I go back and forth on what to do with DDR. He's productive on the court and also seems instrumental in the development of at least some of the young players. Still, it's going to be hard to make meaningful improvements with Lonzo, Vuc, probably Zach, and an extended DDR all under contract next year. I don't see how the Bulls stand pat this deadline and come back next season with something other than the same lineup. I suppose the Bulls could try to sign and trade DDR in the offseason but I don't think you can count on that. So, I think the best approach is to tear it down with the idea that the team will be bad next year and in the hunt for Cooper Flagg or similar.
Wait, AK can't even be bothered to show up for a real press conference today so it's just going to be on Zoom? I feel like the league needs to shoot that down and tell the man to show up to a real press conference. This may be dumber than him doing absolutely nothing for the third straight trade deadline...
Last night I dreamt of a ‘Trade Deadline Carol’ reboot with Art as Scrooge, Donny as Bob Cratchit, DRose as Tiny Tim, Stacey as his nephew (or Fezziwig?), Krause as Jacob Marley (via AI), and the ghosts of past present future being Norm Van Lier (also AI), Rodman (or Robin Lopez?) and Tony Snell (so he can afford health insurance for his autistic kids). I think this sounds way more entertaining than watching basketball. There’s some good writers on this blog so let’s get the script written and see if the TNT halftime show will bankroll it.
To your point about the bottom falling out re: DDR, you're right. And everyone knows it, which is why I am suspect of them doing anything other than letting him walk for nothing.
Meanwhile, they're going to ask for 25 first round picks in exchange for Alex Caruso. I'm holding my breath on that move and will probably end up dying in a familiar way. Because if there's one thing this FO *can* do, it's overvalue their own assets to the point of exhaustion (see: LaVine, Zach).
I could see them dealing Drummond, calling it a day and under-estimating his impact on winning now. Which, I don't even know if you could call this half-assing the trade deadline, but here we are, talking about decimal points to the right side of ass.
I think I read the sentiment on this blog, but this comes down to basic definitional collapse, like most things in the world today. The word "competitive" does not have a shared calculus between peoples. I believe the Bulls define "competitive" as in "sniffing around the play-in tournament." And it's for this reason, they're trying to take their veterans and turn them into veterans plus picks. Of course, this an intergalactically stupid idea, just a still born attempt, dead on arrival, delivered by a FO who refuses to pick a lane of traffic here, other than the one that continues to deliver 21K fans to most home games.
I don't think this means they wouldn't also trade for Caruso, they didn't even use one of their thousands of draft picks and have some other matching salary
If you want to look at this from an "institutional" perspective, what seems to get managers fired/removed by Reinsdorf is when they say they want to rebuild and then fail at it.
1. Krause argues for a rebuild. It fails, then he basically argues for rebuilding ad infinitum. Reinsdorf replaces him with Paxson.
2. Paxson successfully rebuilds, but the team stalls out because Reinsdorf won't pay the LT. Paxson basically quits and Forman takes over.
3. Forman successfully rebuilds, but then argues for another rebuild. It fails and he gets replaced with AK.
If you are AK, what lesson do you take from this history? What I see is that Reinsdorf could likely be convinced to rebuild if you really argue for it and present him with a confident vision of what it's going to look like. But by making that argument, you are going to put yourself on the hook if things go sideways. You are taking a big risk.
On the other hand, if you don't speak up, and you just kind of keep shuffling, and don't get any grand ideas in your head of drafting a team full of 18 year old kids (Krause) or paying the luxury tax (Paxson) or hiring your college buddy and taking credit for everything (Forman), then you aren't risking yourself much.
This is like the WGN Cubs days. They sold sunshine and a drunk party in the bleachers. The baseball game only passed the time. And the Sox sucked so nothing to fear. Bulls compete with the Blackhawks for eyeballs and both are owned by the same guy. The NBA sells tickets to corporates for “entertaining” clients. Alas, greed ruins everything.
Feb 8·edited Feb 8Liked by your friendly BullsBlogger
How'd the Knicks go from incompetent front office to who once trade 3 1st round picks for Eddy Curry to now actually making smart trades, getting their team back to relevance for the first time in 30 years. They just added Bogdonavic and Burks from Detroit, I hate them with every fiber of my being, and live in NY so I can't have them succeed. Sports radio for me would be intolerable.
moving this TO THE CHAT: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/3bf8058b-40bb-4c4f-9152-d1978fa79908
under an hour remaining.
I go back and forth on what to do with DDR. He's productive on the court and also seems instrumental in the development of at least some of the young players. Still, it's going to be hard to make meaningful improvements with Lonzo, Vuc, probably Zach, and an extended DDR all under contract next year. I don't see how the Bulls stand pat this deadline and come back next season with something other than the same lineup. I suppose the Bulls could try to sign and trade DDR in the offseason but I don't think you can count on that. So, I think the best approach is to tear it down with the idea that the team will be bad next year and in the hunt for Cooper Flagg or similar.
Wait, AK can't even be bothered to show up for a real press conference today so it's just going to be on Zoom? I feel like the league needs to shoot that down and tell the man to show up to a real press conference. This may be dumber than him doing absolutely nothing for the third straight trade deadline...
Last night I dreamt of a ‘Trade Deadline Carol’ reboot with Art as Scrooge, Donny as Bob Cratchit, DRose as Tiny Tim, Stacey as his nephew (or Fezziwig?), Krause as Jacob Marley (via AI), and the ghosts of past present future being Norm Van Lier (also AI), Rodman (or Robin Lopez?) and Tony Snell (so he can afford health insurance for his autistic kids). I think this sounds way more entertaining than watching basketball. There’s some good writers on this blog so let’s get the script written and see if the TNT halftime show will bankroll it.
To your point about the bottom falling out re: DDR, you're right. And everyone knows it, which is why I am suspect of them doing anything other than letting him walk for nothing.
Meanwhile, they're going to ask for 25 first round picks in exchange for Alex Caruso. I'm holding my breath on that move and will probably end up dying in a familiar way. Because if there's one thing this FO *can* do, it's overvalue their own assets to the point of exhaustion (see: LaVine, Zach).
I could see them dealing Drummond, calling it a day and under-estimating his impact on winning now. Which, I don't even know if you could call this half-assing the trade deadline, but here we are, talking about decimal points to the right side of ass.
I think I read the sentiment on this blog, but this comes down to basic definitional collapse, like most things in the world today. The word "competitive" does not have a shared calculus between peoples. I believe the Bulls define "competitive" as in "sniffing around the play-in tournament." And it's for this reason, they're trying to take their veterans and turn them into veterans plus picks. Of course, this an intergalactically stupid idea, just a still born attempt, dead on arrival, delivered by a FO who refuses to pick a lane of traffic here, other than the one that continues to deliver 21K fans to most home games.
Philly just used a likely DeRozan trade package (no firsts though) for Buddy Hield, NO BULLS FAULT
OKC just traded for Gordon Hayward
I don't think this means they wouldn't also trade for Caruso, they didn't even use one of their thousands of draft picks and have some other matching salary
If you want to look at this from an "institutional" perspective, what seems to get managers fired/removed by Reinsdorf is when they say they want to rebuild and then fail at it.
1. Krause argues for a rebuild. It fails, then he basically argues for rebuilding ad infinitum. Reinsdorf replaces him with Paxson.
2. Paxson successfully rebuilds, but the team stalls out because Reinsdorf won't pay the LT. Paxson basically quits and Forman takes over.
3. Forman successfully rebuilds, but then argues for another rebuild. It fails and he gets replaced with AK.
If you are AK, what lesson do you take from this history? What I see is that Reinsdorf could likely be convinced to rebuild if you really argue for it and present him with a confident vision of what it's going to look like. But by making that argument, you are going to put yourself on the hook if things go sideways. You are taking a big risk.
On the other hand, if you don't speak up, and you just kind of keep shuffling, and don't get any grand ideas in your head of drafting a team full of 18 year old kids (Krause) or paying the luxury tax (Paxson) or hiring your college buddy and taking credit for everything (Forman), then you aren't risking yourself much.
This is like the WGN Cubs days. They sold sunshine and a drunk party in the bleachers. The baseball game only passed the time. And the Sox sucked so nothing to fear. Bulls compete with the Blackhawks for eyeballs and both are owned by the same guy. The NBA sells tickets to corporates for “entertaining” clients. Alas, greed ruins everything.
Woj saying Bulls would get at least 2 first round picks for Caruso.
https://twitter.com/CHGO_Bulls/status/1755615633700491603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1755615633700491603%7Ctwgr%5E9b2f2bc7261eec332567084e773cd077c28b47d4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2355523start%3D320
(Caruso and vooch ) for ( Herro , Jovic and a pick ). ? Gives Bulls youth , Heat some pieces to compete now
Per KC, Art working hard today, already downed two bags of microwave popcorn and three Mtn Dews
Masai obviously taking great offense to ever being compared to AK, he's made like 6 trades this year
>PJ Washington to the Dallas Mavericks for Grant Williams, Seth Curry and a first-round draft pick
this seems like an insane haul for Charlotte. It'd fit what the Bulls would be looking for in an Alex Caruso trade return
How'd the Knicks go from incompetent front office to who once trade 3 1st round picks for Eddy Curry to now actually making smart trades, getting their team back to relevance for the first time in 30 years. They just added Bogdonavic and Burks from Detroit, I hate them with every fiber of my being, and live in NY so I can't have them succeed. Sports radio for me would be intolerable.
Every time a bell rings, the Bulls don’t make a trade.