Optimistic Thread

[pipfan]

I know we are disappointed that we didn't do more yesterday-but things are not SO bad

1-Matas could be a stud
2-Ayo/Smith look like very solid role players
3-Coby/Vuc still should have value in June
4-PWill has shown A LITTLE sign of life recently (still a bad contract, but something is better than nothing)
5-Ball is back (great signing)
6-Giddy should not get any big offers. Let's PRAY they don't overpay him this summer

Plus, we have all our 1sts plus one (Port looking better, could easily be a '26-28 1st)
We have a BUNCH of expiring deals this summer, and tons of projected cap space coming

So, if we sneak into the Playin again, and get the 9th pick it's not the end of the world.

That's all I got

[Dan Z]

Matas improving. That's one thing to look forward to.

The rest. Meh.

[Indomitable]

I know we are disappointed that we didn't do more yesterday-but things are not SO bad

1-Matas could be a stud
2-Ayo/Smith look like very solid role players
3-Coby/Vuc still should have value in June
4-PWill has shown A LITTLE sign of life recently (still a bad contract, but something is better than nothing)
5-Ball is back (great signing)
6-Giddy should not get any big offers. Let's PRAY they don't overpay him this summer

Plus, we have all our 1sts plus one (Port looking better, could easily be a '26-28 1st)
We have a BUNCH of expiring deals this summer, and tons of projected cap space coming

So, if we sneak into the Playin again, and get the 9th pick it's not the end of the world.

That's all I got

It is a waste of time and unless you have investments in this team. There is not reason to take them serious.

The Bulls do not have a bunch of expiring deals.

You have Giddy and Tre Johnson this summer.

[Dez]

Coby and Vooch will have the same value, none.

[Indomitable]

Coby and Vooch will have the same value, none.

Coby value will be lower because of the contract you have him on. Will be in its last year. Vuc will just be slower and older.

[Muzbar]

I know we are disappointed that we didn't do more yesterday-but things are not SO bad

1-Matas could be a stud
2-Ayo/Smith look like very solid role players
3-Coby/Vuc still should have value in June
4-PWill has shown A LITTLE sign of life recently (still a bad contract, but something is better than nothing)
5-Ball is back (great signing)
6-Giddy should not get any big offers. Let's PRAY they don't overpay him this summer

Plus, we have all our 1sts plus one (Port looking better, could easily be a '26-28 1st)
We have a BUNCH of expiring deals this summer, and tons of projected cap space coming

So, if we sneak into the Playin again, and get the 9th pick it's not the end of the world.

That's all I got

It is a waste of time and unless you have investments in this team. There is not reason to take them serious.

The Bulls do not have a bunch of expiring deals.

You have Giddy and Tre Johnson this summer.

*Jones

[Indomitable]

I know we are disappointed that we didn't do more yesterday-but things are not SO bad

1-Matas could be a stud
2-Ayo/Smith look like very solid role players
3-Coby/Vuc still should have value in June
4-PWill has shown A LITTLE sign of life recently (still a bad contract, but something is better than nothing)
5-Ball is back (great signing)
6-Giddy should not get any big offers. Let's PRAY they don't overpay him this summer

Plus, we have all our 1sts plus one (Port looking better, could easily be a '26-28 1st)
We have a BUNCH of expiring deals this summer, and tons of projected cap space coming

So, if we sneak into the Playin again, and get the 9th pick it's not the end of the world.

That's all I got

It is a waste of time and unless you have investments in this team. There is not reason to take them serious.

The Bulls do not have a bunch of expiring deals.

You have Giddy and Tre Johnson this summer.

*Jones

I do not care. I do not value him or his brother.

[Muzbar]

It is a waste of time and unless you have investments in this team. There is not reason to take them serious.

The Bulls do not have a bunch of expiring deals.

You have Giddy and Tre Johnson this summer.

*Jones

I do not care. I do not value him or his brother.

Settle petal.

You are correct though, the 'bunch of expirings' statement is incorrect. It's literally Giddey and Jones and Giddey will be getting resigned.

[Dez]

Coby and Vooch will have the same value, none.

Coby value will be lower because of the contract you have him on. Will be in its last year. Vuc will just be slower and older.

Coby has zero value.

Vuc has zero value.

[Dan Z]

Coby and Vooch will have the same value, none.

Coby value will be lower because of the contract you have him on. Will be in its last year. Vuc will just be slower and older.

Coby has zero value.

Vuc has zero value.

Why don't they have any value?

Cobys on a good contract and Vucevic only has one more year on his

[step]

Coby value will be lower because of the contract you have him on. Will be in its last year. Vuc will just be slower and older.

Coby has zero value.

Vuc has zero value.

Why don't they have any value?

Cobys on a good contract and Vucevic only has one more year on his

Vuc's age is not a positive and nor his contract status outside of the financial realm. Any team that may value him as a player, only has 1 year left to show for it.

And truly, how much playing time does he have left before he truly ages out and becomes an even more net negative?

And while we're on the financial element, his status is a bonus but the size is not. It is significant enough that many teams would require giving up multiple players to match to make it viable. Then it becomes a quick analytical game whether if doing that warrants that statistical loss in output and/or skills.

Plus the rules around trades for teams above the hard cap is quite restricting, the ones that would most likely find Vuc the player most appealing.

[coldfish]

Chicago's biggest hope is that they may end up with a 30% or so chance of a top 4 pick and a 7% chance of getting Flagg.

If the Bulls do land him, I sure hope that Michael fires AKME because I wouldn't want these boobs anywhere near a true franchise player.

[pipfan]

*Jones

I do not care. I do not value him or his brother.

Settle petal.

You are correct though, the 'bunch of expirings' statement is incorrect. It's literally Giddey and Jones and Giddey will be getting resigned.

What I said is that this summer we'll have a bunch of expiring (for 2026). The fact that they are tied to players who are either decent or not terrible (Ayo, White, Vuc, Ball, Huerter, Collins, Terry) gives us a lot of flexibility with trades (since we control our own picks, and have the Port pick to play with).

Salary sheet in 2026
PWill/Matas/Smith-$34 million
Let's say Giddy and Ayo cost $28 million
Pick this year (#9) and next year (#4)-$13 million

We would have about $90 million in cap space that summer, more or less. That's with a core of 7 pretty solid young players (in theory)

[sco]

Since this is the optimistic thread, POR is currently on the longest winning streak in the NBA and sits 2 games out of 10th.

[Muzbar]

Since this is the optimistic thread, POR is currently on the longest winning streak in the NBA and sits 2 games out of 10th.

They've also won 10 of their last 11 games.

I doubt they make the playoffs, but great to see nonetheless.

[DuckIII]

Every time AK does something he should do, it gives me optimism.

This trade deadline was significant progress but more remains.

The main reason for optimism is Matas because he has identifiable attributes which give him the ceiling of a core player on a contender.

I still believe - hope perhaps is the better word after his debacle of a season until recently - Pat on his contract is a flexible and useful player to have during a rebuild.

Ball’s contract is a miracle and gift on multiple levels.

Ayo is a keeper that any contender would love to have and does not project to ever be a guy you’d have to “overpay.”

Jalen Smith is cheap and a keeper.

I’m concerned about what AK will do with Giddey, but handled well he could prove to be a valuable asset.

There are some positives and a path forward is materializing out of the haze. The elephant in the room will always be whether AK and his moronic impatience will ruin it all.

[cocktailswith_2short]

Positivity thread.......devolves right into our current nightmare lol

[Betta Bulleavit]

I’m not sure why it’s so hard for people to understand that this is one thread devoted to positivity and optimism. There are plenty of other threads that either have been or will be dedicated to pessimism. If you are pessimistic regarding our outlook, why not jump into one of those??

With that said, I agree with the OP on all items besides PWill. I’m kinda over him at this point.

But our salary situation isn’t bad relative to the rest of the league and we have all of our picks. The foundation is there now for us to start looking up.

[drosestruts]

Optimism you say

Game 1 post Zach we had 35 assists as a team which was pretty fun to watch

Game 2 was the second night of a back to back and on the road - pretty much a schedule loss

I'm curious to see how we look over the next ten games or so

I'm hopeful that Smith's minutes increase - whether as a 4 next to Vuc or Collins or even better, Vuc simply playing less.

I'm not particularly excited about anyone acquired in the Zach trade, if made me pick one I'd hope 2022-23 Huerter re-emerges. He was a positive defensively that season, 62% TS%, and 40% from 3 while scoring 15 points a game, with 1 steal per game too

Despite the "too many guards" rally cry.- I feel like we finally have some decent size:

Patrick Williams, Dalen Terrry, and Huerter are all 6'7"

Josh Giddey and Julian Phillips are 6'8"

Vuc, Matas, and Smith are 6'10"

Collins is 6'11"

2/3 of our roster is over 6'7"

Our three main guards are all kind of tall - Coby and Ayo 6'5" and Lonzo 6'6"

We're a big team which I've always liked.

Lineups I want to see:

Giddey-Ball-Williams-Matas-Smith

Ball-White-Huerter-Smith-Vuc

I'm sure there's some others

[ChettheJet]

My optimism is made up of

Lonzo being resigned shows his people see the organization is do something right. I disagree with the people who instantly say his contract is an asset that they could trade. And then go out to find the exact player he is? That stupid
Williams, Matas and even Smith and Phillips are a good young group that can grow and build around.

the guard group needs to sort itself out 3 guys are just al the same level with nobody standing out
White is the scorer and is capable on defense needs shooting consistency,
Dosnumu has the defense, gets downhill needs better 3pt shooting
Giddey lacks defense, passes and rebounds well

1, 2, or all 3 have to improve or maybe they keep 2 of them to come off the bench and go out and get a #1 scorer

THT, Huerter and Jones are good role players

Very important is getting that pick back. People keep harping on this draft but had the Bulls gotten down to 1-10 they still would have given up the pick in 26 or then 27. Now they're in the next three drafts for sure. AK or the next guy needs to stop trading picks

The fact that PORT did nothing makes it look even less likely that pick ever shows up. The Bulls have several moves to make in the summer PORT should be moving half their roster, including a Bulls trade that includes their pick and if they don't a pair of 2nds stating in 2028 is it