My nightmare scenario is getting out of the Play-In and somehow pulling out 2-3 games vs Boston, who then goes on to make it to the Finals. Queue AKME "See!!! Two years in a row we got ousted by a Finals team!!! We're so close!!!"
This team is monumentally odd but still not altogether hopeless IMO. In hindsight, AKME did some interesting things when they finally got to work after Boylen-watch. But since Lonzo went down, they've lost their ever-lovin' minds (or regressed to innate stupidity). Zero ability to evaluate what they've got, make good trades or signing/re-signing decisions, or be at all relevant in the NBA GM Game of Thrones. Yes, this team appears royally f*cked. I just can't unsee what could have been and what still might be with even a glimmer of aggressiveness, good basketball sense and creativity from the FO.
Can't remember where I read this but someone made a good point that I can't help but wonder if it's true. Basically they said they wonder if AKME were specifically hired by Jerry to abort the tank and build a relevant team.
AKME did that but then everything flew off the rails after Lonzo got injured. They might know blowing it up is the best move but they also know if they start moving towards a rebuild, it'll indicate to Jerry that they failed at their original mission and Jerry will fire them.
So instead they're just treading water while making Jerry as much money as possible in hopes he won't fire them.
I'm not saying this is what's happening, but the very small part of me that still believes no one can be as dumb as AK appears to be wants to believe that maybe something like this is actually what's happening.
Possibly, but it’s very short sighted because he’s doing that while destroying his reputation as a GM/VP. He’s literally the laughingstock of the nBA. Everyone is in agreement that this squad has no future.
But look how long Gar/Pax were in charge. It's quite possible AK looks at this as his final gig before retirement. He's 52 currently. I'm sure at his pay, he could retire comfortably at 60.
So if he was promised some form of long term job security as long as he met expectations (making Jerry money), he could have gone into this job expecting it to be his final job.
I dont know man, they had opportunity to make changes while not tanking. Or tank for wemby (and I'm sure they'd still fail but at least keep their fucking pick) or build around Derozan.
We spent the last 2.5 years asking what our roster even was. AKME need to pay Coby under the table cuz he playing like a real starting nba pg saved this season, for real.
This entire season's "success" has all come down to white, Caruso, and deebo. Everyone else has been forgettable (at best).
Speaking of Coby's pay. I remember KC saying earlier this year (when Coby was red hot) that he was unlikely to hit the requirements needed to earn his incentives. What could the incentives possibly be that Coby hasn't his those this season?? He has far exceeded everyone's expectations.
The real question - will the Bulls turn comments off on the post-season press conference YouTube livestream after the debacle that was the last press conference??
Maybe this one will be live-streamed exclusively on Stadium, except Stadium will be experiencing "technical difficulties" and it'll end up just being AK responding to questions form the Bulls PR manager.
I cannot adequately express my level of loathing for AK. His incompetence, dishonesty and general lack of accountability are all just too overwhelming considering he’s in charge of my beloved. I genuinely have no cause for hope except for pure dumb luck…
"Us" is the most important word in your statement. I think we're all triggered because of the Darnell Mayberry interview where his FO source corrected him when he said "the team's fans," calling them instead "your fans." Meaning, non-casuals who obsessively follow the Bulls, know PER isn't just what a cat does, yet don't spend our disposable income in $600 seats getting hosed down with popcorn by Benny the Bull. The Bulls, more than any other franchise, are built for casuals. They are the Olive Garden of the NBA.
Plus he’s an outsider. At least with Paxson you knew he was a tough Chicago based guy who loved and cared about this franchise. It is painfully obvious that AK could give 2 spits about the franchise and the fans. I had such high hopes for him and I had some sentimental attachment to him because he was on the Lithuanian dream team. I’m a Grateful Dead fan. If you’re not familiar, the whole Dead/Bill Walton/Lithuanian Bball team story is absolutely incredible. Anyway, the only way out of this misery I see is to be shamed out, kind of how we were a few years back when the Allstar game was in Chicago and the franchise was humiliated. Means we need the local and national press to really rail on the franchise and there needs to be a backlash and decline in ticket and merch sales from the fans. I for one am fully endorsing buying counterfeit merch for the next few years! 😝. Keep up the good writing. 🍻
People are getting down on the Bulls .. you shouldn’t
The GM is not an idiot.
Here’s what he must do…
1. FIRE BILLY hire a smarter coach who knows how to win.. defense..rebounding.. limit turnovers.. beat your opponents in all 3 and you will win over 50%. Add 3 point shooting efficiency and you win 2/3… thats a team that can go deep in the playoffs.
2. RETAIN ANDRE AND JAVONTE… Also Terry and the kid from Arkansas both of whom
Have a lot of promise.
3. TRADE ZAC PAT AND VUC
4. Use the draft , free agency and trades to acquire a good 1, an All Star Caliber 4 and a rim protecting defensive center ( trade for the Duke kid on Dallas who’s on their bench). I’m assuming Ball will never recover his former form and effectiveness.
5. Play Andre 30-35 minutes and get him 10-15 pounds lighter for next year. He is the best rebounder in the NBA. He is an excellent on ball perimeter defender for a 5. His offensive repertoire is limited but extremely efficient.
Billy leaves him on the bench for 30 minutes when healthy. Vuc helps you win 5-10 games a year and helps you lose the rest. He is a horrible defender and a 29% 3 point shooter who continues to launch. He is a poor offensive rebounder. He also goes away in the last quarter of close games. Trade him!
6. New coach must put plus players on the floor not leave them on the bench.
Caruso, Javonte Ayo Coby and Andre are or could be plus players. Demar is a quality guy who is a great scorer and team leader. Retain him.
Get a quality 1 and an All Star 4 and that team can win a lot of games.
Wait... Is that an option? Can we call the team I've been watching for the past decade the north side bisons or something... My psyche would love you if we could.
Still, without granting the Bulls any quarter, there are even worse-off franchises. There are arguments for any of the six teams below them being in even worse straits. The Hawks nepotistic, meddling ownership is even worse than the Dorfs. Toronto has finished last in the Atlantic 3 of the past 5 years. Brooklyn has mortgaged all their draft capital to end up with a team of role players. The Hornets' star can't stay on the court and they are directionless. The Wizards were finally smart enough to enter a long, dark tunnel that will take years to get out of and draft even worse than the Bulls. The Pistons were actually trying to win this year and are historically bad, with a joke GM and a checked-out, overpaid coach. In the West, the Rockets went all-in and finished 2 games better than the Bulls. The Trail Blazers have one season over .500 in the last five years. The Bulls are misery, and they have plenty of company.
I know this is an attempt to look at the bright side but the situation is way more bleak than this vis a vis some of these other teams.
Brooklyn hasn't mortgaged all their draft capital, they have no picks this year but are in the top 5 of tradeable 1sts over the following six years. It's incredibly complicated because of all the swaps but they have basically every Suns pick/swap until 2029 (and are on the downside of the same with Houston until 2026), a Mavs pick, a top 8 Sixers pick in 2027, etc. They also have a GM that brought them through this once before through insanely cagey trades and cap maneuvers. More importantly they have a lot of players that can acquire even more picks if they want.
The Rockets obviously can poach those lottery picks from Brooklyn for the next 3 years through outright owning them unprotected or the swaps. They went on an 8 game winning streak at the end of the season and have a coach who seems like a major asshole but has this knack now of doing amazing in-season transformations.
The Bulls have Vucevic and still owe one to San Antonio, and our front office thinks trades don't make you better.
I wonder, though, if Tsai will let Marks go back to building a real team after the Big 3 interlude that blew up a pretty decent squad. Their recent hype/results ratio is so lopsided. Certainly, though, Marks is preferable to AK.
And I'd rather have Van Vleet and Sengun than White and Vuc. But the pundits made this huge fuss that the Rockets would be transformed and Dillon Brooks was negative on both sides of the ball and the squad was pretty meh.
Completely disagree with your assessment. No team has a bleaker outlook than the Bulls. We are a proven unserious franchise so will be very hard to sign top end talent. Highly unlikely to draft top end talent because unlikely to have high lottery pick anytime soon since our management is content aiming for the play-in every year and hard to see us being able to pass any of the teams ahead of us anytime soon. All of those teams you mentioned have young players better than what we have and will also have better draft picks in the coming years to add more high upside talent. I would trade places with any franchise in the league. Charlotte is the only team close to us but they have Ball, their rookie looked really good, they’re gonna have another top 5 pick this year and their books are clean. Portland similar and they have several really nice tradeable assets. We are just screwed and we totally did it to ourselves, all for the absurd chance to make the play-in the last two seasons. Which is why this is complete malpractice and mismanagement from AK. And why the state of our franchise is utterly depressing
Apr 17·edited Apr 17Liked by your friendly BullsBlogger
Sorry I've been awol from this blog. Ever-lurking; but at some point living the definition of insanity takes a toll. I stepped away from the bulls, and though Id like to write that I was better for it.... I wasn't. I miss watching them, rooting for them, writing about them..... But I'd put a game on and it wouldn't take long for the frustrations to come through. Not just when they were losing or just looked like the mediocre garbage they were... But even when they played well... Because it makes you think "damn, if the front office actually gave a damn this could have been nice"
The 70 million on the bench isn't an excuse, it isn't admirable. It's the fucking knife in the back, twisting. Zach should have been traded last year. Vuc never signed. Don't get me started on the disappointing psyche of pat williams. Lonzo gets a pass I guess, call it an effect of my love for drose, but man we hardly know the guy.
The bulls are in a better spot than they were at the start of the season. There's options.... I know it's hard AKME... But as a wise man once said.... Do. Your. Job!
The $70 million is sitting on the bench next to the $10 million disabled player exception.
Thankfully there's plenty of time for some of the $70 million on the bench to head down to the mailbox to pick up the estimated $8 million check from the league for putting a shit product on the floor for all 82 games. With Lonzo's insurance Reinsdorf will likely pocket > $25 million this year from a 39 win team and that was guaranteed before opening night.
Bulls had 236 dunks this year, which was ... last in the league. I'm not sure where to find missed dunks, but if they had 100 missed dunks I wouldn't be surprised. The dunk was not an efficient play for this team.
Tell us how you really feel. Love it!
My nightmare scenario is getting out of the Play-In and somehow pulling out 2-3 games vs Boston, who then goes on to make it to the Finals. Queue AKME "See!!! Two years in a row we got ousted by a Finals team!!! We're so close!!!"
This team is monumentally odd but still not altogether hopeless IMO. In hindsight, AKME did some interesting things when they finally got to work after Boylen-watch. But since Lonzo went down, they've lost their ever-lovin' minds (or regressed to innate stupidity). Zero ability to evaluate what they've got, make good trades or signing/re-signing decisions, or be at all relevant in the NBA GM Game of Thrones. Yes, this team appears royally f*cked. I just can't unsee what could have been and what still might be with even a glimmer of aggressiveness, good basketball sense and creativity from the FO.
Can't remember where I read this but someone made a good point that I can't help but wonder if it's true. Basically they said they wonder if AKME were specifically hired by Jerry to abort the tank and build a relevant team.
AKME did that but then everything flew off the rails after Lonzo got injured. They might know blowing it up is the best move but they also know if they start moving towards a rebuild, it'll indicate to Jerry that they failed at their original mission and Jerry will fire them.
So instead they're just treading water while making Jerry as much money as possible in hopes he won't fire them.
I'm not saying this is what's happening, but the very small part of me that still believes no one can be as dumb as AK appears to be wants to believe that maybe something like this is actually what's happening.
Possibly, but it’s very short sighted because he’s doing that while destroying his reputation as a GM/VP. He’s literally the laughingstock of the nBA. Everyone is in agreement that this squad has no future.
But look how long Gar/Pax were in charge. It's quite possible AK looks at this as his final gig before retirement. He's 52 currently. I'm sure at his pay, he could retire comfortably at 60.
So if he was promised some form of long term job security as long as he met expectations (making Jerry money), he could have gone into this job expecting it to be his final job.
Sure that's possible but he did a poor job of even that, and building a 39 win team is probably the easiest thing to do
I dont know man, they had opportunity to make changes while not tanking. Or tank for wemby (and I'm sure they'd still fail but at least keep their fucking pick) or build around Derozan.
We spent the last 2.5 years asking what our roster even was. AKME need to pay Coby under the table cuz he playing like a real starting nba pg saved this season, for real.
This entire season's "success" has all come down to white, Caruso, and deebo. Everyone else has been forgettable (at best).
Speaking of Coby's pay. I remember KC saying earlier this year (when Coby was red hot) that he was unlikely to hit the requirements needed to earn his incentives. What could the incentives possibly be that Coby hasn't his those this season?? He has far exceeded everyone's expectations.
The real question - will the Bulls turn comments off on the post-season press conference YouTube livestream after the debacle that was the last press conference??
Not a real question, of course they will, just like they do on all their social media etc
I'm curious if the last game of the season is on the road how quickly will they rush out a Zoom 'press conference'
Sure was convenient for AK, huh?
Maybe this one will be live-streamed exclusively on Stadium, except Stadium will be experiencing "technical difficulties" and it'll end up just being AK responding to questions form the Bulls PR manager.
"How are you enjoying Chicago?"
"Tell us about your time playing against MJ."
"Rank your top 5 favorite Bulls of all time."
"How awesome is Jerry?"
Bulls signing Boban this offseason. Intentionality missing free throws for free chicken keeps the real (paying) fans happy!!!
I cannot adequately express my level of loathing for AK. His incompetence, dishonesty and general lack of accountability are all just too overwhelming considering he’s in charge of my beloved. I genuinely have no cause for hope except for pure dumb luck…
I feel this way too, and struggle with it sometimes if I'm admonished not to get 'personal'
but he talks to us like we're fucking stupid, which is a personal attack too
"Us" is the most important word in your statement. I think we're all triggered because of the Darnell Mayberry interview where his FO source corrected him when he said "the team's fans," calling them instead "your fans." Meaning, non-casuals who obsessively follow the Bulls, know PER isn't just what a cat does, yet don't spend our disposable income in $600 seats getting hosed down with popcorn by Benny the Bull. The Bulls, more than any other franchise, are built for casuals. They are the Olive Garden of the NBA.
They both raise my blood pressure?
Plus he’s an outsider. At least with Paxson you knew he was a tough Chicago based guy who loved and cared about this franchise. It is painfully obvious that AK could give 2 spits about the franchise and the fans. I had such high hopes for him and I had some sentimental attachment to him because he was on the Lithuanian dream team. I’m a Grateful Dead fan. If you’re not familiar, the whole Dead/Bill Walton/Lithuanian Bball team story is absolutely incredible. Anyway, the only way out of this misery I see is to be shamed out, kind of how we were a few years back when the Allstar game was in Chicago and the franchise was humiliated. Means we need the local and national press to really rail on the franchise and there needs to be a backlash and decline in ticket and merch sales from the fans. I for one am fully endorsing buying counterfeit merch for the next few years! 😝. Keep up the good writing. 🍻
People are getting down on the Bulls .. you shouldn’t
The GM is not an idiot.
Here’s what he must do…
1. FIRE BILLY hire a smarter coach who knows how to win.. defense..rebounding.. limit turnovers.. beat your opponents in all 3 and you will win over 50%. Add 3 point shooting efficiency and you win 2/3… thats a team that can go deep in the playoffs.
2. RETAIN ANDRE AND JAVONTE… Also Terry and the kid from Arkansas both of whom
Have a lot of promise.
3. TRADE ZAC PAT AND VUC
4. Use the draft , free agency and trades to acquire a good 1, an All Star Caliber 4 and a rim protecting defensive center ( trade for the Duke kid on Dallas who’s on their bench). I’m assuming Ball will never recover his former form and effectiveness.
5. Play Andre 30-35 minutes and get him 10-15 pounds lighter for next year. He is the best rebounder in the NBA. He is an excellent on ball perimeter defender for a 5. His offensive repertoire is limited but extremely efficient.
Billy leaves him on the bench for 30 minutes when healthy. Vuc helps you win 5-10 games a year and helps you lose the rest. He is a horrible defender and a 29% 3 point shooter who continues to launch. He is a poor offensive rebounder. He also goes away in the last quarter of close games. Trade him!
6. New coach must put plus players on the floor not leave them on the bench.
Caruso, Javonte Ayo Coby and Andre are or could be plus players. Demar is a quality guy who is a great scorer and team leader. Retain him.
Get a quality 1 and an All Star 4 and that team can win a lot of games.
You're asking them to not be the Bulls.
Wait... Is that an option? Can we call the team I've been watching for the past decade the north side bisons or something... My psyche would love you if we could.
none of this is that outlandish except for the Andre Drummond praise
and I don't know why you cite all these changes necessary but defend the guy who brought them all in
Still, without granting the Bulls any quarter, there are even worse-off franchises. There are arguments for any of the six teams below them being in even worse straits. The Hawks nepotistic, meddling ownership is even worse than the Dorfs. Toronto has finished last in the Atlantic 3 of the past 5 years. Brooklyn has mortgaged all their draft capital to end up with a team of role players. The Hornets' star can't stay on the court and they are directionless. The Wizards were finally smart enough to enter a long, dark tunnel that will take years to get out of and draft even worse than the Bulls. The Pistons were actually trying to win this year and are historically bad, with a joke GM and a checked-out, overpaid coach. In the West, the Rockets went all-in and finished 2 games better than the Bulls. The Trail Blazers have one season over .500 in the last five years. The Bulls are misery, and they have plenty of company.
Reason and perspective have their place. Is this that place?
I know this is an attempt to look at the bright side but the situation is way more bleak than this vis a vis some of these other teams.
Brooklyn hasn't mortgaged all their draft capital, they have no picks this year but are in the top 5 of tradeable 1sts over the following six years. It's incredibly complicated because of all the swaps but they have basically every Suns pick/swap until 2029 (and are on the downside of the same with Houston until 2026), a Mavs pick, a top 8 Sixers pick in 2027, etc. They also have a GM that brought them through this once before through insanely cagey trades and cap maneuvers. More importantly they have a lot of players that can acquire even more picks if they want.
The Rockets obviously can poach those lottery picks from Brooklyn for the next 3 years through outright owning them unprotected or the swaps. They went on an 8 game winning streak at the end of the season and have a coach who seems like a major asshole but has this knack now of doing amazing in-season transformations.
The Bulls have Vucevic and still owe one to San Antonio, and our front office thinks trades don't make you better.
I wonder, though, if Tsai will let Marks go back to building a real team after the Big 3 interlude that blew up a pretty decent squad. Their recent hype/results ratio is so lopsided. Certainly, though, Marks is preferable to AK.
And I'd rather have Van Vleet and Sengun than White and Vuc. But the pundits made this huge fuss that the Rockets would be transformed and Dillon Brooks was negative on both sides of the ball and the squad was pretty meh.
Completely disagree with your assessment. No team has a bleaker outlook than the Bulls. We are a proven unserious franchise so will be very hard to sign top end talent. Highly unlikely to draft top end talent because unlikely to have high lottery pick anytime soon since our management is content aiming for the play-in every year and hard to see us being able to pass any of the teams ahead of us anytime soon. All of those teams you mentioned have young players better than what we have and will also have better draft picks in the coming years to add more high upside talent. I would trade places with any franchise in the league. Charlotte is the only team close to us but they have Ball, their rookie looked really good, they’re gonna have another top 5 pick this year and their books are clean. Portland similar and they have several really nice tradeable assets. We are just screwed and we totally did it to ourselves, all for the absurd chance to make the play-in the last two seasons. Which is why this is complete malpractice and mismanagement from AK. And why the state of our franchise is utterly depressing
Anything times 0 is still 0
Sorry I've been awol from this blog. Ever-lurking; but at some point living the definition of insanity takes a toll. I stepped away from the bulls, and though Id like to write that I was better for it.... I wasn't. I miss watching them, rooting for them, writing about them..... But I'd put a game on and it wouldn't take long for the frustrations to come through. Not just when they were losing or just looked like the mediocre garbage they were... But even when they played well... Because it makes you think "damn, if the front office actually gave a damn this could have been nice"
The 70 million on the bench isn't an excuse, it isn't admirable. It's the fucking knife in the back, twisting. Zach should have been traded last year. Vuc never signed. Don't get me started on the disappointing psyche of pat williams. Lonzo gets a pass I guess, call it an effect of my love for drose, but man we hardly know the guy.
The bulls are in a better spot than they were at the start of the season. There's options.... I know it's hard AKME... But as a wise man once said.... Do. Your. Job!
The $70 million is sitting on the bench next to the $10 million disabled player exception.
Thankfully there's plenty of time for some of the $70 million on the bench to head down to the mailbox to pick up the estimated $8 million check from the league for putting a shit product on the floor for all 82 games. With Lonzo's insurance Reinsdorf will likely pocket > $25 million this year from a 39 win team and that was guaranteed before opening night.
Bulls had 236 dunks this year, which was ... last in the league. I'm not sure where to find missed dunks, but if they had 100 missed dunks I wouldn't be surprised. The dunk was not an efficient play for this team.
good, it's showboating. has no place in this blue collar town
Wow, so they are failing at dunks AND threes?
"WHAT WOULD YOU SAY YOU DO HERE?"