AK end of season press conference?

[madvillian]

Bulls off season plan should be to get better as a team let demar walk potentially pat aswell unless he sign a team friendly deal trade Zach Caruso vuc Carter and maybe Craig doubt they can find a deal for ball is he expiring this season??? Draft a SF either Ron Holland Harrison Ingram or maybe Cody Williams in free agency sign a pf 6’9 or taller try to resign AD as backup C try signing GTJ

There is no way we get better by letting DeMar walk. That’s a rebuild. Which I’m fine with.

Absolute worst case is Demar "leads" us to 38 wins again, another **** lotto spot and then absolutely craters in 2026 which would ensure a better lotto pick but would leave Chicago with two more wasted seasons while he then signs a ring chasing deal somewhere else as an end of bench guy.

If we resign him, we have to try and win a playoff series imo.

[Stratmaster]

Listening to AK is painful. Do people see his accent/manner of speaking as a sign of confidence? I'm on the opposite end of that interpretation, this guy feels like a scout level guy who got drastically over-promoted bc he was part of an organization when they lucked into an all time talent in jokic.

I’m not sure what you mean about his accent, specifically. How’s he supposed to control that?

But regarding the substance of his answers —- I mean there’s nothing ever meaningful to take from them. It’s all talking points that have been rehearsed. Pretty much everything is vague or in generalities. Gar was the same. Pax actually was the most open and honest, IMO.

It's almost like... listening to Billy Donovan.

Sent from my SM-S911U using RealGM mobile app

[HomoSapien]

Listening to AK is painful. Do people see his accent/manner of speaking as a sign of confidence? I'm on the opposite end of that interpretation, this guy feels like a scout level guy who got drastically over-promoted bc he was part of an organization when they lucked into an all time talent in jokic.

I’m not sure what you mean about his accent, specifically. How’s he supposed to control that?

But regarding the substance of his answers —- I mean there’s nothing ever meaningful to take from them. It’s all talking points that have been rehearsed. Pretty much everything is vague or in generalities. Gar was the same. Pax actually was the most open and honest, IMO.

It's almost like... listening to Billy Donovan.

Sent from my SM-S911U using RealGM mobile app

`
Are you suggesting they're the same person? Have we seen them in the same room since the hiring?? Was that press conference deep faked???

[step]

Bulls off season plan should be to get better as a team let demar walk potentially pat aswell unless he sign a team friendly deal trade Zach Caruso vuc Carter and maybe Craig doubt they can find a deal for ball is he expiring this season??? Draft a SF either Ron Holland Harrison Ingram or maybe Cody Williams in free agency sign a pf 6’9 or taller try to resign AD as backup C try signing GTJ

There is no way we get better by letting DeMar walk. That’s a rebuild. Which I’m fine with.

Indeed, it's a **** catch-22.

And for those arguing that we're going to be significantly worse, that part is obvious. However, what's the end result in two years time if we keep him? Father time will catch up.

1. We can't qualify for the playoffs with him now as it is
2. His potential new deal will force us to gut the bench in order to stay under the LT.
3. There's no 'added' playoff experience for our youth here.
One can argue his usage and reliance is actually hindering their development.

And this notion of 'keeping him' and somehow getting better ... how are people expecting this to happen?
- Ownership won't pay the tax (and rightfully so for this team), nor do we have cap space.
- We have a mediocre draft pick which most likely needs to get attached to Vuc in order to potentially move him.
- Zach ... well the market wasn't there for him at the deadline. Perhaps our desperation may change what we seek in return... but it's doubtful this is a long term addition by subtraction.
My hope/dream is that the 76ers get bounced early and become desperate and seek absorbing him for just a TPE and filler (perhaps so they can pay Harris something respectable but not the max).

If we can magically parlay a S&T of Demar into a useful asset, then by all means... but again that's highly doubtful. The teams with the cap space probably won't want to deal with that headache of negotiation if they can sign him outright. And contenders will probably just go ... 'come for the MLE or vet min if you're so desperate to win'.

[step]

Watch on YouTube

The opening remarks/prepared statement was just so insincere and empty. It does not feel like he 'feels' that change needs to happen... but rather was forced upon him. Most of the rest just felt like standard lip service too. Yes, we're looking to resign Demar and Pat... well, of course.

I think we're in for a rough couple of seasons either way. A rebuild is going to cost some short term pieces in order to get kickstarted. It'll be a case of somewhat intentionally and not intentionally tanking ... more the circumstances that the FO has put itself into.

Colour me intrigued in how he'll 'aggressively' pursue options this summer.

[step]

Cody Westerlund asks the question 'what are the mistakes you've made in your tenure so far that you don't want to repeat or what you want to learn from to move forward'?
AK: "It's a result driven business and I'll be evaluated based on results and I expect that... I just have to do a better job putting the team together. We all want to win... and that's what I am here for" bla bla bla

I get that's a question to dodge... but for the few down under fans, it just reminded me of the charter boat ad.

Watch on YouTube

Mistakes. What mistakes?

[DuckIII]

Colour me intrigued in how he'll 'aggressively' pursue options this summer.

With Ayo, Pat, Zach and future first round picks.

[SfBull]

Which is extremely easy to interpret as scapegoating Zach, which removes all significance from the comment. Despite his statements about knowing it doesn’t work and changes need to be made, it’s extremely easy to interpret everything he said as meaning “Zach doesn’t work with this group and we think we can trade him for win now assets that will get us to the 6th seed.”

I.e., the plan is to fix the first 19 games of the season, not the rest of it.

I agree. If you didn't see, KC put out 2/80 for DeMar to align his salary with everyone else.

It looks to me like the plan is roughly:

1: Bring back Pat/DeMar
2: Have most salaries align to end in 2 years
3: Move Zach for role players / salary relief / whatever you can get
4: Free up money somehow to do the above and fit it under the tax, reasonable possibilities:
- Move Carter into someone's cap room / TPE
- Waive stretch Lonzo
- Save money in a Zach trade

Effectively, if I were a betting man, I'd say the roster next year is:
Guards: Coby, Ayo, Lonzo, Carter
Wings: DeMar, Caruso, Terry
Forwards: Pat, Philips, vet min guys
C: Vuc, vet min guys

Somewhere in there fits our draft pick, certainly possible that Craig, Drummond, Javonte could be in that vet min group again or that we swap them for different dudes.

A good saving money move would be trading Pat in a attractive package with Zach.

[dougthonus]

A good saving money move would be trading Pat in a attractive package with Zach.

That's pretty complicated to do given that Pat is a FA and it would need to be a S&T and probably also throws in BYC(though Zach's large salary makes the BYC concern minor, you still would have way more wiggle room than normal), plus Zach makes so much money that you're now maybe looking at moving 60M around. Not saying that you can't do it, just saying there is a lot there.

Pat definitely isn't a good enough player for a team to take on LaVine's deal if they don't want LaVine's deal anyway, especially given that he'd be at market value on a new contract which already will likely be on the high end for what he does. So finding a team that wants both Pat and LaVine and wants to pay them both and has 60M+ in money to throw back to you is probably not overly likely.

[jnrjr79]

A good saving money move would be trading Pat in a attractive package with Zach.

That's pretty complicated to do given that Pat is a FA and it would need to be a S&T and probably also throws in BYC(though Zach's large salary makes the BYC concern minor, you still would have way more wiggle room than normal), plus Zach makes so much money that you're now maybe looking at moving 60M around. Not saying that you can't do it, just saying there is a lot there.

Pat definitely isn't a good enough player for a team to take on LaVine's deal if they don't want LaVine's deal anyway, especially given that he'd be at market value on a new contract which already will likely be on the high end for what he does. So finding a team that wants both Pat and LaVine and wants to pay them both and has 60M+ in money to throw back to you is probably not overly likely.

You also can't aggregate other players in a S&T with the re-signed/traded player, right? So you're actually talking about needing to do 2 separate deals in this instance. With that making salary matching a lot tougher, it seems to be a more likely approach you could take with a cap space team. The Pistons have had a lot of interest in PWill in the past, so maybe they would be tempted?

[SfBull]

So 2/80 is already the number floated out for DDR.

Who the hell would pay him that outside of delusional AK???

I don’t think DDR gets even 25m per on the open market because he’s 35, doesn’t shoot 3s and doesn’t play D.

Best thing at could happen is PG goes to PHI and LAC signs DDR because he will actually play unlike Kawhi and PG

2/80?For DeMar?
Seriously????

Yep 2/80. Typical delusional AKMEish moves.

KC Johnson reported that the Bulls offered Demar 2/80 recently.

Resigning Pat for something around $18/20 for season would be another enormous waste of money.

[dougthonus]

You also can't aggregate other players in a S&T with the re-signed/traded player, right? So you're actually talking about needing to do 2 separate deals in this instance. With that making salary matching a lot tougher, it seems to be a more likely approach you could take with a cap space team. The Pistons have had a lot of interest in PWill in the past, so maybe they would be tempted?

I don't see any language that says you can't aggregate players in a S&T, though can not receive a player in a S&T if you are above the 1st apron. The only rules I know of about aggregation off the top of my head are around not aggregating players for one bigger salaried player if you are above the 2nd apron.

[Dan Z]

Colour me intrigued in how he'll 'aggressively' pursue options this summer.

With Ayo, Pat, Zach and future first round picks.

Is that the "Digging a deeper hole" plan?

[jnrjr79]

You also can't aggregate other players in a S&T with the re-signed/traded player, right? So you're actually talking about needing to do 2 separate deals in this instance. With that making salary matching a lot tougher, it seems to be a more likely approach you could take with a cap space team. The Pistons have had a lot of interest in PWill in the past, so maybe they would be tempted?

I don't see any language that says you can't aggregate players in a S&T, though can not receive a player in a S&T if you are above the 1st apron. The only rules I know of about aggregation off the top of my head are around not aggregating players for one bigger salaried player if you are above the 2nd apron.

Thanks! I should have Googled - I must have misremembered.

[dougthonus]

You also can't aggregate other players in a S&T with the re-signed/traded player, right? So you're actually talking about needing to do 2 separate deals in this instance. With that making salary matching a lot tougher, it seems to be a more likely approach you could take with a cap space team. The Pistons have had a lot of interest in PWill in the past, so maybe they would be tempted?

I don't see any language that says you can't aggregate players in a S&T, though can not receive a player in a S&T if you are above the 1st apron. The only rules I know of about aggregation off the top of my head are around not aggregating players for one bigger salaried player if you are above the 2nd apron.

Thanks! I should have Googled - I must have misremembered.

I just did a scan of the cbafaq, so I may not have been picking everything up, but I didn't immediately see anything, just FYI, I wouldn't rate my confidence at like 100% or anything

Here's the relevant part though:

The sign-and-trade rule allows teams to re-sign their own free agents for trading purposes. Under this rule the player is re-signed and immediately traded to another team. This is done by adding a clause to the contract stipulating that the contract is null and void if the trade to the specific team is not completed within 48 hours. A sign-and-trade is treated like a single, atomic transaction, and not two separate transactions between which one party can change its mind -- if the trade is not completed, then the signing is invalidated.

To qualify for a sign-and-trade, all of the following must be true:

The player must re-sign with his prior team -- a team cannot include another team's free agent in a sign-and-trade.
The player must finish the preceding season with that team (deals are no longer allowed that sign-and-trade players who are out of the league, such as the sign-and-trade that sent Keith Van Horn from Dallas to New Jersey as part of the Jason Kidd trade in 2008).
The player cannot be a restricted free agent who has signed an offer sheet with another team (see question number 42).
The team receiving the player cannot be above the "Apron" (see question number 20) at the conclusion of the trade1, 2. A team above the Apron can receive a player in a sign-and-trade if the trade reduces the team's payroll and the team finishes the trade below the Apron.
The team cannot receive a player in a sign-and-trade if they have used the Taxpayer Mid-Level exception (see question number 25) that season.1
The trade must be completed prior to the first game of the regular season (sign-and-trades are not allowed once the season begins).
The player cannot be signed using the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exception, the Taxpayer Mid-Level exception, or any exception that cannot be used to offer a three-year contract (see question number 25).
A sign-and-trade deal can be made with a free agent who has been renounced (see question number 39), as long as all the above criteria are met. Sign-and-trade contracts must be for at least three seasons (not including any option year) and no longer than four seasons3. The first year of the contract must be fully guaranteed, but the remaining seasons can be non-guaranteed. The combination of a three-year minimum with a one-year guarantee ensures that the player's new team cannot acquire the player's Bird rights any sooner than if they had signed him directly (if they wanted to re-sign him in less than three years they would first have to waive him, and lose any Bird rights -- see question number 32).

A Designated Veteran contract cannot be used in a sign-and-trade.

The starting salary in a contract signed for a sign-and-trade may be any amount up to the player's maximum, however if the player meets the 5th Year 30% Max criteria (see question number 24) he cannot receive a salary greater than 25% of the cap. Raises are limited to 5%. The player also may be considered to have a lower outgoing salary for trade purposes, which can complicate the trade (see question number 93).

If a sign-and-trade contract contains a signing bonus, then either team can pay it. By default the team that signs the player pays the signing bonus (as with any other contract), but since a sign-and-trade is in essence a contract with the receiving team, the teams can agree that the receiving team will pay it. Any portion that is paid by the signing team counts toward the team's annual limit for cash included in a trade (see question number 98), which in effect limits the portion of the signing bonus that can be paid by the signing team.

If a sign-and-trade contract contains a trade bonus, then the bonus is not earned upon the trade that accompanies the signing, but rather on the first subsequent trade. See question number 96 for more information on how long a team must wait before they can trade a player.

If a team acquires a player in a sign-and-trade, then the Apron effectively becomes a hard cap for the remainder of that season. See question number 20 for details.

[Stratmaster]

I’m not sure what you mean about his accent, specifically. How’s he supposed to control that?

But regarding the substance of his answers —- I mean there’s nothing ever meaningful to take from them. It’s all talking points that have been rehearsed. Pretty much everything is vague or in generalities. Gar was the same. Pax actually was the most open and honest, IMO.

It's almost like... listening to Billy Donovan.

Sent from my SM-S911U using RealGM mobile app

`
Are you suggesting they're the same person? Have we seen them in the same room since the hiring?? Was that press conference deep faked???

It was a pretty bad impersonation of the accent. So... who knows.

Sent from my SM-S911U using RealGM mobile app

[Jcool0]

Read on Twitter

[WindyCityBorn]

Colour me intrigued in how he'll 'aggressively' pursue options this summer.

With Ayo, Pat, Zach and future first round picks.

Julius Randle. Our next all-star.

[Stratmaster]

Read on Twitter

Perfect. It's everyone's fault except Billy.

Sent from my SM-S911U using RealGM mobile app

[step]

Read on Twitter

Perfect. It's everyone's fault except Billy.

Sent from my SM-S911U using RealGM mobile app

Well it appears Cheeks may be stepping away on his own volition? He is 67 too.

Assistant coach Maurice Cheeks will also move off his full-time role on the bench but will shift elsewhere in the organization, a move prompted solely by Cheeks' decision.

Cheeks, 67, is a Chicago native and has been with the Bulls since 2020. He's been an NBA coach since 1993. He's been on Donovan's staff since their shared Thunder days in 2015, before Cheeks' head coaching stints with the 76ers and the Pistons.

Fleming was also a carry over from Boylen... so that's not a surprise:

Fleming, 54, was initially hired by the Bulls to be the lead assistant coach on Jim Boylen's staff in 2019. The Bulls retained his services following the hiring of Donovan as the head coach. Fleming also had an "extremely close relationship" with Coby White, who was assigned to Fleming as an assistant during his rookie year, per Johnson.