I'm predicting a Joe Harris signing but would be OK with signing Gallo. He's totally washed at this point, but if we're going to waste money on any of these bums I'd rather have an older vet who can help with the development of the real players on the roster. Gallo has been in the league since 2008 so he knows something about career longevity.
I'm fine with Gallo, but I'm going to use this as a jumping off point for a rant.
My belief is that "help young guys develop" is like "balancing the budget". Meaningless.
Every candidate promises to "balance the budget" or "restore fiscal sanity" or whatever.
Almost none of them take it seriously.
And if one does, it won't do him any good, because voters will have other, higher priorities. When it comes time to vote, nobody is gonna give a shit if the guy "restored fiscal sanity" if we're reduced to eating dog food.
It's the same with "helping the young guys develop". DeMar is the one guy who's very clearly and obviously done that. He's literally taken Pat and Coby and worked them over the summer. Ayo and everyone else rave about how he takes the young guys under his wing.
When it comes to talking about trading or re-signing him, we know that counts for nothing. About 60% of the (internet) fan base would give away DeMar for a second round pick and 40% of them think he's actively detrimental to the "development" of young guys, who only truly develop by being placed in the NBA equivalent of "Naked and Afraid".
And that's not just because DeMar makes a lot. If a guy did all that and made the league minimum, for one, young guys wouldn't listen to him the same way, but for two, he'd ultimately be considered just as expendable as any other league minimum guy.
My point is, don't bring in anyone with the assumption that they will help any young player unless they have a specific reputation and history of doing so.
And if you do have one of those guys, they are probably worth their weight in gold, so take it seriously and keep him. If you're willing to ditch such a player, you don't actually take "helping the young guys" very seriously, just like nobody takes government finance very seriously.
I agree with the overall premise of "help young guys develop" is a fairly meaningless trait for the most part. You are correct, there are guy who truly do help young guys develop, and DeMar is one of those people. The problem is I'm not sure paying him $25 million a year (or whatever he re-signs for) is worth whatever good he may do for our young guys.
Yes, look at how Coby and Ayo have improved. But look at how Pat and Dalen have not. Both of those guys have spent a lot of time working with DeMar over the past couple summers. Pat has probably spent more time with DeMar than anyone else.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think "helping the young guys develop" starts with the organization itself and its coaching staff. A good organization will also bring a guy or two in that are closer to vet minimum guys that they know they'll get a little bit from on the court, but they're really there to help instill winning ways in the young guys.
You don't need your best player to be the one helping those young guys. It's not that guy's responsibility. Just because your organization has done a bad job at it, and just because your best player has taken that responsibility upon himself, doesn't mean the organization should then hide behind that and use that as an excuse to pay that guy $25 million a year into his late 30s while hamstringing the rest of their financial flexibility.
In practice, I think a (true) ability to help guys develop just fits into a prioritization hierarchy.
That is, you wouldn't pay a guy $25M/yr just because he develops guys, but you evaluate it as a real factor along with his play.
Like... DeMar does it and is playing at a near all-star level, and doesn't have a lot of obvious replacement options at a lower price range. Vuc does not and is playing at a 7-8th man level and has lots of lower cost replacement options.
What hamstrings an organization isn't paying a guy, it's overpaying a guy on a long-term deal you can't get out of.
I agree for the most part. My big problem with DeMar's impending payday mostly just has to do with his age in contrast to this team's timeline. DeMar may be worth $25 million a year for a couple more years, but is he worth that to this Bulls team? Obviously there's no right or wrong answer.
Like I said, I try to fit everything into a kind of hierarchy. What's the highest priority problem? What's the biggest strength? That kind of thing. Then work from there.
I figure the likely case with DeMar is he's still tradable for a first on a 1+1 at pretty much any time. If he's not, then you could probably trade him for an expiring. So I feel like the risk is pretty low there.
The upside of trading him is pretty low too. You're going to take a big hit on the court (which is fine if you want to tank, but I'd rather try to thread the needle and be opportunistic tankers rather than full-on tankers. And the pick won't be that good.
I think the real story here is that Coby is "very unlikely" to hit his incentives. He's played far better than anyone expected this season. There's no way the incentives are along the lines of becoming an All-star or something like that, right??
I'd go with Chimezie Metu. He's turning 27 in March, is 6'9" and has per-36 min of 15 pts/9 rebs. His 3-pt shot looks good, but only making 30% this yr. The good news is he's a good FT shooter so you would think the 3 will continue to improve. A still-improving entering-prime player that could be signed as a near-minimum backup PF/C. Why not.
He's 6'9" and 225, so not at all center sized. Given that he's almost 27 and his career 3PT % is also 30% there's not much reason to expect continued improvement here.
If you want potential, go get a younger guy from the League like Bazley
Would definitely prefer Bazley over anybody on the buyout list. Has some upside at a position of need and also gives you another type of big (rangy and switchy, shot blocking swing 4/5). Has shown some inconsistent ability to hit 3s and also has actual NBA experience, so wouldn't be a complete mystery box.
In Sacto, Metu beat out Holmes and Len (ok, not saying much) to be the backup center behind Sabonis for a coach known for defense. Bazley's shooting percentages in the g-league are still trash, and his overall g-league +/- is negative. Not much potential there.
I really thing G-League is the way to go over all the buyout guys, as they are ass. Leonard Miller, 20 y.o. and 6'11", is top 5 in scoring and rebounding, and hitting 37% on 6 threes a game. Cole Swider, 6'8", is hitting almost half his 9 threes a game. Bazley's 6'9" and getting 2.5 blocks a night with his 7' wingspan.
forgot to mention this, Gallo played for Billy Donovan on the 19-20 Thunder
it does seem like an important consideration for the front office to have their outstanding coach have utmost comfort with the roster, no changes too scary
See this is a cheap joke, but when you read Shams launder that PJ Tucker is taking a pouting break by framing it as "reset his mindset" I suppose it's all fair game
Kind of expect that from Hyland, who doesn't realize that he basically just needs one hot quarter in the semi-finals to make his career. But Tucker is what Norm MacDonald described as a perfect joke, where the set-up and the punchline are exactly the same:
"The Clippers have been unable to trade PJ Tucker, a 38 year old PF with an $11 million player option next season, because he's PJ Tucker, a 38 year old PF with an $11 million player option next season."
I get that Tucker wants to play, and that he has a valid contract, but he's on a contender and he is... a 38 year old PF with an $11 million player option next season.
My "reset" would be "I am a 38 year old PF with an $11 million player option next season and I wear a size 12 ring." I would wave that fucking towel like a maniac and when called upon I would hack-a-Luka so gleefully the refs would T me up for grinning because Developers Developers Developers Developers just paid me a million bucks to hit someone much better than me in his smug fucking face. This is the fucking life, man, if Jimmy Buffet were alive today he'd be writing songs about the ecstasy of being paid to punch Slovenians in the face and then going home to BBQ some wings out in my lovely Malibu beach community.
According to Basketball Reference he's made nearly $80 million in his career, not counting 5 years overseas or his $11 million player option next year which is as good as in the bank.
PJ Tucker will have made close to $100 million playing basketball not particularly well. He's in the 'Bu.
March 11 is the next big date. It's when the Disabled Player Exception that the Bulls applied for will expire!
I'm pretty sure that if a reporter catches Karnisovas on his way to the donut table to ask them about this, he would stare at them blankly and never stop chewing that sugary goodness for a moment.
Guards and bad centers... because non-elites at that position are kind of the easiest to find. No wonder the Bulls have "plenty" of those while struggling to have more than 1 good WING on the team, which is historically the hardest to find.
Oh boy. I can hear AK at the 2026 post trade deadline press conference, "We want to keep this group together. Vooch is a competitive double double machine (8 points, 7 rebounds on 40% from the field and 22% from deep) and DeMar is such a great leader to these young guys. Plus AARP covers their insurance now, so it's a real steal for Jerry!"
You can't even call him a floor spacer at this point. Look at the Cavs in those plays. Not only are they intentionally leaving him open to force the other Bulls players to pass to him, but they also don't even make an effort to contest the shot once it has been passed to him.
this is an example of competitiveness in regular season games not being the best measurement of team quality
The Cavs wised up but others haven't yet. There's too many games to really scout every opponent. If there's a playoff series or even a play-in game, the opponent will scout Vuc and just leave him
Yep, that's what the Bucks did to our entire team in the playoffs a couple years ago. If the Bulls somehow make the playoffs this year, Vooch will probably shoot 10 wide open threes a game. Hopefully it'll embarrass the ever loving hell out of AK.
The Magic did the same thing, except they actually backed off of him when he caught the ball at the arc — like they were within 5 feet and backed away further to give him the shot. The disrespect is astounding. A non-shooter taking 3s is usually a good thing even if they're not particularly good at them, but Vuc is now so bad that the defense reacts to him receiving the ball as an opportunity to double another player.
That is second to last among all centers who have played at least 15 minutes per game this year. But hey, at least we can say Vooch is better offensively than Santi Aldama!
He averaged less than 1 free throw per game in January. This guy who is now useless from the perimeter drew a shooting foul once every two or three games.
"The 76ers believed they had a trade done to acquire Bulls center Andre Drummond before Chicago pulled out of talks hours before the deadline, league sources told HoopsHype. The Bulls wanted three second-round picks for Drummond, league sources said. "
I do take some solace in thinking the Bulls are mad that another team would just leak out trade discussions , a sacred covenant that cannot be commented on
Like we said in Discord, Sixers are a team that sent $6.5 million, the max, to the Pacers in the Buddy Hield trade. So at least before that trade, they had cash to burn and to fatten up an owner's operating profit.
I would be surprised if our team's most coveted prospect, Cash Considerations, did not make an appearance here.
According to The Athletic, LeBron had given the green light for the Lakers to pursue either Zach or Dejounte Murray prior to the trade deadline. We obviously know neither of those moves happened.
For weeks leading up to the deadline all sources were saying the Lakers had no interest in Zach, which I believe is true. Does this mean the Lakers front office doesn't particularly care what LeBron wants? If so, do we think that means LeBron plans on leaving this summer?
LeBron has always been incredibly involved in who his teams target, so I find it interesting that they didn't get either of the guys he wanted. It's especially weird that they basically didn't do anything. They know their window is short. Is it possible they know their window is basically over and they don't want to trade away what little assets they have left for a longshot title bid this year?
You probably know this, but both of them are Klutch clients. So is Anthony Davis. I wouldn't even want to guess how many truly insane Klutch proposals Lebron's employers have turned down during his career.
For Dejounte Murray: Atlanta was not going to be happy about getting 1 draft pick for Murray, who has 3 years left on his contract making an average of $27 million. It's just madness to believe that would happen. At this point, Atlanta still owes San Antonio 2 unprotected draft picks (2025 and 2027) and a swap in 2026 for him. But this summer, when the Lakers can offer 3 picks coming in to replace the 2 or 3 going out? That's a far easier sell to fans, even if it still makes a trade for such high performing player on such a low-paid and long-term contract inherently unfair.
I think the Lakers view themselves as fortunate to have escaped from the black hole of Westbrook the last time Lebron was GM For A Day and have managed to put together a team with a puncher's chance. Apparently Lebron feels chastened by that experience too. It seems like Pelinka is a really good GM when he's allowed to be one and Rich Paul is a really bad one when the Lakers outsource decisions to him.
Getting even funnier: Reinsdorf is trying romance state reps to subsidize a new stadium for him but just can't help being an arrogant prick to the few reporters he doesn't pay:
> Reinsdorf says ‘I don’t want to talk about that’ when asked why his ballclub needs another state subsidy
Without Madigan? This is so DOA I think scientists have been called in not to vouch for its time of death in Springfield yesterday but also to check if it was ever alive.
Edit: Also lol @ NBCSportsChicago basically turning into Pravda for Reinsdorf:
"If approved, it could be a massive turning point in Chicago's history."
more urgent given the news Tuesday where there's now extended injury absences of Williams and Craig
Even if AK is delusional about "this group", he could've been active in balancing size and adding depth. Instead there's a somehow-irreplaceable backup center and 9 guards
Shoutout to all the idiots who believed Pat's BONE EDEMA was going to magically go away in two weeks. The Bulls are going to be lucky if he comes back this season.
They probably operate from the mindset of as high a floor they can have, just enough to ensure full (or whatever criteria they have for satisfactory) attendance.
I am actually ok with that mindset. I don't want a rebuild either!
but that floor is just keeping DeRozan, really. That they can't figure out that they can have a high-enough floor ("staying competitive" for the paying customer) while also making forward-thinking moves is on their lack of execution, not mindset
Part of me can't believe an exec would say something like that to a reporter. The other part of me that has been a Bulls fan far too long isn't surprised in the least. Of course a shitty organization has shitbag executives.
it's not like the Bulls have a ton of "high-ranking executives" to get this quote
given that it required Darnell to try and make any sense of it means it could've been AK himself
If it's truly a nefarious greedy intent to distinguish the paying customer from 'fans', I don't know if AK is capable of that thought. Eversley? Paxson?
I'm predicting a Joe Harris signing but would be OK with signing Gallo. He's totally washed at this point, but if we're going to waste money on any of these bums I'd rather have an older vet who can help with the development of the real players on the roster. Gallo has been in the league since 2008 so he knows something about career longevity.
Wait, so you don't have to be a vet making at least $20 million a year to help young guys develop? Quick, someone tell r/ChicagoBulls this!
I'm fine with Gallo, but I'm going to use this as a jumping off point for a rant.
My belief is that "help young guys develop" is like "balancing the budget". Meaningless.
Every candidate promises to "balance the budget" or "restore fiscal sanity" or whatever.
Almost none of them take it seriously.
And if one does, it won't do him any good, because voters will have other, higher priorities. When it comes time to vote, nobody is gonna give a shit if the guy "restored fiscal sanity" if we're reduced to eating dog food.
It's the same with "helping the young guys develop". DeMar is the one guy who's very clearly and obviously done that. He's literally taken Pat and Coby and worked them over the summer. Ayo and everyone else rave about how he takes the young guys under his wing.
When it comes to talking about trading or re-signing him, we know that counts for nothing. About 60% of the (internet) fan base would give away DeMar for a second round pick and 40% of them think he's actively detrimental to the "development" of young guys, who only truly develop by being placed in the NBA equivalent of "Naked and Afraid".
And that's not just because DeMar makes a lot. If a guy did all that and made the league minimum, for one, young guys wouldn't listen to him the same way, but for two, he'd ultimately be considered just as expendable as any other league minimum guy.
My point is, don't bring in anyone with the assumption that they will help any young player unless they have a specific reputation and history of doing so.
And if you do have one of those guys, they are probably worth their weight in gold, so take it seriously and keep him. If you're willing to ditch such a player, you don't actually take "helping the young guys" very seriously, just like nobody takes government finance very seriously.
I agree with the overall premise of "help young guys develop" is a fairly meaningless trait for the most part. You are correct, there are guy who truly do help young guys develop, and DeMar is one of those people. The problem is I'm not sure paying him $25 million a year (or whatever he re-signs for) is worth whatever good he may do for our young guys.
Yes, look at how Coby and Ayo have improved. But look at how Pat and Dalen have not. Both of those guys have spent a lot of time working with DeMar over the past couple summers. Pat has probably spent more time with DeMar than anyone else.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think "helping the young guys develop" starts with the organization itself and its coaching staff. A good organization will also bring a guy or two in that are closer to vet minimum guys that they know they'll get a little bit from on the court, but they're really there to help instill winning ways in the young guys.
You don't need your best player to be the one helping those young guys. It's not that guy's responsibility. Just because your organization has done a bad job at it, and just because your best player has taken that responsibility upon himself, doesn't mean the organization should then hide behind that and use that as an excuse to pay that guy $25 million a year into his late 30s while hamstringing the rest of their financial flexibility.
In practice, I think a (true) ability to help guys develop just fits into a prioritization hierarchy.
That is, you wouldn't pay a guy $25M/yr just because he develops guys, but you evaluate it as a real factor along with his play.
Like... DeMar does it and is playing at a near all-star level, and doesn't have a lot of obvious replacement options at a lower price range. Vuc does not and is playing at a 7-8th man level and has lots of lower cost replacement options.
What hamstrings an organization isn't paying a guy, it's overpaying a guy on a long-term deal you can't get out of.
I agree for the most part. My big problem with DeMar's impending payday mostly just has to do with his age in contrast to this team's timeline. DeMar may be worth $25 million a year for a couple more years, but is he worth that to this Bulls team? Obviously there's no right or wrong answer.
Like I said, I try to fit everything into a kind of hierarchy. What's the highest priority problem? What's the biggest strength? That kind of thing. Then work from there.
I figure the likely case with DeMar is he's still tradable for a first on a 1+1 at pretty much any time. If he's not, then you could probably trade him for an expiring. So I feel like the risk is pretty low there.
The upside of trading him is pretty low too. You're going to take a big hit on the court (which is fine if you want to tank, but I'd rather try to thread the needle and be opportunistic tankers rather than full-on tankers. And the pick won't be that good.
DeMar sitting with Coby post-game to go over last minute possessions on video
Vuc...dropped passes and had defenders abandon him
I think the real story here is that Coby is "very unlikely" to hit his incentives. He's played far better than anyone expected this season. There's no way the incentives are along the lines of becoming an All-star or something like that, right??
was there suspiciously little push for Coby White to make the All-Star Team, hmmmmm
(could be even less likely like all-NBA)
I’m betting All-Star and All-NBA incentives, those seem fairly common.
I'd go with Chimezie Metu. He's turning 27 in March, is 6'9" and has per-36 min of 15 pts/9 rebs. His 3-pt shot looks good, but only making 30% this yr. The good news is he's a good FT shooter so you would think the 3 will continue to improve. A still-improving entering-prime player that could be signed as a near-minimum backup PF/C. Why not.
I agree. I don't expect him to be great by any means, but he's a fairly big body and that's something this team needs.
He's 6'9" and 225, so not at all center sized. Given that he's almost 27 and his career 3PT % is also 30% there's not much reason to expect continued improvement here.
If you want potential, go get a younger guy from the League like Bazley
Would definitely prefer Bazley over anybody on the buyout list. Has some upside at a position of need and also gives you another type of big (rangy and switchy, shot blocking swing 4/5). Has shown some inconsistent ability to hit 3s and also has actual NBA experience, so wouldn't be a complete mystery box.
In Sacto, Metu beat out Holmes and Len (ok, not saying much) to be the backup center behind Sabonis for a coach known for defense. Bazley's shooting percentages in the g-league are still trash, and his overall g-league +/- is negative. Not much potential there.
I really thing G-League is the way to go over all the buyout guys, as they are ass. Leonard Miller, 20 y.o. and 6'11", is top 5 in scoring and rebounding, and hitting 37% on 6 threes a game. Cole Swider, 6'8", is hitting almost half his 9 threes a game. Bazley's 6'9" and getting 2.5 blocks a night with his 7' wingspan.
I think Miller is on the TWolves and Swider is a two-way guy from the Heat, but yeah. This seems like something pretty obvious, right?
Yes, would make more sense to take a flyer on a younger forward/center rather than an old washed up guy. Metu and Harry Giles would be my two choices.
forgot to mention this, Gallo played for Billy Donovan on the 19-20 Thunder
it does seem like an important consideration for the front office to have their outstanding coach have utmost comfort with the roster, no changes too scary
A third season of trade deadline inaction now has Demarr spiraling into a deep and dark depression!!!
https://www.si.com/nba/bulls/off-the-court/bulls-star-demar-derozan-got-massive-support-from-fans-after-his-cryptic-x-post
Same.
See this is a cheap joke, but when you read Shams launder that PJ Tucker is taking a pouting break by framing it as "reset his mindset" I suppose it's all fair game
Kind of expect that from Hyland, who doesn't realize that he basically just needs one hot quarter in the semi-finals to make his career. But Tucker is what Norm MacDonald described as a perfect joke, where the set-up and the punchline are exactly the same:
"The Clippers have been unable to trade PJ Tucker, a 38 year old PF with an $11 million player option next season, because he's PJ Tucker, a 38 year old PF with an $11 million player option next season."
I get that Tucker wants to play, and that he has a valid contract, but he's on a contender and he is... a 38 year old PF with an $11 million player option next season.
My "reset" would be "I am a 38 year old PF with an $11 million player option next season and I wear a size 12 ring." I would wave that fucking towel like a maniac and when called upon I would hack-a-Luka so gleefully the refs would T me up for grinning because Developers Developers Developers Developers just paid me a million bucks to hit someone much better than me in his smug fucking face. This is the fucking life, man, if Jimmy Buffet were alive today he'd be writing songs about the ecstasy of being paid to punch Slovenians in the face and then going home to BBQ some wings out in my lovely Malibu beach community.
God what a life you've just described.
Yeah, I'd love to be 38 again. $11M doesn't get you into a Malibu beach community! He needs to slum it in Oxnard with that salary...
According to Basketball Reference he's made nearly $80 million in his career, not counting 5 years overseas or his $11 million player option next year which is as good as in the bank.
PJ Tucker will have made close to $100 million playing basketball not particularly well. He's in the 'Bu.
I’m 38 but not making $11M, so I am objectively more tradeable than PJ Tucker
Well $10.925 million now
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39533152/clippers-pj-tucker-fined-75k-expressing-desire-traded
March 11 is the next big date. It's when the Disabled Player Exception that the Bulls applied for will expire!
I'm pretty sure that if a reporter catches Karnisovas on his way to the donut table to ask them about this, he would stare at them blankly and never stop chewing that sugary goodness for a moment.
Guards and bad centers... because non-elites at that position are kind of the easiest to find. No wonder the Bulls have "plenty" of those while struggling to have more than 1 good WING on the team, which is historically the hardest to find.
Vooch in 39 minutes: 9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals/blocks on 4 of 16 shooting.
Can't wait for two more seasons of this.
Can't ignore his 3 point sharpshooting! 25%!
Try 20%!
LOL whoops I stand corrected! Even better!
It was a competitive double double. He fell short this time but we're happy that he was close to getting one the entire game.
Oh boy. I can hear AK at the 2026 post trade deadline press conference, "We want to keep this group together. Vooch is a competitive double double machine (8 points, 7 rebounds on 40% from the field and 22% from deep) and DeMar is such a great leader to these young guys. Plus AARP covers their insurance now, so it's a real steal for Jerry!"
AK called Vuc "our constant"
true love
I mean, he has been constantly bad since we traded for him, so I guess AK isn't wrong.
The Bulls so predictably run out of gas in the 4th
And the Cavs decided to actually get serious in the fourth.
NBA did admit that the away from the play foul on Caruso was bs though.
Not that that was the only thing that lost us the game, but that's the 2nd bullshit call vs the cavs that could have changed the outcome.
unguardable baby...wait I mean to say un-guarded
https://cdn.allcitynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2024/02/14211728/Vooch-3s.mp4
You can't even call him a floor spacer at this point. Look at the Cavs in those plays. Not only are they intentionally leaving him open to force the other Bulls players to pass to him, but they also don't even make an effort to contest the shot once it has been passed to him.
He is a floor spacer in that he takes up space on the floor. It's undeniable!
this is an example of competitiveness in regular season games not being the best measurement of team quality
The Cavs wised up but others haven't yet. There's too many games to really scout every opponent. If there's a playoff series or even a play-in game, the opponent will scout Vuc and just leave him
Yep, that's what the Bucks did to our entire team in the playoffs a couple years ago. If the Bulls somehow make the playoffs this year, Vooch will probably shoot 10 wide open threes a game. Hopefully it'll embarrass the ever loving hell out of AK.
The Magic did the same thing, except they actually backed off of him when he caught the ball at the arc — like they were within 5 feet and backed away further to give him the shot. The disrespect is astounding. A non-shooter taking 3s is usually a good thing even if they're not particularly good at them, but Vuc is now so bad that the defense reacts to him receiving the ball as an opportunity to double another player.
Vucevic currently posting a blistering .528 TS% as a center…
That is second to last among all centers who have played at least 15 minutes per game this year. But hey, at least we can say Vooch is better offensively than Santi Aldama!
Aldama is actually above the 3pt% Mendoza line. I think I'd take him straight up over Vuc.
He's also 10 years younger and making 10% what Vooch makes. I'd take him too.
He averaged less than 1 free throw per game in January. This guy who is now useless from the perimeter drew a shooting foul once every two or three games.
Gallinari chose a (really) competitive team. No Bulls fault!
From Hoopshype:
"The 76ers believed they had a trade done to acquire Bulls center Andre Drummond before Chicago pulled out of talks hours before the deadline, league sources told HoopsHype. The Bulls wanted three second-round picks for Drummond, league sources said. "
==========
LOL
I actually enjoy the Drummy experience, but WOOF.
I do take some solace in thinking the Bulls are mad that another team would just leak out trade discussions , a sacred covenant that cannot be commented on
Like we said in Discord, Sixers are a team that sent $6.5 million, the max, to the Pacers in the Buddy Hield trade. So at least before that trade, they had cash to burn and to fatten up an owner's operating profit.
I would be surprised if our team's most coveted prospect, Cash Considerations, did not make an appearance here.
latest rumors out of Detroit is that buyout for Fournier may not be happening
I think the Bulls should still pursue a Fournier-Vuc reunion and buy out Vuc
I bet Elfrid Payton is still available.
I never would have guessed that Aaron Gordon would be the most successful player out of that rebuild.
Still a damn travesty that he lost to Zach in the dunk contest.
Wandering OT, but during all star weekend it's not like there's any other Bulls-related news (ha)
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/sports/mlb/chicago-white-sox/jerry-reinsdorf-prepared-to-ask-for-1-billion-in-public-money-for-new-stadium-report/3358923/
According to The Athletic, LeBron had given the green light for the Lakers to pursue either Zach or Dejounte Murray prior to the trade deadline. We obviously know neither of those moves happened.
For weeks leading up to the deadline all sources were saying the Lakers had no interest in Zach, which I believe is true. Does this mean the Lakers front office doesn't particularly care what LeBron wants? If so, do we think that means LeBron plans on leaving this summer?
LeBron has always been incredibly involved in who his teams target, so I find it interesting that they didn't get either of the guys he wanted. It's especially weird that they basically didn't do anything. They know their window is short. Is it possible they know their window is basically over and they don't want to trade away what little assets they have left for a longshot title bid this year?
You probably know this, but both of them are Klutch clients. So is Anthony Davis. I wouldn't even want to guess how many truly insane Klutch proposals Lebron's employers have turned down during his career.
For Dejounte Murray: Atlanta was not going to be happy about getting 1 draft pick for Murray, who has 3 years left on his contract making an average of $27 million. It's just madness to believe that would happen. At this point, Atlanta still owes San Antonio 2 unprotected draft picks (2025 and 2027) and a swap in 2026 for him. But this summer, when the Lakers can offer 3 picks coming in to replace the 2 or 3 going out? That's a far easier sell to fans, even if it still makes a trade for such high performing player on such a low-paid and long-term contract inherently unfair.
I think the Lakers view themselves as fortunate to have escaped from the black hole of Westbrook the last time Lebron was GM For A Day and have managed to put together a team with a puncher's chance. Apparently Lebron feels chastened by that experience too. It seems like Pelinka is a really good GM when he's allowed to be one and Rich Paul is a really bad one when the Lakers outsource decisions to him.
Getting even funnier: Reinsdorf is trying romance state reps to subsidize a new stadium for him but just can't help being an arrogant prick to the few reporters he doesn't pay:
> Reinsdorf says ‘I don’t want to talk about that’ when asked why his ballclub needs another state subsidy
https://capitolfax.com/2024/02/20/reinsdorf-says-i-dont-want-to-talk-about-that-when-asked-why-his-ballclub-needs-another-state-subsidy/
God I hope he eats shit on this one. Given the clear mismanagement of the White Sox, are people actually going to give him money?
Without Madigan? This is so DOA I think scientists have been called in not to vouch for its time of death in Springfield yesterday but also to check if it was ever alive.
Edit: Also lol @ NBCSportsChicago basically turning into Pravda for Reinsdorf:
"If approved, it could be a massive turning point in Chicago's history."
Mask off moment! It actually says that lol
https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/mlb/chicago-white-sox/white-sox-news/white-sox-release-statement-as-owner-jerry-resindorf-meets-with-state-leaders-over-new-stadium-plans/541468/
“Michael Reinsdorf sat in on the lunch but didn’t comment on what his father had to say,”
https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2024/02/22/21037/white-sox-owner-says-he-now-wants-2b-in-subsidies-or-else-somebody-not-him-will-move-the-team/
He's just a kid getting his feet wet, give him another 60 years and he'll be all over this.
more urgent given the news Tuesday where there's now extended injury absences of Williams and Craig
Even if AK is delusional about "this group", he could've been active in balancing size and adding depth. Instead there's a somehow-irreplaceable backup center and 9 guards
Shoutout to all the idiots who believed Pat's BONE EDEMA was going to magically go away in two weeks. The Bulls are going to be lucky if he comes back this season.
did anybody actually profess to believe this?
A whole lot of people on Reddit and YouTube do. I'd guess a lot of people on social media too.
Apparently we're not fans (unless we buy tickets to see Games at the United Center):
https://www.bleachernation.com/bulls/2024/02/21/chicago-bulls-exec-loud/
They're even dumb if this is their true motivation
Who wouldn't buy tickets because they traded Andre Drummond?
They probably operate from the mindset of as high a floor they can have, just enough to ensure full (or whatever criteria they have for satisfactory) attendance.
I am actually ok with that mindset. I don't want a rebuild either!
but that floor is just keeping DeRozan, really. That they can't figure out that they can have a high-enough floor ("staying competitive" for the paying customer) while also making forward-thinking moves is on their lack of execution, not mindset
Part of me can't believe an exec would say something like that to a reporter. The other part of me that has been a Bulls fan far too long isn't surprised in the least. Of course a shitty organization has shitbag executives.
it's not like the Bulls have a ton of "high-ranking executives" to get this quote
given that it required Darnell to try and make any sense of it means it could've been AK himself
If it's truly a nefarious greedy intent to distinguish the paying customer from 'fans', I don't know if AK is capable of that thought. Eversley? Paxson?