Bulls Offseason Plan (Orl, OKC, LAL)

[pipfan]

I really want my Bulls to reset a bit, and build for the future. This Playin win-now mentality is fine, but we need to aim higher

Trade 1-CWhite/JCarter for CAnthony/JHoward/#16
Orl could REALLY use CWhite's scoring. This deal also frees up about $10 million next summer (Howard's deal, #16 $) to help resign Coby

Trade 2
Dieng for a future 2nd
OKC frees up a roster spot and saves almost $5 million (Dieng's 2025-26 salary - a minimum player)

Trade 3
Vuc/DTerry to LAL for Kleber/Knecht/Vincent (buyout)
LA needs defense but Vuc rebounds, sets picks, passes and scores well-plus he plays nightly. Terry is defensive wing depth, and both expire

Bulls end up with this young lineup
At #12 they take Egor (I assume Newell will be gone, my first choice). At #16 they take Fleming

Next year they roll with
Ball/Ayo/Anthony
Giddey/Huerter/Knecht
Matas/Egor/Howard
Dieng/PWill/Fleming
Collins/Smith/Kleber

That is a big lineup, with lots of youth and expiring deals. It's also a very deep lineup, almost a tryout year for a lot of guys. They'd be in the market for a star looking for a new home, and would have Giddey (let's say $30 million), Matas, Fleming, Egor, Knecht, Smith, Howard under contract next summer, with options on Dieng, Ball, Ayo, Anthony-they could easily have over $80 million of cap space, plus another top 10 pick and maybe the Port pick.

[Godaddycurse]

I really want my Bulls to reset a bit, and build for the future. This Playin win-now mentality is fine, but we need to aim higher

Trade 1-CWhite/JCarter for CAnthony/JHoward/#16
Orl could REALLY use CWhite's scoring. This deal also frees up about $10 million next summer (Howard's deal, #16 $) to help resign Coby

Trade 2
Dieng for a future 2nd
OKC frees up a roster spot and saves almost $5 million (Dieng's 2025-26 salary - a minimum player)

Trade 3
Vuc/DTerry to LAL for Kleber/Knecht/Vincent (buyout)
LA needs defense but Vuc rebounds, sets picks, passes and scores well-plus he plays nightly. Terry is defensive wing depth, and both expire

Bulls end up with this young lineup
At #12 they take Egor (I assume Newell will be gone, my first choice). At #16 they take Fleming

Next year they roll with
Ball/Ayo/Anthony
Giddey/Huerter/Knecht
Matas/Egor/Howard
Dieng/PWill/Fleming
Collins/Smith/Kleber

That is a big lineup, with lots of youth and expiring deals. It's also a very deep lineup, almost a tryout year for a lot of guys. They'd be in the market for a star looking for a new home, and would have Giddey (let's say $30 million), Matas, Fleming, Egor, Knecht, Smith, Howard under contract next summer, with options on Dieng, Ball, Ayo, Anthony-they could easily have over $80 million of cap space, plus another top 10 pick and maybe the Port pick.

trade 1 looks good
trade 2 is sure why not
I think Lakers look elsewhere for a defensive C. just trade vuc to charlotte for an early 2nd (think they offered that)

I enjoy your posts but also am very amused by how you seem to yo-yo between pushing for a 50 win team and resetting

[ReggiesKnicks]

Trade #1 is fine. I don't like Coby White as a target for Orlando but I understand the fascination.
Trade #2 is a bit light but Dieng is clearly worth less than a 1st.
Trade #3 is bad for LAL. Vincent is a legitimate 3+D rotation-level PG. Is he worth 9 Million instead of 11.5? Maybe? But this has the Lakers trading 2-3 rotation (even end of rotation) players for a Center who is less than an ideal fit. It fills a Center need imperfectly while opening up at least 2 other holes on the roster.

[facothomas22]

Trade 1 isn't great. Yes Coby White is on a expiring contract, but he's coming off a season of being 20+ point per game score and looks a major piece for the Bulls. The 16th pick in the draft and filler likely is enough for Anfernee Simons or Collin Sexton. This is simply bad value for Coby White and the Bulls can do better.
Trade 2 is slightly on the light side for the Thunder. I don't see Dieng as having 1st round pick value, but maybe another 2nd round pick or two.
Trade 3 is good value, but the fit simply isn't there. Nikola Vucevic isn't solving the Lakers issues.

[ChettheJet]

What you're doing is concentrating on money and adding a pick with no real timetable to ever get beyond the 9th play in spot. Nobody else wants to stay in spin the wheels mode.

#1 begs the question, where is the scoring going to come from? Anthony has never averaged 16ppg, year, if he was a scorer ORL would play him enough for him to get buckets. Howard, come on even you're putting him as the 3rd string SF, he's not getting off the bench

#2 Yeah Dieng comes cheap, you hugely overrate him, do you see his past, 3 seasons and never played 15 mpg and never scored 5 points a game. OK so you hate Patrick Williams, he's more than doubled what Dieng has ever done and he's shot better from 3 in all 5 of his NBA seasons. But you've seen so much Dieng that he's your starter?

#3 is nothing but a salary dump for Vucevic. Kleber shows up and is 3rd string center and not a good one at that. If you spend anything to get Knecht you should have a way to get him on the floor, he's the end of the bench behind Giddey and Huerter. Why trade for Vincent making twice what Carter does when you could just buy out Carter?

If ORL thinks a year of Coby White is the answer let them trade #16 for him and forget the others. Even better with the roster and contracts the Bulls have they don't need two 2025 rookies they should be looking for a 2026 ORL pick when the Bulls have a bunch of expiring contracts. Find the money to resign Tre Jones.

[giberish]

The first two trades seem plausible. The third is very optimistic.

Vuc is filler. He's inoffensive salary matching but he's not bringing in a meaningful asset in return. Knecht is still a minor but meaningful asset.

[pipfan]

I really want my Bulls to reset a bit, and build for the future. This Playin win-now mentality is fine, but we need to aim higher

Trade 1-CWhite/JCarter for CAnthony/JHoward/#16
Orl could REALLY use CWhite's scoring. This deal also frees up about $10 million next summer (Howard's deal, #16 $) to help resign Coby

Trade 2
Dieng for a future 2nd
OKC frees up a roster spot and saves almost $5 million (Dieng's 2025-26 salary - a minimum player)

Trade 3
Vuc/DTerry to LAL for Kleber/Knecht/Vincent (buyout)
LA needs defense but Vuc rebounds, sets picks, passes and scores well-plus he plays nightly. Terry is defensive wing depth, and both expire

Bulls end up with this young lineup
At #12 they take Egor (I assume Newell will be gone, my first choice). At #16 they take Fleming

Next year they roll with
Ball/Ayo/Anthony
Giddey/Huerter/Knecht
Matas/Egor/Howard
Dieng/PWill/Fleming
Collins/Smith/Kleber

That is a big lineup, with lots of youth and expiring deals. It's also a very deep lineup, almost a tryout year for a lot of guys. They'd be in the market for a star looking for a new home, and would have Giddey (let's say $30 million), Matas, Fleming, Egor, Knecht, Smith, Howard under contract next summer, with options on Dieng, Ball, Ayo, Anthony-they could easily have over $80 million of cap space, plus another top 10 pick and maybe the Port pick.

trade 1 looks good
trade 2 is sure why not
I think Lakers look elsewhere for a defensive C. just trade vuc to charlotte for an early 2nd (think they offered that)

I enjoy your posts but also am very amused by how you seem to yo-yo between pushing for a 50 win team and resetting

Thanks-I, of course, have no plan. I'm just a fan who likes the intellectual challenge of coming up with a fair trade and a team direction that makes sense. Our FO seems set on not rebuilding, which is fine. Tanking is not guaranteed anything, and can lead to years of terrible play to watch. I enjoyed the 2nd half of our season this year, even knowing it was nothing great.
If it were up to me, I'd roll the dice on Lauri or Zion

[Astaluego]

I think they'd have to find another team that needs Vuc...
I like the Mavs, especially if AD insists on playing the 4 a lot, it would be a good pairing, Vuc can shoot, he would help with spacing, he would contribute scoring and he's also a good passer... skills that the MAVS could really use, I suppose the offer would be Gafford/Powell/O-Max.
The Bulls could find a 3 team for Gaff (here the Lakers could participate with Maxi++) or the Hawks could take him into their cap space and return some SRP) or they could just keep him and give them another center archetype, which would be a nice compliment to Giddey in the PnR. O-Max, a big, defensive-oriented wing with a lot of energy and little talent, but useful...

The other destination I think makes sense is the GRIZZLIES (always careful with finances) Vuc for Clarke/Konchar/GG Jackson.
The BULLS get an athletic center and a solid veteran (local guy) in Konchar.
GG is a very young wing loaded with potential who would be the prize for eating the extra year of salary...
Vuc would be a great fit for JJJ, combining defects and virtues, and is expiring, which gives them flexibility to address the extensions of JJJ and Aldama.

[Viper1500]

Is Coby White the playmaker Orlando needs? Serious question.

[Dan Z]

What you're doing is concentrating on money and adding a pick with no real timetable to ever get beyond the 9th play in spot. Nobody else wants to stay in spin the wheels mode.

#1 begs the question, where is the scoring going to come from? Anthony has never averaged 16ppg, year, if he was a scorer ORL would play him enough for him to get buckets. Howard, come on even you're putting him as the 3rd string SF, he's not getting off the bench

#2 Yeah Dieng comes cheap, you hugely overrate him, do you see his past, 3 seasons and never played 15 mpg and never scored 5 points a game. OK so you hate Patrick Williams, he's more than doubled what Dieng has ever done and he's shot better from 3 in all 5 of his NBA seasons. But you've seen so much Dieng that he's your starter?

#3 is nothing but a salary dump for Vucevic. Kleber shows up and is 3rd string center and not a good one at that. If you spend anything to get Knecht you should have a way to get him on the floor, he's the end of the bench behind Giddey and Huerter. Why trade for Vincent making twice what Carter does when you could just buy out Carter?

If ORL thinks a year of Coby White is the answer let them trade #16 for him and forget the others. Even better with the roster and contracts the Bulls have they don't need two 2025 rookies they should be looking for a 2026 ORL pick when the Bulls have a bunch of expiring contracts. Find the money to resign Tre Jones.

If The Bulls could get Dieng for cheap then I think it's a good idea to take a chance on him. It's a low risk move, but, as you point out, he hasn't done much so far in his career.

[Dan Z]

Is Coby White the playmaker Orlando needs? Serious question.

No, but his shooting would help.

[pipfan]

Coby has become solid at creating his own shot and he is a good kid.
I think Orl would be happy to have him, and this deal saves them some $ to resign him

[Mamba4Goat]

I’m sky high on White so that may be influencing it but I don’t think Chicago should consider the first trade.

If they love Dieng, sure. Otherwise I’d try to ask for a 2nd or two for taking on the salary.

The last trade is fine value-wise but LAL just got destroyed for having two defensive liabilities (Reaves/Luka). Adding a 3rd with the limited assets/chips they have seems like the opposite direction they should be going.