Bulls - Knicks - Wizards

[nate33]

While you're not wrong, Precious is just fitting in so well that I don't think Thibs would let him leave

We got really lucky with those Brundle contracts. We've more or less got two All-NBA guys for the price of one.

Yeah, I've always been a Knicks hater, but I can't help but love Brunson. What a player! I find myself rooting for the Knicks these days.

[cgf]

While you're not wrong, Precious is just fitting in so well that I don't think Thibs would let him leave

We got really lucky with those Brundle contracts. We've more or less got two All-NBA guys for the price of one.

Yeah, I've always been a Knicks hater, but I can't help but love Brunson. What a player! I find myself rooting for the Knicks these days.

lol I can't begrudge anyone their meaningless hates, but this has been a really fun season as a knicks fan. Just gotta hope we can get healthy and grab the right guy who fits the culture to just solidify everything.

[Knicks365247]

While you're not wrong, Precious is just fitting in so well that I don't think Thibs would let him leave

We got really lucky with those Brundle contracts. We've more or less got two All-NBA guys for the price of one.

Yeah, I've always been a Knicks hater, but I can't help but love Brunson. What a player! I find myself rooting for the Knicks these days.

Jalen Bluntson is likely the most humble guy in the league when with true impact he's borderline Top 10 in the league right now.

[cgf]

Given the Knicks already sound defensive backcourt, and their heavy reliance on Brunson for all of their offense, I would think they would prefer Kuzma's offense over Caruso's defense. Thibs would get Kuzma to play good D like he used to when he was with the Lakers.

If the Knicks are prepared to give up two FRP's, I think the Bulls get cut out of this. Kuzma for Fournier and those picks makes more sense to me.

I would prefer Caruso. I would prefer White to Caruso but Caruso is a really good defender and can hit the outside shot. With Kuzma's contract I'd be worried about making sure he plays enough minutes to justify the cost. OG is going to be getting paid a ton and Randle is our power forward full stop. So not only would Kuzma need to be dialed in defensively we'd need to get really creative with moving people in and out of the lineup to maximize everyone's usefulness and as we see with Grimes it doesn't always work out. Someone suffers because they can't get into a rhythm or feel like they don't have any room to make mistakes which ironically causes them to make more.

Caruso is just a cheaper and cleaner fit.

I'd prefer Caruso and think he'd be a better fit, but Kuzma's contract is quite team friendly. After this season it drops to 23.5M, 21.5M, and 19.4M...for comparison Hart will be making 18.1M, 19.5M, & 20.9M. The bigger question would be how he fit the culture.

We know he's capable of contributing to a winning team, but everyone...except for Julius...being open to constructive criticism from anyone else, is reportedly a big part of our locker-room's current great vibes. And is Kuzma going to be a natural fit in that kind of environment or will he be more of Randle/Barrett who pushes back on critique?

If our FO did go after him, I'd trust that they reached out to him to make sure he'd be a fit in the locker-room, but from the outside looking in, that would be my biggest question mark...though I'd prefer Caruso even if Kuzma was ready to come in & go to work. We don't need our 2nd unit to build leads for us anymore, so if we can just hold serve when Brunson rests, I'll be content.

Where I'm more concerned with upgrading is our options for that final closing spot.
- DDV has been having a career year, but we've seen how much less impactful he is when his shots aren't falling and he's a career 31% 3pt shooter in the playoffs. If he shoots closer to that 31% than the 43-44% he's been shooting for us as a starter, then he won't be closing games for us.
- Hart is a hesitant 3pt shooter that teams have no fear of sagging off from. Even if he hits his shots he doesn't have the stroke to put up enough of them to space the floor like OG can. Though Josh's energy and effort make him an option for the closing lineup even if he doesn't get hot from 3.
- Grimes is currently our best option for someone who's really good at both spacing and defending, who has the size to play next to Brunson...aka isn't Deuce...but Grimes has had a rough season that saw him playing very hesitantly earlier. I pray that when he's healthy again he can keep building on his much improved play of the past few weeks, but I won't be surprised if the injury only sapped his confidence more.

That's why I like Caruso so much, not only could he help Julius stabilize our non-Brunson minutes, but he'd give us a great two-way option for the closing lineup to hedge against Grimes' delayed sophomore slump rolling into the playoffs, DDV's shot going cold, and Hart getting okoro'd by other teams...plus he'd be a great mentor for McBride, who could play next to Deuce until we got healthy again

[oldncreaky]

Kuzma cost too much if they want to avoid 2nd apron next yr

Really?

I see you have a payroll of just $122M for
Randle
Brunson
Anunoby
Robinson
Hart
DiVincenzo
Grimes
Sims
McBride

Kuzma gets you up to $145M. The 2nd Apron is $201M
That's enough room for Hartenstein and a substantial raise for Anunoby, and any remaining draft picks.

I hope 50M should be enough to re-sign both Anunoby & Hartenstein, but it might not be if OG wants more than 40M a year. And isn't the supertax projected around 190M not 200M?

Plus Achiuwa is playing his way into a new contract from the Knicks as well.

A couple of comments

1. I assume at least one other team will offer OG a max contract because there will be so many teasm with space and too few FAs worth it

2. I'm on the fence on Achiuwa. Is his recent play because of Thibs' coaching, or is it just one of his random good stretches? If you attribute it to coaching and Thibs keeping Precious in a role that suits, he's a good deal.

[cgf]

Really?

I see you have a payroll of just $122M for
Randle
Brunson
Anunoby
Robinson
Hart
DiVincenzo
Grimes
Sims
McBride

Kuzma gets you up to $145M. The 2nd Apron is $201M
That's enough room for Hartenstein and a substantial raise for Anunoby, and any remaining draft picks.

I hope 50M should be enough to re-sign both Anunoby & Hartenstein, but it might not be if OG wants more than 40M a year. And isn't the supertax projected around 190M not 200M?

Plus Achiuwa is playing his way into a new contract from the Knicks as well.

A couple of comments

1. I assume at least one other team will offer OG a max contract because there will be so many teasm with space and too few FAs worth it

2. I'm on the fence on Achiuwa. Is his recent play because of Thibs' coaching, or is it just one of his random good stretches? If you attribute it to coaching and Thibs keeping Precious in a role that suits, he's a good deal.

I won't be surprised if we have to max OG, but I also assume that they already have a handshake agreement in place. So I'm still hopeful he'll land in the 35-40M a year range.

That's the big question, but atm Precious is playing his way into extending his stay.

[JayTWill]

I like Caruso's fit on the Knicks but I'm not sure if I would want to give up the Det. protected pick + another first for Caruso.

I am a bit confused why Chicago would do this deal though. Wouldn't they want to keep Caruso if they are pushing for the play in? After losing Lavine for the season why would they trade another valuable guard? I could see them swapping an older, expiring Derozan+ for a younger Kuzma if they don't want to rebuild immediately but why move Caruso? I'm not familiar with how the Bulls value their other young guards.

[cgf]

I like Caruso's fit on the Knicks but I'm not sure if I would want to give up the Det. protected pick + another first for Caruso.

I am a bit confused why Chicago would do this deal though. Wouldn't they want to keep Caruso if they are pushing for the play in? After losing Lavine for the season why would they trade another valuable guard? I could see them swapping an older, expiring Derozan+ for a younger Kuzma if they don't want to rebuild immediately but why move Caruso? I'm not familiar with how the Bulls value their other young guards.

Because the Bulls are even more guard heavy than we were at the start of the year...White, Lavine, DeRozan, Caruso, Dosunmu, and Carter, are all worthy of PT at the 1 or the 2, when healthy. Patrick Williams (a 3) is the only real forward on their roster, so DeRozan has been their defacto SF...like RJ was for us...and despite everyone acting like Lavine is the worst player to ever lace them up, Chicago misses his creation.

Kuzma could replace some of the creation they've lost next to Coby & DeMar, while also giving them some size that let Williams and DeRozan slide down to the 3 & 2 (respectively). Plus I sent them Wright to backfill a little for Caruso as a bigger defensive bench guard that could play next to White, DeRozan, or Dosunmu.

After the trade they'd be starting White - DeRozan - Williams - Kuzma - Vucevic, with Wright, Dosunmu, Terry, & Drummond leading their bench. So even after this trade, they could still do with swapping Terry...who's more of a 2/3 tweener than the 3/4 they've tried to turn PatWill into...for a true tweener-forward prospect.


I don't love the price either, and would hope we could make it work using just 1 of our 24 FRPs. But I'd rather give up that second meh FRP for Caruso, than spend just 1 FRP on Brown...who's not as good defensively, as a shooter, or as a floor general...Brogdon...who makes Mitch look like an ironman and has b****ed about not being valued everywhere he's been...or Murray...who is just too weak to guard 2s and who's shooting has already started coming back down to earth, while also doing a lot of equivocating & blame-shifting.

[JayTWill]

I like Caruso's fit on the Knicks but I'm not sure if I would want to give up the Det. protected pick + another first for Caruso.

I am a bit confused why Chicago would do this deal though. Wouldn't they want to keep Caruso if they are pushing for the play in? After losing Lavine for the season why would they trade another valuable guard? I could see them swapping an older, expiring Derozan+ for a younger Kuzma if they don't want to rebuild immediately but why move Caruso? I'm not familiar with how the Bulls value their other young guards.

Because the Bulls are even more guard heavy than we were at the start of the year...White, Lavine, DeRozan, Caruso, Dosunmu, and Carter, are all worthy of PT at the 1 or the 2, when healthy. Patrick Williams (a 3) is the only real forward on their roster, so DeRozan has been their defacto SF...like RJ was for us...and despite everyone acting like Lavine is the worst player to ever lace them up, Chicago misses his creation.

Kuzma could replace some of the creation they've lost next to Coby & DeMar, while also giving them some size that let Williams and DeRozan slide down to the 3 & 2 (respectively). Plus I sent them Wright to backfill a little for Caruso as a bigger defensive bench guard that could play next to White, DeRozan, or Dosunmu.

After the trade they'd be starting White - DeRozan - Williams - Kuzma - Vucevic, with Wright, Dosunmu, Terry, & Drummond leading their bench. So even after this trade, they could still do with swapping Terry...who's more of a 2/3 tweener than the 3/4 they've tried to turn PatWill into...for a true tweener-forward prospect.


I don't love the price either, and would hope we could make it work using just 1 of our 24 FRPs. But I'd rather give up that second meh FRP for Caruso, than spend just 1 FRP on Brown...who's not as good defensively, as a shooter, or as a floor general...Brogdon...who makes Mitch look like an ironman and has b****ed about not being valued everywhere he's been...or Murray...who is just too weak to guard 2s and who's shooting has already started coming back down to earth, while also doing a lot of equivocating & blame-shifting.

But even if you consider Derozan a guard which I personally haven't for years why would the Bulls prefer keeping him over Caruso?

[cgf]

I like Caruso's fit on the Knicks but I'm not sure if I would want to give up the Det. protected pick + another first for Caruso.

I am a bit confused why Chicago would do this deal though. Wouldn't they want to keep Caruso if they are pushing for the play in? After losing Lavine for the season why would they trade another valuable guard? I could see them swapping an older, expiring Derozan+ for a younger Kuzma if they don't want to rebuild immediately but why move Caruso? I'm not familiar with how the Bulls value their other young guards.

Because the Bulls are even more guard heavy than we were at the start of the year...White, Lavine, DeRozan, Caruso, Dosunmu, and Carter, are all worthy of PT at the 1 or the 2, when healthy. Patrick Williams (a 3) is the only real forward on their roster, so DeRozan has been their defacto SF...like RJ was for us...and despite everyone acting like Lavine is the worst player to ever lace them up, Chicago misses his creation.

Kuzma could replace some of the creation they've lost next to Coby & DeMar, while also giving them some size that let Williams and DeRozan slide down to the 3 & 2 (respectively). Plus I sent them Wright to backfill a little for Caruso as a bigger defensive bench guard that could play next to White, DeRozan, or Dosunmu.

After the trade they'd be starting White - DeRozan - Williams - Kuzma - Vucevic, with Wright, Dosunmu, Terry, & Drummond leading their bench. So even after this trade, they could still do with swapping Terry...who's more of a 2/3 tweener than the 3/4 they've tried to turn PatWill into...for a true tweener-forward prospect.


I don't love the price either, and would hope we could make it work using just 1 of our 24 FRPs. But I'd rather give up that second meh FRP for Caruso, than spend just 1 FRP on Brown...who's not as good defensively, as a shooter, or as a floor general...Brogdon...who makes Mitch look like an ironman and has b****ed about not being valued everywhere he's been...or Murray...who is just too weak to guard 2s and who's shooting has already started coming back down to earth, while also doing a lot of equivocating & blame-shifting.

But even if you consider Derozan a guard which I personally haven't for years why would the Bulls prefer keeping him over Caruso?

Because the offense runs through DeMar and their playoff push would end without him now that Lavine is getting surgery. Part of what warmed me to Lavine was how successfully he adapted to DeMar dominating the ball...as they really run their offense through DDR...even with Coby's evolution over the past 1.5 years. So with lavine wanting out, they are desperate to re-sign DeMar.

Caruso leads their defense, but their D doesn't collapse without him. So they can more afford to cash him in, especially if it was a move that bolstered their D at other spots by shifting Pat back to the 3 and giving DDR more manageable matchups against 2s...while backfilling for Caruso a little by bringing Wright in with Kuzma. Donovan would have his hands full, but he's a really good defensive coach.


Personally, I consider DeMar a wing...just like RJ...but also like RJ, he is just too overmatched by some of the 3s out there. The same way Pat just can't deal with the size of some 4s in this league. So both would benefit from sliding down a spot if the Bulls ever brought an actual 4 in.

[JayTWill]

But even if you consider Derozan a guard which I personally haven't for years why would the Bulls prefer keeping him over Caruso?

Because the offense runs through DeMar and their playoff push would end without him now that Lavine is getting surgery. Part of what warmed me to Lavine was how successfully he adapted to DeMar dominating the ball...as they really run their offense through DDR...even with Coby's evolution over the past 1.5 years. So with lavine wanting out, they are desperate to re-sign DeMar.

Caruso leads their defense, but their D doesn't collapse without him. So they can more afford to cash him in, especially if it was a move that bolstered their D at other spots by shifting Pat back to the 3 and giving DDR more manageable matchups against 2s...while backfilling for Caruso a little by bringing Wright in with Kuzma. Donovan would have his hands full, but he's a really good defensive coach.


Personally, I consider DeMar a wing...just like RJ...but also like RJ, he is just too overmatched by some of the 3s out there. The same way Pat just can't deal with the size of some 4s in this league. So both would benefit from sliding down a spot if the Bulls ever brought an actual 4 in.

I'm not sure how true the reports of them pushing for the play-in are since this seems like a perfect time for them to finally give up on this core and rebuild but the idea of the Bulls desperately wanting to re-sign a 34/35 year old Derozan seems crazy to me. I have not understood many of the Bulls' decisions from the last 10 years though so I can't say that you are wrong. I can see how Derozan's offense would be very important to the team but trading away a good player on a good contract in the prime of his career and keeping a declining player near the end of his career and possibly re-sign him does not make sense to me. Maybe if Derozan was an all-time great player where the front office is desperately trying to give him the best team possible to finish his career with the franchise.

Would you make this trade if you were the Bull's GM?

[cgf]

But even if you consider Derozan a guard which I personally haven't for years why would the Bulls prefer keeping him over Caruso?

Because the offense runs through DeMar and their playoff push would end without him now that Lavine is getting surgery. Part of what warmed me to Lavine was how successfully he adapted to DeMar dominating the ball...as they really run their offense through DDR...even with Coby's evolution over the past 1.5 years. So with lavine wanting out, they are desperate to re-sign DeMar.

Caruso leads their defense, but their D doesn't collapse without him. So they can more afford to cash him in, especially if it was a move that bolstered their D at other spots by shifting Pat back to the 3 and giving DDR more manageable matchups against 2s...while backfilling for Caruso a little by bringing Wright in with Kuzma. Donovan would have his hands full, but he's a really good defensive coach.


Personally, I consider DeMar a wing...just like RJ...but also like RJ, he is just too overmatched by some of the 3s out there. The same way Pat just can't deal with the size of some 4s in this league. So both would benefit from sliding down a spot if the Bulls ever brought an actual 4 in.

I'm not sure how true the reports of them pushing for the play-in are since this seems like a perfect time for them to finally give up on this core and rebuild but the idea of the Bulls desperately wanting to re-sign a 34/35 year old Derozan seems crazy to me. I have not understood many of the Bulls' decisions from the last 10 years though so I can't say that you are wrong. I can see how Derozan's offense would be very important to the team but trading away a good player on a good contract in the prime of his career and keeping a declining player near the end of his career and possibly re-sign him does not make sense to me. Maybe if Derozan was an all-time great player where the front office is desperately trying to give him the best team possible to finish his career with the franchise.

Would you make this trade if you were the Bull's GM?

People outside Chicago can continue doubting it, but this FO will get fired before they accept that Lonzo breaking spoiled their plans.


And that's a tough question to answer. Am I under the same pressure from ownership that their current GM is or am I coming in with a fresh slate? Cause if I was allowed to tear it down, that's probably the direction that makes more sense

...but that would mean admitting to ownership that all of those big moves AK made a few years ago turned into mistakes the second that the injury-prone Lonzo Ball suffered a devastating injury. Which would probably mean AK getting fired.

[JayTWill]

I'm not sure how true the reports of them pushing for the play-in are since this seems like a perfect time for them to finally give up on this core and rebuild but the idea of the Bulls desperately wanting to re-sign a 34/35 year old Derozan seems crazy to me. I have not understood many of the Bulls' decisions from the last 10 years though so I can't say that you are wrong. I can see how Derozan's offense would be very important to the team but trading away a good player on a good contract in the prime of his career and keeping a declining player near the end of his career and possibly re-sign him does not make sense to me. Maybe if Derozan was an all-time great player where the front office is desperately trying to give him the best team possible to finish his career with the franchise.

Would you make this trade if you were the Bull's GM?

People outside Chicago can continue doubting it, but this FO will get fired before they accept that Lonzo breaking spoiled their plans.


And that's a tough question to answer. Am I under the same pressure from ownership that their current GM is or am I coming in with a fresh slate? Cause if I was allowed to tear it down, that's probably the direction that makes more sense

...but that would mean admitting to ownership that all of those big moves AK made a few years ago turned into mistakes the second that the injury-prone Lonzo Ball suffered a devastating injury. Which would probably mean AK getting fired.

I know you are a big fan of Caruso. Just wondering if you would choose a White/Lavine/Derozan/PWill/Kuzma/Vuc core this year and going forward or a White/Lavine/Caruso/PWill/Kuzma/Vuc core if you were trying to keep your job as GM.

[cgf]

I'm not sure how true the reports of them pushing for the play-in are since this seems like a perfect time for them to finally give up on this core and rebuild but the idea of the Bulls desperately wanting to re-sign a 34/35 year old Derozan seems crazy to me. I have not understood many of the Bulls' decisions from the last 10 years though so I can't say that you are wrong. I can see how Derozan's offense would be very important to the team but trading away a good player on a good contract in the prime of his career and keeping a declining player near the end of his career and possibly re-sign him does not make sense to me. Maybe if Derozan was an all-time great player where the front office is desperately trying to give him the best team possible to finish his career with the franchise.

Would you make this trade if you were the Bull's GM?

People outside Chicago can continue doubting it, but this FO will get fired before they accept that Lonzo breaking spoiled their plans.


And that's a tough question to answer. Am I under the same pressure from ownership that their current GM is or am I coming in with a fresh slate? Cause if I was allowed to tear it down, that's probably the direction that makes more sense

...but that would mean admitting to ownership that all of those big moves AK made a few years ago turned into mistakes the second that the injury-prone Lonzo Ball suffered a devastating injury. Which would probably mean AK getting fired.

I know you are a big fan of Caruso. Just wondering if you would choose a White/Lavine/Derozan/PWill/Kuzma/Vuc core this year and going forward or a White/Lavine/Caruso/PWill/Kuzma/Vuc core if you were trying to keep your job as GM.

I think White / Lavine / DeRozan / Williams / Kuzma / Vuc would win more games this season & next than White / Lavine / Caruso / Williams / Kuzma / Vuc. So if I was AK, so I'd probably prioritize keeping DDR too.

Although I'd like to think I'd have the courage to just do the right thing and set the Bulls up for the future, even if it cost me my job. Hoping that that kind of courage & foresight let me build back enough of my reputation to get another job in the future.

[cgf]

So what are Leon & AK waiting for? This should be easy...