2018-2019 Official NBA thread

[Steve9347]

I’m so STOKED!!!!!!!!

[bmags]

6 minutes ago, BigHurt3515 said:

I'm not really familiar with NBA contracts but is there some kind of option or clause that could be in the contract for the 2nd year if Parker absolutely sucks and we need to free up that money for next off-season?

It’s possible they could non guarantee year 2 but it’s unlikely that is happening.

[bmags]

Just now, Steve9347 said:

I’m so STOKED!!!!!!!!

Reminds me of your reaction to signing wade and rondo

[bmags]

I stand corrected, year 2 is a team option. I’m cool with this then.

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1018170533299404800

[SoxAce]

3 minutes ago, bmags said:

I stand corrected, year 2 is a team option. I’m cool with this then.

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1018170533299404800

Absolutely.

[BigHurt3515]

Great deal then! I am actually looking forward to watching them play next season

[Chicago White Sox]

Fantastic deal.  Other than preventing us from absorbing a bad contract for picks/Felicio, this deal has no impact on our free agency plans the next two offseasons.  And while I was still in favor of tanking, that simply wasn’t going to happen year under GarPax.

[Chisoxfn]

2 hours ago, bmags said:

I stand corrected, year 2 is a team option. I’m cool with this then.

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1018170533299404800

This has become a great deal. I had been really worried for a while but am fully on board with this.  

[Quin]

3 hours ago, bmags said:

I stand corrected, year 2 is a team option. I’m cool with this then.

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1018170533299404800

That makes this deal go from atrocious to amazing.

[southsider2k5]

I still would have rather traded for a bad contract and pick, but at least they didn't screw up next year.

Honestly I also would have rather just sucked again this year and gone for the lottery again.  Then again envisioning the ACL brothers being healthy this season is not realistic, so it might still happen. 

[Chisoxfn]

Let's sign Okafor too. All offense squad! In all honesty, he is in awesome shape and knows if he is going to have a career this will be his last chance. Saw a recent clip of him and he is in amazing shape.  His jumper looked good too. 

[Quin]

14 minutes ago, Chisoxfn said:

Let's sign Okafor too. All offense squad! In all honesty, he is in awesome shape and knows if he is going to have a career this will be his last chance. Saw a recent clip of him and he is in amazing shape.  His jumper looked good too. 

Too much log jam at center.

[Balta1701]

Solid move. Better than a 2nd round draft pick for Anthony's $28 million. Did exactly what I was hoping with the 2nd year.

[fathom]

Does Jabari automatically get the last guy announced in starting lineup status?

[Balta1701]

1 hour ago, Tony said:

The Bulls went out of their way to lose most of the 2nd half. Even without Parker, they weren’t going to be that bad this upcoming season anyway. They had their shot to truly rank and screwed that up (unless WCJ really is this good)

Hell they could still be really bad this year with 1 or 2 injuries. It would be a bad sign, but there's not a whole lot of guys who you would say are 100% established, dominant players. If the guys with ACL injuries all have ACL injuries then next year they're drafting top 5, and if these guys impress more than expected, then they're actually in position to make a pitch to free agents next offseason as well as having a lottery-ish pick. On paper it's not a bad place to be.

[Quin]

1 hour ago, Tony said:

The Bulls went out of their way to lose most of the 2nd half. Even without Parker, they weren’t going to be that bad this upcoming season anyway. They had their shot to truly rank and screwed that up (unless WCJ really is this good)

If Jabari can play D like he did against the Celtics, this team could probably be mid 40s wins.

[southsider2k5]

18 seems like a solid over/under for number of games played.

 

[Heads22]

Ooooh, a Lillibridge jersey

[bmags]

Even though the year 2 option softened the blow, I still just can't get over that 2 years after the bulls put together one of the most obviously flawed, poorly constructed units with FA pieces (Surrounding Butler with two clog the lane, heavy usage players in Wade/Rondo), they go right back to the well. The bulls ended the offseason by saying they were building around Markannen. A stretch four with surprising athleticism that is still developing on defense.

So what's the plan to help develop those skills? Apparently surrounding him with 2 high-usage players, one that has already shown does not play particularly nicely with Markannen, who are both horrendous defensively.

This maybe could have made more sense if they had not drafted WCJ and felt more comfortable playing Markannen at the 5, Parker at 4, and maybe drafted a kevin knox at the 3 whose athleticism hopefully plays up into defense. Instead with this Dunn, Lavine, Parker, Lauri, WCJ, even if Lauri and WCJ are adequate to slightly bad when defending on the perimeter (which i think is reasonable for big men, not be hugely exploited but not necessarily good), teams will have 4 plus matchups that can be created on the switch. I just don't get it.

Will they really have a better understanding of how to use WCJ and Markannen after this year? I'm not sure this advanced anything. If Parker plays great, he's still going to be a two-time injured player whom you should be cautious to build around.

[southsider2k5]

28 minutes ago, bmags said:

Even though the year 2 option softened the blow, I still just can't get over that 2 years after the bulls put together one of the most obviously flawed, poorly constructed units with FA pieces (Surrounding Butler with two clog the lane, heavy usage players in Wade/Rondo), they go right back to the well. The bulls ended the offseason by saying they were building around Markannen. A stretch four with surprising athleticism that is still developing on defense.

So what's the plan to help develop those skills? Apparently surrounding him with 2 high-usage players, one that has already shown does not play particularly nicely with Markannen, who are both horrendous defensively.

This maybe could have made more sense if they had not drafted WCJ and felt more comfortable playing Markannen at the 5, Parker at 4, and maybe drafted a kevin knox at the 3 whose athleticism hopefully plays up into defense. Instead with this Dunn, Lavine, Parker, Lauri, WCJ, even if Lauri and WCJ are adequate to slightly bad when defending on the perimeter (which i think is reasonable for big men, not be hugely exploited but not necessarily good), teams will have 4 plus matchups that can be created on the switch. I just don't get it.

Will they really have a better understanding of how to use WCJ and Markannen after this year? I'm not sure this advanced anything. If Parker plays great, he's still going to be a two-time injured player whom you should be cautious to build around.

And you are still lacking a superstar that gives you a chance in the modern NBA.

[Steve9347]

And now some input from someone who knows what they're talking about: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/7/16/17575004/jabari-parker-chicago-bulls

Some may assume Parker’s presence will take the ball away from Markkanen, thus hindering his own progress. But I’d bet that Parker will have a positive effect. There’s a perception that Parker needs the ball, but he can be used in a multitude of ways on the floor, just like Markkanen.

via GIPHY

Hoiberg ran offense through Markkanen in the ways you’d expect: in pick-and-pops, post-ups, and spot-up situations and by running him through screens. But Hoiberg also used the 7-foot Markkanen as a pick-and-roll ball handler.Now the Finnish big man has a frontcourt partner who can also handle or screen and pop for 3s or rumble down the lane.

via GIPHY

Considering how frequently defenses freely switch screens on high pick-and-rolls, their interchangeability could lead to preferable mismatches for the Bulls’ offense with either player in space against a slower or smaller opponent.

Parker also shouldn’t negatively impact Carter on offense. In the half court, Parker can serve as another target for the rookie’s playmaking skills. Hoiberg could run Carter through a ton of high screens and feed him on the short roll, where he’s skilled and savvy enough to score, pull up, or make a pass. Parker likes to cut, and it’s easy to envision him playing well off of Carter.

Parker, Markkanen, and Carter can also all rip down rebounds then take the ball up the floor and score in transition or initiate the offense. It’s a very modern team.

Edited July 16, 2018 by Steve9347

[Chisoxfn]

38 minutes ago, bmags said:

Even though the year 2 option softened the blow, I still just can't get over that 2 years after the bulls put together one of the most obviously flawed, poorly constructed units with FA pieces (Surrounding Butler with two clog the lane, heavy usage players in Wade/Rondo), they go right back to the well. The bulls ended the offseason by saying they were building around Markannen. A stretch four with surprising athleticism that is still developing on defense.

So what's the plan to help develop those skills? Apparently surrounding him with 2 high-usage players, one that has already shown does not play particularly nicely with Markannen, who are both horrendous defensively.

This maybe could have made more sense if they had not drafted WCJ and felt more comfortable playing Markannen at the 5, Parker at 4, and maybe drafted a kevin knox at the 3 whose athleticism hopefully plays up into defense. Instead with this Dunn, Lavine, Parker, Lauri, WCJ, even if Lauri and WCJ are adequate to slightly bad when defending on the perimeter (which i think is reasonable for big men, not be hugely exploited but not necessarily good), teams will have 4 plus matchups that can be created on the switch. I just don't get it.

Will they really have a better understanding of how to use WCJ and Markannen after this year? I'm not sure this advanced anything. If Parker plays great, he's still going to be a two-time injured player whom you should be cautious to build around.

The big difference between the "Alpha's" experiment and this one is that Lavine and Parker are both extremely young.  We could argue fit, but this isn't a team ready to win a championship, this is just part of continued asset accumulation none of us have the crystal ball for who is going to develop.  Maybe they all pan out and we find out we need more team d or something, who knows, but this is still part of that "asset accumulation" phase and next off-season, hopefully you have many flexible ways to get better, whether it is using cap space on a max player (something they can do without making any major changes) or if they prefer to flip guys for a player who has become available (again, you hope that Lavine and others haven't sucked and now you package a few of those guys and trade for a star while still having a number of quality assets + cap space).  

Bottom line, there is still a lot of flexibility on this roster and improved talent. That said, the roster is still extremely young and it takes time to learn to win in the NBA.  I haven't watched enough of Parker to be able to make an intelligent comment on his post ACL (x2) play but the stats would indicate he's a pretty advanced and efficient scorer (really nice "true shooting percentage" for a guy who can also score quite a bit of points).  

And in terms of "fit", I really can't talk about Lavine's fit in an honest way. The dude was rehabbing and when he got back Dunn went out and they never really had a very set unit, so hard for me to knock how awkward Lavine played when he came back and not only had to train himself phyiscally (and get past the mental hurdles related to the injury) but also had to learn new teammates and a new system.  

Look at the 1st year of Bron / Bosh / Wade and the adjustment it took them to figure things out (and NO I AM NOT COMPARING THE BULLS TO ANYTHING LIKE THAT) just making the point that even with 3 great players (who weren't coming back from injury), it took a lot of regular season action to gel (even with a full off-season training camp).  And we'll need to remind ourselves of that this upcoming season as I would expect we'll see lots of inconsistent basketball given the new faces and youth of the team.   

[Chisoxfn]

5 minutes ago, Steve9347 said:

And now some input from someone who knows what they're talking about: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/7/16/17575004/jabari-parker-chicago-bulls

Some may assume Parker’s presence will take the ball away from Markkanen, thus hindering his own progress. But I’d bet that Parker will have a positive effect. There’s a perception that Parker needs the ball, but he can be used in a multitude of ways on the floor, just like Markkanen.

https://giphy.com/gifs/yuRFC8rkcGHbEPKVyy?utm_source=iframe&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=Embeds&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2Fi%2Flatest

Hoiberg ran offense through Markkanen in the ways you’d expect: in pick-and-pops, post-ups, and spot-up situations and by running him through screens. But Hoiberg also used the 7-foot Markkanen as a pick-and-roll ball handler.Now the Finnish big man has a frontcourt partner who can also handle or screen and pop for 3s or rumble down the lane.

https://giphy.com/gifs/x0cR8mOaYscmEpWmgm?utm_source=iframe&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=Embeds&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnba%2F2018%2F7%2F16%2F17575004%2Fjabari-parker-chicago-bulls

Considering how frequently defenses freely switch screens on high pick-and-rolls, their interchangeability could lead to preferable mismatches for the Bulls’ offense with either player in space against a slower or smaller opponent.

Parker also shouldn’t negatively impact Carter on offense. In the half court, Parker can serve as another target for the rookie’s playmaking skills. Hoiberg could run Carter through a ton of high screens and feed him on the short roll, where he’s skilled and savvy enough to score, pull up, or make a pass. Parker likes to cut, and it’s easy to envision him playing well off of Carter.

Parker, Markkanen, and Carter can also all rip down rebounds then take the ball up the floor and score in transition or initiate the offense. It’s a very modern team.

Had just finished reading this article. Was a good piece.  It is the 2nd example that I look forward to the most. Parker and Laurie should be a pretty effective pick and roll / pick and pop offense.  In a similar way to how Niko / Lauri played with each other (which was pretty well). Fred was pretty creative with Niko & Lauri and I presume he'll be similarly creative with these two. Add in a Lavine to provide good spacing and it should be interesting.  

We certainly have offensive flexibility and to be honest a good amount of guys who can be versatile defenders, however, the team is extremely young and Parker/Lavine don't have good defensive metrics (or good advanced metrics).  

[bmags]

21 hours ago, Steve9347 said:

And now some input from someone who knows what they're talking about: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/7/16/17575004/jabari-parker-chicago-bulls

Some may assume Parker’s presence will take the ball away from Markkanen, thus hindering his own progress. But I’d bet that Parker will have a positive effect. There’s a perception that Parker needs the ball, but he can be used in a multitude of ways on the floor, just like Markkanen.

via GIPHY

Hoiberg ran offense through Markkanen in the ways you’d expect: in pick-and-pops, post-ups, and spot-up situations and by running him through screens. But Hoiberg also used the 7-foot Markkanen as a pick-and-roll ball handler.Now the Finnish big man has a frontcourt partner who can also handle or screen and pop for 3s or rumble down the lane.

via GIPHY

Considering how frequently defenses freely switch screens on high pick-and-rolls, their interchangeability could lead to preferable mismatches for the Bulls’ offense with either player in space against a slower or smaller opponent.

Parker also shouldn’t negatively impact Carter on offense. In the half court, Parker can serve as another target for the rookie’s playmaking skills. Hoiberg could run Carter through a ton of high screens and feed him on the short roll, where he’s skilled and savvy enough to score, pull up, or make a pass. Parker likes to cut, and it’s easy to envision him playing well off of Carter.

Parker, Markkanen, and Carter can also all rip down rebounds then take the ball up the floor and score in transition or initiate the offense. It’s a very modern team.

I like Kevin O'Connor, but this is an argument why parker in isolation is a fine offensive player and fit but then yadda yadda's the big issue (aside from playing the 3), which is Lavine.

I think the strategy from KOCs point of view that it throws out a bunch of talent on the court in a way that preserves lottery status is probably right, but I am not sure that's exactly what the bulls are thinking.

[Chisoxfn]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

I like Kevin O'Connor, but this is an argument why parker in isolation is a fine offensive player and fit but then yadda yadda's the big issue (aside from playing the 3), which is Lavine.

I think the strategy from KOCs point of view that it throws out a bunch of talent on the court in a way that preserves lottery status is probably right, but I am not sure that's exactly what the bulls are thinking.

I think the Bulls know that to land an attractive max free agent there are going to have to prove they are a team that can win and that is why they made the move (bet on a young asset / former #2 pick) while trying to get your team to be mediocre. Still very unlikely we are a playoff team but if we do, fine, it means your young guys have probably emerged better/quicker than expected and you now are a more marketable destination.  Bare minimum you have to have your young talent showcase itself in a way that a max free agent sees himself + continued youth as a difference maker. Obviously the very ideal scenario (other than everyone just takes it up a notch or two and we become some great super team with our existing guys) is that you are close to the playoffs (but your youth and talent has a nice upward trajectory based upon their performance), we get lucky in the lottery (odds are much flatter) and we than have a young roster with an upward trajectory, a nice asset (pick wise) and cap space to lure a big time free agent (with the ability to create space for two if two want to come).  

If you completely suck this next year, than you aren't landing any big name free agents.  Not happening.