Chisoxfn

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).

And so what does that accomplish exactly? We paid him a max deal and didn't let him play? Why would we than give him a max deal that following year, when he has never even proven whether he can be his former self (post-achilles injury)? So basically your strategy is give him a max deal, let him rehab, than give him another max deal next year (for multiple years)?

He isn't even going to play until the all star break and when he comes back he's going to play small minutes and build up his minutes. He's going to have such a short stint (in terms of regular season action) that it would be hard for him to not play well. Also, where is this lockeroom cancer stuff coming from? I recognize he's crazy and gets too many technicals but he's a fantastic basketball player (and not an albatross defender). I wouldn't touch him with any long-term deal this year because achilles injuries can be extremely tough to recover from, but if he proved himself in the 2nd half of the season, the possibility becomes far more interesting.

Wait, you think Cousins wanted to come to a team like the Bulls this year (on a 1 year deal)? You basically wanted the Bulls to pay him a max deal for one year...just because and than try to give him a mega deal in a year, after not letting him play? That would be massive risk. Cousin's wasn't going to come to a team like the Bulls without getting more money and more years (and thus taking on more risk). I think this is great cause if he shows he is healthy, has burst, and gels on a championship club, you can go get him next year.

Random question but why do a handful of teams play in multiple "summer" leagues while most just play in the Vegas one? This allows for a team like the Lakers (or Warriors or Kings) to play in a few additional "summer" league games? Seems like it would be beneficial to give guys "more" games vs. "less". I recognize summer league is not like overly important and health is key but I'd think a few extra games (and practices) with the coaching staff would be helpful from a pure player development / evaluation perspective (especially for those undrafted / dleague guys you are evaluating).

I actually think this off-season has been pretty fantastic for the Bulls, if you take a step back and think about it. Thus far, neither Philly, Boston, or Toronto have done anything to improve (3 best teams in the East) all while LBJ went west. As far as I'm concerned, the path to the finals is carved with non-elite teams. I recognize Boston is very deep and very good and extremely well coached but I don't think they are an unbeatable dynasty (not yet at least) and I tend to think Philly is overrated at this point (don't get me wrong, I'd love their pieces, but they could very easy never emerge...ala the Wizards with a young Wall, Beal, Porter (they never took that step forward everyone expected). I also think that helps the Bulls when it comes to pitching other teams FA (well until the NBA changes the playoffs to a seeding of 1-16) as at some point we are going to see some of these stars move east. If the Bulls are a quality team, the pitch of an easier path to finals and overall weaker conference should certainly help. Add in the fact that they'd be contending with really only one historical powerhouse franchise (Boston + of course you always have to contend with power of New York if they ever get a halfway decent nucleus of young players) and it should bode somewhat well. On the west your only major competition (in free agency) will be the Lakers (and possibly Clippers) and while they are massive competition they'll only have room for one max deal and we might be headed into a couple year stretch where we see some elite names come out and "team up" and if we are one of the only options where the guys can team up...we might actually be alright. I'm putting a somewhat crazy prediction out there of Kyrie and Jimmy Buckets joining the Bulls with them swinging the fences for Anthony Davis as well (after Davis forces a trade and prior to Bulls paying him a supermax).

One thing to remember is Boogie is going to be out until at least January and coming back from a serious injury. The other upside is Bulls aren't contending this year anyway and if Boogie kicks butt he'll be a free agent and he won't resign in Golden State so next year he'll be available to the highest bidder (to extent he is worth it). So technically him signing a 1 year deal is good for the Bulls, imo. He can either prove he is healthy and worthy of a max deal and if so, Bulls can be one of the teams to offer him. Had Boogie signed a big deal this year, it would have meant we had no shot at him next year so fact that he is back on radar for next year is good. Albeit would prefer a non Warriors team pick him up. I like the Pelicans getting Randle at that price. Seems to be a very reasonable rate for someone like Julius.

Actual this is a curious topic. What are peoples views. We debate this a lot as a mod team about when to be more aggressive at potentially taking action vs. being more laid back. In general, we try to be pretty laid back (to extent people follow the rules), however from time to time, it becomes necessary to tighten moderation. Is the overwhelming view that we need to clean up things...issues specific to a certain forum? Palehose talk or extend to filabuster?

Is this serious? WOW.

That is just one player we are contending with though. Lakers won't be able to fit two max guys next year (going to be really hard to do with Deng's contract on the books).