Image ImageImage Image

ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23

Moderators: HomoSapien, Payt10, RedBulls23, coldfish, AshyLarrysDiaper, fleet, kulaz3000, Michael Jackson, Ice Man, dougthonus, Tommy Udo 6 , DASMACKDOWN, GimmeDat

weneeda2guard
RealGM
Posts: 10,338
And1: 4,888
Joined: Feb 07, 2011

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#21 » by weneeda2guard » Mon Jul 15, 2019 5:49 pm

The bulls got a little better

The issue is, the east got a lot better. There is more competitive balance and a lot of teams that want to compete and make the playoffs will be penciling the bulls in as the team they can beat and should beat. On our end, we still not even sure who will start for us at pg and a lot has to be proven from our bench. Also lauri and lavine haven't proven much as far as what they are as a duo while we are competing because we been tanking the past 2 seasons. Not to mention boylen , is still a unproven coach. It's easy to see promise in a team we want to lose , the real is shown when the tank is off and now we competing every night.

I can look at teams like Detroit, Miami, Atlanta who might hang it up after the all star break, but the bulls could also be 10 games under .500 by then and may call it a season too.

And I can factor in injuries but we have been one of the most injury prone teams in the past few years so injuries could kill us in the standings too.

Best case scenario imo, we win 28 games at home 10-12 on the road get to 40 wins and make a low seed playoff spot.

Most likely scenario, we suffer some early injury to a key player (which keeps happening) we start off bad in the season and can't recover topping off at about 30-35 wins.

What also could happen, brooklyn (without durant) Boston, miami , raptors and detroit turn out to not be that great fall a bit in the standings and we move up.

But this is a show and prove season, most of these writers haven't seen us play outside the 2 national TV games the past couple of years. All they see is a 27 and 22 win team. Expecting that team to jump 20 games to 40 wins and all you have added is young , satoransky, and white, is unrealistic
"they taking rose kindness for a weakness"
cubd8
Bench Warmer
Posts: 1,365
And1: 58
Joined: Sep 14, 2005

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#22 » by cubd8 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:02 pm

coldfish wrote:Meh. The Bulls have said a lot of good things this summer and their moves look good on paper but after last year's dumpster fire, no one is going to believe in them until they see something better on the court.

Personally, I think that if they stay healthy they will comfortably make the playoffs ahead of Detroit, Orlando, Atlanta, Brooklyn, etc. but I get not believing in them.


It's hard to put them to high up the rankings, but they probably have more (or at least about the same) upside than a few of these teams if their group of 4-5 key players actually stay healthy.
User avatar
jc23
RealGM
Posts: 25,584
And1: 10,702
Joined: May 31, 2010
Location: 1901 W.Madsion St
     

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#23 » by jc23 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:09 pm

Young teams dont win NBA basketball games and Chicago was one of the youngest last season. Its why the vets signed starting with Otto will be a big boost for winning this year. Ultimately it will come down to Lauri and Wendell playing most of the season to expectations. Im not worried about Zach, at worst he will be just as good as he was last year which was just below all star consideration.
Be curious, Not judgmental
User avatar
Mech Engineer
RealGM
Posts: 16,802
And1: 4,804
Joined: Apr 10, 2012
Location: NW Suburbs

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#24 » by Mech Engineer » Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:35 pm

weneeda2guard wrote:

I can look at teams like Detroit, Miami, Atlanta who might hang it up after the all star break, but the bulls could also be 10 games under .500 by then and may call it a season too.

And I can factor in injuries but we have been one of the most injury prone teams in the past few years so injuries could kill us in the standings too.

Best case scenario imo, we win 28 games at home 10-12 on the road get to 40 wins and make a low seed playoff spot.

Most likely scenario, we suffer some early injury to a key player (which keeps happening) we start off bad in the season and can't recover topping off at about 30-35 wins.

What also could happen, brooklyn (without durant) Boston, miami , raptors and detroit turn out to not be that great fall a bit in the standings and we move up.

But this is a show and prove season, most of these writers haven't seen us play outside the 2 national TV games the past couple of years. All they see is a 27 and 22 win team. Expecting that team to jump 20 games to 40 wins and all you have added is young , satoransky, and white, is unrealistic


The Bulls better not hang it up. They have done it for 2 years now and there is not much benefit with the lottery odds. They better try to win every damn game until the season ends. If they are shutting down players like Lauri or Lavine in March 2020 for some minor injuries, they are screwed.
Peelboy
Starter
Posts: 2,023
And1: 1,004
Joined: Jun 23, 2007

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#25 » by Peelboy » Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:50 pm

Luckily (if you can call it that), the injuries the Bulls have had have generally been of the freakish variety. 2 years ago it was Dunn's dislocated finger and landing on his face. Last year it was Lauri's arm & Wendell's finger. Short of just having guys who are brittle, which is hard to say one way or another, these don't seem to be repeatable. And Wendell's core muscle doesn't concern me as much since guys go through offseason surgery all the time. It's just that because we have had so many freak injuries (going back to Rose, Deng's spinal tap, etc), any sign of injury is highlighted.

If there's health, then the steadying influence of Otto, Sato, Young will help Lauri/Zach/Wendell thrive and shine, much as we saw in the admittedly brief stint in Feb once Otto came on board. Combine that with swapping out time for G-Leaguers like Shaq, Blakeney, the Sampson bros, etc with Young, Sato, hopefully Val and Hutch, etc and you should have a pretty strong base for improvement.
User avatar
Mech Engineer
RealGM
Posts: 16,802
And1: 4,804
Joined: Apr 10, 2012
Location: NW Suburbs

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#26 » by Mech Engineer » Mon Jul 15, 2019 7:04 pm

Peelboy wrote:Luckily (if you can call it that), the injuries the Bulls have had have generally been of the freakish variety. 2 years ago it was Dunn's dislocated finger and landing on his face. Last year it was Lauri's arm & Wendell's finger. Short of just having guys who are brittle, which is hard to say one way or another, these don't seem to be repeatable. And Wendell's core muscle doesn't concern me as much since guys go through offseason surgery all the time. It's just that because we have had so many freak injuries (going back to Rose, Deng's spinal tap, etc), any sign of injury is highlighted.

If there's health, then the steadying influence of Otto, Sato, Young will help Lauri/Zach/Wendell thrive and shine, much as we saw in the admittedly brief stint in Feb once Otto came on board. Combine that with swapping out time for G-Leaguers like Shaq, Blakeney, the Sampson bros, etc with Young, Sato, hopefully Val and Hutch, etc and you should have a pretty strong base for improvement.


Everything is a freakish injury. But, also be aware that most of these guys have no mileage. While some may think it is good, it also is an unknown how these guys will respond to more minutes and extra games etc... We saw guys like Noah were never built for long playoff runs and was done in a few years unlike Gasol who has gone through deep playoff runs.

Injuries are discussed a lot factually like how it happened, why it happened etc.. but we don't see much of a strategy on many teams regarding injuries. Filling up on long wings and ball handlers is one way of mitigating injuries. Those guys are always needed whatever style you play.

Honestly, minor injuries like ankle sprains and finger injuries are a good indicator of pain management/skills of these players. Those are things which are going to happen a lot and the deeper you go in the playoffs, the chances are more they will happen rather than the freak ones like ACL or Achilles injuries.

If these guys learn how to play with those injuries and still contribute well, it bodes well for the team. That was the difference between Taj and Noah. A small injury to Noah would derail his game to such an extent that he would be completely ineffective while Taj would be steady even with injuries. You wouldn't even know sometimes that Taj had an injury because his game didn't fall off a cliff from his original levels.
bulletbill
Bench Warmer
Posts: 1,426
And1: 84
Joined: Oct 17, 2007
Location: what always precedes the Bulls
       

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#27 » by bulletbill » Mon Jul 15, 2019 7:25 pm

Bulls wll reach 45 wins
User avatar
R3AL1TY
General Manager
Posts: 8,061
And1: 2,308
Joined: May 17, 2015
   

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#28 » by R3AL1TY » Mon Jul 15, 2019 7:43 pm

If the Bulls miss the playoffs, it might not be by much games if all the key players were healthy for the most part.
Am2626
Analyst
Posts: 3,034
And1: 1,005
Joined: Jul 13, 2013

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#29 » by Am2626 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 7:48 pm

InsideInfo wrote:I am ok with 23... at least showing a little respect to the fact that the team has improved from last year.

I get frustrated when people act like the bulls are still a bottom 3 or 5 team. Since adding Porter, White, Young, Sato...and just general expected growth from the young core we have, the team will be better than where we were the first half of last year.


With the new draft lottery odds hopefully some luck will come the Bulls way.
Bandit King
Analyst
Posts: 3,368
And1: 1,144
Joined: Oct 14, 2012
       

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#30 » by Bandit King » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:06 pm

Here we come again 7th pick!
Chicago Bulls Basketball - The Continuity
User avatar
Michael Jackson
Forum Mod - Bulls
Forum Mod - Bulls
Posts: 27,441
And1: 10,134
Joined: Jun 15, 2001

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#31 » by Michael Jackson » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:10 pm

panthermark wrote:Seems about right....
Hey, we are up from 29th! (Cue the Jefferson's theme song)

Odds makers have us around 30.5 wins, I think that is low....but, I thought the same thing last year (projections were too low) and we only ended up with 22 wins....so who knows.



Bulls have a pretty big betting base I think they made it low so they can get some action on the over. It would be interesting to see where the odds end up because I think that is purposely too low of a number. I think a number like 35-37 is a better vegas number.
samwana
General Manager
Posts: 9,796
And1: 2,440
Joined: Jul 24, 2002
Location: Munich (Germany)
 

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#32 » by samwana » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:18 pm

DuckIII wrote:I don’t have much of a problem with it. Three significant rotation plays in WCJ, White and Hutch have very little experience. In many ways it will still be a development year despite the veteran additions.

I think we just miss the playoffs and finish with about #12 lottery pick odds.
This pretty much.

I'd be happy if we are somewhat competing for a playoff spot.

The best thing that can happen is, stay healthy, have fun and just miss the playoffs and jump up in the lottery. Get someone good one more time and take off next season.

Most of all I hope we play a fun watchable game of basketball again. I'm sick of drama and injuries.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using RealGM mobile app
ChettheJet
Head Coach
Posts: 6,569
And1: 1,902
Joined: Jul 02, 2014
       

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#33 » by ChettheJet » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:55 pm

I can go with 125--1 to win it all, maybe 150 is more like it. They look at Young and Satoransky as additions but that ignores the fact that the vast majority of the roster that finished last season is gone.

Gone/games played/ not coming back
Harrison 73
Holiday 38
Lopez 74
TLC 29
Parker 39
Payne 31
Portis 22
Sampson 14
Seldon 43

Games played
Carter, Hutchison 44 they both figure to play more
Lavine 63 should be full speed for more games
Markkanen 52 should play more
Porter 15 will play more the first month of the season
Arcidiacono 81 shouldn't play nearly as much
Blankeny 57 shouldn't play nearly as much
Felicio 60 shouldn't play nearly as much
Dunn 46 may not be around
Valentine 0 should get on the floor this year
White, Kornet, Gafford should be a dozen steps above the G League guys they replace

Lopez is the only loss. They are basically adding 3/5 of their starting lineup and an NBA bench compared to last year. There's no way to compare last year's team to the one that goes to camp and no way to know how good they can be
NZB2323
RealGM
Posts: 11,150
And1: 7,467
Joined: Aug 02, 2008

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#34 » by NZB2323 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 9:46 pm

InsideInfo wrote:I am ok with 23... at least showing a little respect to the fact that the team has improved from last year.

I get frustrated when people act like the bulls are still a bottom 3 or 5 team. Since adding Porter, White, Young, Sato...and just general expected growth from the young core we have, the team will be better than where we were the first half of last year.


I don't think the Bulls will be a bottom 5 team, but I'm not sure who the bottom 5 teams will be. Looking around the NBA, it seems like there aren't any trash teams for next year.

EDIT: according to the rankings the Cavs will be the worst team, but Sexton should be better next year and Darius Garland is a nice addition. The Wizards are ranked 27th in these rankings but they still have Bradley Beal. The Knicks added solid role players and RJ Barrett.
User avatar
Michael Jackson
Forum Mod - Bulls
Forum Mod - Bulls
Posts: 27,441
And1: 10,134
Joined: Jun 15, 2001

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#35 » by Michael Jackson » Mon Jul 15, 2019 9:48 pm

NZB2323 wrote:
InsideInfo wrote:I am ok with 23... at least showing a little respect to the fact that the team has improved from last year.

I get frustrated when people act like the bulls are still a bottom 3 or 5 team. Since adding Porter, White, Young, Sato...and just general expected growth from the young core we have, the team will be better than where we were the first half of last year.


I don't think the Bulls will be a bottom 5 team, but I'm not sure who the bottom 5 teams will be. Looking around the NBA, it seems like there aren't any trash teams for next year.



The mighty Rozier lead Hornets. The cluster eff Knicks
WindyCityBorn
RealGM
Posts: 20,370
And1: 10,762
Joined: Jun 26, 2014
     

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#36 » by WindyCityBorn » Mon Jul 15, 2019 10:00 pm

Bandit King wrote:Here we come again 7th pick!


I would gladly take the 7th pick if we have the 12th best odds. Is that even possible?
WICKED17
Pro Prospect
Posts: 787
And1: 152
Joined: Jun 28, 2010

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#37 » by WICKED17 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 10:46 pm

Ya I’d slot them at like #12. #23 would be 8th worst, they should be slightly better, wouldn’t be shocked if they ended up 8th worst. Which is why this organization totally sucks. It’s a disgrace and has been for a long, long time.
WICKED17
Pro Prospect
Posts: 787
And1: 152
Joined: Jun 28, 2010

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#38 » by WICKED17 » Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:13 pm

WindyCityBorn wrote:
Bandit King wrote:Here we come again 7th pick!


I would gladly take the 7th pick if we have the 12th best odds. Is that even possible?


No, it is not possible. Can only move into top 4, as the Lakers did this year.
Peelboy
Starter
Posts: 2,023
And1: 1,004
Joined: Jun 23, 2007

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#39 » by Peelboy » Tue Jul 16, 2019 3:24 pm

Good article here on the offseason and including some comments about the general capability of the team: https://theathletic.com/1058579/2019/07/16/vecenie-five-teams-whose-free-agency-moves-stood-out-from-a-roster-building-standpoint-for-good-and-bad/

Athletic wrote:But here’s the thing: over the last year, they’ve promoted some people within the organization, and things seem to be running better. Since the trade deadline, when they moved Bobby Portis, Jabari Parker and a second-round pick to Washington for Otto Porter, the Bulls have actually done about as good a job of building this team as they possibly could have. Genuinely, I don’t think there is a single move to complain about. Heck, the big moves have been outright worthy of praise.

...

Overall, between Porter, Young and Satoransky, the Bulls have added three veteran, quality starters in the last six months to a young core that needed some help. I think they’re a legit playoff threat next season in the Eastern Conference. With growth from Markkanen and Carter in addition to the influx of legitimately talented players, the Bulls are in a much stronger position heading into this season than they have been in recent memory. Paxson and Forman deserve credit for putting together a competent group that fits together.
Red8911
RealGM
Posts: 13,817
And1: 4,193
Joined: Jul 13, 2010
Location: BROOKLYN

Re: ESPN Power Rankings - Bulls at #23 

Post#40 » by Red8911 » Tue Jul 16, 2019 3:56 pm

Bulls looked a lot better when Porter came last season and they were playing some good basketball until they decided to tank. Now add the solid players they got in free agency with Young, Kornet, Satoransky and the promising rookies Gafford, White. They should be competitive and make the playoffs 7-8 seed. I’d be surprised and disappointed if they ended up at 23 as ESPN predicts.

Return to Chicago Bulls