53 Comments

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.

Expand full comment

That's the predicament they've gotten themselves into, isn't it? I believe if they re-sign both DeMar and Pat, they're not going to have room for any other moves. So yeah, prepare for the same exact team for the fourth year in a row.

Expand full comment

Lonzo's going to be off the books, Zach is going to be traded, Vuc can be traded too. I don't agree with the suggestion that they have to move DeRozan even though he's by far the most useful because they can't move the other guys.

Expand full comment

Doesn’t Lonzo have one more year after this one? IIRC, he signed a four year contract.

Expand full comment

yes but they will apply for medical retirement to get him off the books entirely

Expand full comment

Great for the Bulls if that happens but I bet Lonzo tries to come back.

Expand full comment

it's up to doctors, not BigBallerBrand, as to the feasibility of that comeback

hopefully this show pony stuff at practices isn't the Bulls actually thinking he's going to play in the NBA again

Expand full comment

Actually, it's up to Lonzo's body. If he can actually go out there and play 25 games next year, then it voids getting the career-ending injury salary cap exclusion.

Expand full comment

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...

Expand full comment

this is actually inclusive, in that the team is in Memphis

But really he should have just had an in-person presser in Chicago anyway, as there's literally two independent reporters actually going on the road with this team

so the Zoom is so KC and Sam can ask questions, great

Expand full comment

"This team's momentum resembles a runaway freight train, and their players are clearly coveted around the league based upon all those phone calls you didn't return. Are the Chicago Bulls in fact unstoppable?" —KC Johnson

Expand full comment

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.

Expand full comment

Literally laughed out loud. Thank you for this. Somewhat related-- where is the GoFundMe for Tony Snell? Have we lost our humanity?

Expand full comment

No, his influencer wife is storing it in the Hermés Birkin bags she shows off on social media with the rest of his $53 million in career earnings (well, after those, more like $52 million).

Expand full comment

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.

Expand full comment

Fans? Don’t you mean 21k sheep???

Expand full comment

Philly just used a likely DeRozan trade package (no firsts though) for Buddy Hield, NO BULLS FAULT

Expand full comment

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

Expand full comment

Sigh... I was hoping they'd take DeRozan with that sort of logic

Expand full comment

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.

Expand full comment

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.

Expand full comment

I don't think it's unreasonable to hold out for some certainty in a prospect over 'a first', which could be heavily protected or in the back 5 of the round

Expand full comment

It's not unreasonable, but the market is shaping up to whatever it is shaping up to. Caruso is only going to go down in value, so whatever they can get, now is the time to get the best offer.

He's got the most value of anyone we can trade, and frankly, he's the most replaceable of anyone we can trade in the sense that we actually have reasonable options to replace him in the rotation (Ayo, Pat, Craig) with guys who do basically the same thing.

If he's still here after the deadline, it's a failure.

Expand full comment

I mean, sure.

But, remember in 2021, when Zach LaVine called Thad Young the MVP of that team? And when Shams reported that "...the Bulls value, even more than Thad Young's play on the court, [is] his leadership off of it." This checks out!

Is Alex Caruso the MVP of this team? IDK, look at some on-off numbers. The Bulls play better with him on the floor. (This is not a profound point.) Does he perfectly encapsulate the BULLS BASKETBALL leadership ethos AKME is trying to project? I don't know, I don't even know what leadership off of the court actually looks like, or how to quantify it, but I guess we shouldn't fuck with it, because when you have the opportunity to establish a perfectly .500 (22-22) team with Alex Caruso as its talismanic spirit animal, I guess you do that?

But, to me, the idea that Thad Young had to fetch a first round pick is the same idea that Alex Caruso has to [insert asking price here], and these little clownfish ideas are somehow still swimming together in the same tank. Sell the goddamn fish already.

Expand full comment

If these guys are turning down 2 first rounders for Caruso there is nothing reasonable about them.

I feel like they want to keep Caruso around because they know he keeps them from getting straight up blown out of games from tipoff to finish 15-20 times per season. Him continuing to grind and probably embarrassing some of his teammates into making the effort to compete turns a lot of these 25 point first half deficits into 8-10 point losses. Gotta keep the marks engaged and Caruso helps put a veneer of 'we are trying to win' on an organization that is actually totally indifferent to winning, insofar as profits could be raked without it.

Expand full comment

I don't think that's fair to the fans paying to go to games, I think nearly all agree that this is not real competitiveness and are just trying to have a good time

the 'mark' is AK, HE believes in the power of Caruso

Expand full comment

(Caruso and vooch ) for ( Herro , Jovic and a pick ). ? Gives Bulls youth , Heat some pieces to compete now

Expand full comment

you had me at Vuc leaving

Expand full comment

Per KC, Art working hard today, already downed two bags of microwave popcorn and three Mtn Dews

Expand full comment

::chuckles:: "this isn't new!"

Expand full comment

Mountain Dew? That tells me he's slacking. If he was serious he'd be on that 5 Hour Energy.

Expand full comment

One shot of 5 Hour Energy every time one of our potential trade partners makes a trade we aren't involved in.

Expand full comment

Masai obviously taking great offense to ever being compared to AK, he's made like 6 trades this year

Expand full comment

Yeah, and there's still quite a few Canadian NBA players suffering south of the border. Masai is the Masaiah to these poor souls. Tim Hortons withdrawal is a real thing, eh

Expand full comment

>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

Expand full comment

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.

Expand full comment

important to note they didn't change their shitty owner! It IS possible to have better executives under shitty ownership

Expand full comment

The also got fined for tampering with Brunson. Whose dad they put on their staff. Does anyone else have a dad not named Ball that is a FA this yr and we can put on our staff and guarantee they'll sign with us in the off season?

Expand full comment

No but I almost feel like he changed? Like I don't hear so much about him anymore, like he learned to shut up lol.

Expand full comment

No, he's just an asshole in new and fascinating ways. He's suing the Raptors for $10 million+ for the work product some assistant took with him, and arguing that Adam Silver is unable to arbitrate the dispute because he's too chummy with the Raps owner.

Expand full comment

Every time a bell rings, the Bulls don’t make a trade.

Expand full comment