Pelicans Called Bulls

[HomoSapien]

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Posting this because there were a lot of people wondering if the Bulls passed on this deal. Now we have confirmation from Dumars. Eversley also said that there were talks about moving down in the draft.

I really like Essengue, but as of today I think this was a trade we should have made. No one is projecting the Pelicans to be in the playoffs and the idea of them being in the Play-In also seems unlikely. Very good chance that this unprotected NOP will be a high lotto pick in a deep draft. To get that plus Newell or Clifford... that would have been a really nice return.

[PlayerUp]

#23 Pick - 2025 NBA Draft
2026 first-round pick (most favorable of New Orleans (unprotected) or Milwaukee)

FOR

#12 Pick - 2025 NBA Draft

AKME passed on this.

[nomorezorro]

i obviously think we should have taken the deal if it was explicitly on the table, but it's important to note that dumars said the pelicans also called toronto/phoenix/portland and none of them made the trade either. this is despite the fact that

-toronto was rumored to be very open to trades headed into the draft + reportedly interested in swinging an immediate roster upgrade, and that pelicans pick would be a valuable bullet in their chamber
-phoenix badly needs future assets and could have gotten away with passing on maluach considering they simultaneously traded for a starting C
-portland did trade down, with memphis, to secure a less desirable future first round pick than the pelicans pick. also, after trading down, they picked a player who was widely projected to go in the second round, so there's a good chance they would not have objected to the deal because they didn't want to drop all the way to 23

given the circumstances, it seems like there's a reasonable chance dumars may not have been calling teams up saying "hey we'll give you an unprotected first." maybe atlanta was the only team savvy enough to realize just how desperate the pelicans were and exploit it to their advantage, maybe dumars got more desperate the further queen slid, maybe the 5 minute on-the-clock window wasn't enough for the bulls to get into substantive negotiations. or maybe the bulls did just mess up, but i don't think you can take that as a given

my feeling is, there's so much stuff this front office definitively does wrong. i don't see any value in getting worked up about something that we don't even know they actually did

[Dan Z]

i obviously think we should have taken the deal if it was explicitly on the table, but it's important to note that dumars said the pelicans also called toronto/phoenix/portland and none of them made the trade either. this is despite the fact that

-toronto was rumored to be very open to trades headed into the draft + reportedly interested in swinging an immediate roster upgrade, and that pelicans pick would be a valuable bullet in their chamber
-phoenix badly needs future assets and could have gotten away with passing on maluach considering they simultaneously traded for a starting C
-portland did trade down, with memphis, to secure a less desirable future first round pick than the pelicans pick. also, after trading down, they picked a player who was widely projected to go in the second round, so there's a good chance they would not have objected to the deal because they didn't want to drop all the way to 23

given the circumstances, it seems like there's a reasonable chance dumars may not have been calling teams up saying "hey we'll give you an unprotected first." maybe atlanta was the only team savvy enough to realize just how desperate the pelicans were and exploit it to their advantage, maybe dumars got more desperate the further queen slid, maybe the 5 minute on-the-clock window wasn't enough for the bulls to get into substantive negotiations. or maybe the bulls did just mess up, but i don't think you can take that as a given

my feeling is, there's so much stuff this front office definitively does wrong. i don't see any value in getting worked up about something that we don't even know they actually did

It's also possible that Portland already made their deal with Memphis before Dumars called.

As for Phoenix I bet they didn't want to push anything else into the future and were happy with Malauch.

Toronto...I have no idea why they didn't do the deal.

The Bulls...they should've done it, but I don't think AK cares much about picks so it's possible that he wasn't interested.

[dumbell78]

Timely thread as I was searching the net this morning for an answer to this.

#12 vs #23 in nice draft class is not THAT much difference in value.

Adding an unprotected pick from Milwaukee or NOP in next year's draft to this year's #23 is a friggin' no brainer. A guy like Presti makes this move 100/100 times. I dont know the details but if that was offered, its a fireable offense.

SO many possibilities in play with that unprotected pick.

[Dominator83]

AKME has no vision of creativity?? Shocking

[Hangtime84]

Well Doug is right again

[CROBulls]

Clown show and we have free ticket to it

[Tutupa]

The 2026 NOLA pick is going to be GOLD!

Fears + Poole + Zion (?) + Queen ...even Murray now, I get sick just thinking about their defense.

Boy, they are going to suck. In the West conference!!! That would be a top 10 pick for sure in a deep draft.

It's true that no one could have known that Asa Newell would fall to 23. In that case I think the Bulls have made the trade.

But even so, getting 23 this year and an additional (potentially very good) pick next year is better value.

The Hawks did pretty well here, we will remember this in a year.

[Senor Chang]

Are we sure the NO pick will be good? If zion is back and healthy then NO will be fighting for a playoff spot.


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[aguifs]

Yes, indeed. We'll remember it.

[Tutupa]

Are we sure the NO pick will be good? If zion is back and healthy then NO will be fighting for a playoff spot.


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This is a HUGE if.

2019-20: 24 games missed
2020-21: 21 games missed
2021-22: 82 games missed
2022-23: 53 games missed
2023-24: 12 games missed
2024-25: 30 games missed

In my previous post I mentioned Pelicans defense but if we talk about their health the outlook is no better.

Anyway, if health gives them a break, just look at West Conference standings. They are only better than the Jazz in my eyes.

All West playoffs teams should be there again next season. Mavs, Suns, Blazers and Spurs should be better.

On the other hand we have the East where the false illusion of parity is going to make teams compete.

That pick will be VERY GOOD.

Lol, the Hawks are going to get to the Playoffs as a 4th-5th seed and also get a great chance to Dybantsa.

That trade the Pelicans did is so hard to see nowadays...

[kulaz3000]

i obviously think we should have taken the deal if it was explicitly on the table, but it's important to note that dumars said the pelicans also called toronto/phoenix/portland and none of them made the trade either. this is despite the fact that

-toronto was rumored to be very open to trades headed into the draft + reportedly interested in swinging an immediate roster upgrade, and that pelicans pick would be a valuable bullet in their chamber
-phoenix badly needs future assets and could have gotten away with passing on maluach considering they simultaneously traded for a starting C
-portland did trade down, with memphis, to secure a less desirable future first round pick than the pelicans pick. also, after trading down, they picked a player who was widely projected to go in the second round, so there's a good chance they would not have objected to the deal because they didn't want to drop all the way to 23

given the circumstances, it seems like there's a reasonable chance dumars may not have been calling teams up saying "hey we'll give you an unprotected first." maybe atlanta was the only team savvy enough to realize just how desperate the pelicans were and exploit it to their advantage, maybe dumars got more desperate the further queen slid, maybe the 5 minute on-the-clock window wasn't enough for the bulls to get into substantive negotiations. or maybe the bulls did just mess up, but i don't think you can take that as a given

my feeling is, there's so much stuff this front office definitively does wrong. i don't see any value in getting worked up about something that we don't even know they actually did

This is probably the most rational stance on this situation.

To be clear, I would have been totally okay with taking the deal, however, where we picked, I truly think that Nao was/is a player with legitimate star potential and if the Bulls front office felt the same way, I could see why they decided to take the pick instead of going all the way down to 23 for a lesser player, who may have been an impact player, but at the risk of blowing a chance at a player who could be a future star.

There are a few players in the teens after our pick that I would have been happy with, but down in the 20's, you're picking players you hope would be serviceable bench players in their careers. Again, this comes down to what the front office thought of Nao, and if they were high on him, I'm totally okay with passing on the deal, just the same with the other teams that seemingly passed on the deal to get the player that they wanted.

I also of the mind that we are so far removed from putting together a contending team, adding assets makes sense, so even we dropped down in the draft to get a bench players, try your luck next season at a possible lottery pick in addition to our own. But again, I get it from the Bulls and the other teams that passed on the deal, if the player THEY WANT and especially if you feel that player has star potential, to go out and just get that player, than to kick the can and try your luck in the next draft.

I'm of the mind that despite Nao being a long term project, he actually does have star potential, and when push came to shove, being that he was available with our pick, I would have leaned towards keeping the pick if it was my decision to make also. Just because there was going to be no player available with his type of long term potential later in the draft, and the unknown of the following seasons draft and the class of players that could be available there.

It's close enough of a decision that I can't be outraged at it. I'm more outraged that the Bulls went down in the second round with cash considerations more so than this decision to pass. Because if they weren't wanting to draft anyone in the second, just get a future second rounder instead and just get out of the draft completely - but of course, cash considerations. This decision made no sense, from a basketball team perspective. The passing on the trade offer, I can understand.

[Red Larrivee]

I don't think there's enough information here to bring out the pitchforks. Multiple teams in front of us also declined whatever New Orleans was offering. It's very possible they got desperate at 13 and made concessions when it became clear that Queen was going to become BPA on more team's boards.

If they did decline it though, then it's extremely disappointing.

[Michael Jackson]

Are we sure the NO pick will be good? If zion is back and healthy then NO will be fighting for a playoff spot.


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No but you get the better of Milwaukee or NOP picks and who knows with either team. Both could possibly make the playoffs but both could easily be lottery picks too. Might get lucky in the lottery. Regardless it is still a tradable asset to attach to any trade in this season.

[kodo]

Are we sure the NO pick will be good? If zion is back and healthy then NO will be fighting for a playoff spot.

I'll say this, I'm more sure that NOP will be bad than Noa will be good.
And Noa was actually my preferred pick weeks ago in the draft thread.
But a lot of uncertainty in either direction.

But it can easily be that Noa turns out pretty good and NOP's pick next year ends up being an average meh mid 1st rounder like D Terry, and then this trade would have been a disaster.

But I assume the Bulls weren't super sure on Noa either because they said they were looking to trade down. If this wasn't an ideal trade down scenario, what was? Were they looking for TWO good 1st round picks to trade down?

[Guru]

It was reported that we tried to trade up for CMB and then had Noa in our top 9 or so. If you thought there was a huge drop off to 23 I get not trading down. They really wanted defense. Who fit that bill from 12 to 23?

[kodo]

It was reported that we tried to trade up for CMB and then had Noa in our top 9 or so. If you thought there was a huge drop off to 23 I get not trading down. They really wanted defense. Who fit that bill from 12 to 23?

This makes the most sense to me of how it turned out. ME said the Bulls were trying to trade down, so why didn't they?
The most obvious reason was that they had Noa ~9 on their board and he was #9 on most mocks and assumed to go to Toronto. Then it becomes a trade for the #9 best guy (in their eyes) and they opted not to.

Bulls weren't the only team to pass this trade up, Raps Rockets Blazers all passed on this trade so it's not like they did something no other team did.
Again I think the oddest thing was that Eversley said they were trying to trade down...so "something" happened. The most likely is that they didn't expect Noa to be there. Kind of a Matas-y situation.

[MGB8]

Yeah, I can’t hate on the non-trade. I can see the Bulls having Noa rated very, very highly - like top 6 - and him falling out trading out thoughts to bed. Mind you, I’m not quite there on Noa but I can see reasonable evaluators being there.

Meanwhile, West is unsettled and Pels have a decent play in chance, though probably more likely than not that they fail to make playoffs. OKC will still be strong. Lakers should be better. Dallas should be better than they were at the end. Minny will still be strong. Golden State and Denver still strong. Rockets on the rise, San Antonio even moreso. Clippers getting older but will still be competitive. Memphis still a threat with Ja, JJJ - Coward to take Bane’s role and more depth than last year with Anthony and KCP.

Thinking about it, the Portland pick is unlikely to convey…. Sactown is not likely to make the playoffs…

[ChettheJet]

Who knows what calls were made. Did Joe Cowley who acts like he's clued in to the Bulls phone system hear anything about a call from NOP?

I think AK wold have pounced on an unprotected pick from a team with a new FO that didn't make a lot of changes

If Joe D thinks Queen is a franchise player I would suggest that he google Bryant 'Big Country' Reeves because he may well have drafted him