Chisoxfn

At least one of his daughters was not on the helicopter so hopefully the rest of them weren’t either.

Just terrible. Absolutely horrific.

On the Lauri front, I don't root for injuries...I really wish there was something to explain why he absolutely fell off a cliff. I know end of last season he dropped off after he went on a total terror in February timeframe, but he had been on a pretty steady incline his 1st two seasons in the league to literally fall of the wagon into utter mediocrity. If I knew he was trying to play through some impactful injury he kept hidden...it really would make me feel better (even though yes...it sucks he is hurt). Would love something to point to other than the fact that he went from being a potential key piece (NOT A STAR...but a guy who could have been a #2 type guy...which when you combine with another #2 type guy in Lavine...gives you a solid starting point...with the key being to hope you CAN GET LUCKY and ACQUIRE/DRAFT A STAR). Any idea if Lauri had been playing through this for months? I know he had been having "oblique" issues for quite a while earlier in the season (which he was playing through).

No doubt Ja is legit and I'd say there is a decent chance he ends up the best player in the draft (because I do think there is so much injury risk in Zion). That said, Zion has shown me pretty quickly that he is more than just pure athleticism. He needs to stay on the court though to show that he can be more than Blake Griffin (and that isn't a knock...Griffin is/was pretty damn good and even he did a heck of a job transforming his game as he aged).

He's such a good dude. Just seems to truly love the game. Total kid and I'm glad he stayed away from a huge market. The improvements he made in his game in one off-season, show just how special he can be. But everyone has every reason in the world to be worried about his longevity. I hope he can do it cause you like to see kids like that not just succeed but excel.

Stay safe!!!

It also seems like the extreme position the Bulls staff has reportedly taken, has impacted certain guys games. I.e, you put up a layup or you shoot a 3. NO MID RANGE PERIOD. I have never liked this approach (even though the analytics people love it). I say that because if you can pose a threat across all areas of the court, you are MUCH MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO GUARD. That doesn't mean you should take long 2's, those stink, but real mid range shots are just fine in my book and to me are necessary if you want to finish at the hoop at a high-level. I think the reason why Lavine hasn't finished at the bucket as good as he has in years past is because he has been more hesitant to leverage the mid-range game. Lauri doesn't use it enough either. He either takes wild dunks or near dunks and obviously just shoots a bunch of 3's. Get him in the post where he has a very solid mid-range turn around game and I think you see Lauri as a better player. Even if the coaches aren't directly saying it...I think it has a serious impact on how he plays the game.

Meanwhile...Lauri, the real player fans should be focused on, continues to STINK. On the brighter side of things, Clippers might have legitimate interest in Thaddeus Young. I liked the Young signing but he's struggled and Bulls are spiraling in no-man's land, so I'd be a big fan of getting out of the future years. Sounded like Mo Harkless would be who the Clips might give up. I also think it would be a solid move for the Clippers (get Young back in a role he fits in). This should also force Lauri to play more. Something is up with Lauri. He has fallen off the rocks ever since he had those physical issues late last year (from overworking or whatever it is). They were scary physical issues and I just don't know if all of that or some off the court stuff (no idea what) is causing him to not be the player he was his first two years in the league.

Ebron has his flaws, but he's probably the most realistic TE target for the Bears. He's still young, was a high pick, and has put up some good numbers (w/Luck in Indy). That said, he has had some drop issues in the past. The reality is Henry (injury prone) and Hooper (Falcons will try and keep him and he's going to get PAID) are other options as well but I don't know Bears will get them. Ebron is going to get paid too (don't get me wrong). Hicks & Cohen evidently are recruiting Ebron and Ebron has already made some positive statements about Mitch this off-season. https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1219095269221863425 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1219060574346207233 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1219076749490839552

This. You basically pick it up and are on the hook if the player has a serious injury. Otherwise, you can ultimately let them free with no issue. So in the case of Floyd, even though Bears picked up 5th year option last year, they can still cut him today with no cap ramifications.

A couple things (beyond the fact that this guy is purely some twitter fake insider clown): - 30% of Bulls field goals have been taken by Dunn, Thad, and Coby; 3 guys that are legitimately at the bottom of the NBA efficiency wise. If you want to know why Bulls are struggling...this is a great starting point and it doesn't even highlight Lauri and the long stretch he had as a poor player (he has bounced back to solid...but still regressed from last year and from many's projections). -He has the same TS% as Kawhi, LeBron, and Kyrie. Higher than Mitchell, Beal, DLo, Siakam, CJ, Tatum, Wiggins, and Westbrook. Among guys averaging 20 a game his BPM is also higher than Mitchell, Derozan, Booker, Tatum, Beal, DLO, Westbrook, Dinwiddie, and CJ. - Lavine also has Career high in PER, OBPM, DBPM, BPM. Even stats like WS and VORP are already at career highs (and these aren't posession based stats, meaning he's already eclipsed previous career highs and we are just at the halfway mark). - Oh and his 3pt% is just above 40% and on volume, no one who has made as many 3's as him has a higher % than him. Bottom line: Lavine is the least of the Bulls issues. He is the one dude who continues to get better and based upon the above...while he still has issues, he has closed the gap defensively and is continuing to get better and more efficient offensively. Just imagine what his offensive numbers would look like, if he actually had real players around him who could make shots (boy could we use Porter, a real Lauri, and a PG who can shoot/play).

I think they are investing everything on the QB position and its importance. I don't think you bring in coaches so you can land a vet sto-gap like Foles. They are going to add a vet to drive competition and give them a ripcord to pull if things are looking bad 6 weeks in (and in some ways its going to make things even harder for Mitch...because I think he is a guy who lost his swagger this past season with everyone second guessing everything and having someone like Foles/Dalton or whomever beyond him is only going to intensify that). The best case for Bears is Mitch breaks out and basically just doubles down this offseason and takes an F-IT mentality to the field where he just flat out BALLS. Have fun and ball out. Oversimplifying things, but the dude just thinks too much on the field and that breaks down his ability to read and react. And I think a lot of it comes down to that back of the mind, you over magnify on the what can go wrong. vs what could go right). Dude needs a mental coach to help him with visualization, etc. Shoot, I'm not even close to a professional athlete but I deal with that when I play basketball...when I have a swagger that my buckets are going in, they do and I just play quicker and react faster and make moves. When I'm more worried and focused on NOT turning the ball over or making sure I hit the bucket, every part of me moves and reacts just a bit slower and that difference is the difference between me making baskets and getting layups vs. not. Super basic level cause I'm not a professional athlete, but I really think Mitch's issues lay between the ears and not from the smart vs. not smart, but from mental blocks / lack of confidence/swagger. Maybe he can go all Greinke (remember when he finally got past his mental issues and broke through). Dude was ready to retire and play golf cause he was such a mental headcase. Konerko was kind of the same way...he had his best years once he freed up mentally and got over "fear of failing".

And just like that, I get excited again. I didn't like the OC move, but this is a nice move and as I say the OC at least has NFL play calling experience and seems to have gotten the most out of mediocre QB's in the best, albeit, his offensive numbers as an OC were downright offensive. John D did well in Philly (to the point many thought he would potentially be our HC over Nagy) with Wentz/Foles and in Jacksonville I know he got let go, but Foles was hurt and he got pretty sweet production out of Minshew.

I agree with you. But teams that are forced to trade star players, rarely win.

What would a package around Porter's expiring(ish) contract plus Lauri get us? Will be interesting to see who is on the block, but if i were the Bulls, I'd start looking at packaging pieces to find anyone. Maybe Twolves want to ship Towns out and start over?

I know the Bengals offense wasn't that bad (prior to AJ getting hurt, etc). That said, this isn't near as enticing as getting Sherman. I get it, Nagy doesn't want to relinquish play calling, but I think in hindsight we will all regret the day he didn't take a step back and hand the reigns to Sherman (where he could still be the head coach and have strong say...but leave gameday playcalling to his seasoned OC). The good news is the Bears at least went hard at Sherman, which indicated that to at least some extent, Nagy is okay having someone come in the room and challenge him. I sitll say this guy is a step up from Helfrich, who had never called a game at the NFL level as an OC.

I post about Kafka but Biggs evidently said something about No Kafka and that Bears are targeting former Bengals OC Bill Lazor. I don't believe he coached for anyone last year.

Defillipo an option for OC? Or is he going to head back to his comfort zone in Philly? With Sherman turning down Bears (because of his inability to call plays), I presume Bears would at least try for Defillipo (but he may have same concerns Sherman had) or they are going to go with Kafka (KC QB coach).

Where is Frank Thomas Big Hurt baseball??? Got to rep Lyle mouton and Craig grebeck!

Beating the dreams while being the softball team was always great.

Technically the outcomes listed above are also the nature of real sources too. So it is hard to determine and the reality is, someone is going to naturally be right from time to time and if they read the tea leaves well enough, they can play that "fake" role pretty good. Its almost not a fake role, but like a quasi information role.

WCJ is out at least a couple of weeks (per Shams). No surprise. Maybe Bulls get a lottery ball to bounce their way and / or luck in to drafting a star. Things are so much different in the NBA when you get one of those. We could use D Rose 2.0. Who is projected to be the top pick (please don't say the Lamelo Ball haha).

I just don't think this. I see a guy who is literally the only guy on the team who can score and he still scores. Dude has one of the purest shots in the league and can explode to the hole and the reality is he is surrounded by sub-par guys who either can't shoot or won't (WCJ / Sato / Dunn) so teams can pretty much collapse on Lavine. On a better team, Lavine's efficiency would go up and I don't see his scoring shifting that much. Personal opinion. Dude makes so many things look easy (on offense). This isn't Ron Mercer being just a massive volume guy on shots.

And Kyle, what do I know. I would have never traded Butler to begin with and would have let Butler try to recruit others to come to Chicago (which I think he would have done). Would they be better, I don't know, but I would have stuck to my guns. I don't think you should ever trade a top 10/15 player in the NBA unless he is forcing his way out (with few exceptions in between). Period.

Lavine has gotten better every single year. He is by far and away this teams best player and he puts 110% into everything he does. His defense has gotten better, his offense is more efficient, he tries to get others involved. Lavine is 4th in the NBA in 25+ point games. The reality is, he is the scapegoat for everyone because Lauri stinks, because Porter got hurt, because no one else can look to create when things lock down in the final few minutes of a game. The good thing is that with Lavine, Lauri, White (who certainly has his issues) and Wendell, those are all chips who you can move various places or package for stars. If you even put a star around those guys, the team would be better. I won't comment on Porter because this team has a handful more wins with Porter and is probably in the 8 spot with him (at a minimum). Or if Thaddeus Young was even a serviceable player vs. the blackhole he has been all year (dude is giving his best Jabari Parker impression).