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OT: Bulls

Another win, this time over a hot Miami team, puts the Bulls at 17-27 after that 3-20 start. 14-7 since then. For better or for worse, they look like a low seed playoff team as currently constructed.

So, the three best players on the Bulls appear to be the guys they received for Butler: Dunn, LaVine, and Markannen (no particular order). I guess the trade looks pretty right now. Even blind squirrels find nuts.
 
Hungry Jack said:
Another win, this time over a hot Miami team, puts the Bulls at 17-27 after that 3-20 start. 14-7 since then. For better or for worse, they look like a low seed playoff team as currently constructed.

So, the three best players on the Bulls appear to be the guys they received for Butler: Dunn, LaVine, and Markannen (no particular order). I guess the trade looks pretty right now. Even blind squirrels find nuts.
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Wouldn't you agree, though, Jack, that - despite media bleatings to the contrary - this trade was kinda destined to be a win for the Bulls? Even before we knew that Markkanen would turn out to be this good, we knew LaVine had a high ceiling (provided his surgery was successful) and it wasn't unreasonable to think Dunn would show a lot better than he did in Minnesota, which he has. Realistically, the Bulls weren't going to win anything with Butler, other than perhaps an occasional first-round playoff series. Loved Taj Gibson, but the same goes for him. NOW, though, they've got an interesting young core; one that may finally be worthy of our attention in the coming seasons. Couldn't really have said that before. My only regret, as we've touched on, is that they're winning their way out of drafting that last piece, that cornerstone-type guy that could put them over the top. One more piece like that + a year or two of development, and we could be looking at one of the NBA's best teams - one capable of at least contending for titles for half a decade or more. Didn't see any such possibility with the pre-trade Bulls; did you?
 
NURoseBowl said:
Wouldn't you agree, though, Jack, that - despite media bleatings to the contrary - this trade was kinda destined to be a win for the Bulls? Even before we knew that Markkanen would turn out to be this good, we knew LaVine had a high ceiling (provided his surgery was successful) and it wasn't unreasonable to think Dunn would show a lot better than he did in Minnesota, which he has. Realistically, the Bulls weren't going to win anything with Butler, other than perhaps an occasional first-round playoff series. Loved Taj Gibson, but the same goes for him. NOW, though, they've got an interesting young core; one that may finally be worthy of our attention in the coming seasons. Couldn't really have said that before. My only regret, as we've touched on, is that they're winning their way out of drafting that last piece, that cornerstone-type guy that could put them over the top. One more piece like that + a year or two of development, and we could be looking at one of the NBA's best teams - one capable of at least contending for titles for half a decade or more. Didn't see any such possibility with the pre-trade Bulls; did you?
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Don’t forget we gave up our first found pick last year too. So it was Butler and a lower first. The trade was roundly criticized by the NBA pundits at the time. GarPax have messed up a lot of things, but this worked out great. Minny is not complaining either. Dunn has really added a toughness to the team.
 
Purple Pile Driver said:
Don’t forget we gave up our first found pick last year too. So it was Butler and a lower first. The trade was roundly criticized by the NBA pundits at the time. GarPax have messed up a lot of things, but this worked out great. Minny is not complaining either. Dunn has really added a toughness to the team.
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Yep, seems very much a win-win all the way around.
 
NURoseBowl said:
Wouldn't you agree, though, Jack, that - despite media bleatings to the contrary - this trade was kinda destined to be a win for the Bulls? Even before we knew that Markkanen would turn out to be this good, we knew LaVine had a high ceiling (provided his surgery was successful) and it wasn't unreasonable to think Dunn would show a lot better than he did in Minnesota, which he has. Realistically, the Bulls weren't going to win anything with Butler, other than perhaps an occasional first-round playoff series. Loved Taj Gibson, but the same goes for him. NOW, though, they've got an interesting young core; one that may finally be worthy of our attention in the coming seasons. Couldn't really have said that before. My only regret, as we've touched on, is that they're winning their way out of drafting that last piece, that cornerstone-type guy that could put them over the top. One more piece like that + a year or two of development, and we could be looking at one of the NBA's best teams - one capable of at least contending for titles for half a decade or more. Didn't see any such possibility with the pre-trade Bulls; did you?
Click to expand...
I knew so little about these players I could not judge the trade. I only read the pundits’ dim assessments of the Bulls’ return.

Without a transformative player, it seems that a true contender is far off. Now it looks like free agency will have to find the remaining cast.
 
The game has changed a lot - even in the last five years. Bombs away, Lauri!



The record was held by Damien Lillard, who needed 44 games.

Markkanen is attempting 6.8 threes per game. Curry attempted 4.8 as a rookie.
 
Hungry Jack said:
It seems that to have any shot at winning a title you must have a transcendent player like LBJ, Curry, Kobe, etc. The Bulls are going to have to find that in the draft, so a high lottery pick is critical. Every game they win feels a bit Pyrrhic, and it would be very Bulls-like to be just good enough, or not bad enough, to miss out on a top pick.
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Remember all the flack Krause got when he tried to rebuild the Bulls after the championship run? He felt mediocrity was death by 1000 paper cuts. He had a good plan but poor execution. And the NBA changing the rules regarding free agency did not help
 
scru said:
Great question I've been pondering as well. But, keep in mind you are not just getting the low first rounder, you also continue the tank to get the ping pong balls.
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THat's what this Bulls team needs. Balls
 
corbi296 said:
I’ve always thought Mirotic was an under appreciated player. He had some really good stretches when Thibs utilized him properly. That being said, I do think he is more valuable to the Bulls as a trade chip. While I have had my share of frustration with Gar/Pax, their draft record is pretty good. They are the ones that drafted Mirotic, Butler, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis and now markannen. If they can turn Lopez/Mirotic into another high first round pick and if Levine comes back healthy, then the Bulls have a shot at quickly putting together another nucleus capable of contending.
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He is under appreciated because till recently he probably deserved it.
 
Purple Pile Driver said:
Don’t forget we gave up our first found pick last year too. So it was Butler and a lower first. The trade was roundly criticized by the NBA pundits at the time. GarPax have messed up a lot of things, but this worked out great. Minny is not complaining either. Dunn has really added a toughness to the team.
Click to expand...

The three players have all been pleasant surprises, especially Dunn, who most of us thought was a lost cause and may end up being an above-average starter at point guard. Markkannen has been amazing and Lavine seems to have everything back after the surgery. So the Bulls didn't get fleeced like we all thought they had.

But ... the trade is still inexcusable. Teams tank and rebuild to get a player like Jimmy Butler, who is going to finish Top-5 in the MVP voting this year. And unlike Paul George, Butler didn't say he was leaving or ask for a trade. We missed on several draft picks and then made inexplicable signings (Wade) to cover up the damage. The McDermott trade alone ... had we taken the two guys the Nuggets took in that trade (Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic), we'd have a 47-50 win team right now. Or if we did a mini-tank last year, we might have gotten Markannen outright. So personally, I'm still bitter.
 
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Good trade by the Bulls. Getting rid of Mitotic makes the team worse...higher draft pick. And, New Orleans now resides at seventh-worst team so there's some hope the Bulls will get two, top 10ish picks (NO is top 5 protected) in a strong draft.
 
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Medill90 said:
Good trade by the Bulls. Getting rid of Mitotic makes the team worse...higher draft pick. And, New Orleans now resides at seventh-worst team so there's some hope the Bulls will get two, top 10ish picks (NO is top 5 protected) in a strong draft.
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Agree mostly, except not sure what standings you are looking at, NO is 27-23. It's their own pick as far as I know, right? Which means it is like a 15-20 pick most likely to go alongside our own.

Reasonable trade for the Bulls though, this is exactly the type of thing they should be doing in this situation.
 
ricko654321 said:
Agree mostly, except not sure what standings you are looking at, NO is 27-23. It's their own pick as far as I know, right? Which means it is like a 15-20 pick most likely to go alongside our own.

Reasonable trade for the Bulls though, this is exactly the type of thing they should be doing in this situation.
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not a clue what team I was looking at but thanks for the correction
 
I don’t really understand how NBA contracts are traded to compensate for good players. I understand that teams need to dump salary to take on new player salaries, but how is it that the same crappy contracts that the Pels needed to dump don’t hinder the Bulls? The Bulls apparently will cut two players received right away. Does this somehow eliminate the contractual obligation?
 
Hungry Jack said:
I don’t really understand how NBA contracts are traded to compensate for good players. I understand that teams need to dump salary to take on new player salaries, but how is it that the same crappy contracts that the Pels needed to dump don’t hinder the Bulls? The Bulls apparently will cut two players received right away. Does this somehow eliminate the contractual obligation?
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The Bulls aren't up against the salary cap right now, we are near the floor. NO was into luxury tax I believe so this was doubly helpful for them. Bulls don't want the contract but would take it in exchange for other considerations - i.e. the first round pick, which they got for Mirotic + the Asik contract. The Bulls didn't have extra spots on the roster so Allen was just filler to balance. From what I understand Nelson we will prob keep at least until Dunn gets healthy and then reassess.

You could argue that for taking on all of that plus giving them Niko we should have gotten more than just a mid 1st round pick... and or not given up our 2nd... I dunno, depends on what the rest of the market is. Directionally speaking though, it's the type of thing we need to do. Now see what you can get for any other pieces.
 
ricko654321 said:
The Bulls aren't up against the salary cap right now, we are near the floor. NO was into luxury tax I believe so this was doubly helpful for them. Bulls don't want the contract but would take it in exchange for other considerations - i.e. the first round pick, which they got for Mirotic + the Asik contract. The Bulls didn't have extra spots on the roster so Allen was just filler to balance. From what I understand Nelson we will prob keep at least until Dunn gets healthy and then reassess.

You could argue that for taking on all of that plus giving them Niko we should have gotten more than just a mid 1st round pick... and or not given up our 2nd... I dunno, depends on what the rest of the market is. Directionally speaking though, it's the type of thing we need to do. Now see what you can get for any other pieces.
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That’s helpful. So it’s about getting under the luxury tax. If any of those contracts are multi year then the Bulls would still be stuck with the liability, right? An article made it sound like the bulls could assume multi year liability and somehow be done with it this season. I think I misunderstood that part.
 
Hungry Jack said:
So what the hell did the Cavaliers just do?
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The Cavs were a broken team, and everyone (including LeBron) was playing with a lack of effort. I watched their game against the Rockets last Saturday, and the Cavs were pathetic. The Rockets dominated them from start to finish. The Cavs defense was lackadaisical and weak. LeBron is a free agent after the season, so they might as well roll the dice and see how the team finishes the season with a younger crew and fresh perspective.

The Cavs may win the East, but they won't get by the Rockets or Warriors in the Finals. Those two teams are head and shoulders above everyone else in the league.
 
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