Arizona's Carter Bryant drafted #14 in the 1st round to the Spurs!

[arxpert]

Cart in front of the horse - Bulls first order of business is locking up Giddey to a long term deal / matching his RFA offers. Giddey is one of few true PGs. I thought that Chicago was going to trade up and grab Egor Demin so they could let Giddey walk for compensation Sign+Trade since he is worth at least 4 1st's unprotected.

That was never the thought process from newws/podcasts I heard.
The off-season plan was (1) resign Giddey and then retool by getting younger and seeing what you have in Buzelis.
It is a lot easier to say this in support when you see CHI drafted two players that are under the age of 20/19 respectively and are young, athletic forwards.
I wish we would have drafted a C, but it looks like it will be Collins/Smith once they move off of Vucevic.
#BearDown

RFA should see to a result of Giddey being paid a huge sum of cash. So the Bulls may not get rid of Vucevic with the East Wide Open now.

[|ᴘ|ʀ|ʏ|ᴍ|ᴇ|]

Cart in front of the horse - Bulls first order of business is locking up Giddey to a long term deal / matching his RFA offers. Giddey is one of few true PGs. I thought that Chicago was going to trade up and grab Egor Demin so they could let Giddey walk for compensation Sign+Trade since he is worth at least 4 1st's unprotected.

That was never the thought process from newws/podcasts I heard.
The off-season plan was (1) resign Giddey and then retool by getting younger and seeing what you have in Buzelis.
It is a lot easier to say this in support when you see CHI drafted two players that are under the age of 20/19 respectively and are young, athletic forwards.
I wish we would have drafted a C, but it looks like it will be Collins/Smith once they move off of Vucevic.
#BearDown

RFA should see to a result of Giddey being paid a huge sum of cash. So the Bulls may not get rid of Vucevic with the East Wide Open now.

Dalen Terry looking at a max extension?

[mvpreed2]

RFA should see to a result of Giddey being paid a huge sum of cash. So the Bulls may not get rid of Vucevic with the East Wide Open now.

I will put it to you this way cousin.
Giddey was rumored to want $30M/year.
CHI is allegedly willing to give it to him, but they are not going to give him that 5th year.
They want to match his contract up with Buzelis's.
Why, because it allows them a lot more cap flexibility is Buzelis is the guy they believe he is.
Fwiw, they believe Buzelis is going to be a star, and it looks like AKME is going all-in on Buzelis being the future star of CHI.

As for Vucevic, he is no longer needed in CHI.
They have Collins/Smith now.
I thank Vucevic for all that he did for us.
He is too old/slow to run the way Donovan wants to run the team now.
Think of the PHX "7secs Or Less" offensive schemes.
That is what they are trying to re-create up in CHI now.
#BearDown

[mvpreed2]

Dalen Terry looking at a max extension?

I hope you are being facetious here.
I sure hope they do not offer Terry a max extension.
This front office is finally able to get off a lot of the mistakes that they did/did not make in the past.
Ball/White/Vucevic could have been gone at the deadline.
CHI said no, but they are going to get a lot of cap space opened up after this season:

Craig/Duarte/Horton-Tucker/Jones is now a UFAs

Ball has a $10M this season, but a $10M team option for 2026-27
Collins/Huerter/Vucevic/White will be a UFA after the 2025-26.

The talks are whether or not AKME is going to do a sign-and-trade with the free agents this summer, extend some prospects, trade them before the deadline, or let them walk in free agency next summer.
I hope AKME is able to resign Jones, move Ball/Vucevic and figure out what the plan is for White.
Resign Huerter/Collins and continue to rebuild this roster.
The verdict is still up on Terry/Phillips, but I believe they will get an extension of some sort.
I just hope it is nowhere near the 5yrs/$90M they signed Williams to.
#BearDown

[|ᴘ|ʀ|ʏ|ᴍ|ᴇ|]

I'm not being serious lol I liked Terry at UofA, but that draft pick by Chicago looked dumb at the time, and it looks just as dumb now.

[arxpert]

Cart in front of the horse - Bulls first order of business is locking up Giddey to a long term deal / matching his RFA offers. Giddey is one of few true PGs. I thought that Chicago was going to trade up and grab Egor Demin so they could let Giddey walk for compensation Sign+Trade since he is worth at least 4 1st's unprotected.

That was never the thought process from newws/podcasts I heard.
The off-season plan was (1) resign Giddey and then retool by getting younger and seeing what you have in Buzelis.
It is a lot easier to say this in support when you see CHI drafted two players that are under the age of 20/19 respectively and are young, athletic forwards.
I wish we would have drafted a C, but it looks like it will be Collins/Smith once they move off of Vucevic.
#BearDown

RFA should see to a result of Giddey being paid a huge sum of cash. So the Bulls may not get rid of Vucevic with the East Wide Open now.

Dalen Terry looking at a max extension?

Maybe in hair extensions. I think he is the next Rondae Hollis Jefferson. Out the League asap.

[arxpert]

I will put it to you this way cousin.
Giddey was rumored to want $30M/year.
CHI is allegedly willing to give it to him, but they are not going to give him that 5th year.
They want to match his contract up with Buzelis's.
Why, because it allows them a lot more cap flexibility is Buzelis is the guy they believe he is.

Well then I will sit back and hope DC offers Giddey 4 years 120mil, whatever the Max they can offer a RFA.

They are in a position where in 1 fell swoop they can free up 110mil if they wanted to. What would 30mil be to them?

Your theory may have more intel than I have behind it, but the way you said it doesn't make sense to me.

Lining up Buzelis and Giddey together contractually would be a mistake. Staggering the cap hits would be smarter..

I don't know if it is because Giddey was dumped by OKC for Caruso for free.. (no one better say Caruso won them a title... he was a piece, but Bill Walton would say "Please".) Giddey is a Franchise Player.

He could be dealt for 4 1st rounders theoretically and 30mil a year is value for what he is.

Why would they want Giddey to line up with Buzelis.... both could be on their way to Super Max contracts at the same time if they did that. Wouldn't you want to have to make 1 decision per offseason?

Then finally, Vucevic is still the 4th most effective Center in the NBA after Jokic, KAT, and "Embiid" when healthy. You can swap Wemby in, but Wemby is actually going to stay categorized as a PF for me until he can play Man Defense. Right now, he is Weak Side only. It isn't a knock to him. He is so big that he can afford to play far off the ball and chase down anything from behind or the other side of the rim.

But he isn't True Center until he can play Man Defense. And also before you say Vucevic or KAT can't play Defense at all, they do get in front of their men. They don't have 10 foot wingspans lol.

So I am struggling to understand the play here.

Maybe Chicago has to let Giddey walk after all. Coby White is good enough with Ayo. Lonzo is lurking.

Maybe the Suns trade Grayson Allen for Lonzo to help CHI get some 3pt Shooting that isn't PG/SG reliant.

I only say all of this because this year will be wide open. Vucey should help the Bulls more than ever. I don't think they can survive without him. Shouldn't they want to compete? The 2026 Draft Class is Generational. They won't have a problem finding prospects.

[arxpert]

This front office is finally able to get off a lot of the mistakes that they did/did not make in the past.

Do you know what they loaded up Patrick Williams piggy bank for then? He is a bust.

[arxpert]

Ball/Vucevic

Send both to DC for Middleton who is expiring too. Win-Win. Wizards need a backup PG as it stands... that is, if the Bulls are going to match ANY offer to Giddey.

[mvpreed2]

Your theory may have more intel than I have behind it, but the way you said it doesn't make sense to me.

Lining up Buzelis and Giddey together contractually would be a mistake. Staggering the cap hits would be smarter..

Why would they want Giddey to line up with Buzelis.... both could be on their way to Super Max contracts at the same time if they did that. Wouldn't you want to have to make 1 decision per offseason?

Then finally, Vucevic is still the 4th most effective Center in the NBA after Jokic, KAT, and "Embiid" when healthy. You can swap Wemby in, but Wemby is actually going to stay categorized as a PF for me until he can play Man Defense. Right now, he is Weak Side only. It isn't a knock to him. He is so big that he can afford to play far off the ball and chase down anything from behind or the other side of the rim.

But he isn't True Center until he can play Man Defense. And also before you say Vucevic or KAT can't play Defense at all, they do get in front of their men. They don't have 10 foot wingspans lol.

So I am struggling to understand the play here.

Maybe Chicago has to let Giddey walk after all. Coby White is good enough with Ayo. Lonzo is lurking.

Maybe the Suns trade Grayson Allen for Lonzo to help CHI get some 3pt Shooting that isn't PG/SG reliant.

I only say all of this because this year will be wide open. Vucey should help the Bulls more than ever. I don't think they can survive without him. Shouldn't they want to compete? The 2026 Draft Class is Generational. They won't have a problem finding prospects.

The reason why AKME is trying to line up Giddey/Buzelis is because if Buzelis is what they believe he is?
Giddey is a UFA, you give Buzelis the super-max extension, and now Buzelis is your "star".
None of these franchises want to deal with that second-apron, and by lining up their deals, you allow yourself to the ability to pick which one is going to be your guy, give him the super-max and figure things out with the other one.
This has everything to do with cap flexibility, and nothing more.

Yes, CHI wants to win, but they are not trying to in 2025-26.
All the statements are centered behind this team taking their swing in the 2026 free agency.
A lot of big names are projected to be UFAs and CHI is putting all of their eggs in that basket.
I would much rather go the organic route and add quality role players to your young core (2023-24 HOU), but I am nobody with a say in what any of my favorite sports programs do.
That is why the names I am listing (Ball/Vucevic) are on the block because (1) they are too old and (2) you get that cap space freed up while you (1) get younger and (2) get more athletic.
Look at CHI drafts picks and you will see what I mean by that.

I just wanted this franchise to figure out the direction, and execute it.
It seems like that is what they are doing now after trading DeRozan/LaVine, drafting Buzelis who was 19, drafting two young F who are not old enough to drink in America, and putting Ball/Vucevic/Williams on the trade block.
As long as I can see the vision, I am willing to ride the ride with my team.
#BearDown