Bulls vs. Suns roster and preview
plus brief recap on the get-right win versus the Jazz, and Lauri <> Pat
The Bulls indeed took care of business at home against a truly cruddy Jazz squad. The lack of guard play from Utah bordered on unserious. I suppose it should’ve been considered that Danny Ainge regrets not tanking more fully last season and is making sure he does so this year. Jordan Clarkson went 3/14 from the field (including 1/8 from three) and with him and Talen Horton-Tucker starting in the backcourt, the Jazz as a team turned the ball over on over 24% of their possessions.
That meant the Bulls offense, who prior to that game had a 3rd-least 12.3% of their offensive possessions in transition, enjoyed a bump to a more-like-average 15.6% in that category.
Plus they actually made more threes than their opponent, hitting 17 of them at a scorching 56.7%. Have to give special mention to Jevon Carter, like Will Gottlieb did at CHGO, for coming in off the bench and flingin’.
Did anybody ask Vuc after the game if he was upset at the offense????
The Jazz still got more three point attempts up, led by old friend Lauri going 5-12. It’s great that he shoots more now, but I do not really regret how the Bulls handled Markkanen, certainly not to the level of NBC Sports Chicago’s Ryan Taylor. Taylor’s thesis here is that it was a costly error to let Markkanen go, and not to make the same mistake with Patrick Williams.
I’d say it the Lauri trade has been way down the list of AKME mistakes, and below that of drafting Williams in the first place. Taylor’s colleague Kevin Anderson tried to display Williams being better since his benching, but to me it more shows real versatility to stink in either role.
As one could figure, a player who has failed as a 5th option and never showed an ability to handle more on-ball responsibility isn’t magically thriving with more reps:
Of course, the development and potential of a just-turned-22-year-old on a supposedly-win-now team is a larger conversation to be had later, like when it’s time to re-sign him. But it’s timely with the Markkanen visit to address that comparison now.
On to the Phoenix Suns!

As you can see, an entirely new team with even Durant just arriving at the end of last season. They also changed coaches from Monty Williams to Frank Vogel.
They, like the Bulls, own a different “Big 3” misnomer as Bradley Beal is way worse than their other two stars and even worse than Zach LaVine. Though his absence does test this roster’s lack of depth, and Devin Booker missing all but two games has made them decidedly average.
Tonight is reportedly going to be Beal’s season debut. Using the Bulls as a soft landing, the disrespect! (deserved…)
I think the Bulls can win this, and beat the Pistons next, and AK’s prophesy of parity will hold through at least the December 15 date where most of the league is eligible for trades.
Injury Report: See above for Phoenix. Bradley Beal is technically still questionable.
Patrick Williams and Alex Caruso are still listed, but as Probable. Dalen Terry is with the big club.
Schedule factor: Suns with an extra day of rest, coming from Detroit so they’ve had several days to get the Chicago nightlife flu.
Betting line: Bulls -115 to win. Implied final score: CHI 112, PHO 110. Kinda funny that Beal’s return didn’t move things in The Suns’ favor.
Game Time: 7pm central
Thoughts on the Utah game:
1. When is the league going to fine Utah? I mean, they weren't even pretending to tank. They were basically bringing the ball up the floor and then handing it to the Bulls. I've never seen such carelessness with a basketball in my entire life.
2. Seeing Lauri be good (even if it's on a losing team) still hurts my soul. Unlike Pat, he at least showed some promise as a Bull but was sorely misused. With that being said, I'm not sure this version of Lauri would have ever happened in Chicago, but that's more an indictment of this organization than it is of him.
3. Walker Kessler is quite literally the perfect center for this team. He fills all the holes this team's front court has and AKME could have drafted him!! Too bad he's the definition of a center and AKME are all about positionless basketball. At least Dalen Terry does dumb dances on the sideline...
4. Okay, I do have a positive. No, it's not the shooting. That game was as much of a fluke as the first couple games were. The Bulls were supposed to beat Utah and they did. That's something they struggled with last year, so it was nice to see them come out against a "worse" opponent and not assume they were going to walk all over them. With that being said, I'm rooting for this team to crumble so I still didn't want them to win...
Phoenix predictions
1. Zach scores at least 40 to prove he's better than Booker who isn't even playing. Finishes with at least a -15 +/-.
2. Caruso takes a KD elbow to the face in the first half. Returns in the second half with one of those creepy masks that clearly wasn't molded to his face (although he should definitely have one of those on standby with how he plays). He drains three 3s in the second half, but then dives into the crowd to save a loose ball that was off of Phoenix anyway and ends up fracturing his hip.
3. Vooch gets outplayed by Nurkic and we see his second feud of the season with Billy.
4. DeMar asks KD put in a good word with Phoenix's FO in case the Beal thing doesn't work out.
5. Andre Drummond punches Grayson Allen in the face and a statue of the incident is erected outside of the UC by tomorrow morning.
Watching those clips shows Pat isn't in-game athletic. Sure he can jump high if the lane is totally clear but....
he has no body control, his touch on layups suck. And when he should just go up strong, he does these little weird sub-Siakam spin moves that take him further away from the basket.
He has an oak-solid frame, i've seen dudes bounce off him but he always goes up super hesitant and that lets shot blockers get the extra second to get ready for his attempt.
Nothing he does is instinctual....i can see him processing every single second and that hesistation makes it easy for the defender to get ready for whatever the fuck he is about to throw up
And his handles haven't improved at all....i can tell that he studied under DeMar but his shit is just so robotic and non-intuitive. He has no clue how to think on the fly if he gets cut off. Even the plays that he has scored on this year....you can see the gears turning and if the defender cuts him off, it's a wrap
He can still be a decent 3 and D rotational player somewhere(I could see OKC going for him) but any chance of him being more than the 10/5 guy that he has been aint gonna happen. Even the most inconsistent prospect will have those random 25-30 point games....and i think Pat has had maybe 2 in 3 years and those were at the end of the year when the other team is playing 3rd stringers
He is Marvin Williams Jr and that can be an useful player in the league but he needs to be that somewhere else. I hope they don't double down by offering him anything more than 3/45