Building around Coby-Giddey-Matas

[MGB8]

While it’s late season and there are reasons for concern that the current decent level of play is more mirage than elevation (much less elevation with upside potential), I think it is worth talking about what kind of players would be the ideal fit around a Coby-Giddey-Matas core.

It looks like this team is winning with pace and room for those 3 to have sufficient offensive opportunities to get in rhythm.

Defensively, Coby is a “1”, Giddey and Matas are “3/4.” So on offense, for the starting lineup, you would want an off ball wing who doesn’t need a lot of shots, shoots well from range, and can defend 1-3 at a high level. Honestly, if Lonzo Ball full bounced back to what he was pre-injury, he might be nearly ideal in that spot.

Ayo or Dalen Terry could eventually fit, too - Ayo, though, seems like he needs the ball in his hands a little too much, and he needs to improve off ball and from 3. Ditto Dalen Terry, and though he is shooting better from 3 than Ayo this year, he is not as impactful and needs to progress more. Honestly, Terry might have more theoretical upside here due to length and, ironically, less on-ball talent than Ayo.

At the 5, you need someone who gives you versatile defense, decent (but not heavy touch demanding) offense, and lets you play with pace. A Hartenstein or (thicker) Holmgren type would make a lot of sense. A big Clinigan or Edey type probably doesn’t make sense, except as a back up to help when you face big bruisers. A guy like JJJ wants too many shots. Myles Turner probably a bit too old for the pace game at this point… I wonder if Jonathan Isaac could handle being at the 5 - would it “ unlock” anything (and if Holgren can…) - he might be gettable very cheap (as in, Pat for Isaac).

I’d also want to add a versatile on-ball/off-ball shooter+scorer off the bench - can’t be overly reliant on Coby. Don’t think Huerter is it; Ayo not quite that; THT might be closest on roster right now.

[Hangtime84]

I think Ayo will be fine he was top 5 in fast breaks last season. Next season he will coming off of shoulder surgery so I can expect his outside shot will fall off a bit. So I would suspect a second value contract.

DT steadily improving at a rate where his next contract will most likely be very team friendly.

[NecessaryEvil]

1 Ball
2 White
3 Giddey
4 Buzelis

If Mark Williams wasn’t so injury prone, he’d be the ideal fit from a veteran standpoint.

[Dan Z]

Huerter isn't great, but he's played better since coming to the Bulls. He's under contract for one more year, so he's probably okay in the role they currently have him in.

The center or power forward position is a bigger concern IMO. I guess Collins/Smith can fill in the center spot (if Vucevic is moved) but ideally they'd find a long term solution (or a PF who is a long term solution).

[Chi town]

While it’s late season and there are reasons for concern that the current decent level of play is more mirage than elevation (much less elevation with upside potential), I think it is worth talking about what kind of players would be the ideal fit around a Coby-Giddey-Matas core.

It looks like this team is winning with pace and room for those 3 to have sufficient offensive opportunities to get in rhythm.

Defensively, Coby is a “1”, Giddey and Matas are “3/4.” So on offense, for the starting lineup, you would want an off ball wing who doesn’t need a lot of shots, shoots well from range, and can defend 1-3 at a high level. Honestly, if Lonzo Ball full bounced back to what he was pre-injury, he might be nearly ideal in that spot.

Ayo or Dalen Terry could eventually fit, too - Ayo, though, seems like he needs the ball in his hands a little too much, and he needs to improve off ball and from 3. Ditto Dalen Terry, and though he is shooting better from 3 than Ayo this year, he is not as impactful and needs to progress more. Honestly, Terry might have more theoretical upside here due to length and, ironically, less on-ball talent than Ayo.

At the 5, you need someone who gives you versatile defense, decent (but not heavy touch demanding) offense, and lets you play with pace. A Hartenstein or (thicker) Holmgren type would make a lot of sense. A big Clinigan or Edey type probably doesn’t make sense, except as a back up to help when you face big bruisers. A guy like JJJ wants too many shots. Myles Turner probably a bit too old for the pace game at this point… I wonder if Jonathan Isaac could handle being at the 5 - would it “ unlock” anything (and if Holgren can…) - he might be gettable very cheap (as in, Pat for Isaac).

I’d also want to add a versatile on-ball/off-ball shooter+scorer off the bench - can’t be overly reliant on Coby. Don’t think Huerter is it; Ayo not quite that; THT might be closest on roster right now.

Great post. Totally agree on Zo being the perfect fit if healthy. I will add that store Jones is too. He doesn’t shoot a ton of 3s out he puts just as much pressure on the rim as Coby and Giddey and he plays fast. He’s a great fit and he plays really good D on the smaller quicker guards of the league.

Coby Giddey Zo Tre is great fitting crew for how we want to play.

I like Issac. Ayo or Isaac could make sense for both teams. Maybe they’d want Vuc back for Isaac.

I think Huerter is the guy we want if he actually made his 3s. His IQ is elite and he passes enough and creates enough to keeps defenses honest.

Our greatest need is a stud defensive C. Ideally we get one like Beringer that can fly up and down the court. Defend in space for PNR and at the rim. Like you said doesn’t need shots.

Giddey with a lob threat would be a cheat code.

Another big outlier is if Pat can come back lean and healthy. When he has played his best hoops he makes a big impact on defense. If just played elite D and made his 3s we start looking like a very deep team.

[League Circles]

I doubt Terry will be able to shoot well enough to play the perimeter defender role, but defensively he's pretty ideal.

Ball would be good if he can shoot again and stays healthy. Two big IFs.

Ayo I like but I don't think he has much additional ability to improve. He's a solid but not special defender, and I've never been impressed with his potential as a shooter due to mediocre form.

Jalen Smith is a pretty decent but not ideal prospect for what we need at the 5. I've been impressed with him. His numbers have also been quite good.

[Guru]

While it’s late season and there are reasons for concern that the current decent level of play is more mirage than elevation (much less elevation with upside potential), I think it is worth talking about what kind of players would be the ideal fit around a Coby-Giddey-Matas core.

It looks like this team is winning with pace and room for those 3 to have sufficient offensive opportunities to get in rhythm.

Defensively, Coby is a “1”, Giddey and Matas are “3/4.” So on offense, for the starting lineup, you would want an off ball wing who doesn’t need a lot of shots, shoots well from range, and can defend 1-3 at a high level. Honestly, if Lonzo Ball full bounced back to what he was pre-injury, he might be nearly ideal in that spot.

Ayo or Dalen Terry could eventually fit, too - Ayo, though, seems like he needs the ball in his hands a little too much, and he needs to improve off ball and from 3. Ditto Dalen Terry, and though he is shooting better from 3 than Ayo this year, he is not as impactful and needs to progress more. Honestly, Terry might have more theoretical upside here due to length and, ironically, less on-ball talent than Ayo.

At the 5, you need someone who gives you versatile defense, decent (but not heavy touch demanding) offense, and lets you play with pace. A Hartenstein or (thicker) Holmgren type would make a lot of sense. A big Clinigan or Edey type probably doesn’t make sense, except as a back up to help when you face big bruisers. A guy like JJJ wants too many shots. Myles Turner probably a bit too old for the pace game at this point… I wonder if Jonathan Isaac could handle being at the 5 - would it “ unlock” anything (and if Holgren can…) - he might be gettable very cheap (as in, Pat for Isaac).

I’d also want to add a versatile on-ball/off-ball shooter+scorer off the bench - can’t be overly reliant on Coby. Don’t think Huerter is it; Ayo not quite that; THT might be closest on roster right now.

The Answer is Nick Claxton

[Guru]

The bench of Huerter-Smith-Phillips is diverse and you can play the hot hand

[sco]

Great OP!

If we're not tanking, we're building around those 3. I suspect though that our offseason will be very uneventful. I don't think we'll find a buyer for Vuc in the offseason, even if we toss in our 2nd round pick. I used to think GS would take him, but with GP3 becoming a FA, they don't really have the salaries to match that make sense. LAL was also possible, but with Luka moving over, they need a defensive C now. I think the FO will try hard to retain Jones, but doing so will require us to buy someone (likely Carter) out, and then I'm not sure we'll have the room under the tax to do that and still sign Jones (and resign Giddey). Maybe we could dump Ayo for a couple of future 2nds, but his value is down after this season and his injury.

IMO, our best move would be to trade our 1st and/or POR 1st plus filler for an upgrade at the C. I like Isaac, but that dude is about as durable as Ball. Maybe the Knicks decide to move on from Robinson, but that dude isn't durable either. Short of Embiid (another health crapshoot) that I would call a real upgrade over Collins that I see coming available.

Personally, I'd love to see what Ball, Coby, Giddey, Matas, Smith could do as a starting line-up for next season, but Smith just can't seem to make the starting line-up despite how great he's looked...reminds me of Billy's disdain for Jones Jr. when he was here.

[ChettheJet]

The Bulls are still a below .500 team for the year. Yes I'm watching the same strong run you are you can afford to think they can continue like this for an entire season and you'd likely be wrong. That's why I see a lot of keep the guys who have been here because I love them and they'll just get better, if you're wrong that sets things back at least another year.

Almost all agree, gotta move Vuc. OK what $21M salaries are you going to get back? That depends on who wants him then you have to look at the trade pieces. It's assumed they should move on from Carter, again gotta get something unknown in return. Everybody talks like Dalen Terry is a keeper. His role in the last 6-8 games is the same as it was for 60 games and he's playing well now but explain how you know that will continue into next season. I prefer Julian Phillips as a more confident shooter plays more under control that Terry and I think he's learned the game and his role quicker that Dalen.. That's why I said before, I don't like them playing at the same time, they're too similar. Ayo has grown as a player and he's a good teammate, is he going to improve and make more of a contribution and do you resign him for how much? He doesn't want to get locked in on a low ball home town discount deal.

I can see the team on the floor being built around Coby, Giddey and Matas. I don't believe they extended Lonzo to trade him, he makes a difference, $10M in cap space is nothing. Huerter looks like the shooter he was in ATL before they had the brilliant idea to break up that talented roster. Besides that he plays smart BB, he rebounds, passes the ball drives to the basket and moves without the ball. Jalen Smith is a solid backup, he's sitting some now as Vuc and Collins take the minutes. I don't think the Bulls have any doubts about Smith, they may have told him to let this season pan out, changes are coming. Unless there's a deal for someone as good as Jarrett Allen I'm willing to stick with Zach Collins. I want to see Patrick Williams get a defined role off the bench, maybe with Ball, Giddey and Collins. All too often you see him guarding the other team's PG, sometimes he takes the high screen guy so he can switch onto the other team's 1-2 scorer. If Vuc would ever stay in the post instead of always floating out to the arc I think Patrick would feel more comfortable moving to the mid range or cutting to the basket . What I know that is critics don't get, if Billy didn't think he was contributing he wouldn't be playing.

Once they see how much Giddey is going to cost, the next step is trading Vuc and what they get back. Are there trades for any of those expiring contracts that make things better? I would like to bring back Tre Jones for his leadership and intangibles. Much more than Terry, or Ayo.

[mikejames23]

Not that good IMO. Coby, Giddey are both solid, but we still need an engine. I would replace with 35 yr old Vooch with a go to player from the draft.

[meekrab]

Yeah a reliably available Lonzo Ball is pretty much the ideal 4th non-center starter, for a lot of teams. That's part of why we were so accommodating with his recovery.

At center, hopefully Maluach drops to wherever we're picking.

[dawhizz]

Honestly, I could be talked pretty easily into some kind of Vuc for Capela swap.

[kodo]

Rim runner / Cutter types is the obvious answer IMO. Once teams get serious about matchups vs Chicago and overload Coby & Giddey, someone will be open. Giving up dunks or watching an open 3 shooter get hot is the only way to stop overloading on a player. We're fine on shooting 3s, we're the 3rd highest 3P making team in the league. I believe we're dead last on dunks.

I think everyone appreciates how much better the team plays with Matas cutting for dunks and punishing defenses without the ball.

On most teams someone reliable to run the offense off the bench is important but I believe Chicago is fairly set with Ayo, Tre, and Lonzo all available in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th "PGs" for the team. It's one area we're just overloaded at. One or two of these guys on the trade table would really make sense despite all 3 being fan favorites here.

[Chi town]

Tre will be cheap to bring back. He’s 25 and his 5 years of tape show you plenty.

I bet he gets far less than Ayo. Probably 8ish M.

[step]

I bet he gets far less than Ayo. Probably 8ish M.

Ayo is only on $7M this year, $7.5M the next.

[MrSparkle]

I'm just going to say: please have these guys show up in October, before you call them the core.

They're playing very well right now, and it's a significantly better style of play than yesteryears... But this would not be the first time in NBA history (particularly post-MJ Bulls era) where young guys catch some crazy heat in March and fall right back to earth after the off-season, when the whole league is prepared to win games and not tank away.

Giddey is shooting over 50% from the arc since Feb-2. Bless the fella if it continues, but... TRADITIONALLY, all such freak highs fall back to earth (especially after big contract extensions). Utah Lauri and Super Niko, amongst others.

[RSP83]

Huerter isn't great, but he's played better since coming to the Bulls. He's under contract for one more year, so he's probably okay in the role they currently have him in.

The center or power forward position is a bigger concern IMO. I guess Collins/Smith can fill in the center spot (if Vucevic is moved) but ideally they'd find a long term solution (or a PF who is a long term solution).

I like Huerter. He was really solid in his first year in Sacto (career year), he shot 48% from field 40% from 3 ,(15ppg, 3 rpg, 3apg, 1spg). He has the potential to be our best volume 3pt shooter.

[ScrantonBulls]

Perennial 1st round exit realistically. If Matas and Giddey both become all stars, maybe better. I just think that signing Coby to whatever his next contract will be would be a mistake. I'd prefer if they roll the dice and try to trade him. See if you can get some leas established player(s) with upside.

[Guru]

Perennial 1st round exit realistically. If Matas and Giddey both become all stars, maybe better. I just think that signing Coby to whatever his next contract will be would be a mistake. I'd prefer if they roll the dice and try to trade him. See if you can get some leas established player(s) with upside.

Great timing