Most likely offseason outcome

[drosestruts]

I think Vucevic being the outgoing piece in a Kuminga sing and trade is wishful thinking from Bulls fans.

In my opinion, the outgoing value will have to be closer to something like Coby White and one of Jalen Smith, Jevon Carter, or Dalen Terry.

I feel like Vuce being involved in a Kuminga S+T makes a lot of sense considering the Warriors had some level of interest in him as recently as 3/4 months ago and his salary roughly matches up with what you'd think someone like Kuminga would make after this trainwreck of a season.

Yeah, I think Kuminga is pretty dicey as a trade prospect, but Vooch makes a lot of sense. They were interested before, they really need shooting (which is a crazy thing to say about GS), and they need size. Draymond also helps with some of Vooch's defensive shortcomings, and Vooch would help them with rebounding.

Plus, for GS, with everyone getting old, it's just a one-year commitment on Vooch to see if they can make a run next season in exchange for a guy they don't want to keep anyway.

It really seems to come down to what kind of a trade market there will be for Kuminga. He's shown a bunch of flashes and also has fallen totally out of the rotation, so I have no idea how the league views him at this point.

Kuminga comes with consistency issues - most 22 year olds do.

But he will cost more than Vuc, because the upside on that inconsistency is nights like this

Watch on YouTube

If you're 6'8", very athletic, and can do this - there will always be a market for you. Ecspecially if you're only 22.

[Chi town]

In general I think it's kind of odd to be talking about the need for some lengthy "evaluation" of a guy who's played 6 seasons of NBA ball and is finishing his second contract.

There's no mystery here to be unravelled. Coby is a guy who shoots well and can be a good scorer and pretty good passer w/o being ball dominant. He'd be an outstanding fit as the 3rd or 4th best player on a team with a couple of all-NBA guys. Otherwise, well, he's like pretty much every other guy in the 60-150 range of NBA players. Because of the nature of basketball, these guys will put up numbers even on a trash team. But nobody should confuse that with them actually being, like, a top 25 player.

Truly, all the AK inspired sage head-nodding about patience and hand-waving about "evaluation" is actually a substitute for evaluation. It's what people say when they're, like AK, in over their head and simply ending up wherever circumstances lead them to be.

To put it simply, if the Bulls throw a wad of cash at Coby, it won't be because they made some "evaluation" that he deserved it. It'll be because they looked around and decided, like with resigning Pat and Vuc, and trading Lavine and DeRozan, it was basically the path of least resistance. If they don't resign him... also the path of least resistance. This is not a front office that is digging into details and fighting hard to get the most favorable contract/best player/most value from deal/most ideal fit of players.

True enough. I would say that Coby was doing things this season that we haven't seen before, coupling that with his work ethic, it is conceivable that he made some sort of a leap that is sustainable, and it would be meaningful from the perspective that he could be a 2nd option guy, and not a 3rd option guy.

Man, I really don't think it is conceivable. I think you can come at it from a couple different directions and get to that conclusion.
1. What do teams look like that have a Coby White type player at their 1st or 2nd option? Well, you had last year's Bulls and this year's Bulls. And you can look at teams with broadly similar players... Tyler Herro, DLo, Anfernee Simons. Like, swap Herro and Coby and imagine the Heat this year. Are they much different? Nah, not really. Is Herro a good player? Yeah, in the same sense that Coby is. He actually squeaked into the all-star game. But a team with him and Bam Adebayo (who is a demonstrably more accomplished player than anyone we have) is nothing special.

2. What would an actual contending teams look like with him. Like, put Coby any of the second round teams. I think it would clearly help most of those teams, but I don't think he's actually the 2nd option on any, and in most he's not even the 3rd.
GSW,CLE,DEN,BOS,IND,NYK,OKC

It's pretty obvious, if we stop and think about it:
1. What a team looks like if he's at the top of a heirarchy.
2. Where he'd slot in on a good team.

Agreed. It could be different if he was a really good defender but he’s not. He’s bad.

As of now our hope is Buz becomes a legit 1 or 2, Giddey becomes the elite distributor engine that is really the 3/4th option and Coby becomes the 3rd option. We would be an elite microwave 6th man and an elite all defense type wing or C to make it all work.

I have the most confidence in Buz becoming something special and leading us… way more than Giddey Coby or AK drafting or trading for that dude.

[The Box Office]

This sucks how OKC Thunder can rebuild quickly and we can't thanks to our inept AKME. They had NO problem trading away prime Paul George. No problem whatsoever. No problems trading away Josh Giddey either. Look at where they are now.

I applaud their GM.

[evilboy]

This sucks how OKC Thunder can rebuild quickly and we can't thanks to our inept AKME. They had NO problem trading away prime Paul George. No problem whatsoever. No problems trading away Josh Giddey either. Look at where they are now.

I applaud their GM.

When they traded Paul George for a package with SGA, no one had a clue SGA was going to be the best player in the league in 5 years. It's not that they're lucky because to be fair OKC did develop him, but it's not like they knew that was going to happen. Just like AK didn't know Jokic was a future three-time MVP hanging out in the 2nd round of the draft.

[MikeDC]

This sucks how OKC Thunder can rebuild quickly and we can't thanks to our inept AKME. They had NO problem trading away prime Paul George. No problem whatsoever. No problems trading away Josh Giddey either. Look at where they are now.

I applaud their GM.

When they traded Paul George for a package with SGA, no one had a clue SGA was going to be the best player in the league in 5 years. It's not that they're lucky because to be fair OKC did develop him, but it's not like they knew that was going to happen. Just like AK didn't know Jokic was a future three-time MVP hanging out in the 2nd round of the draft.

No, they probably did have a clue. There's a reason OKC wanted SGA in the deal. He had a good rookie year, and there indications going back to his time at UK that he could be a special player.

So while it's true that you never know "for sure" who's going to really go supernova, it's also not true that it's just luck or even "development. It was clear SGA was a high-potential player, and some teams are better than others at recognizing it.

[ghostinthepost1]

Damn we really are going to get another AKME special.

On one hand, I kind of get the logic, you want to see what you have with Giddey, Coby, and Matas. If Coby/Giddey play like they did at the end of last season we probably end up as the 5th/6th seed in a super weak east. From there you can use all that salary cap space to start to build a team around those 3.

If they all revert back to their early season selves, we're probably one of the worst 5 teams in the NBA and get a high draft pick to start a rebuild from the ground up.

[GoBlue72391]

Damn we really are going to get another AKME special.

On one hand, I kind of get the logic, you want to see what you have with Giddey, Coby, and Matas. If Coby/Giddey play like they did at the end of last season we probably end up as the 5th/6th seed in a super weak east. From there you can use all that salary cap space to start to build a team around those 3.

If they all revert back to their early season selves, we're probably one of the worst 5 teams in the NBA and get a high draft pick to start a rebuild from the ground up.

We traded Lonzo so it doesn't fit the AKME special criteria.

[burlydee]

I'm sure if rookie SGA was available today, 70% of the board would complain he can't shoot 3s.

[eierluke]

Not a fan of what AKME have done over the years, but this is just not the time to rush things.
Best scenario to have some leverage in free agency is when you have players with ending contracts which leads to cap space but who represent potential sign and trade assets as well.

It all depends on the Giddey outcome, but after all theses failures over the years our off season 2025 has been good so far (drafting by potential and resigning Tre Jones at a good price).

[meekrab]

Counting Giddey we have 12 roster spots committed. Carter absolutely picks up his option, First Round pick gets signed, we likely re-sign Tre Jones.

Outside of an unlikely trade that's the offseason.

I did it guys.

[sco]

Counting Giddey we have 12 roster spots committed. Carter absolutely picks up his option, First Round pick gets signed, we likely re-sign Tre Jones.

Outside of an unlikely trade that's the offseason.

I did it guys.

Don't hurt yourself patting yourself on the back

Kidding aside, I think there'll be one more trade (either Vuc or Ayo). If they can get rid of Vuc (even buy him out), I'll consider the offseason a success. With this roster (without Vuc), I think we'll get a good sense as to the potential of a Giddey/Coby/Matas core and what needs to be adjusted for future success. Moreover, I'd really like to see what Collins/Smith can do in bigger roles.

[eierluke]

Counting Giddey we have 12 roster spots committed. Carter absolutely picks up his option, First Round pick gets signed, we likely re-sign Tre Jones.

Outside of an unlikely trade that's the offseason.

I did it guys.

Don't hurt yourself patting yourself on the back

Kidding aside, I think there'll be one more trade (either Vuc or Ayo). If they can get rid of Vuc (even buy him out), I'll consider the offseason a success. With this roster (without Vuc), I think we'll get a good sense as to the potential of a Giddey/Coby/Matas core and what needs to be adjusted for future success. Moreover, I'd really like to see what Collins/Smith can do in bigger roles.

Trading Ayo appears less likely for me. By trading Ball away Ayo is needed as a backup PG now.
As for Vuc: yes he hurts any uptempo gameplan. He however still puts up good numbers and especially character-wise could be a role model for the young guys

[sco]

I did it guys.

Don't hurt yourself patting yourself on the back

Kidding aside, I think there'll be one more trade (either Vuc or Ayo). If they can get rid of Vuc (even buy him out), I'll consider the offseason a success. With this roster (without Vuc), I think we'll get a good sense as to the potential of a Giddey/Coby/Matas core and what needs to be adjusted for future success. Moreover, I'd really like to see what Collins/Smith can do in bigger roles.

Trading Ayo appears less likely for me. By trading Ball away Ayo is needed as a backup PG now.
As for Vuc: yes he hurts any uptempo gameplan. He however still puts up good numbers and especially character-wise could be a role model for the young guys

We still have Carter as a 3rd PG. That said, I don't think they'll trade Ayo before a Giddey deal is reached, as insurance.

[MrSparkle]

Overall, I think we’re gonna have a rough start to the year. Just no way everybody shoots as well as they did in March. This is where I think AK’s recurring complacency after optimistic March/April rallies is really doing us in, as he has some strong player values he could have worked with in trades.

Maybe I’m wrong and all the guys have an upswing contract year, but there’s no way this whole roster of guys having career-high shooting stretches is going to continue into October.

And if the shooting isn’t good, we know that Vuc-Giddey-Coby-Huerter aren’t stopping anybody from scoring.

[coldfish]

IMO, the Bulls are likely done outside of resigning Giddey. We can probably start talking about rotations.

Giddey / Ayo
Coby / Heurter
Okuro / Patrick
Matas
Vucevic / Collins or Smith

That's probably your 9 man rotation. Deep bench is Noa, Collins or Smith, Terry, Carter, Phillips, Jones. 30 to 35 win team, even in the weak east. Only think that can really save the team is if Matas goes beast mode.

[MrSparkle]

IMO, the Bulls are likely done outside of resigning Giddey. We can probably start talking about rotations.

Giddey / Ayo
Coby / Heurter
Okuro / Patrick
Matas
Vucevic / Collins or Smith

That's probably your 9 man rotation. Deep bench is Noa, Collins or Smith, Terry, Carter, Phillips, Jones. 30 to 35 win team, even in the weak east. Only think that can really save the team is if Matas goes beast mode.

Yea. Though I think Tre will play regularly. Ayo is basically a Billy wing, now.

[burlydee]

IMO, the Bulls are likely done outside of resigning Giddey. We can probably start talking about rotations.

Giddey / Ayo
Coby / Heurter
Okuro / Patrick
Matas
Vucevic / Collins or Smith

That's probably your 9 man rotation. Deep bench is Noa, Collins or Smith, Terry, Carter, Phillips, Jones. 30 to 35 win team, even in the weak east. Only think that can really save the team is if Matas goes beast mode.

1. I hope they aren't done. The forward rotation is horrible and the backcourt is too crowded.

2. This team wins 38-42 games because the Bulls always win 38-42 games. Its the exact same team that was better without Zach.

3. Billy views Huerter as a wing and Patrick as a 4 and with the roster as configured, I think he will continue to play them like that. Also, Jones is definitely getting minutes. He deserves them.

Giddey / Tre
Coby / Ayo
Okoro / Huerter
Matas / PWill
Vuc / Collins

10 man rotation. They are going to shop Williams like crazy. Once he's gone, Essengue will move regularly into rotation.

Terry, Phillips, Smith waiting for injuries.

[sco]

IMO, the Bulls are likely done outside of resigning Giddey. We can probably start talking about rotations.

Giddey / Ayo
Coby / Heurter
Okuro / Patrick
Matas
Vucevic / Collins or Smith

That's probably your 9 man rotation. Deep bench is Noa, Collins or Smith, Terry, Carter, Phillips, Jones. 30 to 35 win team, even in the weak east. Only think that can really save the team is if Matas goes beast mode.

1. I hope they aren't done. The forward rotation is horrible and the backcourt is too crowded.

2. This team wins 38-42 games because the Bulls always win 38-42 games. Its the exact same team that was better without Zach.

3. Billy views Huerter as a wing and Patrick as a 4 and with the roster as configured, I think he will continue to play them like that. Also, Jones is definitely getting minutes. He deserves them.

Giddey / Tre
Coby / Ayo
Okoro / Huerter
Matas / PWill
Vuc / Collins

10 man rotation. They are going to shop Williams like crazy. Once he's gone, Essengue will move regularly into rotation.

Terry, Phillips, Smith waiting for injuries.

If and when they sign Giddey, I think they'll trade Ayo (assuming there's a deal out there to bring back a rotation-level player or, better yet, a protected 1st).

Now if they can't trade Vuc or Pat (likely), I'd be shopping Smith (maybe in conjunction with Ayo). I like Smith a lot, but if we're not gonna play him at C or PF, we might as well get some value for him.

[burlydee]

IMO, the Bulls are likely done outside of resigning Giddey. We can probably start talking about rotations.

Giddey / Ayo
Coby / Heurter
Okuro / Patrick
Matas
Vucevic / Collins or Smith

That's probably your 9 man rotation. Deep bench is Noa, Collins or Smith, Terry, Carter, Phillips, Jones. 30 to 35 win team, even in the weak east. Only think that can really save the team is if Matas goes beast mode.

1. I hope they aren't done. The forward rotation is horrible and the backcourt is too crowded.

2. This team wins 38-42 games because the Bulls always win 38-42 games. Its the exact same team that was better without Zach.

3. Billy views Huerter as a wing and Patrick as a 4 and with the roster as configured, I think he will continue to play them like that. Also, Jones is definitely getting minutes. He deserves them.

Giddey / Tre
Coby / Ayo
Okoro / Huerter
Matas / PWill
Vuc / Collins

10 man rotation. They are going to shop Williams like crazy. Once he's gone, Essengue will move regularly into rotation.

Terry, Phillips, Smith waiting for injuries.

If and when they sign Giddey, I think they'll trade Ayo (assuming there's a deal out there to bring back a rotation-level player or, better yet, a protected 1st).

Now if they can't trade Vuc or Pat (likely), I'd be shopping Smith (maybe in conjunction with Ayo). I like Smith a lot, but if we're not gonna play him at C or PF, we might as well get some value for him.

I think you may be right. I get the sense, rightly or wrongly, they want to see what Terry can do with regular minutes and play Okoro at the 2 occasionally.

[thxfrthmmrs]

Looking ahead to next offseason, Bulls currently have 7 players on contract (Buz, Noa, Okoro, Pat, Smith, Jones, Phillips) for ~$60M. Assuming Giddey gets $30M a year, Bulls would be $75M under cap heading into 2026. That’s a lot of room to work with for resigning Coby (if we want to go down that route), or take on contracts for draft capital (something this team hasn’t been doing).

What do we think this FO will do here? Big splash? Or resign two of Coby/Huerter/Collins and another uninspiring vet and call it a day?