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Possible upside (depending on contract); I would hope we put a lot of protections (from an injury perspective).

Agree with both of you. Big unfortunate is that if we didn't have the Felicio contract (we were trying to unload), we would have been able to land that Nuggets protected 1st round pick + Faried (at least I presume we could have).

That would have been nice!

One other item to note but apparently today (or maybe tomorrow) would be the last day for the Bulls to be able to rescind the QO. One other option would be Denver (who had been looking to dump salary). Or maybe Deng is about to rejoin the Bulls haha.

KC Johnson has reported that the Grant and Nwaba develoments were to set-up another move. Johnson only reports things that will absolutely happen (since he's largely a voice of the team). Wonder what is about to happen (obviously nothing that major in the grand scheme of things). Got to think their are more legs to this Melo deal.

From a cap perspective, after waiving Kilpatrick and renouncing Nwaba, the Bulls are a Zipser release away from being able to trade felicio for Melo straight up. Or are the Bulls about to take a flyer on Jabari Parker? Not that they'd need to clear cap space for Parker.

This seems odd. Bulls typically try to make right by guys and give them opportunities to play elsewhere if they aren't fits on the team, but Nwaba would have been a good add (in general). Presume too big of a gap existed between two teams and Bulls had enough intel that a RFA was going to come in that we wouldn't match anyway, but it still seems odd to make him outright (unless they needed to immediately clear his cap space for some other "impending" move...none of which I'm expecting). In general, I'm kind of bummed cause I liked Nwaba but If he gets a LT deal at 6+M, I have a hard time justifying it (not because Nwaba isn't worth it...he absolutely is, but unfortunately, we aren't at the stage of the rebuild that we can afford having a Nwaba tie up cap space that can be used for more impactful FA's). That said, Nwaba is one of those guys, that if he build a better jumper, could really turn into a quality player (who'd be a bargain at 6M/yr).

I agree that moving Felicio will be tough. Bulls might need to dangle a pick (and the only way you are doing that is if you already know you have two max guys lined up, imo). The more preferred approach would be to take on a bigger expiring contract this year to help a team save in luxury tax (win / win...i.e., Carmelo Anthony) or you try to package Felicio with a guy like Portis or Valentine. Lets also hope that Felicio plays better this year (cause that would be a big help as well). On your comment regarding the Thunder. Fantastic point. Certainly throws a wrench into those plans. Realistically I don't see the Thunder just giving up a draft pick which is why I think the "Felicio" type package makes a lot of sense with OKC. Doesn't mean it happens and there are plenty of other teams who might be interested.

KC is incorrect in his presumption. Bulls can get to two max...albeit that is pretty dependent on moving Felicio (a big if). KC's number ignores a lot of other factors that should be considered. The data I had pulled was from one of the better cap spots and kind of looked at the "true" projected cap of each team (gives a much better gauge at what teams will have). It does not include moving guys like Felicio, rather includes ways you can maximize cap space with existing guys, projected cap growth, etc. He is going at the pure number though, so it isn't factually wrong, but it is misleading in the full context of the equation.

Rodon crushing it is huge for the rebuild, imo. Things are a lot better if he emerges as the ace he can be. A lot better.

Its summer league but another strong performance from WCJ. Probably the most impressive thing was how his footwork on switches when he was guarding Trae Young out in 3 point land (no, he was not the reason Trae Young had a massive amount of points). Hutchinson looks to be a pretty solid passer (had 8 assists). Nice to see given how much summer league is typically iso / chuck ball (see Antonio Blakeny and pretty much every other wing Bulls are playing). Sounds like Hutchinson is putting in a lot of extra work on his shot, which will be good. He's likely going to need to initially establish him as a 3&D guy off the bench and than you hope the rest of his game can mature to the point he can be a pretty darn solid all around player (who becomes a pretty elite defender). Not explosive off the dribble but lanky and his vision very much impressed me (he's had some really nice passes in the summer league).

Not many teams can have two max deals. Bulls are projected to have top 4 (in terms of available cap space) along with Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, and Sacramento Kings. Next closest are Atlanta, Clippers, Indiana (before they pay Oladipo) and the Knicks but they are all well below (as currently constructed) the ability to add two max players (let alone a max player and a big time RFA or near max guy). Clippers and Mavericks are probably the biggest competition (although the lure of Brooklyn or Knicks could always be tempting). Obviously Lakers will be a major threat (in the standpoint of one max is still a huge lure). But not a lot of other "one max" teams sitting out their with massively strong rosters (outside of Philly). So competition yes, but I'd still put odds in a solid place, albeit there is a bit of luck (in the sense that sometimes guys just have preferences and fits within rosters, etc). Fact that we are in the east should be a major selling point (albeit by the time next offseason rolls around the whole playoff structure might be redone and end that "selling" point).

Yep - There is a difference between having $20M, which isn't even enough for a max deal and having possibility of offering up two max contracts (which the Bulls might be able to do). The free agent crop looks fantastic and while there will be competition and Lakers could likely be the #1 team on the list, you can't even try if you don't have the space (and instead had saddled yourself with garbage). You also want to have an attractive core that can be a "lure" to those potential free agents. It is actually why I think 2018 will be relatively important in the sense that if we can be a sneaky playoff type team (in a crappy east) while guys like Lauri, Dunn, Lavine, Wendell, etc, develop, it could ultimately be a huge selling point come next summer. Unfortunately I don't know that we can be that team as young players take time, however, having the depth from Lopez, Portis, Valentine combined with the fact that the east sucks, might make us surprisingly competitive.

Hasn't Giolito been much improved the last 5-7 starts he made (outside of the game against the Reds)? Not saying he has been great as the strikeouts are still down and the walks are higher than you'd like, but he's certainly made progress.

I think it is pure speculation. But if Bulls acquired him, as you said, the presumption is, we would buy him out and he'd be a FA to go elsewhere (presumably Lakers?).

Nice to see Carter have another solid game in the summer league. Not as good as his first game and the team as a whole played sloppy ass d, but Carter had quite a few more blocks. Showed very good footwork and confidence. Very nice to see, especially since the Bulls were probably going up against one of the better summer league squads. Lakers have some solid and experienced second year guys on their squad, most notably Josh Hart (last year, even excluding Ball, Lakers had a fantastic draft in landing Kuzma and Hart). Hutchinson has a nice build and length. He had some bad turnovers and you can tell he needs confidence on his shot, but just his length and stride and the way he glides across the court remind me a bit of Paul George (please note I am not saying that Hutchinson will be Paul George or anything like that). Defensively it would appear he has the pure physical tools to be good. He showed glimpses of ability on offense but is going to need some work on that jumper (speed up the tempo of the shot and consistency of it). Didn't look bad, but not great. Huge thing for Hutch is even though he is older, development is so key, and he has consistently improved each and every year in college (kind of like Buckets) so that might make him more projectable than others (since he was pretty raw at the start of his career at Boise St). The tools he possesses are nice though. Summer league so you take good performances and kind of ignore them. If I recall, there has been a lot of statistical analysis done on summer league play and good play is statistically irrelevant, but players that totally suck in summer league are more likely to suck in the NBA. Edit: One minor ramble, but I really wish the Bulls had a more "facilitative" point guard playing in summer league. Helps to ensure guys are actually playing (for developmental purposes) vs. a Blakeny who is what he is. He's that microwave guy off the bench who you know is either going to be "on" or "off" within like the first minute and a half he is on the court. Yesterday, he was "off" and was a gigantic hog.

Yep - What you said. Big question right now as to whether Bulls will operating as an under the cap or over the cap team this season (just in general).

I have to imagine there are other teams that could make something happen as well, though. Part of it depends on what OKC wants to give up and whether they want players back.

Close enough haha. I don’t think we would get a first round pick out of the deal but okc would save a ton in luxury tax and Bulls would get rid of the long term impacts of Felicio. I wouldn’t worry about getting too cute If I was Chicago.

Because they would get rid of felicios contract. That would actually be a net savings (I believe). Will be interesting to see if we can pull this Carmelo deal off.

They would need to move Felicio though. Hard to do but can probably use Portis or Valentine to move him. This was a little more than I’d want to pay. Would have preferred a 1 plus 1 deal but at least this deal has protections against his knee. Gifted scorer who is young and athletic and hopefully he can get that positive trajectory going after a season of “rehab”. Having two max spots is huge though. Opens up a lot of possibilities. Also plenty of opportunity to fail but swing big baby!

Hilarious video.

I don't get it? Why is this "only the bulls". What did they do that is so bad? They are committed to paying what they view as a reasonable price for Nwaba and if he gets overpaid / too much, they aren't going to pay it and offer a different path. Part of this is negotiation but part of it is pure strategy and ensuring that David Nwaba isn't the reason you don't have 2 max spots next year.

The more I think about this I think I said it previously, but I think Chicago could very much be that destination. It could also be the Clippers or Knicks (I suppose).

Yeah, I'm not saying he was a great lockerroom guy, but I didn't hear a lot about his teammates not liking him. Thought Rondo was a big fan of his (not sure what that says, but I kind of like Rondo)? I also kind of ignore a lot that comes out of Sacremento...place is a disaster. I think Cousins going to Golden State was actually a pretty shrewd move on his part. Puts him in a truly winning culture where he has a chance to win a ring while coming back from a serious injury. Essentially gives him an opportunity to rebrand himself. If it blows up in his face from an attitude that will be a big issue. If he looks slow to recover from injury but meshes well, that could create a situation where you buy low again since the reality is next year Cousins won't be the same player he was (just no way that he'll respond that quickly from such a serious injury; odds are he will never be the same, but it will certainly take time).