2021 Bulls Offseason

[ChiCubsFan]

Have fun with that. He’s definitely improved his outside shooting, but he’ll follow up a good night with an 0 for whatever regularly. His calling card is defense, but that hasn’t always shown up. I’m glad to move on. He’s like a really poor pan’s Ben Simmons.

 

Huh? Maybe his defense is, but they’re offensive games couldn’t be anymore different. Lonzo shoots 38% on high volume from 3 and Simmons has shot like two 3 pointers in his life.

 

With Zach and Vuc having such high usage rates, I prefer a PG who can play off the ball in the half court. Lonzo’s vision and passing ability on the fastbreak is really good and should be fun watching him get out in transition with Zach and PW.

[ChiCubsFan]

My feel for what salaries should be vs what they are is so out of whack. How does this guy earn $9M a year? He seems no better than a complete end of the bench guy. Arch had slightly better stats than Caruso last year.

 

What am I missing?

 

Defense.

 

Edit: also Arc put up a -0.1 VORP (0.9WS) and Caruso 0.6 (2.4 WS). Not sure what stats Arc was better in.

[17 Seconds]

[Old Style]

Seeing rumors on Twitter that the Bulls may go after Danuel House too. My head may explode if we get two Aggies on the same team.

[NOLA]

Have fun with that. He’s definitely improved his outside shooting, but he’ll follow up a good night with an 0 for whatever regularly. His calling card is defense, but that hasn’t always shown up. I’m glad to move on. He’s like a really poor pan’s Ben Simmons.

 

Huh? Maybe his defense is, but they’re offensive games couldn’t be anymore different. Lonzo shoots 38% on high volume from 3 and Simmons has shot like two 3 pointers in his life.

 

With Zach and Vuc having such high usage rates, I prefer a PG who can play off the ball in the half court. Lonzo’s vision and passing ability on the fastbreak is really good and should be fun watching him get out in transition with Zach and PW.

I see what you mean, but they are similar style-wise in that they are very long, athletic PGs who aren’t particularly good shooters but can drive against smaller guards and are good defenders. Lonzo really needs to figure out how to finish at the rim or drive snd kick, although admittedly there were no shooters to kick to in NO. He’s incredibly frustrating as a 3pt shooter, in that he will look great one night and can’t find the rim the next. He also took nights off on defense as a Pel. All the potential in the world, and he has gotten better, but he’s far from a finished product.

[Little Slide Rooter]

As someone who doesn’t follow the NBA as closely as he once did, is Lonzo the Justin or the B.J. of the Ball Bros.?

[jumbo]

I haven't followed the NBA for a long time, but started too a little on AK came in. Is there a simple explanation for the trade exemption/salary cap primer? I'll go somewhere to read it but if someone has some shorthand or quick explainer it would be appreciated.

Fun to watch all the dealing regardless

[WrigleyField 22]

I haven't followed the NBA for a long time, but started too a little on AK came in. Is there a simple explanation for the trade exemption/salary cap primer? I'll go somewhere to read it but if someone has some shorthand or quick explainer it would be appreciated.

Fun to watch all the dealing regardless

A lot of it has become so complex and I haven't kept up with it like I used to. But I'll try.

 

Primer: most teams operate over the cap. Between the cap and the luxury tax there are several exemptions you can use. And then once you reach the luxury tax there are more restrictions and different exemptions available to use. If you're under the cap, you don't need exemptions although there is one new exemption that was created for teams who operated under the cap to sign deals for slightly more than the vet minimum salary.

 

So as for trades there is a really broad category of "traded player exemptions" for teams over the cap. One of the rules, generally, is a salary matching requirement of two teams trading who are both over the cap. But if one team is under the cap, or a large multi player trade can be structured in the "right" way, it creates a "TPE" , which basically just creates a exemption equal the salary of a player, to be used to complete the trade at a later date. They used to call it simultaneous v non-simultaneous trades, not sure if that's still the language used. The whole TPE generation is generally where stiff gets confusing, even for fans who pay attention closely.

 

This is a great FAQ, but it's pretty detailed and a bit more than a primer.

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm

[Andy]

My feel for what salaries should be vs what they are is so out of whack. How does this guy earn $9M a year? He seems no better than a complete end of the bench guy. Arch had slightly better stats than Caruso last year.

 

What am I missing?

 

Defense.

 

Edit: also Arc put up a -0.1 VORP (0.9WS) and Caruso 0.6 (2.4 WS). Not sure what stats Arc was better in.

The other thing is that the NBA makes horsefeathering gazillions of dollars a year and doesn't have that many players to spend it on, so anyone worth even close to half a damn makes a ton of money.

[WrigleyField 22]

My feel for what salaries should be vs what they are is so out of whack. How does this guy earn $9M a year? He seems no better than a complete end of the bench guy. Arch had slightly better stats than Caruso last year.

 

What am I missing?

 

Defense.

 

Edit: also Arc put up a -0.1 VORP (0.9WS) and Caruso 0.6 (2.4 WS). Not sure what stats Arc was better in.

The other thing is that the NBA makes horsefeathering gazillions of dollars a year and doesn't have that many players to spend it on, so anyone worth even close to half a damn makes a ton of money.

Plus, salaries tend to congregate around the exemption amounts. Caruso is worth more than the BAE, so he's probably going to make at or near the MLE because that's where the market leads to. And guys worth more than the MLE, but not quite max might often fall towards that MLE number anyways, unless they can work out a S&T or resign with their current club.

[David]

[bjam12]

My frustration watching the Bulls last year was always their defense. The two signings yesterday improved that aspect a ton.

 

Bulls really need some size though. What bench bigs are available that would fit in well with this team?

[CubColtPacer]

I haven't followed the NBA for a long time, but started too a little on AK came in. Is there a simple explanation for the trade exemption/salary cap primer? I'll go somewhere to read it but if someone has some shorthand or quick explainer it would be appreciated.

Fun to watch all the dealing regardless

 

Wrigley gave a good explanation but let me try a bit simpler.

 

Teams with cap space can do whatever with that space. Teams who are over though have various restrictions.

 

Teams above the cap can use a mid-level exception (this year around 10 million) that can be used on one player or split among multiple. Teams in the luxury tax can use a mid-level exception too, but theirs is smaller (around 6 million this year).

 

Teams when they are trading have to match salaries within a certain percentage. This is done so that a team doesn't use trades to add tons of extra salary to their team.

 

But let's say a team trades to a team who has cap space. In that case, they don't have to match. The team with the cap space takes the expensive player, the team without takes a cheap player or draft pick. That generates a trade exception. The trade exception basically is you reduced your salary by this much, which means we will allow you to make the opposite trade (trading a cheap player for an expensive one) for one year. But the trade exception can never be used to acquire a player that is more expensive than the original player was.

 

So this is where the concept of favors comes in. A team with cap space can just sign a player outright. But they can also do a sign and trade with their original team, and their original team gives them an extra asset in order to do that. They do that so the original team can generate a trade exception.

[WrigleyField 22]

Good added points CCP.

 

A few added nuances that go past a primer.

 

Various exemptions can only be used for various types of transactions. A MLE, for example, is only used on a FA. A TPE is used only on players under contract in which you complete a trade.

 

So it brings up an interesting situation.

 

It's reported the Bulls are losing Theis to the Rockets. They can't stop him since he's unrestricted. But all parties are usually incentivized to make the signing a S&T, which generates a TPE for the Bulls to be used later. They just have to throw in a nonmaterial asset. That's reportedly happening.

 

Then we get to the Caruso signing. His base salary will fit the TPE generated from Theis. So do you reach out to LA and also facilitate a S&T, which would use up your Theis TPE and create one for LA equal to Caruso's salary? Clear win for LA who has a new asset for trades down the road. For the Bulls they could keep their MLE instead of using it on Caruso. So is a MLE for a FA now better than a TPE for a trade later (must be used in 1 year)? I'd probably lean towards keeping the MLE, but really depends on the market in FA left. But you could also split up the MLE and make two smaller depth signings, which they probably need.

 

But it isn't necessarily open and shut and the possible cap manipulations available are quite broad in nature.

[David]

[WrigleyField 22]

Do it AK. Make Bulls bball fun again.

[David]

Another source

 

[UMFan83]

Do it AK. Make Bulls bball fun again.

 

Getting DeRozan would turn me from “somewhat excited” to “counting the days until the first game” excited. Still not winning a title but would be a super fun team

[Tryptamine]

Hmm, this is getting me actually interested in watching a few games this season: same with the Bears and Fields. The Blackhawks are still dead to me.

[WrigleyField 22]

Hmm, this is getting me actually interested in watching a few games this season: same with the Bears and Fields. The Blackhawks are still dead to me.

The Bulls would have to like trade for like... Leonard or something to get me Bears/Fields level excitement, but the sports are different.

[17 Seconds]

 

 

pricey but i don't care. what an offseason

[UMFan83]

Rumors are its a 2025 unprotected 1st. That could be very bad. I'm also not really sure who the Bulls were bidding against. But I'm over the top happy about acquiring DeRozan so yeah

[UMFan83]

Will be really interesting to see what happens with Lauri. I would assume if the Bulls signed him they wouldnt be able to sign Lavine to an extension. So it will probably be a S&T. If so, I hope we get back a veteran defensive big to replace Thad Young.

[UMFan83]

Who is better than the Bulls in the East now?

 

Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Heat, 76ers then Bulls? Celtics rebound maybe?

[17 Seconds]

with the way AK is giving away 1sts, it's clear that he's confident the bulls will be good now and for a while. the difference in this front office from the last one is just night and day. there are actual expectations.