Not sure if there will be another post but AKME also declared they don't expect Lonzo to play next season but they expect to make additions through free agency.
Was completely not surprised that AKME basically said "we'll see" whether they would file for the DPE. We all know they aren't going into the luxury tax so no way they use it. I doubt they'll even file for it. Too much wasted paperwork.
I like that we got a guy... but it’s a classic bad move to take one now rather than two later.
And they can say they know they need shooters, but if they keep not getting shooters when they could, they don’t actually understand they need shooters.
I'll admit I had no idea who Julian Phillips was prior to this morning. With that being said, in a vacuum, I don't hate the signing. Long, athletic defenders are very important in today's version of the NBA.
The problem is he doesn't fit this team. As has been mentioned plenty, why do AKME keep drafting projects when this team is supposedly in win-now mode? And why do they keep drafting guys who can't shoot when this team desperately needs shooting? I'm beginning to think AK might have a fetish for tall, lanky dudes...
I am mildly interested in Sanogo. He clearly has some skill and plays hard. The problem is he's lacking size and athleticism - two things you can't just learn. I think the only way he carves out a career for himself is if he turns himself into a PJ Tucker type. Lose a little weight to help with mobility and develop enough of a corner three that teams have to respect you. Then go out there and bust your ass on defense.
Sanogo did shoot 36.5% from 3 but his shot is slow and to play the PF position he probably needs to cut a little weight for mobility as you say. Looking forward to see the takes on him in Summer League.
He shot 37% from 3 in HS/AAU and his volume in college was really low. Additionally, he shot 80%+ from the line at Tennessee. I think he has more shooting potential there than we are giving credit for.
Yeah, high FT% usually translates to a good outside shooter. I like this pick and the 2-way pickup, he’s built like Draymond. I still think Donovan is our problem.
I've been reading that it's expected he develops into a decent shooter as all the peripherals are there for it at the next level. It's also said that hes a decent passer and ballhandler, especially in the open court, and a "high IQ" player. Who knows until we see him get minutes but I'm cautiously optimistic about his long term potential.
I think if he develops into a solid shooter with high IQ, a decent handle, and his obvious defensive tools then he will be seen as an absolute steal. That’s a lot of ifs to hit on and if he was that player he should have went too 10-15
You're spot on with your commentary about the strange approach of drafting projects paired with an aging "win-now" roster. I can't help but feel like AKME had a singular plan entering their time with the Bulls, just for it blow up and for them to have no idea how to pivot.
Their drafting strategy seems to be "let's find guys with tons of physical tools, but lack polish" and then throw them into an organization that has lacked player development chops for well over a decade. Do they think they are going to develop the next Jokic, Giannis, or Siakim type?
The best organizations are capable of establishing a clear vision and then executing that vision. That vision could be "let's hoard draft capital forever until we unearth an MVP candidate" like Philly or OKC or it could be "let's spend salary cap/draft capital on talent, and then surround them with complimentary talents" like the Lakers, Phoenix, Cavs or you could be "let's draft really well and be a generally savvy organization" like the Bucks, Warriors, and Heat are.
We have no coherent plan, and even if we did I'm not confident that AK knows how to execute that plan or have any league wide connections willing to work with him to enact that plan. The fact that we traded away more future draft capital for a player redundant with our under-performing roster is just remarkably funny.
There is a race to the bottom in the Chicago sports power rankings, and the Bulls are leaps and bounds ahead of others because of their complete and utter incompetence.
Re bottom rungs of Chicago sports, the White Sox would like a word. But I hear you and would add that without a real shake-up kind of move, the Bulls are trending back to irrelevance. Aside from die-hard fans, I don't think anyone is going to be particularly excited to watch (or buy tickets to see) another sub .500 play-in team.
Wirtz had to die for the Hawks to become champions and unfortunately the same is true for the Reinsdorks. Until then we have this place to bitch about how stupid and pathetic the Bulls ownership and management is.
Hearing the Chicago Bulls talk about "player development" I can feel the bile rising in my throat.
The last guy they developed into an actual asset was Jimmy Butler (I know that was all Jimmy but I'm playing along with the idea that the Bulls are a first world organization capable of executing the core functions of a basketball team).
After "developing" an end of the 1st pick into an all-NBA guy, the leadership of this org could not congratulate themselves enough for a) lowballing him in negotiations, and then b) shunting him out of town for a turd platter of guys who couldn't carry his jock on their absolute career best day.
FOH with this "development" stuff. These guys have developed NOTHING.
I'll reiterate a comment I made in the live thread that the #36 pick was acquired by Milwaukee for a 2030 2nd and cash while the Bulls traded 2 future 2nds for #35. Bulls cheapness costs them again. Not sure what years the picks they sent out are but to let y'all know, Bulls already don't have a 2024 or 2025 2nd. So if the 2026 and 2027 2nds, then the Bulls won't have a 2nd until 2028, when they could have 2 (their own and the Portland pick converts to a 2nd in 2028 if it hasn't conveyed as a 1st by then).
still no word on the compensation in that trade , I don't know if that's weird or not.
maybe the Bulls made some contingency on evaluating how many 2nds they gain or send in free agency first? and then language that it'd be the greater/lesser in a given year
they currently don't have their own 2024 or 2025 second rounders but 2026-2030 are available
I refuse to believe that the bulls see paying for the opportunity to pay for a player as smart. Trading away 2 second round picks means bulls don't have to spend money on those future players. They're fine with that
Not much to say here. Nothing against Phillips, he seems like an ok prospect (although I don't understand how a hyper athletic guy with a 43 inch vertical can only manage to shoot 46% from 2 in the NCAA) for that type of player, but he's just not even the type of player we ought to be looking at.
I mean, I like athleticism, but Trayce Jackson-Davis is athletic too, and actually has size. Why not go there? Both positionally, and just in general. If you look at how the playoffs work, guys that are like 6'8" and 195lb get played off the court by guys that are like 6'6" and 225lbs. All the time.
It's one of the things I think about a lot that I think most people just don't. Like, people have been comparing Zach and Jaylen Brown and Jamal Murray. They focus on Zach being an inch taller than Murray, for example, but completely ignore the fact that Murray's got 15lbs of muscle that Zach doesn't. Brown's got like 20-25lbs on him.
Those dudes are built for playoff basketball and you know when they match up against Zach, they're going to use that weight to effect.
I absolutely agree about the importance of strength. That being said, 195 at 19 can quite easily become 225 at 25. It just depends on how he develops, which is something no one knows.
I will say, he bears some resemblance to Jeremi Grant. So that could be an upside comp. Here are their freshman per40 stats (Jeremi first, Julian second):
PTS: 10.8/13.8
REBS: 8.3/7.8
FGAs: 8.2/10.0
FTAs: 5.1/6.1
AST/TO: 0.72/1.14
TS%: 51.1/53.6
STL: 1.2/1.0
BLK: 1.3/0.9
Anyway, doesn't matter too much. I don't quite believe something like "there are no bad picks, only bad programs". But more and more I'm moving toward that. I think most Bulls picks are probably at least a little bad because I think the Bulls' development is stupid and bad. Hardly unique in the NBA in this respect, rather the norm really. But that's not an excuse.
Yeah, it's very much a situation where I don't think the guy is just an obviously bad pick, but the thought process going into it is aggressively stupid in so many ways.
So everyone on BaB is upset we didn’t draft win-now players, but everyone on BaB is also certain we are not a win-now team…it does seam AKME is walking the 2 timeline tightrope. I’m ok with that, done with sucking and would rather watch a team with a coin flip chance of winning than spending an eternity in the cellar depending on lottery luck.
Not sure if you are new here, but BaB is very much a place of hate. Anything short of trading Lonzo for the #2 overall pick would have been met with derision on this site...
I would've settled for not re-running this current assembly. And there's still time on that.
What's lamentable is the infinite loop of shit he's kicking around though. If being a 1-6 seed is the only way he's going to get into tax territory, someone should've asked him if that's on projection or actuals. Because running this team back isn't going to get him there. The Bulls are more likely to start another season wondering if Lonzo Ball can walk, and preemptively resting Zach LaVnie before the first game than they are to finish top six.
If they were serious about it, they'd file for the DPE at10MIL. They'd use the MLE at 12MIL and the 4.5MIL bi-annual, all the while not negotiating with themselves on a deal to double-down on one of their bad investments.
However, if his intention is to build a 40 win team, he's got a fine, commendable blueprint working.
I may start to sound like a hater, but there is no reason to sign Green. You draft Ayo, Terry, Philips. You have Caruso on the roster. How do you justify bringing back a 6'4 power forward who can't shoot, is 29, and often injured. Good luck in Phx Green.
I'm not saying bring Javonte back but unless Terry shows he's put on weight and is showing a consistent 3 point shot in Summer League or workouts, I think he goes the way of Chandler Hutchison. He's just roster filler until he is released. So I wouldn't count him as any reason to make a decision on Javonte.
You don't really know what you have unless you play him. Terry put up okay stats in very limited numbers. Regardless, AK has to remove the safety valve and force Billy to play the young guys.
There's some logic there about playing time but Terry has to show you something and all we've been seeing is a guy who needs to put on weight and can't shoot. If he can't impress you in practice then he's not worth playing time.
Now I agree Billy needs to refine his limiters. Very clear he has them with Coby. You can tell Coby sought out to give up the ball a bunch this season even when DDR and LaVine weren't even looking for the ball because he's been by Donovan that he is only to have so many plays and shots. Need to change that this next year, for sure.
I'm not a Terry believer. I thought it was a bad pick immediately. Trying to keep an open mind but if he doesn't show a lot in Summer League or Preseason, I'm pretty much completely out on him and I'm not really in favor of giving him playing time just because he was a 1st round pick.
I have zero idea if Phillips will be any good. Second round picks are complete crapshoots.
It’s pretty funny that AK just keeps bringing in non-shooters. Just terrible from an optics perspective. I haven’t seen a team that seems to care so much AND so little about optics at the same time.
With all of that said, I’m happy we drafted someone. It’s a low bar, but expecting the bar to be raised in a significant manner is bordering on delusion at this point. I like the potential of Phillips. Good wingspan, blocks, and steals. Sign a couple of FA shooters and I’ll be even more ok with the pick.
As others have pointed out, the elephant in the room is Donovan. Will he just bench Phillips most of the season? That’s what seems most likely. I’d rather win 39 games and try developing our young guys than win 41 games by giving heavy minutes to bench vets with no real future on this team.
last night during the draft traderumors had a tidbit about Lavines camp not wanting him to go to NYK. It appeared as the bulls were at least in talks, or maybe the Nicks were making calls...this just furthers how stupid that extension was.
It isn't really his "camp" but Rich Paul specifically because he has a beef with Leon Rose. Paul appears to be insecure and is afraid of Leon Rose's CAA ties, a large agency competitor. A lot more personal than anything here. Wouldn't be surprised to see some clients bail from Paul from this reporting because while I'm sure no one is really JUMPING to go to the Knicks, Paul putting it out there to front office execs not to trade his clients to the Knicks because of his personal beef is one that make me feel the agent is putting their interests over clients.
well the article did mention the personal beef, but also mentioned the Knicks i think messing over one of his clients..Reddish? so it has some client spin to it too.
Anyway, AKME very much seem to still be doing the wrong things in wrong ways because they have the wrong beliefs about what brings winning.
Sure, you can point to a particular thing or two that aren’t bad, but it’s pretty besides the point. As Bulls fans, we want to go to a nice restaurant and we get there and the place acts like a nice restaurant and serves you a ham sandwich and a can of Campbell’s soup.
We could talk about how the soup is properly heated and the sandwich fine, but mostly who gaf? Nobody is happy or thinks it’s really an acceptable outcome even if you were, in fact, served a meal that meets your minimum nutritional requirements.
Not sure if there will be another post but AKME also declared they don't expect Lonzo to play next season but they expect to make additions through free agency.
Was completely not surprised that AKME basically said "we'll see" whether they would file for the DPE. We all know they aren't going into the luxury tax so no way they use it. I doubt they'll even file for it. Too much wasted paperwork.
Optimistically, maybe they are not filing for DPE because they intend to include Lonzo's contract in a trade...
AK sounded downright giddy about the prospect of free agency, so maybe there is something up the sleeve...
...is that you Jerry? You can't fool us Jerry!
Meh
I like that we got a guy... but it’s a classic bad move to take one now rather than two later.
And they can say they know they need shooters, but if they keep not getting shooters when they could, they don’t actually understand they need shooters.
But taking one contract instead of two means Jerry is forking over half as much salary.
Forking icehole
I'll admit I had no idea who Julian Phillips was prior to this morning. With that being said, in a vacuum, I don't hate the signing. Long, athletic defenders are very important in today's version of the NBA.
The problem is he doesn't fit this team. As has been mentioned plenty, why do AKME keep drafting projects when this team is supposedly in win-now mode? And why do they keep drafting guys who can't shoot when this team desperately needs shooting? I'm beginning to think AK might have a fetish for tall, lanky dudes...
I am mildly interested in Sanogo. He clearly has some skill and plays hard. The problem is he's lacking size and athleticism - two things you can't just learn. I think the only way he carves out a career for himself is if he turns himself into a PJ Tucker type. Lose a little weight to help with mobility and develop enough of a corner three that teams have to respect you. Then go out there and bust your ass on defense.
Sanogo did shoot 36.5% from 3 but his shot is slow and to play the PF position he probably needs to cut a little weight for mobility as you say. Looking forward to see the takes on him in Summer League.
Agreed!
Haven't seen anywhere that the new guy has the dog, so fail.
He shot 37% from 3 in HS/AAU and his volume in college was really low. Additionally, he shot 80%+ from the line at Tennessee. I think he has more shooting potential there than we are giving credit for.
Yeah, high FT% usually translates to a good outside shooter. I like this pick and the 2-way pickup, he’s built like Draymond. I still think Donovan is our problem.
I've been reading that it's expected he develops into a decent shooter as all the peripherals are there for it at the next level. It's also said that hes a decent passer and ballhandler, especially in the open court, and a "high IQ" player. Who knows until we see him get minutes but I'm cautiously optimistic about his long term potential.
I think if he develops into a solid shooter with high IQ, a decent handle, and his obvious defensive tools then he will be seen as an absolute steal. That’s a lot of ifs to hit on and if he was that player he should have went too 10-15
You're spot on with your commentary about the strange approach of drafting projects paired with an aging "win-now" roster. I can't help but feel like AKME had a singular plan entering their time with the Bulls, just for it blow up and for them to have no idea how to pivot.
Their drafting strategy seems to be "let's find guys with tons of physical tools, but lack polish" and then throw them into an organization that has lacked player development chops for well over a decade. Do they think they are going to develop the next Jokic, Giannis, or Siakim type?
The best organizations are capable of establishing a clear vision and then executing that vision. That vision could be "let's hoard draft capital forever until we unearth an MVP candidate" like Philly or OKC or it could be "let's spend salary cap/draft capital on talent, and then surround them with complimentary talents" like the Lakers, Phoenix, Cavs or you could be "let's draft really well and be a generally savvy organization" like the Bucks, Warriors, and Heat are.
We have no coherent plan, and even if we did I'm not confident that AK knows how to execute that plan or have any league wide connections willing to work with him to enact that plan. The fact that we traded away more future draft capital for a player redundant with our under-performing roster is just remarkably funny.
There is a race to the bottom in the Chicago sports power rankings, and the Bulls are leaps and bounds ahead of others because of their complete and utter incompetence.
Re bottom rungs of Chicago sports, the White Sox would like a word. But I hear you and would add that without a real shake-up kind of move, the Bulls are trending back to irrelevance. Aside from die-hard fans, I don't think anyone is going to be particularly excited to watch (or buy tickets to see) another sub .500 play-in team.
Wirtz had to die for the Hawks to become champions and unfortunately the same is true for the Reinsdorks. Until then we have this place to bitch about how stupid and pathetic the Bulls ownership and management is.
Michael Reinsdorf has done nothing (in his whole life?) to distinguish himself. He's holding on to the Bulls ATM for life (and kid Joey's life)
Hearing the Chicago Bulls talk about "player development" I can feel the bile rising in my throat.
The last guy they developed into an actual asset was Jimmy Butler (I know that was all Jimmy but I'm playing along with the idea that the Bulls are a first world organization capable of executing the core functions of a basketball team).
After "developing" an end of the 1st pick into an all-NBA guy, the leadership of this org could not congratulate themselves enough for a) lowballing him in negotiations, and then b) shunting him out of town for a turd platter of guys who couldn't carry his jock on their absolute career best day.
FOH with this "development" stuff. These guys have developed NOTHING.
It's also the NBA
I'll reiterate a comment I made in the live thread that the #36 pick was acquired by Milwaukee for a 2030 2nd and cash while the Bulls traded 2 future 2nds for #35. Bulls cheapness costs them again. Not sure what years the picks they sent out are but to let y'all know, Bulls already don't have a 2024 or 2025 2nd. So if the 2026 and 2027 2nds, then the Bulls won't have a 2nd until 2028, when they could have 2 (their own and the Portland pick converts to a 2nd in 2028 if it hasn't conveyed as a 1st by then).
Yes we'll have to see exact picks but I don't doubt Bulls could've used cash and instead included a second pick
still no word on the compensation in that trade , I don't know if that's weird or not.
maybe the Bulls made some contingency on evaluating how many 2nds they gain or send in free agency first? and then language that it'd be the greater/lesser in a given year
they currently don't have their own 2024 or 2025 second rounders but 2026-2030 are available
I refuse to believe that the bulls see paying for the opportunity to pay for a player as smart. Trading away 2 second round picks means bulls don't have to spend money on those future players. They're fine with that
Not much to say here. Nothing against Phillips, he seems like an ok prospect (although I don't understand how a hyper athletic guy with a 43 inch vertical can only manage to shoot 46% from 2 in the NCAA) for that type of player, but he's just not even the type of player we ought to be looking at.
I mean, I like athleticism, but Trayce Jackson-Davis is athletic too, and actually has size. Why not go there? Both positionally, and just in general. If you look at how the playoffs work, guys that are like 6'8" and 195lb get played off the court by guys that are like 6'6" and 225lbs. All the time.
It's one of the things I think about a lot that I think most people just don't. Like, people have been comparing Zach and Jaylen Brown and Jamal Murray. They focus on Zach being an inch taller than Murray, for example, but completely ignore the fact that Murray's got 15lbs of muscle that Zach doesn't. Brown's got like 20-25lbs on him.
Those dudes are built for playoff basketball and you know when they match up against Zach, they're going to use that weight to effect.
TJD or the undrafted microwave scorer PG from KSU is who I wanted
I absolutely agree about the importance of strength. That being said, 195 at 19 can quite easily become 225 at 25. It just depends on how he develops, which is something no one knows.
I will say, he bears some resemblance to Jeremi Grant. So that could be an upside comp. Here are their freshman per40 stats (Jeremi first, Julian second):
PTS: 10.8/13.8
REBS: 8.3/7.8
FGAs: 8.2/10.0
FTAs: 5.1/6.1
AST/TO: 0.72/1.14
TS%: 51.1/53.6
STL: 1.2/1.0
BLK: 1.3/0.9
Anyway, doesn't matter too much. I don't quite believe something like "there are no bad picks, only bad programs". But more and more I'm moving toward that. I think most Bulls picks are probably at least a little bad because I think the Bulls' development is stupid and bad. Hardly unique in the NBA in this respect, rather the norm really. But that's not an excuse.
Yeah, it's very much a situation where I don't think the guy is just an obviously bad pick, but the thought process going into it is aggressively stupid in so many ways.
So everyone on BaB is upset we didn’t draft win-now players, but everyone on BaB is also certain we are not a win-now team…it does seam AKME is walking the 2 timeline tightrope. I’m ok with that, done with sucking and would rather watch a team with a coin flip chance of winning than spending an eternity in the cellar depending on lottery luck.
I have some bad news for you. AKME is not done with sucking.
Not sure if you are new here, but BaB is very much a place of hate. Anything short of trading Lonzo for the #2 overall pick would have been met with derision on this site...
BlogABull - Shitting on the Front Office/Ownership since 2011 and being right
I would've settled for not re-running this current assembly. And there's still time on that.
What's lamentable is the infinite loop of shit he's kicking around though. If being a 1-6 seed is the only way he's going to get into tax territory, someone should've asked him if that's on projection or actuals. Because running this team back isn't going to get him there. The Bulls are more likely to start another season wondering if Lonzo Ball can walk, and preemptively resting Zach LaVnie before the first game than they are to finish top six.
If they were serious about it, they'd file for the DPE at10MIL. They'd use the MLE at 12MIL and the 4.5MIL bi-annual, all the while not negotiating with themselves on a deal to double-down on one of their bad investments.
However, if his intention is to build a 40 win team, he's got a fine, commendable blueprint working.
It's also a make it miss league so there's that too.
This is the most boring Bulls team since Skiles took over for Cartwright and told Eddy Curry to start jumping for rebounds.
This was the bare minimum that AKME could have done to keep me from writing off the last little bit of hope I have for them.
Actually, no. They did just a hair more than that. They admitted Lonzo isn't coming back. That is the tiniest step in the right direction.
Call me 94% disillusioned with them instead of 95%.
I may start to sound like a hater, but there is no reason to sign Green. You draft Ayo, Terry, Philips. You have Caruso on the roster. How do you justify bringing back a 6'4 power forward who can't shoot, is 29, and often injured. Good luck in Phx Green.
I'm not saying bring Javonte back but unless Terry shows he's put on weight and is showing a consistent 3 point shot in Summer League or workouts, I think he goes the way of Chandler Hutchison. He's just roster filler until he is released. So I wouldn't count him as any reason to make a decision on Javonte.
You don't really know what you have unless you play him. Terry put up okay stats in very limited numbers. Regardless, AK has to remove the safety valve and force Billy to play the young guys.
There's some logic there about playing time but Terry has to show you something and all we've been seeing is a guy who needs to put on weight and can't shoot. If he can't impress you in practice then he's not worth playing time.
Now I agree Billy needs to refine his limiters. Very clear he has them with Coby. You can tell Coby sought out to give up the ball a bunch this season even when DDR and LaVine weren't even looking for the ball because he's been by Donovan that he is only to have so many plays and shots. Need to change that this next year, for sure.
I'm not a Terry believer. I thought it was a bad pick immediately. Trying to keep an open mind but if he doesn't show a lot in Summer League or Preseason, I'm pretty much completely out on him and I'm not really in favor of giving him playing time just because he was a 1st round pick.
They should have traded Caruso at the deadline.
I have zero idea if Phillips will be any good. Second round picks are complete crapshoots.
It’s pretty funny that AK just keeps bringing in non-shooters. Just terrible from an optics perspective. I haven’t seen a team that seems to care so much AND so little about optics at the same time.
With all of that said, I’m happy we drafted someone. It’s a low bar, but expecting the bar to be raised in a significant manner is bordering on delusion at this point. I like the potential of Phillips. Good wingspan, blocks, and steals. Sign a couple of FA shooters and I’ll be even more ok with the pick.
As others have pointed out, the elephant in the room is Donovan. Will he just bench Phillips most of the season? That’s what seems most likely. I’d rather win 39 games and try developing our young guys than win 41 games by giving heavy minutes to bench vets with no real future on this team.
last night during the draft traderumors had a tidbit about Lavines camp not wanting him to go to NYK. It appeared as the bulls were at least in talks, or maybe the Nicks were making calls...this just furthers how stupid that extension was.
so he likely stays put
It isn't really his "camp" but Rich Paul specifically because he has a beef with Leon Rose. Paul appears to be insecure and is afraid of Leon Rose's CAA ties, a large agency competitor. A lot more personal than anything here. Wouldn't be surprised to see some clients bail from Paul from this reporting because while I'm sure no one is really JUMPING to go to the Knicks, Paul putting it out there to front office execs not to trade his clients to the Knicks because of his personal beef is one that make me feel the agent is putting their interests over clients.
well the article did mention the personal beef, but also mentioned the Knicks i think messing over one of his clients..Reddish? so it has some client spin to it too.
If you were Lavine, wouldn't Miami be your first choice? I think the Heat know they have that deal, if they want it, but are holding out for Lillard.
What would the deal with Miami be? I feel like I've read a couple mentions, but I can't recall any details.
If I were Lavine my knee would hurt like hell.
Anyway, AKME very much seem to still be doing the wrong things in wrong ways because they have the wrong beliefs about what brings winning.
Sure, you can point to a particular thing or two that aren’t bad, but it’s pretty besides the point. As Bulls fans, we want to go to a nice restaurant and we get there and the place acts like a nice restaurant and serves you a ham sandwich and a can of Campbell’s soup.
We could talk about how the soup is properly heated and the sandwich fine, but mostly who gaf? Nobody is happy or thinks it’s really an acceptable outcome even if you were, in fact, served a meal that meets your minimum nutritional requirements.
Whaddya mean it's salty? It's 10% below a lethal dose.
Pickle'd and jarred