"We're gonna focus on winning every game, without putting any goals on the team, besides just getting better and growing together." - Arturas Karnisovas
I can’t remember the last time there was this little buzz for the Bulls in Chicago.
The non-diehards just flat out do not care about them at all. They now just view the Bulls as an event. A fun night out with the family. Go watch the Bulls win a random game against the Hornets. Buy some beer. High five the people sitting around you. Then go home and never think about the experience again.
The franchise has achieved the Reinsdorfs’ dream. They’re not bad enough to get national scrutiny. They’re not good enough to be burdened with expectations. They’re not relevant enough to get attention from the local media. They can now just simply exist and make money.
I would put my "four over/under" at 39 victories this year -- not that I'm celebrating the potential of a windfall 43-win season or anything.
My reasons for this gidd(e)y optimism are :
A) The East is particularly down this year with all the key injuries
B) The team, as stated by AK and Billy repeatedly, is always going to try and prioritize winning games over giving minutes to younger developing guys.
C) Aside from Vuc and Jevon Carter (and maybe Huerter?), the roster is full of guys where the hope is that they take the next step of improvement, vs. hoping age/injuries don't make them too much worse
Per "C" above, not everyone is going to get better, but some guys will because of hard work and experience, whether or not the Bulls are competent at developing them.
This team of mostly seasoned mediocre guys with a couple of young up-and-comers is going to be trying hard every game, and there will be too many games on the schedule against tanking, shorthanded, and/or inexperienced teams this year. Aside from unforeseen injuries or a major trade, I can't see any reason they won't finish with around the same record as the past two years.
And if they do somehow get to the low 40s in wins, there's also a good chance they'll be within a few games of the 5 seed, since the East will have so many not-great teams all bunched around 45-47 wins. If you're sick of hearing AK talk about "15-5" to close the season last year, imagine the Bulls getting within 2-3 games of the 5 seed next year. We will NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT from AK despite this reinforcing how deeply we're entrenched in basketball hell.
I’m so glad the Bulls are behind a pay wall now. No hate views from me or the fam this year 💪🏻
Gonna take some time to do hobbies I’ve neglected and actually enjoy my life. Good luck to those who still watch, don’t let the bastards get you down lol.
You really have to go out of your way to watch Bulls games this season. You have to either subscribe to the ultimate tier of Xfinity, their $20/month app or an expensive streaming service like Fubo or DirecTV.
He can 100% walk away. He's been making $6M+/year for a decade and $3.5M/yr for the decade prior. If his son's career is his big concern now, then he could just quit and be an assistant for his son, like a few football coaches have done. It's a virtual guarantee he's worth $30M and likely more in the range of $80-100M.
I think he looks miserable because he's told AKME what he needs and what they need to do for years, and they are just terrible at their jobs.
I think he's still there because he loves coaching. He left college ball because he didn't want to play the recruiting/player management game. The fact that the management doesn't want to tank is why he stays with the Bulls specifically, even when management is otherwise so mediocre.
Of course he CAN walk away. But where else can he find a NBA head coaching job that comes with zero pressure to actually win meaningful games year after year AND a guaranteed G League head coach job for his kid?
I agree he loves coaching. And this team is the only one that guarantees him the ability to coach as long as he wants.
My guess is he’s at a point where he’s just riding out the remaining years of his career in a low stress environment while his kid builds up experience and connections that can be utilized to advance his young career.
To me, the face I saw in that press conference was that of a guy who knows he traded in high-level competition for the guarantee that he and his son don’t have to wonder where their next jobs will be anytime soon.
Like everyone else, I don't think there's anything really new to say, but I'd argue the following.
1. Dalen Terry is probably a better defender than Isaac Okoro. Post all-star break last year, he also shot the 3 pointer better. If there's a fair competition, I think there's a decent chance that Terry wins. I also think it's telling that the Bulls traded for a guy who might be worse than Dalen Terry.
2. I think Jalen Smith is pretty worthless. I'd unload him if possible because he's under contract next year. He's a pretty low usage defender who doesn't do a lot off the ball either. I don't see any reason he should play ahead of Collins or Vuc or... Noa Essengue, who'd be getting the 3rd string minutes if it were my call.
3. If we can deal Vuc, do it.
4. The Bulls, as usual, should be accumulating picks by taking on additional money. There's no obvious FA targets that make sense, but especially for a team trying to compete while rebuilding, having someone else's picks is the obvious move.
1&2. A couple hot takes! This is Terry's chance to prove himself. Smith's too. I am ready to see the season get started.
3. Duh
4. This is a Reinsdorf decision. There is not a GM ever in the NBA who wanted to sell draft picks, unless his boss told him to do it. Mike and Jerry want cash flow and playoff revenue, not "future assets".
I really don't think Reinsdorf's care about year-to-year cashflow to that degree of scrutiny. AK wouldn't even need to exceed the luxury tax to do this.
but because AK has done so poorly, including not making the playoffs, maybe he feels personally he has to lean into 'equity with ownership' as Paxson liked to say.
The issue with the whole “compete while building” thing is that it means something different to AK than anyone else.
To a logical person, it means get draft picks and develop your young players while being opportunistic for opportunities to acquire good vets.
To AK, it means try your gosh darn hardest to win games but don’t actually set expectations that give off the impression that you could be considered a “win now” team.
yep, if 'building' they'd quickly assess and make decisions on Terry and Smith, and if they already like Okoro and Collins more, then move them out and try new guys who can possibly supplant them
instead they hold on to everyone, because they are so afraid of Isaac Okoro getting hurt and not being able to fill those minutes as there's a low margin of error for 39 wins. But in actuality there is a high margin of error because no one player is that good. Same logic as to why they simply had to hold on to Andre Drummond end of 2024.
Yeah one of my “hot takes” about this Bulls season is that this idea that they have legitimate depth is a bit false.
It’s not real depth if a lot of those players aren’t good. Sure, you can say that Huerter, Terry, Phillips, Smith, Collins, Carter, and Williams can all give you NBA minutes, but are they objectively good minutes?
The only two good bench players on this team are Ayo and Jones.
I guess "depth" just means "they're close enough to as good as the guys ahead of them that there isn't much drop-off." Which is probably generally true. The delta between the Bulls starters and is probably smaller than the median of the league? Maybe?
I think this may be Terry's last year in the NBA. Carter may have a tough time too getting another contract. And Phillips still needs to prove himself. The rest of those guys are definitely NBA players. I'm really not sure what your issue is with Huerter and why youput him in this group. He should be playing 30 minutes a game for us.
no credit to me for "calling it"
"We're gonna focus on winning every game, without putting any goals on the team, besides just getting better and growing together." - Arturas Karnisovas
I can’t remember the last time there was this little buzz for the Bulls in Chicago.
The non-diehards just flat out do not care about them at all. They now just view the Bulls as an event. A fun night out with the family. Go watch the Bulls win a random game against the Hornets. Buy some beer. High five the people sitting around you. Then go home and never think about the experience again.
The franchise has achieved the Reinsdorfs’ dream. They’re not bad enough to get national scrutiny. They’re not good enough to be burdened with expectations. They’re not relevant enough to get attention from the local media. They can now just simply exist and make money.
They're going to have a Ring of Honor night, and FIVE Derrick Rose nights
It’s going to be a full circle moment when they run out of nostalgia to hide behind in a few years and try to have a Zach LaVine night.
It'd fit the Bulls HoF mantra of 'always induct someone who will get booed by the crowd' (this year: John Paxson)
Ha maybe a Lonzo Ball night?
But hey, Derrick Rose number retirement night!
Ennui
Very much looking forward to more "Dalen Terry offseason" news.
Looking for some "Noa Essengue is so big! maybe he grew!" news.
Anything Yuki.
https://www.youtube.com/live/KfQGhJiHG10?si=nrr6BA_alSoJ9pon
To be fair, the beat did press on how they are cherry picking success and not mentioning the play-in debacle
But incredibly AK did have an answer: Isaac Okoro. He was by far the most mentioned player today.
Six seconds. It took him SIX SECONDS to bring up the last twenty games from last season.
And dude is reading a statement off an iPad. Way to prepare for one of your few press conferences of the year, champ.
Biggest challenge for me is to muster up the motivation to hate-watch the team.
I would put my "four over/under" at 39 victories this year -- not that I'm celebrating the potential of a windfall 43-win season or anything.
My reasons for this gidd(e)y optimism are :
A) The East is particularly down this year with all the key injuries
B) The team, as stated by AK and Billy repeatedly, is always going to try and prioritize winning games over giving minutes to younger developing guys.
C) Aside from Vuc and Jevon Carter (and maybe Huerter?), the roster is full of guys where the hope is that they take the next step of improvement, vs. hoping age/injuries don't make them too much worse
Per "C" above, not everyone is going to get better, but some guys will because of hard work and experience, whether or not the Bulls are competent at developing them.
This team of mostly seasoned mediocre guys with a couple of young up-and-comers is going to be trying hard every game, and there will be too many games on the schedule against tanking, shorthanded, and/or inexperienced teams this year. Aside from unforeseen injuries or a major trade, I can't see any reason they won't finish with around the same record as the past two years.
And if they do somehow get to the low 40s in wins, there's also a good chance they'll be within a few games of the 5 seed, since the East will have so many not-great teams all bunched around 45-47 wins. If you're sick of hearing AK talk about "15-5" to close the season last year, imagine the Bulls getting within 2-3 games of the 5 seed next year. We will NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT from AK despite this reinforcing how deeply we're entrenched in basketball hell.
I’m so glad the Bulls are behind a pay wall now. No hate views from me or the fam this year 💪🏻
Gonna take some time to do hobbies I’ve neglected and actually enjoy my life. Good luck to those who still watch, don’t let the bastards get you down lol.
You really have to go out of your way to watch Bulls games this season. You have to either subscribe to the ultimate tier of Xfinity, their $20/month app or an expensive streaming service like Fubo or DirecTV.
Yup not much in the grand scheme of things but that’s too much for what this team is (currently) worth to me.
The New York Post is reporting the Windy City Bulls got two draft picks from the Long Island Nets, in exchange for David Muoka.
So we got that going for us.
I encourage everyone to pay attention to Billy’s face during his press conference with AK yesterday. Specifically, when he’s not the one talking.
He looked MISERABLE. He looks like a guy who is trapped in a bad job because he can’t walk away from the security for him and his son.
He can 100% walk away. He's been making $6M+/year for a decade and $3.5M/yr for the decade prior. If his son's career is his big concern now, then he could just quit and be an assistant for his son, like a few football coaches have done. It's a virtual guarantee he's worth $30M and likely more in the range of $80-100M.
I think he looks miserable because he's told AKME what he needs and what they need to do for years, and they are just terrible at their jobs.
I think he's still there because he loves coaching. He left college ball because he didn't want to play the recruiting/player management game. The fact that the management doesn't want to tank is why he stays with the Bulls specifically, even when management is otherwise so mediocre.
Who knows.
Of course he CAN walk away. But where else can he find a NBA head coaching job that comes with zero pressure to actually win meaningful games year after year AND a guaranteed G League head coach job for his kid?
I agree he loves coaching. And this team is the only one that guarantees him the ability to coach as long as he wants.
My guess is he’s at a point where he’s just riding out the remaining years of his career in a low stress environment while his kid builds up experience and connections that can be utilized to advance his young career.
To me, the face I saw in that press conference was that of a guy who knows he traded in high-level competition for the guarantee that he and his son don’t have to wonder where their next jobs will be anytime soon.
Like everyone else, I don't think there's anything really new to say, but I'd argue the following.
1. Dalen Terry is probably a better defender than Isaac Okoro. Post all-star break last year, he also shot the 3 pointer better. If there's a fair competition, I think there's a decent chance that Terry wins. I also think it's telling that the Bulls traded for a guy who might be worse than Dalen Terry.
2. I think Jalen Smith is pretty worthless. I'd unload him if possible because he's under contract next year. He's a pretty low usage defender who doesn't do a lot off the ball either. I don't see any reason he should play ahead of Collins or Vuc or... Noa Essengue, who'd be getting the 3rd string minutes if it were my call.
3. If we can deal Vuc, do it.
4. The Bulls, as usual, should be accumulating picks by taking on additional money. There's no obvious FA targets that make sense, but especially for a team trying to compete while rebuilding, having someone else's picks is the obvious move.
1&2. A couple hot takes! This is Terry's chance to prove himself. Smith's too. I am ready to see the season get started.
3. Duh
4. This is a Reinsdorf decision. There is not a GM ever in the NBA who wanted to sell draft picks, unless his boss told him to do it. Mike and Jerry want cash flow and playoff revenue, not "future assets".
I really don't think Reinsdorf's care about year-to-year cashflow to that degree of scrutiny. AK wouldn't even need to exceed the luxury tax to do this.
but because AK has done so poorly, including not making the playoffs, maybe he feels personally he has to lean into 'equity with ownership' as Paxson liked to say.
I don't know. I would bet AK has a significant bonus built into his compensation for operating results.
The issue with the whole “compete while building” thing is that it means something different to AK than anyone else.
To a logical person, it means get draft picks and develop your young players while being opportunistic for opportunities to acquire good vets.
To AK, it means try your gosh darn hardest to win games but don’t actually set expectations that give off the impression that you could be considered a “win now” team.
yep, if 'building' they'd quickly assess and make decisions on Terry and Smith, and if they already like Okoro and Collins more, then move them out and try new guys who can possibly supplant them
instead they hold on to everyone, because they are so afraid of Isaac Okoro getting hurt and not being able to fill those minutes as there's a low margin of error for 39 wins. But in actuality there is a high margin of error because no one player is that good. Same logic as to why they simply had to hold on to Andre Drummond end of 2024.
Yeah one of my “hot takes” about this Bulls season is that this idea that they have legitimate depth is a bit false.
It’s not real depth if a lot of those players aren’t good. Sure, you can say that Huerter, Terry, Phillips, Smith, Collins, Carter, and Williams can all give you NBA minutes, but are they objectively good minutes?
The only two good bench players on this team are Ayo and Jones.
I guess "depth" just means "they're close enough to as good as the guys ahead of them that there isn't much drop-off." Which is probably generally true. The delta between the Bulls starters and is probably smaller than the median of the league? Maybe?
I think this may be Terry's last year in the NBA. Carter may have a tough time too getting another contract. And Phillips still needs to prove himself. The rest of those guys are definitely NBA players. I'm really not sure what your issue is with Huerter and why youput him in this group. He should be playing 30 minutes a game for us.
I believe the word you were looking for in the headline is meh.
Well, that didn't take long. Patrick Williams injures ankle on Day 2 of training camp.
FanDuel odds to win NBA Championship holding steady at +100000.