GoBlue72391 wrote:Stratmaster wrote:PJSteven22 wrote:No not really. He was playing the 3 with Lauri before the Vuc trade. Pat still played the 3 after the Vuc with Theis playing the 4 because of his help defense. The reason why he got benched was because Vuc and Lauri didn’t fit well in the front court. This disproves your theory.
The fact that rookie Pat started and played the 3 while Lauri was asking to, and then Lauri was traded while Pat continued to be gifted the starting job, disproves my theory that the Bulls chose keeping Williams over keeping Lauri, and my opinion that it was the wrong choice?
Sure.
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Vuc is clearly the main reason Lauri isn't here. Pat surely played a part in it, but until the Vuc trade Lauri was still starting and was still in the Bull's long-term plans. The Vuc trade changed all that.
The narrative from the FO before the trade was even made official was all that riff-raff about how they doubt Lauri and Vuc could play together, and that was echoed by the announcers too.
Of course, you can speculate that without the Vuc trade, the Bulls don't trade a 7' floor spreader. But without Williams, they don't trade Lauri either. Billy played them together exactly 1 game before benching Lauri. The fact is, Billy didn't see anything in Lauri, Billy liked small ball and playing fast. It wasn't that they proved they couldn't play together. Billy didn't want them playing together.The guy who replaced Lauri was still rookie Patrick Williams. Funny thing is they were saying the EXACT same things about Williams back then that we are still saying today.
Sam Smith on the Vuc trade: "I'm not for trading Markkanen, though more things could happen this summer based on the urgency and boldness Arturas Karnisovas has shown. I know who Markkanen is, and because the Bulls needed a seven footer to get in the post, rebound and out tough the tough big guys, Markkanen was disappointing. Now they have someone else to do that, which means Markkanen can do what he does and who he is, which is a seven footer who is an excellent three-point shooter and versatile enough to defend that second line big man or stretch four player. Suddenly the Bulls are huge with a pair of front court seven footers who can complement one another.......With Patrick Williams the Bulls have one who looks like he could be excellent. Perhaps he replaces Markkanen at some point because he looks more like a power forward with his body and more physical attitude. But now the Bulls don't have to rely on him, which he's shown they shouldn't as he's nowhere near ready to be a consistent producer."
That was followed by a discussion between Art Alenik and Smith on whether Williams would replace Lauri, with the 2 of them disagreeing.
Sean Carroll "Sir Charles" on Fansided, speculating at the time of the Vuc trade "The following season, the Bulls build on their playoff berth, re-signing key veterans, bringing back Lauri on a team-friendly deal"
Also fansided, in the first offseason just before the Lauri trade: "The Bulls’ new starting lineup, currently without barring any new roster moves, looks like — Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, and Nikola Vucevic.That means Coby White, Alex Caruso, and maybe Lauri Markkanen will head the second rotation. "
Forbes: The hope is Markkanen and the recently benched Coby White, two offensive-minded players with defensive limitations, will make a bigger impact in bench roles. However, it’s fair to wonder just what the long-term future holds for these two in Chicago given the commitment to building around LaVine and Vucevic, two offensive-minded stars with defensive limitations, plus a rookie in Patrick Williams who might just be better at the 4.
Hindsight from KC Johnson: "The Bulls gave up on Lauri Markkanen, who now on his third team is headed towards a potential first All-Star selection and is playing other worldly basketball." Did they give up on him, or was he a bad fit?
Just an aside. Found this quote about Billy from October 2021: "Donovan has expressed a desire to play faster this season, so it doesn’t appear he will turn to a traditional big man to step in for Williams at power forward". He is a broken record that never delivers.