential lockdown defender in the playoffs (and on a reasonable contract).
Yet when he was on that kind of team last year they couldn't wait to get rid of him. Granted the Cavs were in 2nd apron which is not the case with every contender
I know a lot of folks in Cleveland had soured on him but I don't see anyone there gloating over the Lonzo trade anymore (even if that's more about the reality of Lonzo than wanting Okoro back). I have the sense that with a #5 pick in the draft, the expectations are more than just "great defender who can do a couple of things on offense". There are a lot of really solid performers in the NBA who are technically "draft busts". Do you think Cleveland SHOULD have wanted him out? (Asking sincerely as I really didn't follow them closely last year). Or was he the victim of the "wasted pick" narrative?
$11M seemed like a ton for that team in regard to the 2nd apron issues, and they were so disappointed with their 2025 playoff performance. But personally, from what I've seen this year I think Okoro is worth his $11M contract and that, in his somewhat limited role, he's a true impact player. I certainly think he impacts winning a lot more than Collins, Huerter, or Pat (all around $18M) and he's only making $4M more than Jevon "the Microwave of Garbage Time" Carter.
I don't think narrative is at play when the Cavs are trying to win a 2nd round playoff series. In that series Okoro was 10th in minutes (technically 9th but I believe Sam Merrill missed a game)
and he's actually having a statistically worse season this year, so I don't think teams are seeing him as a valuable trade target when he could've been had for free in the offseason
they screwed up scouting Lonzo though, to be sure. Both teams would've been better off if it was Okoro into a TPE
Well the argument I've seen that his play cost them that series to the Pacers isn't strengthened by the fact he didn't play much. And stats are tough with a guy like him. The stats I'd look at is how the elite opponents he's guarding play against him. And they always seem to struggle. It's been noted for the past few years, not anything new. Last night wasn't the first time he shut down Ant.
I'm deferring to authority here, but his lack of playing time means that the Cleveland coaching staff didn't think he'd help, or else they would have played him more
Deferring to authority? Now you're sounding like K.C. Johnson! (LOL). But yes, of course that's the logical answer and possibly the correct one. Though I think we may be seeing signs (starting in that playoff series) that the Cleveland coaching staff may not be all we thought it was.
Well I guess it's moot -- even if AK got a good offer he probably wouldn't take it. But if I'm in the West and want to slow down SGA, Williams, Fox, Castle, Murray, etc. -- or in the East, Cunningham, Brown, Brunson, etc. -- I'm not sure I see many guys out there more up to that task than Okoro. For the right team (one where he doesn't have to play a big offensive role) he'd be a boost.
the Lakers? I remember last week some super-slop outlet said they'd have interest.
but they want money off their books next year. I suppose including Knecht only adds $7M for them and they could always dump Okoro if desperate
and you're right it's all moot because AK wouldn't take a good offer, only a great one, and Lakers aren't going to trade a future first. If you added Coby/Ayo/Jones with Okoro...maybe...but I really think the Lakers are only interested in trading firsts for superstars. Maybe a pick swap (figuring they're the Lakers and not the Bulls) but AK wouldn't take that.
Rockets perhaps, but again I think you're only getting a first if you also include Coby/Ayo/Jones. All to mean Okoro has some positive value but not enough on his own.
funny enough, the Bulls' defensive rating in Okoro's minutes this season is over 120, which is BY FAR the worst among regular rotation guys. Obviously noise with that kinda stuff but it's still pretty funny
We already know AKME's post-deadline presser:
"Getting Josh back was like adding a vet in a trade."
The asset evaluation here is spot on. Minnesota's constraint of having no tradeable picks forces them to overpay in volume of mediocre prospects, which is basically asking the Bulls to do the Wolves scouting work for free. The Rob Dillingham situation is intresting because he fits the archetype AK usually chases but his production gap is too wide. If the goal is rotation player lottery tickets, you're right that Tre Jones math works but Coby/Ayo dont.
Yeah, Dillingham looks like he's going to be a bust. He's young enough there is still a chance for him to be a rotation player but I think that's about it.
Shannon is definitely a bust. Leonard Miller is big and athletic and also looks like he might become a 10th man someday.
The only guy I would say is a potential NBA starter is Beringer. He spent most of the season on the bench, but when Gobert went out a couple weeks ago he got a chance to play and looks better. I doubt Wolves would give him up but that's their call. There's no reason for us to do a deal without him included.
Beringer has only had 2 games where he played more than garbage time
but he was good in those games, combined 23 points on 13 shots.
As others have said, I think Beringer is a good prospect that also fits what the Bulls need (rim protection). But as you said, probably not enough for Coby (or Ayo).
yeah I would do it for Jones...maybe...I dunno is Yves Missi a better prospect than Beringer? If so then get him instead.
pretty silly that the Bulls are using high value players to get guys drafted mid-round because they can't draft (or get additional picks) themselves
the Bulls need assets to acquire players. So I am treating any return for Coby on a valuation scale with a pick. Like hypothetically would a team trading a good player to the Bulls this summer rather have Joan Beringer, or the #29 pick (Pistons) in this year's first round? Or of much smaller importance, would Leonard Miller be a better 10th man than Julian Phillips?
Fair question. I guess the answer depends on the team and whether they want to develop a young center. Do you think Wolves would trade Beringer for a 29th pick?
Bulls are looking at bringing in young players first, and accumulating draft picks 2nd. And we need centers.
We are probably using our cap space this off season to sign players, but I could see situations where we do a trade. If Phoenix decides they don't want to pay luxury tax to re-sign Williams we could do a sign-and-trade. In that case would Suns want Beringer or a pick? It could go either way. Or if we did an S&T with Denver for Watson, what would they preference? I don't know.
As to Miller, I thought he looked good in Summer League. I'm surprised he hasn't got more play with the Wolves. They do have a deep front line.
as I replied elsewhere the Bulls don't really follow the conventional logic of what teams want in trades. But typically a team sending the good player (so not the current Wolves) wants picks. There's a bit of a 'new car off the lot' philosophy. The #29 pick could be anything, it could even be Joan Beringer!
We don't need to beat this to death, but again it depends. For rebuilding teams draft picks are good. They're like currency, you don't have to use them right away, and you can add them up. For a contending team, they usually want players that can give quality minutes now.
FWIW I listened to Dunc'dOn talking Timberwolves trade deadline and they also said with no picks (do have 2028 swap rights) the TWolves don't have the assets to get Coby.
The content mill is churning out so many different Bulls trades/scenarios right now...it's kind of making me nauseous. Mostly because almost everything I read is so bereft of context, and articles/posts usually speak to why another team would want one of our guys, or why we'd want one of their guys, but almost never to why a deal makes sense to BOTH teams.
Really, for most Bulls media and fans (including myself, often), the main motivation for wanting a trade seems to be: "it makes things more interesting". We're mired in boredom and malaise as Bulls fans, and we need something to care about, to distract us for a bit.
But thinking hard about the team's vision and strategy turns boredom into depression. Because, unless something drastically changes in the next few weeks, what's the point of anything we could do at the deadline? There are three realistic paths forward:
1. Try to be good soon (make a push)
2. Try to be bad now, in order to be good later (tank)
3. Try to stay around where we are: "avoid being accidentally bad by not risking too much to be good"
Lots of trade scenarios I've seen would lead us down either paths 1 or 2, but I don't see the team trying or succeeding at either strategy. Even a good GM would be hard pressed to get us into contention this year, or be able to strip away enough for a productive short-term tank.
So we end up at #3. And actually, it probably makes more sense to stand pat than make many trades in service of that goal. It's just super boring and feels dumb. But what is AKME going to do besides just shuffle out some middling expirings for middling assets that'll keep us in middling territory? What are they even trying to achieve?
I agree we should expect #3. Any big deal that gets done would be for salary cap management reasons, not basketball reasons. There are several teams that may want to shave salary: Houston, Phoenix, Denver, Boston and maybe a couple others. Those teams are all contenders, so I doubt any of them will actually do anything major, but if they do, us and the Jazz are the teams that have useful expiring contracts and room to take on salary. (I'd say the most likely is Boston, since with Tatum coming back they might be less concerned about trading off rotation players.)
ACME will make a trade at the deadline if the offer for his player(s) is good enough and if his projection for the player(s) during the offseason is worse. He wants youth and/or picks and added years of control of the player(s)' contracts, not to mention quality or potential and fit in their system. It takes two to tango. No GM is trying to help the other team. Standing pat is what most teams do and it's better than making a bad trade to appease the critics.
you're right, it takes two, but it's the Bulls/AK who are the ones not participating in good faith
the good team wants players, the bad team wants assets. The Bulls are a bad team that wants players.
The Bulls are a .450 team that made four major trades in the last two years involving DeRozan, Caruso, LaVine and Ball. If they maintain that pace, we could soon see trades involving Vucevic, Carter and maybe even White and Williams.
prior to that they made no trades for 3 years, so that could also be their 'pace'
I don't know what being a .450 team is supposed to mean without judgement. They're a bottom ten team in basketball and maybe the worst or second-worst of teams not trying to lose
DeRozan and Ball trades were not 'major'
and sad to say Vuc is not going anywhere, Jake Fischer just suggested 'likely to stay' in Stein's latest newsletter an hour ago
No, these years they're in trade mode. They're a middle 10 team. For DeRozan and Ball they got a 1st round pick and a healthy starter. Worst case with Vucevic is they free up $20 million in cap space for one or two of the 2026 RFA's; either they get a player(s) back in a trade matching salaries, or they can sign this coming summer's version of Keminga or Giddey.
Realistically, the Bulls will probably be the underdog in 9 of the next 10 games. The bottom is about to fall out, Giddey or not.
Is that good or bad?
Good, if you have a competent VP of Basketball Operations who understands his team is heading nowhere and he needs to blow it all up.
The Bulls have Arturas Karnisovas.
No Bulls GM is going to blow it up. Reinsdorf has a stadium to fill up. They ain't tankin'. I do my part by not buying game tickets or a Sports Network subscription, but some sports bars carry their games. Tanking doesn't guarantee a championship but it does lead to empty seats.
To each their own. I think there's more fun in watching a young team with high potential trying to improve and learn how to win (only Buzelis on the Bulls fits that description) than a middling everlasting groundhog day.
I think you'll get your wish next season. Also, in basketball you don't need eight All-Stars to win a championship. A lot of role players have rings.
so we get the seasons-long process of not making the playoffs, yet no young players with high potential. Sounds like tanking but without the benefits.
I know they had some longer losing streaks earlier in the season but it's just hard to see the bottom falling out if they have a full-ish roster. they're just good enough to stick around right where they're at no matter who they're playing. they have a decent amount of guys playing pretty damn well.
the key may be simply 'does Patrick Williams have to play'? because when he does that's usually because their (sigh) critical bigs in Jalen Smith and John Collins cannot. And Vuc, as infuriating as it is, has been...well, better than Pat and helped the Bulls win some close games
When Patrick Williams is out, gets a DNP, or plays fewer than 10 minutes, the Bulls are 7-1
I have my fingers crossed for some of the games against the Heat and Bucks. So many games are decided in the final minutes, just the way the NBA likes it.
the Bulls don't operate in 'realism'. 1-0 (ugh)
They do just enough to keep the band together year after year. It's mind boggling and uber frustrating
Yeah, I think Sidery is AI. Even the real, human being writers mostly just copy each other's content. It's work to find actual reporting.
Rumor update: I don't consider Jake Fischer a top-tier rumormonger like his mentor Marc Stein, but in their latest newsletter Fischer did confirm the only-prior-reported-by Cowley+ClutchPoints that the Bulls are interested in Pelicans rookie-scale center Yves Missi
https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2026/01/pacers-pelicans-have-discussed-mathurin-missi.html
As this would require the Bulls sending out a draft pick they probably won't and shouldn't do this, but the other rumor is that Pelicans are interested in Ben Mathurin so perhaps they'd take a Bulls guard under contract in lieu of picks.
Missi gets a lot of offensive rebounds amd blocks some shots. It's possible he can learn to do other things. Maybe we're looking for another big body for after we trade Vuc? He'd be fun to watch.
I predict that the Bulls won’t make a major trade before the deadline, but they’re laying the groundwork for a trade that won’t happen either.
@KCJHoop "let's see what happens in free agency"
They're laying the groundwork for resigning Vooch to a "team-friendly" (read: overpay) contract in the offseason.
I have a feeling that they will run back most of the same team next season and call it “continuity.”
"we really liked what we saw when we were 5-1"
Of all our expirings, I'd say Vuc is most likely to be re-signed.
Josh Giddey returns tonight. But unfortunately Patrick Williams returns too. Hopefully Billy *somehow* can figure out that he doesn't HAVE to play the latter even when healthy.
Showcasing him for the trade deadline.
Justin Termine was talking this afternoon about the Bulls-Wolves game tonight. He said he heard today that the Wolves, after three straight losses, are looking to add a bench scorer and a backup rim protector.
"Backup rim protector " is code for Nick Richards, I think. And so, if Wolves don't think Beringer is ready for playoff minutes maybe they would trade him.
Wolves get:
Richards
Ayo
Phillips
Bulls get:
Beringer
Miller
Shannon
Suns get:
Two stiffs from Wolves
Suns just want to take back $4.6 million or less so they can duck the luxury tax. Any two minimum salary players would do.
Wolves get their upgrades, Suns duck the tax and Bulls get a couple young bigs. And we could still sign Ayo back in the off season if we want (although I think he will be too expensive for us.)
I thought you valued players more than prospects.
I do think the Bulls should know, now, how expensive Ayo can be. I figure he won't be. In which case they'll keep him unless maybe a mid-round first is available but I doubt that.
Sure, but we are just lending Ayo out for the rest of the season. I don't care if we have him or not the rest of this year, and we can sign him back, just like Coby, or any of our other expirings, in the off season.
I think there will be a healthy market for players like Ayo, because there are a bunch of team that can use their $14 million MLE to sign a player. Once you get over that amount, there will only be a few teams with cap space. And they will not all be buyers, so we should be in a good position to go for the $15-25 million players.
From Rory Maher of HoopsRumors:
"There have been rumors about the Wolves talking to the Bulls about guards Coby White ($12.9MM), Ayo Dosunmu ($7.5MM) and Tre Jones ($8MM). It’s understandable why Minnesota would be interested in those players, but it’s hard to see why Chicago would be intrigued by Conley, Dillingham, Shannon and second-rounders. Reid might be a different story.
"The main reason Reid makes sense as a trade candidate is because the Wolves lack bench depth and valuable assets to acquire those sorts of players. Reid makes enough money ($21.6MM) that he could bring back multiple quality reserves in return.
"What if, for example, the Wolves offered Reid for Dosunmu and Jalen Smith? I’m not sure either club would go for a deal like that, but it makes some sense. The Wolves would save money (at least in the short term — Dosunmu is on an expiring contract) and add two solid players for one, and the Bulls are reportedly looking for a long-term answer at center."
No way Wolves do that IMO
Yeah, this is the first I've heard that Wolves may not be happy with Reid. He always looks good against the Bulls.
He's like a cult figure fan favorite too, that's not insignificant
One quarter in and the Wolves bench is indeed very bad.
serious question, who is such a problem that a team would take pat as a salary match. like it's not possible right? I can't see how he's tradable
I really don't think there is any contract worse because it goes THREE more seasons after this. Maybe the Bulls could trade Pat for a more expensive one - add an expiring - that's a bit shorter.
there's also the problem that he's not an NBA rotation player right now, and keeps getting worse. It's why I was always admonishing people over the past year who said his trade value couldn't get lower.
thought of one, maybe: Jakob Poeltl? much better player, but his contract goes out one more year than Pat (and escalates to $27M) , and has this persistent back injury
I was thinking 'problem' like ja morant etc, but who wants to deal with that unless pat was somehow included. and then why would Memphis even bother with pat unless morant is that much of a pain. and if that's the case would the bulls tolerate morant as well. what a mess
I am really surprised that Donovan continues to go over injured player minute restrictions. What are we trying to do here?
The most important guy for us to have on a minutes restriction is Pat.
This team is .500
AK isn’t thinking about trading players away. He’s thinking about a parade.
That was such a good win. Yes it may have been more telling of the Timberwolves flaws: bad bench, clutch screw-ups, and they've now lost four straight. But there wasn't a rest or injury caveat, the Bulls played really well to keep it a close game to even allow for their stupid clutch magic.
The depressing part is, yes, AK is grasping at any success, and with Giddey's return "we'll see what we have" even though it's only 8 games or so until the trade deadline. So he'll still "want to see what we have" and keep everyone.
But the truth is that'd be the case no matter where the Bulls record was. Even if they were in Milwaukee's standings position AK would feel that way. He'll never be realistic, always delude himself because it makes him look better to the 'dorfs.
So might as well win, I guess?
was quite something to see Anthony Edwards fuck up almost every single possession in crunch time while Tre Jones made every single play necessary to win
Ant and Wolves fans have to be concerned with how this will affect their playoff run. Thankfully Bulls fans are unburdened from such thoughts
I do find it funny that when teams like this lose these insane games to the Bulls their fans treat it as an existential crisis
TWolves just lost to Utah before this (without Markkanen) so they were already in that mode. They're in the West play-in as of today.
I swear the whole NBA is Mickey Mouse March this season, there are like 6 good teams and they can't be reliably healthy over 82 games (no team can)
Yes. I really liked the layup Tre made at the end against Gobert. He went right into Gobert, got him off balance and then just laid it in.
Yes, I’d much rather root for a 40-something win team than a 30-something win team.
I just want there to be an actual plan. What’s going to be done to elevate this team above the play-in tournament? Why is it acceptable that AK doesn’t have an answer to that question?
We're 4 games out of the #3 spot in the East right now, 2.5 games behind the #5 spot. We just beat an elite team (the "runner up" in the WCF 2 years straight), at full strength on their home floor. We're getting healthy for the first time all year.
I know much of that is fairly meaningless in the grand scheme, but there's no way AK isn't using those facts to rationalize the "we're a team that can win as currently constructed" narrative in his brain (and it's what he's been feeding to his bosses and the media all along).
also it was another game Buzelis was benched down the stretch
ANT struggled last night. I was never a big Okoro fan but lots of stars have had off nights against us when he's guarded them. And he's still a bit awkward on offense but starting to make those corner 3's (not to mention hustling for offensive rebounds and loose balls).
We're also really bad on D when he's been out (I think our record is 1-6 or something). And the Cavs aren't exactly running away with the East in his absence.
We have some other decent trade chips but not all of their games are built for playoff basketball. If I'm the FO of a contending team, Okoro is the guy I have my eyes on as a potential lockdown defender in the playoffs (and on a reasonable contract).
Yet when he was on that kind of team last year they couldn't wait to get rid of him. Granted the Cavs were in 2nd apron which is not the case with every contender
I know a lot of folks in Cleveland had soured on him but I don't see anyone there gloating over the Lonzo trade anymore (even if that's more about the reality of Lonzo than wanting Okoro back). I have the sense that with a #5 pick in the draft, the expectations are more than just "great defender who can do a couple of things on offense". There are a lot of really solid performers in the NBA who are technically "draft busts". Do you think Cleveland SHOULD have wanted him out? (Asking sincerely as I really didn't follow them closely last year). Or was he the victim of the "wasted pick" narrative?
$11M seemed like a ton for that team in regard to the 2nd apron issues, and they were so disappointed with their 2025 playoff performance. But personally, from what I've seen this year I think Okoro is worth his $11M contract and that, in his somewhat limited role, he's a true impact player. I certainly think he impacts winning a lot more than Collins, Huerter, or Pat (all around $18M) and he's only making $4M more than Jevon "the Microwave of Garbage Time" Carter.
I don't think narrative is at play when the Cavs are trying to win a 2nd round playoff series. In that series Okoro was 10th in minutes (technically 9th but I believe Sam Merrill missed a game)
and he's actually having a statistically worse season this year, so I don't think teams are seeing him as a valuable trade target when he could've been had for free in the offseason
they screwed up scouting Lonzo though, to be sure. Both teams would've been better off if it was Okoro into a TPE
Well the argument I've seen that his play cost them that series to the Pacers isn't strengthened by the fact he didn't play much. And stats are tough with a guy like him. The stats I'd look at is how the elite opponents he's guarding play against him. And they always seem to struggle. It's been noted for the past few years, not anything new. Last night wasn't the first time he shut down Ant.
I'm deferring to authority here, but his lack of playing time means that the Cleveland coaching staff didn't think he'd help, or else they would have played him more
Deferring to authority? Now you're sounding like K.C. Johnson! (LOL). But yes, of course that's the logical answer and possibly the correct one. Though I think we may be seeing signs (starting in that playoff series) that the Cleveland coaching staff may not be all we thought it was.
I do agree Okoro has more value than those other guys. But not enough to where a team would give up an asset IMO
Well I guess it's moot -- even if AK got a good offer he probably wouldn't take it. But if I'm in the West and want to slow down SGA, Williams, Fox, Castle, Murray, etc. -- or in the East, Cunningham, Brown, Brunson, etc. -- I'm not sure I see many guys out there more up to that task than Okoro. For the right team (one where he doesn't have to play a big offensive role) he'd be a boost.
the Lakers? I remember last week some super-slop outlet said they'd have interest.
but they want money off their books next year. I suppose including Knecht only adds $7M for them and they could always dump Okoro if desperate
and you're right it's all moot because AK wouldn't take a good offer, only a great one, and Lakers aren't going to trade a future first. If you added Coby/Ayo/Jones with Okoro...maybe...but I really think the Lakers are only interested in trading firsts for superstars. Maybe a pick swap (figuring they're the Lakers and not the Bulls) but AK wouldn't take that.
Rockets perhaps, but again I think you're only getting a first if you also include Coby/Ayo/Jones. All to mean Okoro has some positive value but not enough on his own.
funny enough, the Bulls' defensive rating in Okoro's minutes this season is over 120, which is BY FAR the worst among regular rotation guys. Obviously noise with that kinda stuff but it's still pretty funny
Maybe Okoro is playing alongside Giddey, Coby and Vuc ? ^^