Bulls off-season thread

[pitchcs]

horsefeathers

 

This is a very good thing IMO

go on…

 

I’m just not a fan of adding him; I don’t think he’s very good. He doesn’t fit NBA 2022 very well, can’t shoot, been terrible in the playoffs, will surely be injury prone moving forward, and took a huge haul to land. Vanderbilt literally does a lot of the same stuff Gobert does, is 23 years old and doesn’t cost $40 million

[WrigleyField 22]

So prob one more minimum+ type signing.

 

[Old Style]

[ChiCubsFan]

I like it. Insurance for Lonzo being dead and can play some minutes alongside him if a miracle occurs and he stays healthy. Basically allows

 

1 year 2.9M.

 

Edit: oof just looked at his defensive metrics. At least he’s just replacing Matt Thomas.

[UMFan83]

Bulls conveniently 500k below the luxury tax line…

[WrigleyField 22]

Bulls conveniently 500k below the luxury tax line…

I haven't kept up with the NBA cap like I used to many years ago, but aren't they likely need to use additional space in season that would push them over that then?

[UMFan83]

Bulls conveniently 500k below the luxury tax line…

I haven't kept up with the NBA cap like I used to many years ago, but aren't they likely need to use additional space in season that would push them over that then?

 

The tax is only applied at the end of the season so they could add during the season and cut someone to stay below the tax. heck they could have went over this offseason and made a trade or cut someone during the season. Seems like they don’t even want to come close to messing around with the tax

[We Got The Whole 9]

Dalen Terry made some nice ass highlights tonight

[Old Style]

[UMFan83]

 

I'm glad the Bulls didn't horsefeathers around. Now Zach knows he's appreciated by the Bulls... I think there were slightly bad vibes about having to go out and sign an offer sheet with the Kings last time around to get his deal, though I understand why the Bulls did that given that he was only here for a half a season and coming off of major surgery at that point. But I do think/wonder how things would have gone if the Bulls pushed back about the player option or even worse, the max contract. He probably still signs with the Bulls but he almost certainly visits other teams and makes them a little nervous.

[Have a seat, Neifi]

Running out the same team and hoping for a different result. I see we're taking the Chicago Cubs 2018-2020 approach.

 

I get it's not exactly sexy but I'm not sure what else they should be doing. The Bulls had a million injuries last year and still had the best record in the east at the all star break (not parade worthy of course but still something). I think AKME is doing fine all things considered; the bigger villain to me is the dorfs and their miserly ways.

This is a bit rosy, IMHO.

 

Zach Lowe and Chris Herring had a pretty in-depth discussion specifically about the Bulls on yesterday's "The Lowe Post" podcast. Two points that jumped out to me from the podcast: (1) while the team (of course) had its share of injuries, Vuc, LaVine, and DeRozan each played a pretty substantial number of regular season games--73, 67, and 76 respectively--and (2) with those 3 on the floor, the Bulls were MINUS 7 per 100 possessions.

 

Like, Lonzo, Caruso, etc. are good and all, but the Bulls' so-called "Big 3" just isn't good enough to realistically expect this team to get out of the first round in an increasingly-loaded East. Coupled with Lonzo's alarming lack of progress on his injury, I'm just not sure I'm seeing a 50ish-win team anytime soon.

 

One final point: the Vuc trade was, quite frankly, a comical overpay. Totally get that I'm not saying anything new or profound here, but if the Bulls were to call up Orlando and offer Vuc in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr., Franz Wagner, and a top-4 protected pick, Orlando would laugh the Bulls off the phone. (In the interest of full disclosure, I'm pilfering a joke that John Hollinger and Nate Duncan recently made on their podcast.)

 

Not trying to be a total downer here, and I think I'd still say that AK and company are a huge upgrade over our prior front-office regime, but I'm increasingly pessimistic about the roster construction and our near- to middle-term prospects as far as playoff success.

[JeffH]

Running out the same team and hoping for a different result. I see we're taking the Chicago Cubs 2018-2020 approach.

Not trying to be a total downer here, and I think I'd still say that AK and company are a huge upgrade over our prior front-office regime, but I'm increasingly pessimistic about the roster construction and our near- to middle-term prospects as far as playoff success.

 

This speaks volumes about the absolute dumpster fire that is the modern NBA. The worst American professional sports league and it isn't even close.

[raw]

Not trying to be a total downer here, and I think I'd still say that AK and company are a huge upgrade over our prior front-office regime, but I'm increasingly pessimistic about the roster construction and our near- to middle-term prospects as far as playoff success.

 

This speaks volumes about the absolute dumpster fire that is the modern NBA. The worst American professional sports league and it isn't even close.

 

Not sure how that speaks volumes about anything. Also, statistics (ratings and other metrics) show the exact opposite of what you're saying is true.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Yeah I mean personal preferences and all that but I can’t imagine from what point of view the NBA can be considered a dumpster fire. As a league, after hitting a bit of a lull in the early 2000s, they’ve had a pretty great almost two-decade run in terms of player talent, global interest level, marketing decisions, access to their product, etc.

[Have a seat, Neifi]

Yeah I mean personal preferences and all that but I can’t imagine from what point of view the NBA can be considered a dumpster fire. As a league, after hitting a bit of a lull in the early 2000s, they’ve had a pretty great almost two-decade run in terms of player talent, global interest level, marketing decisions, access to their product, etc.

Yea, agree. The NBA is so much more watchable now than it was in the 90s or 00s. Must faster pace, way more possessions, much higher scoring, etc.

 

Just as one example, our beloved 95-96 Bulls led the league in scoring at 105.2 points per game. That would've ranked 28th out of 30 teams last year. In other words, 27 teams averaged more points per game than that last year, including 17 teams that averaged 110 or more.

[David]

Not trying to be a total downer here, and I think I'd still say that AK and company are a huge upgrade over our prior front-office regime, but I'm increasingly pessimistic about the roster construction and our near- to middle-term prospects as far as playoff success.

 

This speaks volumes about the absolute dumpster fire that is the modern NBA. The worst American professional sports league and it isn't even close.

 

lmao what the horsefeathers kind of take is this

[Bobson Dugnutt]

 

This speaks volumes about the absolute dumpster fire that is the modern NBA. The worst American professional sports league and it isn't even close.

 

lmao what the horsefeathers kind of take is this

 

Yeah I don’t know how anyone can look at Rob Manfred’s MLB* and the NHL and come to this conclusion.

 

*I love baseball but the NBA runs circles around the MLB in so many ways.

[David]

yep. and the nhl will never not be the worst pro sports league.

[Derwood]

yep. and the nhl will never not be the worst pro sports league.

 

I mean, sure, but I’ll watch an NHL game over an NBA game 10 times out of 10. NBA basketball just doesn’t appeal to me anymore.

[David]

yep. and the nhl will never not be the worst pro sports league.

 

I mean, sure, but I’ll watch an NHL game over an NBA game 10 times out of 10. NBA basketball just doesn’t appeal to me anymore.

 

good for you? lol

 

as he comes in to derwood around in an nba thread

[JeffH]

I guess I'm "'get off my lawn' guy".

 

Under the umbrella of "I can watch any sporting event no matter what", the modern NBA is painful to watch. So painful.

 

The other thing is that the slate of teams that could win the NBA championship in a given year is much smaller than it is in any other sport. Very unappealing.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

I guess I'm "'get off my lawn' guy".

 

Under the umbrella of "I can watch any sporting event no matter what", the modern NBA is painful to watch. So painful.

 

The other thing is that the slate of teams that could win the NBA championship in a given year is much smaller than it is in any other sport. Very unappealing.

 

Eh, going into the playoffs this year there were like 8-9 teams you could’ve made a legitimate case for winning it.

[JeffH]

I guess I'm "'get off my lawn' guy".

 

Under the umbrella of "I can watch any sporting event no matter what", the modern NBA is painful to watch. So painful.

 

The other thing is that the slate of teams that could win the NBA championship in a given year is much smaller than it is in any other sport. Very unappealing.

 

Eh, going into the playoffs this year there were like 8-9 teams you could’ve made a legitimate case for winning it.

 

Good grief. As they say, "C'mon, man."

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I guess I'm "'get off my lawn' guy".

 

Under the umbrella of "I can watch any sporting event no matter what", the modern NBA is painful to watch. So painful.

 

The other thing is that the slate of teams that could win the NBA championship in a given year is much smaller than it is in any other sport. Very unappealing.

 

Eh, going into the playoffs this year there were like 8-9 teams you could’ve made a legitimate case for winning it.

 

I think this has gotten a bit better, but a team with a top 3-5 player in the league has won like 12 of the last 15 finals. Sometimes that star is a bit emergent(like Kawhi with Toronto), but that top heaviness compared with the extreme player power in the league makes it a much more powerless existence for most NBA teams compared to other sports. At least in the Bulls case they're more attractive a literal destination than many others so they can break the cycle.

[stitchface]

basketball is just a boring game until the last 5 minutes. I would argue the higher scoring games are actually more boring than when it was lower scoring.