2017-18 Bulls Thread - Fly the Tank W

[Splendid Splinter]

I'm really high on Simmons and Embiid. They both can develop into legit superstars, and they already complement each other well. I'll admit the Celtics will be better next year and the year after that, but Irving and Hayward will start to decline eventually. Al Horford is already in decline. I'm not that high on J. Tatum or J. Brown (good players, but not superstars). The 76ers will eventually upgrade in the head coach department too.

 

We'll see, but I'll take the 76ers being more dominant in 2-3 years once all their young players get stronger and round out their games.

 

In 3 years, Hayward and Kyrie (if they extend him) will be 30 and 28 years old. Not sure if they'll be declining by then. Granted, that Hayward injury could put him in decline phase quicker so it'll be interesting to see how he'll look next year. Same thing with Horford right now. His game also tends to last longer than a traditional PF/C, but he'll be 34 in 3 years.

 

I agree with you on Brown, but you're really sleeping on Tatum. Tatum can legit turn into Paul George 2.0.

 

Let's also see if Embiid/Simmons stay healthy in 2-3 years. Now let's say they do and Fultz does find his shooting stroke again and stay healthy, then I can see them being more dominant in that timeframe, but they're going to need the depth as well.

 

One last thing, Celtics also have 3- 1st round picks in the next 3 years on top of their own. Only 1 could end up be a 2nd rounder since Clippers might be a lottery team the next 2 years? The Grizzlies pick is top 12 protected this year, top 8 next year, top 6 in 2020, and unprotected in 2021. Then you have the Lakers pick which is only if Lakers get 2-5 this year, otherwise it's the better pick between 76ers and Kings next year unless one of them is #1 then it's the worse pick. You can't overlook this part for the C's. Ainge really did put the C's in a great spot to stay competitive for awhile.

[bcl412]

I think the Celtics beat the Cavs with a healthy Hayward, making them a young team in the Finals with the tools to get better with a great coach and GM who can build and attain the right pieces. I’d take Boston’s future though both teams have health questions between phillys issues and Boston relying on Hayward coming back from a brutal injury and Irving not being the most durable of players

[Andy]

Ainge really did put the C's in a great spot to stay competitive for awhile.

Ainge was incredibly smart to refuse to ever give up any asset worth a damn for the last decade (that sounds like a backhanded compliment), waiting for other teams to stupid their way into giving him stuff. I can't stand him for it, but he's good.

[davell]

After a 3 point game, Lauri is scoreless at the half and the Bulls lead by 2 in Minnesota. LaVine looks damn good. So does Nwaba lol. For that matter, Vonleh looks like he has a bit of upside.

[Regular Show]

After a 3 point game, Lauri is scoreless at the half and the Bulls lead by 2 in Minnesota. LaVine looks damn good. So does Nwaba lol. For that matter, Vonleh looks like he has a bit of upside.

 

Yeah, I like the trade for Vonleh. He never got enough playing time in Portland. Wish we could have gotten something for R. Lopez and Holiday before the trade deadline. Even a high 2nd round pick would help, but maybe no team was offering even that for those two.

[davell]

3 points for the 2nd straight game for Lauri. 6th time in 52 that he's been under double digits. They've got to feed him the ball and get him back going. Its easy to see that Lopez helped him get open. He needs to be more aggressive at this point.

 

Side note, its going to be impossible catching some of these tanking teams.

[Regular Show]

3 points for the 2nd straight game for Lauri.

 

It's fine. Lauri is totally sold on the tanking scheme and sees the big picture lol.

[davell]

The next 9 games could take us out of the running for tanking purposes.

 

Feb 26 @Brooklyn*

Feb 27 @ Charlotte

Mar 2 Dallas*

Mar 5 Boston

Mar 7 Memphis*

Mar 9 @ Detroit

Mar 11 @Atlanta*

Mar 13 Clippers

Mar 15 @Memphis*

 

That's 5 out of 9 against teams worse than us and 2 more against teams with losing records.

 

The schedule gets a bit harder, after that, but overall its the easiest schedule out of the teams ahead of us for the top pick.

 

Win more than 3 of these 9 and its extremely hard to see moving into the top 5 without lotto help. Win 3 or less and anything is possible.

[Flames24Rulz]

Losing today and tomorrow could put the Bulls right back into contention tho. Go Nets.

[UMFan83]

Losing today and tomorrow could put the Bulls right back into contention tho. Go Nets.

 

Gonna be tough, NJ and Charlotte are tough tanking competition. Luckily, GarPax stated that LaVine won't be playing B2Bs so he won't play tomorrow.

[We Got The Whole 9]

I think now it's safe to say we pulled off a loss to the Nets tonight

[UMFan83]

I think now it's safe to say we pulled off a loss to the Nets tonight

 

Good stuff because every other tanking team lost or is losing tonight

 

Earlier in the year I couldn’t get behind rooting for the team to lose individual games even though I wanted

them to get a high pick. Not having that problem anymore

[We Got The Whole 9]

I think now it's safe to say we pulled off a loss to the Nets tonight

 

Good stuff because every other tanking team lost or is losing tonight

 

Earlier in the year I couldn’t get behind rooting for the team to lose individual games even though I wanted

them to get a high pick. Not having that problem anymore

Pax is playing the right cards now but I go back to a couple months ago when we were anxious to dump Niko and davell said it might have been wise to just unload him early for what ever they could get. If we had done that we'd easily be in the bottom 3. It's cool that we were able to get a 1st for him but that stretch of really good ball put us behind the 8 ball a bit. However I'm pretty confident that there are at least 5 guys that we should be pretty thrilled if they are available to us. So keep on losing.

 

But good call, davell. That was a pivotal moment in the season for sure. Let's just hope that we are able to claw back into that bottom 3. Good job losing the back to back.

[davell]

I think now it's safe to say we pulled off a loss to the Nets tonight

 

Good stuff because every other tanking team lost or is losing tonight

 

Earlier in the year I couldn’t get behind rooting for the team to lose individual games even though I wanted

them to get a high pick. Not having that problem anymore

Pax is playing the right cards now but I go back to a couple months ago when we were anxious to dump Niko and davell said it might have been wise to just unload him early for what ever they could get. If we had done that we'd easily be in the bottom 3. It's cool that we were able to get a 1st for him but that stretch of really good ball put us behind the 8 ball a bit. However I'm pretty confident that there are at least 5 guys that we should be pretty thrilled if they are available to us. So keep on losing.

 

But good call, davell. That was a pivotal moment in the season for sure. Let's just hope that we are able to claw back into that bottom 3. Good job losing the back to back.

 

I don't think top 3 is realistic at this point honestly. But, its been nice to see that Lauri is a true building block, LaVine looks fully recovered, and Dunn has potential too, even if we don't know what he is yet....

 

The draft is somewhere between 6-8 players deep, in my mind. Ayton, Doncic, Bagley, Bamba, Porter, and Jackson for sure. Young and Carter possibly. If we get one of that group, plus the Pels pick somewhere in the 14-20 range, we'll be in pretty damn good shape for one year of rebuilding.

[Regular Show]

I'm probably thinking too far ahead and prognosticating next year's draft class could make me look foolish this far out, but I have to say the 2019 draft class looks really bad. Like truly awful. It could be the worst draft class of this decade (2011-2020). I'm not that impressed by any of the draft prospects right now.

 

The NBA draft isn't really like drafts in other sports either. You can really see the standout prospects and the quality of a class pretty far in advance. Certainly, some prospects come out of nowhere like S. Curry and you can find some gems later in the draft like J. Butler. The top players in an NBA draft class are usually well scouted by the time they're Seniors in HS. Lebron was talked about as a Freshman and well known by scouts when he entered the draft straight out of HS.

 

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is right now the Bulls might end up not picking in the top-5 of this year's draft, which I regard as superior to next year's draft. If we don't get lucky and jump into the top-5 range I say the Bulls package their pick and next year's draft pick (top-3 protected) to move up. I realize that's a risky move and could be disastrous if the player selected ends up being a bust. I'm just not feeling next year's NBA draft class right now.

[David]

So 23 year old Bobby Portis has a PER of 21.20 through 52 games...shooting 35% from 3.

 

22 points 11 rebounds per 36

 

Is he a thing? Is he going to be part of a core group of players going forward?

[UMFan83]

So 23 year old Bobby Portis has a PER of 21.20 through 52 games...shooting 35% from 3.

 

22 points 11 rebounds per 36

 

Is he a thing? Is he going to be part of a core group of players going forward?

 

good question. i honestly have not watched a ton of bulls lately but i did see a chunk of that game he dropped 38 points in. Is he the kind of guy that can thrive as a 3rd option or is he only effective if he is getting fed the ball as the primary option?

 

it seems like GarPax sees him as a piece otherwise the niko/portis situation might have gone differently plus we didn't hear any trade chatter involving him around the deadline.

[davell]

Portis might as well be given some run as a starter. See how much his numbers drop. We've only got him four one more year currently. He's obviously a very nice offensive player. Personally, I see him as a 20-25 MPG guy on a solid team.

 

But, dependent on what kind of money he's going to be asking for, I'd at least check to see what his value is on the trade market. If he can move you into the top 5 or into the top 12, with the Pels pick, I'd be super tempted.

[WrigleyField 22]

Yea, I mean, it comes down to how much him and Lori can plan next to each other. If they can share 15min a game, they can both be pieces going forward, else you move Portis before he becomes a FA.

[David]

Yea, I mean, it comes down to how much him and Lori can plan next to each other. If they can share 15min a game, they can both be pieces going forward, else you move Portis before he becomes a FA.

 

don't see why they wouldn't. 4/5 are interchangeable these days (almost feels like a cliche at this point, you hear it so much).

[WrigleyField 22]

Yea, I mean, it comes down to how much him and Lori can plan next to each other. If they can share 15min a game, they can both be pieces going forward, else you move Portis before he becomes a FA.

 

don't see why they wouldn't. 4/5 are interchangeable these days (almost feels like a cliche at this point, you hear it so much).

I mean I was a fan of positionless basketball before positionless basketball was a thing, but there is still a question off competing/complementing skills. The Good thing is Lori's d has gotten more impressive reviews than his pre-draft valuations. You probably still want a big rim protecting presence as your third big with that pairing, but it does seem like it can work as Lori won't get pushed around by most bigs, especially as he matures.

[ConstableRabbit]

Yea, I mean, it comes down to how much him and Lori can plan next to each other. If they can share 15min a game, they can both be pieces going forward, else you move Portis before he becomes a FA.

Lori's d has gotten more impressive reviews

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/tee-hee.gif

[WrigleyField 22]

Dude has got big D, what can I say.

[davell]

Bulls down 2 at half to Mats in a must lose.

[davell]

Horrible win. Dallas was up 13 in 3rd. Needed that one bad.