In his end-of-season comments following the Bulls‘ regular season finale on Sunday, head coach Billy Donovan admitted that he was disappointed his team didn’t make the playoffs. However, he doesn’t believe it’s fair to conclude that the midseason trade bringing Nikola Vucevic to Chicago was a mistake, as Sam Smith of Bulls.com writes.
“The one thing that I’ve seen – and I haven’t been in the NBA that long – when you look at these trades, most of the trades are trades to add. Guys coming off the bench or filling a hole. But this was a trade where immediately a guy comes in and now he’s unequivocally 1A or 1B,” Donovan said. “Those things don’t normally happen in the NBA. The whole entire thing got kind of flipped upside down.”
Donovan, who pointed out that the Bulls didn’t have much in-season practice time to properly assimilate Vucevic and the club’s other newcomers, expressed that he believes the trade will pay off in the long run. That was an opinion that Vucevic shared, as K.C. Johnson of NBA Sports Chicago tweets.
“This trade wasn’t just made for this year,” Vucevic said. “It was made for the future of the franchise.”
Here are a few more Bulls-related notes as the team looks ahead to an eventful offseason:
- As he prepares to enter a contract year, Zach LaVine said today that he loves being in Chicago and is very excited about the team’s future, according to K.C. Johnson (Twitter links). Asked about his next contract, LaVine replied, “It’s a business at the end of the day. I definitely want what I deserve.”
- A recent report suggested LaVine may be willing to sign for less than his maximum salary, but there are several factors that affect what LaVine’s “max” will be at a given time between now and the summer of 2022. Those factors include whether he signs an extension or waits for free agency, whether he earns All-NBA honors this year or next, and – if he signs an extension – whether the Bulls are willing to renegotiate his current deal to give him an immediate raise. It’s possible LaVine would be willing to take a slight discount in some of those scenarios, but not in others.
- Thaddeus Young, who has a $6MM partial guarantee on his $14.2MM salary for 2021/22, said today that he hasn’t been told whether or not he’ll be retained, but added that he’s fully committed to the Bulls and that he has had only positive discussions with management and the coaching staff (Twitter link via Johnson).
- An unrestricted free agent this summer, Garrett Temple reiterated his interest in sticking with the Bulls, tweets Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “I can never say what’s going to happen in free agency. I can only say what I would like to happen,” Temple said. “I really enjoyed Chicago. Even with the snow. Even during a pandemic. The organization, from what I’m hearing, took a turn for the better.”
Bulls had a chance to tank with a young roster with some promising pieces and go into this offseason with an All Star on one more year of reasonable salary, a top 3-5 draft pick, more cap space than any other team, and all their 1st rd picks in the future.
Instead they tried to make an 8 seed or play in spot with a mediocre roster and failed, traded away some of their young players, most likely traded away their pick this year, most likely traded their 2023 pick, and committed their cap space and future for the next few years into an aging All-Star.
Management may have changed with the Bulls but they certainly still know how to royally mess up.
They’ve been tanking 4 years now and what did that get them? Absolutely nothing. Are they supposed to just tank away the rest of Lavine’s prime while letting the losing culture permeate the organization? Or trade Lavine and start from scratch? The real problem is that Markannen and Carter are not good. Can’t miss back to back with high lotto picks like that.
It’s
It’s fair to point out that they’re in a tough spot, but at least now they have a direction where before they were rudderless. Lavine and Vooch are a good duo to build around, with Coby and PWill as solid young controllable pieces as well. They definitely need more complementary pieces, but they should be a playoff team next season, which would not have been true without that trade.
Markkanen and Carter are not good. Total agreement. Could have had MPJ. I’ll always be angry about that.
Bulls have only picked top 4 once since they drafted Rose in 2008. So, really, they just haven’t been tanking RIGHT the last few years. THAT is the problem. They haven’t been in a place most years for the best players in the draft.
Top 5 pick + LaVine + trade assets for another star player (Williams/White + 22 1st rd pick + 24 1st rd pick is a good package) and cap space is much better than Vuc + LaVine + no picks + no cap space.
It really is that simple.
Yeah MPJ seemed like such an obvious pick, and not just with hindsight. That was a mistake. But I think you’re underestimating that it’s legitimately hard to tank these days–those 2017 and 2018 teams were legitimately atrocious and they still didn’t land at the top. “Process”-ing is a lot harder now that several teams are trying to do it every year. And it’s harder now with the flattened lottery odds. Even if you tank “right”, you still need luck to pull it off. It’s very easy to get stuck in the perpetual cycle of losing, and the Bulls were well on their way. I’d rather have the two All-Stars and figure the rest out later, even if neither of them are true 1A type stars, especially given that every time in the last 20 years the Bulls have had cap space they can never actually get a star to take their money.
But the Bulls have no options to get better now unless they get big luck in the lottery. They have no cap space and now all they have is Williams/White + 25 1st rd pick.
I don’t think Williams and a pick 4 years in the future will land them a 3rd legit star, even if they figure out cap space somehow.
Most teams can “figure it out” because when they trade for their 3rd star it is because they didn’t trade for either their 1st or 2nd star recently. Get it? There is no viable path for them to get a 3rd star. No cap space to sign a known star. No draft pick. Not enough assets and talent to acquire one via trade.
They didn’t have a viable pathway to 3 stars before either lol. All they had before was the hopes of ping pong balls falling their way. And maybe, just maybe being able to trade for a disgruntled star (unlikely), or even more unlikely, getting a star to sign on to a team that’s been in the doldrums for a half decade +. A bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush, and that’s what you’re missing. The likeliest outcome was still 2+ years of not even competing for a playoff spot. And while the cap space situation needs monitoring–it’s not even that bad as they have bird rights on the 4 players they would conceivably be building around, 2 of whom are still on their rookie deals. And they can use Markannen for a sign and trade that would give them a trade exception or possibly another young player they would have bird rights on. I get the part where it’s hard to see them being a championship contender in the short-to-mid term future, but honestly just being playoff contenders is a step in the right direction, and they weren’t even on pace to do that
They could have put together a trade package to rival any other package for a disgruntled star AND still have a top pick if they had just tanked. Yeah, you have to hit on the pick but a top 5 pick has a WAYYY better chance to be a star or impact player than a guy from the G League or some other ok but promising $5-10 mil/yr FA. Next 3 years, that is their best chance of a 3rd star.
No one is giving the Bulls anything useful for Markkanen. Any team that really wants him will just call the Bulls’ bluff because everyone knows he is gone. They aren’t paying him more money. Period. So no one has any incentive to trade for him.
Just being a playoff contender with an old star is not “progress.” That just makes you the Magic where you make a 1st round exit. Ok, great. Then you’re rebuilding again a few years later. That isn’t progress.
I think they are less like the Magic and more like the Pelicans. Young star, no real identity, not quite bad enough to justify a tank but nowhere near competing for real. At least Van Handsome isn’t their coach.
They don’t call it tanking when bad teams lose. Tanking is when a team like Houston, who hasn’t had back-to-back losing seasons in 37 years, finishes with the worst record in the league then bounces back into contention the following season.
The reason they came up with the draft lottery was because the Rockets tanked in 1984 and got Olajuwon. Hopefully history repeats itself.
Zach LaVine will turn down $105 million extension in summer
My Predictions
Minimum $190 million contract
Compare to Klay
Likely $236 million contract if all nba
Should be higher than Giannis
If Bulls don’t want to pay, Knicks can help Bulls out and cut the check for Bulls
Bulls drafted teasers, which more than anything else, leaves you stuck in the middle. PatW is an improvement in that he doesn’t actually promise that much, based on college performance and measurables!
Vucevic has never been a winning-driver at USC, Orlando or Chicago. I recall he was well-known for that at USC; I recall a tv announcer being kind of apologetic about that. But scouting workouts showed his talen t and he left college too early, before he became demanding enough.
He should consider himself, talking about making winning changes.
Get in the way of opponents instead of being sneaky and so personal. I may have posted on this before. Anyway I did now.
Remember when the Bulls traded Jimmy Butler because they didnt want to pay him the max at his age and now 5 years later they will have to pay Lavine that contract who will be the same age Butler was when they traded him? lol.