Official: DeRozan! Player of the Week p69

[ChiTownNation]

I think including Aminu in the deal is why we had to include draft capital. That was actually huge for our salary cap situation. We can now spend his $10 million on someone in the frontcourt that can play defense. That was essentially a dead $10 million on the books that we can fill with production at our weakest spot(s).

Wasn't Aminu needed for salary matching?

I think the pick was just the cost of getting SA to play ball because Bulls lacked leverage to force him here without S&T.

I don't believe you need salary matches in sign/trades. I think it needs to be half. For example, we didn't send $20 million in contracts in the Ball deal.

[OldSchoolNoBull]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

[tedwilliams1999]

I think it's important to note that we currently only have two guys on this win-now roster who are in the twilight of their primes --> Vuc and DD. Everyone else is either entering their most productive seasons (Lavine/Caruso), or still developing (Ball/Coby/Williams/Ayo/Simonovic/Troy Brown). I love the blend of talent we have right now, and I'm excited to see what this team looks like in two years as well, once we presumably begin to move on from Vuc and DD.

[Friend_Of_Haley]

I think including Aminu in the deal is why we had to include draft capital. That was actually huge for our salary cap situation. We can now spend his $10 million on someone in the frontcourt that can play defense. That was essentially a dead $10 million on the books that we can fill with production at our weakest spot(s).

Wasn't Aminu needed for salary matching?

I think the pick was just the cost of getting SA to play ball because Bulls lacked leverage to force him here without S&T.

I don't believe you need salary matches in sign/trades. I think it needs to be half. For example, we didn't send $20 million in contracts in the Ball deal.

It varies depending on total $, but for Derozan deal it needs to be within 25% I think. Balls I think needed to be within $5M?

[DuckIII]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

This is devastating news.

[Jimako10]

Is this what having a real front office feels like?

[ch434355]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

Jealousy + the belief that winning without being a true title contender is a waste of time + overvaluing of picks

[Friend_Of_Haley]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

Jealousy + the belief that winning without being a true title contender is a waste of time + overvaluing of picks

Aka "the Process has broken too many brains, still"

[OldSchoolNoBull]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

This is devastating news.

Deadpan. I like it.

[mschmidt64]

What’s the GB?

[Dominator83]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

I do feel that Lonzo is better, and we paid a lot less in both money and assets to get him. Demar came at a pretty hefty price in both assets and money.

But that being said, what was the alternative? The Gar/Pax way wasn't working. And they left us with a brutal asset cupboard. I think the new regime is doing a good job considering the circumstances

[BullChit]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

I once saw the GB have a multi page spirited discussion on Jeremy Lin being a top 10 point guard...

Enough said...

[mack2354]

I do and here's what I see:
- There only one basketball
- DDR was option #1 or #1A his entire career. Great scorer and P&R threat, but giant adjustment needed here - potentially #3 option, could slide to bench if the offense is not enough to offset defensive issues
- Defense still below average. Add this to 2 other flawed defenders on the starting 5... that's a disaster waiting to happen
- Shot 25% from outside the past 2 years, 28% career

Thad may not be as good offensively, but he was a great complimentary piece, perfect vet to be around, content to play in the shadow of top scorers / come off the bench, great passing and BBIQ, much better than DDR on defense. And obviously, much more affordable for the Bulls than this giant contract DDR just signed (not to mention picks...)

I understand the enthusiasm, but my gut feeling tells me we may regret this move...

While nominally a #1 option in SA, he really hasn't been. It's been very much team ball, give it to the open man / hot hand. I'm not concerned about his offensive fit in terms of getting enough shots. Maybe it means that Pat doesn't get forced to grow... but it's not like either he or Lonzo really demand shots, or Caruso for that matter.

The defense has become... passable. Better against 3s than true 4s where in San Antonio he was forced to the 4 because the didn't have any better options (except for Rudy Gay who they liked off the bench).

I'm not so concerned about the 3 ball, either. I expect a bump back up to the higher ends of his career at 28-32% on maybe 2 attempts per game... just enough to keep opposing defenses a little honest --- but he's going to have a lot more spacing around him on the Bulls roster than he did on the Spurs. Rudy Gay and Patty Mills shot 38%, Aldridge, pre-trade/retirement, shot 36% but Poetl didn't shoot, Murray was 32% himself, and White, Johnson, Walker and Vassell were all middling 35% guys.

Compared to Lonzo - last two seasons at 38%, LaVine last season at 42%, Pat (on low volume) at 39%, Vuc at 39-40%....

It's now on Billy to make it work, but if I had to guess, I'd have DDR run the P&R with Vuc as the primary offensive wave, with the option to kick it to Zach for spot up shooting or getting the defense to collapse. DDR can also find the mid-range or attack the basket and get to the line, or else find the open man rather skillfully. I'm hoping that the ball will move around as you mentioned, but then again, it was easier with Pop's Spurs, who have been doing this for 10+ years. I'm also worried about ego getting in the way of ball movement...

Defensively, I don't see a reason of how they could be even passable. Maybe DDR will be, but we need more than this given how LaVine and Vuc can be liabilities, at times.

I agree with you. DDR as the primary ball handler running the PnR / PnP with Vuc while having all high percentage catch and shoot players behind the 3 pt line will put defenses in a pick your poison position.

This should help Zach conserve energy to expend on the defense side.

Sent from my SM-J337T using RealGM mobile app

[RastaBull]

This is amazing.

I can't wait for fourth quarters now. Before it was Zach Zach Zach and more Zach. He'd be on fire and get us some crazy wins. But that much on one guy ALL the time in clutch, especially when a lot of it is coming from behind ... it wears on ya, and when you playing with a lead sometimes you just don't have it. But you're still forced to go for it even though you aren't feeling it or are over defended.

Now, we got fourth quarter options. Variety of ways to get bucks in final 5 minutes. You can let Zach be Zach and play a one-man offense. You can feed Vooch down low. You can give it DDR for mid range pull up. You can give it DDR to take it to hole and get to line. You can kick it to rising shooters like Ball Caruso and White.

I'm pumped.

Expensive contract (28per year?). But three years is a pretty great length. Contracts of these guys are staggered: two more years of Vooch, three with DDR, four with Ball. It allows FO to evaluate at end of each year, opportunity to take big contract off (or trade away an expiring the deadline before). Seems very smart.

And Zach should really feel like this FO is treating him like the belle of the ball. We can't give him extension right now he deserves so he's gonna be an unrestricted FA, then we gotta do everything to make this man know we believe in building him a contender. I think AK's doing that.

[bad knees]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

This is devastating news.

And very surprising as well.

[kulaz3000]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

This is devastating news.

And very surprising as well.

Mostly are LA fans who thought that based on a rumour Demar was going to sign with them for the MLE or something, which is absurd.

[VinBaker6]

Coming from a Raptors fan whose followed him from basically day 1:

You guys basically got a PG in DD. He’s also a top 3 iso scorer in the league (primarily from the post). His playmaking is really damn good especially when it comes to finding shooters. So while he won’t shoot threes (don’t fall for it if he shoots a few to start the year, he will revert to completely avoiding them), he still generates lots of 3’s. He’s also playing with 4 shooters so it don’t really matter.

His defence is really bad but if he’s not having to carry your offence he can be slightly below average at best.

Your team will be fun to watch. But the Bulls would be better off putting the ball in DD’s hands over Lavine in crunch time as playmaker imo. That will let Zach dominate off the catch. DeRozan isn’t a threat off ball. Also, Lonzo is perfect playing off DD as a secondary playmaker.

Fun addition.

[weneeda2guard]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

Alot of the fans hating on our off season are fans of teams shook that we are about to to knock them out of their playoff position.

It was literally the same thing in 2010 some fans even saying we will be a 7th 8th seed.

We are going to be good. Sorry nba. How good I dont know but anyone thinking this team will struggle to make the playoffs is just hoping for that more than believing that. We are going to be a top 5 team in the east. We jumped ahead of a lot of teams many of these teams we competed with last season we just couldn't close games. Teams like the Pistons, hornets, pacers, wizards, Boston we are now just as good as them maybe better. Only teams I put clearly over us is bucks, Philly (maybe depending on what happens with simmons) nets Hawks and maybe the heat. We are just as good as the knicks imo

[Jo Jo English]

The Bulls aren't necessarily where they would ultimately like to be (legit contenders), but they have taken a few big steps towards that goal. They may never get there, but they have shown a willingness and moxie to put themselves in a position to take that next big step should the right player become available.

That has sorely been lacking from this franchise for a long time and it is damn exciting to see.

[gobullschi]

It seems the GB is not as sold on our offseason as we are.

That’s because most of them thought they would get DeRozan for the MLE.