WrigleyField 22

they interviewed those guys (ferry, colangelo, and the atlanta dude) but karnisovas is the clear front runner and is up for his second interview. by all accounts, he wants the job badly and he supposedly had a great interview. it would be terrible if one of those other guys was under serious consideration but it doesn't look like that's the case. i can only guess that they decided to do some due diligence (not sure why it had to be those jerks) and interview some people after the other 3 guys they wanted to interview were a no-go. Oh I'm not too too worried about those guys being hired. In fact, I think there are decent odds these three guys were candidates they threw together as face-saving interviews because they got rejected from 3 out of their initial 4 (or 5 depending on if Zanik was legit or not) and they didn't want it to look like they literally gave the job to the only guy who wanted it. And since they're all out of work, no worries of being blocked AGAIN. But even in the context of "throw a few candidates out there to make it look like a real search", they really scraped the bottom of the barrel as far as optics go.

Three more candidates leaked. All former GMs. Two with a history or racially insensitive/offensive remarks. A guy who trashed players on his burner Twitter account. Why are they so horsefeathering bad at this?

He sounds fine, but this whole search was still horribly embarrassing.

John just horsefeathering leave. Of course that still leaves Gar lurching in the background.

Apparently Justin Zanik, Jazz GM interviewed today. I have to imagine he was on the short list even if the initial reports didn't list him since they interviewed today. Either that or the Bulls pulled together a face saving interview really fast. Karnisovas to interview mid-week.

It's generally considered a rule across all sports that you can't deny permission if another team is giving the guy a promotion. If they offer Bobby Webster a President of Basketball Operations title then the Raptors would have to match that and they can't (Masai Ujirii holds that title). That is what the Cubs did to hire Theo away from the Red Sox. I don't know if the NBA has formal rules on this. Or if they do, it could be due to the suspension of play that this is still an "in season" move where they have total authority to block vs an offseason move.

Sounds like Simon is being denied permission too. Lol bolls. Pessimism time, these guys are being "denied" becuase they don't actually have interest in this horsefeathers show.

This was for little league, not HS. They'd frequently have two games going on at once and by the time we got to probably 5th grade and were hitting the ball further, the CF from each side would basically be facing each other.

is that heat thing based on joe cowley? Can't remember who. There was also a report that they were targeting Heat players.

Hollinger has reported that Buchanan and Simon were the two guys he heard the most buzz about. That and with the reports that the Bulls were most interested in the Heat as a FO model makes me think it's Simon's job to lose. And that worries me for issues I highlighted earlier. But I don't think we'll know for 12+ months how intense this FO reorg actually is either way.

Yea Hurts has a wide window, I think, because teams have to on some level commit to building an offense around him. He could go late first, or he drop to day 3.

I didn't love Fromm in the second, but into the mid third or so his value proposition changes a lot I think. Thing is the Bears need to move up or down to make that happen.

Agree I like the profile of both those guys. Not as crazy on Simon. Hopefully these guys have the budget to build a team around them too. Don't want one of these guys stuck with like, Jim Paxson as their number 2.

Ifedi's deal is confirmed to be the veteran salary benefit, so it won't count in the comp formula. Right now OTCs pick cancellation chart projects 3 6ths and 1 7th for the Bears next year. KPLs deal. Could be borderline 6th though. https://overthecap.com/compensatory-draft-picks-cancellation-chart/ Nice. Makes me wonder if it makes him even more likely to trade away a 2021 draft pick to get a 3 or 4 this year. I almost expect it to happen For whatever Paces downfalls I do think he is going to read the draft as it comes to him and react. If he falls in love with a guy he certainly might. But he also has trade down 3 times from the 2nd round (two in one year). So maybe he trades down from 43 and picks up a late third, but also trades up from the 5th to the late 4th by dangling a pick next year (thinking that may be the range he jumps at a QB if he isn't targreting in with 43 or 50.)

I'm kind of expecting him to not count against the comp formula. They really don't have much cap space to be offering deals above the comp line. Hope you're right. The Over the Cap guy on Twitter predicted he would cancel out a pick, we'll see... Ifedi's deal is confirmed to be the veteran salary benefit, so it won't count in the comp formula. Right now OTCs pick cancellation chart projects 3 6ths and 1 7th for the Bears next year. KPLs deal. Could be borderline 6th though. https://overthecap.com/compensatory-draft-picks-cancellation-chart/

So I was initially optimistic on these reports, but some reports say they are particularly interested in the Heat as a model for the FO reorganization. In which case, pessimism time: 1. Does Pax see himself as the Riley? (rofl if so) 2. Simon (the Heat guy) seems lower on the chain than some of the other candidates, he is currently an assistant GM, whereas other guys are GMs. So does Pax just see this hire as trying to recreate what he initially had with Gar, Pax as still the main visionary/architect but just a primary day to day manager to lead that vision? 3. This last point isn't too worrisome in a vacuum but combined with the Bulls attitude: the Heat operate as a pretty loyal and insular organization. They've had basically two coaches in 25 years (save a short Van Gundy stint) and when Riley stepped away from coaching the second time he hired a guy who was widely viewed as an organization yes-man. Look at the bios of the rest of their senior staff, a lot of 20+ year Heat lifers. I worry the Bulls don't see a need for a wider overhaul, but maybe just a new GM and maybe one or two new hires. I don't know the appeal of organizational stability, but in the Bulls case, they need some turnover and more drastic turnover.

I mean that article surprisingly said this FO hire could occur before play resumes again, which might be this summer? In a dream world, could Boylen have coached his last game?

There have been several reports that Pax has been the one pushing to revamp the entire FO structure. He already tried to walk away like 10 years ago and went with the "hire a stooge" role. It didn't work and he ended back up in the main role. I'm somewhat hopeful he's learned that if he goes outside the org and supports a wider FO reorganization he can actually retire to a cushy advisory role where he'll help the Reinsdorfs evaluate the new guy and that's it. And let's be honest 95% of that evaluation will be "how much playoff ticket revenue did we get?" If they're serious about the revamp, I think in the next 12-18 months they need at a minimum: A executive VP of basketball ops A general manager An assistant General Manager /head of analytics and scouting A handful of new scouts and analysts (obviously a new head coach) That would put them on par with most modern NBA FOs. And with that many new elevated hired it would quell concerns Pax or Collins insert themselves in day to day decisions. They might help lay out a vision, like a mission statement, but that carries little weight. The only part I find really annoying is Gar sticking around, even though it's supposedly just a scouting role. Wish he'd take the hint and just move on on his own if they won't just fire him. If they want to go really big, they need a new president of all operations ala like the when the Blackhawks brought in McDonough and just let someone build the entire org, but I suspect theyre happy with the non basketball ops side of things.

I don't know, shouldn't Choo administer a means test before he just gives $1,000 to everyone?

Not sure if this news was shared here, but Paxson will NOT be in charge of basketball operations for the Bulls after this season. I'm not sure if this was his call or the Reinsdorfs, but it's fantastic news for all Bulls fans. It's crazy that in 35 years, the only two people in charge were Krause and Paxson. Boylen should be fired, Forman should be demoted and/or fired and Paxson should just ride off into the sunset... We need to hire a young, progressive exec from a good modern FO. There was a rumor the Bulls are interested in Sam Presti, but I just don't see that happening, unfortunately. Let's hope this is the case. Michael, Jerry, Pax, and Doug basically being like a board of directors is probably an acceptable outcome in all this (as long as Pax and Collins are really hands off.)

So depending on the nature of the incentives that sounds like it gives the Bears some cap wiggle room, if they're not likely to be earned incentives. Though if he hits them, they will take that cap hit eventually.

Just wait for 2021. They could end up with as many as 4 comp picks, all in the 6th round! That would be like 4 late round picks in a 12-15 pick spread. I think Ifedi is going to wipe out their highest 6th round comp pick, so likely two 6ths and one 7th Still nice to accumulate some picks I'm kind of expecting him to not count against the comp formula. They really don't have much cap space to be offering deals above the comp line.

Next thing you're going to tell me is that League of Legends pros aren't athletes! With how things are going, esports might be a real sport. The Hunger Games will be our only sport soon enough.

Just wait for 2021. They could end up with as many as 4 comp picks, all in the 6th round! That would be like 4 late round picks in a 12-15 pick spread.

They still have a 4th rounder. Weird I just looked up an article and it said we only had the compensatory 4th that we ultimately traded for foles. Yea, the other 4th I think was part of the Montgomery trade last year??