Matas Buzelis though. Give that dude some meaning, let him be the one rookie that has some playoff moments. Now that Jalen Wells is out (really bad break), it's just Buzelis and Knecht and Knecht doesn't come close to Buzelis.
We got Buzelis through beautiful mediocrity and luck, it can happen again. Let everyone else curse their franchises through tanking.
I can't claim to have watched him much, Risacher though just doesn't seem super impressive. Still young, and I'm aware the #1 overall expectations are distorting. Maybe I should have seen that game but the ones I have there seems to be long stretches when you forget he's even there. Patwilliamsish.
Alex Sarr looks pretty cool, albeit with an absolutely terrifying shooting percentage. Shotblockers who shoot 3s are such a cool thing, I want 3 of these.
Edey is a big man who takes himself out by fouling too much, which is normal. Again, so bizarre that Memphis is locked in this "above average" mode because teaming him up with a Valenciunas or Vucevic this year would have been a consequential and relatively risk-free move but they just won't spend it. Maybe the most dead-end top 6 seed in the league which is crazy given their personnel and draft history.
Haven't seen Castle or the Minnesota rookies much. Seems there's a lot of "pretty good" players in this draft, maybe as many as usual, albeit without the potential best-20 guys in the league talent at the top.
The Smart/LaRavia trade is still a perplexing one to me. LaRavia was a player that was in thriving in the system they were playing, albeit on the bench, and they had to trade him to get off the Smart contract. I'm also not sure if I can be convinced that Smart was a bad vet. But paying 20 mil for a vet is rough for sure.
Brought in Bagley in that same trade. Send out two net positives, bring in one boat anchor net negative, and they're worse from that point on.
Right. Look at their pick situation. They're a top 6 team, and for some of the season were a legitimate top 2 in the standings, and other than the pick they threw out to get rid of Smart they have all of their 1sts. It's lowkey scandalous that this team isn't bundling future assets to get to a real contender level right now, but is actually throwing them away to get rid of contracts that aren't actually that bad, like you say. (JJJ is extension eligible, but the extension wouldn't even kick in until Smart's contract is off the books.) They've gotten incredible value for their draft position but like Thibs once said: what contender has two rookies in their top 8?
Robert Pera is very rich by Reinsdorfian standards, but apparently he just bought the team like he might buy a chain of car washes.
Magic win doesn't count because Suggs was out haw haw! Seriously when was the last time any NBA team played a game with a full-strength roster? I think maybe November '22?
Bulls looked good last night. Giddey was too quick for Burks (I know) and Huerter was ruthless taking Herro to the hole. And Matas was cold! Knocking down those two big shots at the end.
I'll weep with you for the 7% that died, but this team is fun to watch right now.
Why are you even a fan of the team man? I really enjoy your content, but if you can't even enjoy when the team you root for wins, what is the point? Obviously the bulls are not very close to a championship without a true superstar, but damn at least the stretch since the all star game has been fun to watch! Coby, Giddey, and Young Buzi have been improving greatly since dumping lavine. Why not at least be excited about that?
The Bulls are in a situation where multiple things can be true.
1) Buzelis is awesome. Really promising player. He’s the most excited I’ve been about a Bulls rookie since Jimmy Butler.
2) Coby is really good and it’s great seeing a homegrown player develop to the point where he could be an all-star in the near future.
3) This is an incompetent front office that should not be trusted to move this team forward. They have one good first round pick, one good second round pick, and one playoff game victory in half a decade of leadership. That is not good enough in a league where a GM who won a championship two years ago is losing their job.
It’s possible to find some enjoyment from the present while also being concerned about the future. How many years can AK go without winning a playoff series before everyone accepts that there needs to be a change in leadership?
Well, I think the answer to your question depends on your point of view, but as a non-tanking advocate, I expect a top 6 seed next year, and a 1st round series win the year after that. We need more pieces in place to do that, and I look for an active offseason.
I can't really speak for the burn it down tankers out there, but I would guess their window for team success is longer.
Here's the underlying problem: I've said here and seen elsewhere that play-in and playoff games will be, at the least, helpful information gathering on the new(est) young core
I think that's true if this was a replacement-level, competent front office. But it's not, it's Arturas Karnisovas. He doesn't need new, more valuable information. He's seen enough for his purposes: justifying his moves and keeping his job
Do we think if Giddey has a dud in the play-in that will have any impact on his contract negotiations?
My one hope is that AK has generally been conservative with contracts. Not that there haven't been duds, but that to go with his general torpid persona, he rarely goes out on a limb for contracts.
So I am hoping the same for a Giddey. This years off-season market is expected to be bad, and I have my doubts about other teams reaching for him. Maybe we get a Coby/Ago style contract from him.
black monday in the league, Suns and Pelicans cleaning house
I'm not mad (today) that AK and Billy haven't been fired. It's more mad that you know they received a contract extension based off of this 'success' and we won't find out for a year
Blazers in similar situation and announced extensions for GM and coach
I think there's what it would take a normal team to get him and then what AK would offer
Though id also consider this a non-starter as something like that requires ownership OK and I don't think they want to pay a max salary to anyone but a top ten player in the league (and who doesn't always miss time)
I would very much like to applaud this group and this Substack. Far too often, fans online descend into mindless, barking seals when it comes to middling success, treating it as if the team was the Celtics of the 1960s. This Substack doesn’t do that. It sees failure and success for what they really are and intelligently notes both.
Third trip in as many years to Calypso island tonight, this time marooned at the United Center. Miami is circling the drain pretty hard, so I could see the Bulls winning tonight and the Great Recital of Progress marching on in the imagination of Chicago's brain trust.
Best case scenario, from my POV is a feisty showing against CLE. Worst case scenario is a win and a lifeless follow-up series. I'd settle for a loss tonight and, what, a 1.2-ish% chance at Cooper Flagg--which amounts to basketball lottery scratch-off therapy.
Not a lot of strategic opportunities out here tonight, is what I'm saying. But I'm hoping that they all don't lead to the same place, which is leadership here needing more time to evaluate the league's play-in class of basketball (Chicago, Atlanta, Miami) for a fourth consecutive season.
Matas Buzelis though. Give that dude some meaning, let him be the one rookie that has some playoff moments. Now that Jalen Wells is out (really bad break), it's just Buzelis and Knecht and Knecht doesn't come close to Buzelis.
We got Buzelis through beautiful mediocrity and luck, it can happen again. Let everyone else curse their franchises through tanking.
> it's just Buzelis and Knecht
I might be missing the joke (it happens a lot!) but...
Risacher? They're seeded higher than the Bulls and he's started 70 games.
Ron Holland is looking to boost his average of 0.3 fights per game.
Zach Edey has become a single double machine.
And Kel'el Ware is there to share more protein powder tips with Buzelis.
Ahh maybe I was skipping past some names...
We're going to put Kel'el Ware out though. Risacher, Holland and Edey though for sure.
And here's Risacher scoring 38 points. Dang.
I can't claim to have watched him much, Risacher though just doesn't seem super impressive. Still young, and I'm aware the #1 overall expectations are distorting. Maybe I should have seen that game but the ones I have there seems to be long stretches when you forget he's even there. Patwilliamsish.
Alex Sarr looks pretty cool, albeit with an absolutely terrifying shooting percentage. Shotblockers who shoot 3s are such a cool thing, I want 3 of these.
Edey is a big man who takes himself out by fouling too much, which is normal. Again, so bizarre that Memphis is locked in this "above average" mode because teaming him up with a Valenciunas or Vucevic this year would have been a consequential and relatively risk-free move but they just won't spend it. Maybe the most dead-end top 6 seed in the league which is crazy given their personnel and draft history.
Haven't seen Castle or the Minnesota rookies much. Seems there's a lot of "pretty good" players in this draft, maybe as many as usual, albeit without the potential best-20 guys in the league talent at the top.
The Smart/LaRavia trade is still a perplexing one to me. LaRavia was a player that was in thriving in the system they were playing, albeit on the bench, and they had to trade him to get off the Smart contract. I'm also not sure if I can be convinced that Smart was a bad vet. But paying 20 mil for a vet is rough for sure.
Brought in Bagley in that same trade. Send out two net positives, bring in one boat anchor net negative, and they're worse from that point on.
They also signed a 5'8" basketball player, which in this era is borderline criminal.
Right. Look at their pick situation. They're a top 6 team, and for some of the season were a legitimate top 2 in the standings, and other than the pick they threw out to get rid of Smart they have all of their 1sts. It's lowkey scandalous that this team isn't bundling future assets to get to a real contender level right now, but is actually throwing them away to get rid of contracts that aren't actually that bad, like you say. (JJJ is extension eligible, but the extension wouldn't even kick in until Smart's contract is off the books.) They've gotten incredible value for their draft position but like Thibs once said: what contender has two rookies in their top 8?
Robert Pera is very rich by Reinsdorfian standards, but apparently he just bought the team like he might buy a chain of car washes.
Magic win doesn't count because Suggs was out haw haw! Seriously when was the last time any NBA team played a game with a full-strength roster? I think maybe November '22?
Bulls looked good last night. Giddey was too quick for Burks (I know) and Huerter was ruthless taking Herro to the hole. And Matas was cold! Knocking down those two big shots at the end.
I'll weep with you for the 7% that died, but this team is fun to watch right now.
That was the most specious dismissal. I could've just said the Magic kinda stink, close to the Bulls level
Oh, I didn't miss the snark. The haw haw was sincere.
It does speak to Suggs being quite valuable, a shot at Giddey as a contract comp
Why are you even a fan of the team man? I really enjoy your content, but if you can't even enjoy when the team you root for wins, what is the point? Obviously the bulls are not very close to a championship without a true superstar, but damn at least the stretch since the all star game has been fun to watch! Coby, Giddey, and Young Buzi have been improving greatly since dumping lavine. Why not at least be excited about that?
Because those three aren't a core and you need a core to compete.
We have more moves to make for sure.
This is why: https://open.substack.com/pub/blogabull/p/why-bulls-fans-cant-enjoy-good-things?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2bo
The Bulls are in a situation where multiple things can be true.
1) Buzelis is awesome. Really promising player. He’s the most excited I’ve been about a Bulls rookie since Jimmy Butler.
2) Coby is really good and it’s great seeing a homegrown player develop to the point where he could be an all-star in the near future.
3) This is an incompetent front office that should not be trusted to move this team forward. They have one good first round pick, one good second round pick, and one playoff game victory in half a decade of leadership. That is not good enough in a league where a GM who won a championship two years ago is losing their job.
It’s possible to find some enjoyment from the present while also being concerned about the future. How many years can AK go without winning a playoff series before everyone accepts that there needs to be a change in leadership?
I approve this Giddey-ignoring message
If he signs to the QO I will feel a lot better about the whole operation, the 'worry' will be he makes an All Star team, oh no!
Well, I think the answer to your question depends on your point of view, but as a non-tanking advocate, I expect a top 6 seed next year, and a 1st round series win the year after that. We need more pieces in place to do that, and I look for an active offseason.
I can't really speak for the burn it down tankers out there, but I would guess their window for team success is longer.
Here's the underlying problem: I've said here and seen elsewhere that play-in and playoff games will be, at the least, helpful information gathering on the new(est) young core
I think that's true if this was a replacement-level, competent front office. But it's not, it's Arturas Karnisovas. He doesn't need new, more valuable information. He's seen enough for his purposes: justifying his moves and keeping his job
Do we think if Giddey has a dud in the play-in that will have any impact on his contract negotiations?
My one hope is that AK has generally been conservative with contracts. Not that there haven't been duds, but that to go with his general torpid persona, he rarely goes out on a limb for contracts.
So I am hoping the same for a Giddey. This years off-season market is expected to be bad, and I have my doubts about other teams reaching for him. Maybe we get a Coby/Ago style contract from him.
I agree those are examples in his favor. But then there's Patrick Williams.
Jalen Smith too
the contract is pretty onerous for a bench guy that barely plays and gets a good amount of DNPs
Best Case Scenario: They make the playoffs, Giddey is benched in 4th quarters, and they win!
black monday in the league, Suns and Pelicans cleaning house
I'm not mad (today) that AK and Billy haven't been fired. It's more mad that you know they received a contract extension based off of this 'success' and we won't find out for a year
Blazers in similar situation and announced extensions for GM and coach
The Pelicans are hiring Joe Dumars. I read that the ownership group really wants to get rid of Zion. I have no idea what it would take to get him.
When we remembered Zion
I think there's what it would take a normal team to get him and then what AK would offer
Though id also consider this a non-starter as something like that requires ownership OK and I don't think they want to pay a max salary to anyone but a top ten player in the league (and who doesn't always miss time)
I would very much like to applaud this group and this Substack. Far too often, fans online descend into mindless, barking seals when it comes to middling success, treating it as if the team was the Celtics of the 1960s. This Substack doesn’t do that. It sees failure and success for what they really are and intelligently notes both.
I agree. We are the best.
Giddey for 30 mil all day over Trae Young at any price.
Third trip in as many years to Calypso island tonight, this time marooned at the United Center. Miami is circling the drain pretty hard, so I could see the Bulls winning tonight and the Great Recital of Progress marching on in the imagination of Chicago's brain trust.
Best case scenario, from my POV is a feisty showing against CLE. Worst case scenario is a win and a lifeless follow-up series. I'd settle for a loss tonight and, what, a 1.2-ish% chance at Cooper Flagg--which amounts to basketball lottery scratch-off therapy.
Not a lot of strategic opportunities out here tonight, is what I'm saying. But I'm hoping that they all don't lead to the same place, which is leadership here needing more time to evaluate the league's play-in class of basketball (Chicago, Atlanta, Miami) for a fourth consecutive season.