bulls and nets

[shagadelic45]

chi trades: lavine, 2025 #1 (por)

bky trades: simmons, wilson



Bulls get out from lavine's contract........Nets pick up a first for their rebuild and can hope to flip lavine later for maybe another rebuilding asset

[psman2]

What is the goal of getting out of Lavine's contract? To get cap space to sell to get a first like the one they are giving up here? Teams rarely just pay to dump salary for no clear reason. Dodge the tax or clear space to sign better players...sure....but to pay to dump LaVine so they can do what next year?

I think the Bulls ride it out and hope that LaVine performs enough to not have to pay to move him, and if he doesn't then he expires next year. They can be bad with him to avoid conveying their pick.

[ChettheJet]

This could have been done for the past year and a half and didn't happen. So for the umteenth time

yes it's great to get the expiring contract for Lavine

When you put Simmons on the Bulls his only position is PF. Today Lavine starts at the SF with Giddey and White at guard, Patrick Williams at the 4. OK Simmons can't shoot so at best he's a defensive, passing PF with Williams moving to the SF. Even if Vucevic returns to his shooting form Giddey is maybe good not great from behind the arc so they have White who is very good and Williams who has not shot in volume for his career yet. Dosunmu could step up and Lonzo Ball off the bench may come back, how does he shoot, it's hard to remember he's been out for 2 2/3 seasons.

The Bulls aren't trying to tank to #10 because they owe a protected 1st, they are in the midst of changing the roster and they will change more next summer with or without an expiring Simmons.

no deal

[wemby]

This could have been done for the past year and a half and didn't happen. So for the umteenth time

yes it's great to get the expiring contract for Lavine

When you put Simmons on the Bulls his only position is PF. Today Lavine starts at the SF with Giddey and White at guard, Patrick Williams at the 4. OK Simmons can't shoot so at best he's a defensive, passing PF with Williams moving to the SF. Even if Vucevic returns to his shooting form Giddey is maybe good not great from behind the arc so they have White who is very good and Williams who has not shot in volume for his career yet. Dosunmu could step up and Lonzo Ball off the bench may come back, how does he shoot, it's hard to remember he's been out for 2 2/3 seasons.

The Bulls aren't trying to tank to #10 because they owe a protected 1st, they are in the midst of changing the roster and they will change more next summer with or without an expiring Simmons.

no deal

You speak as if the Bulls had the chance to do this and didn't and you provide a long rationalization, which is crazy, because this would never happen but not because of the Bulls but the Nets, who definitely don't want to take on 2 years and 100M of another injury prone flawed player like Lavine. Bulls would take this deal so fast your head would be spinning. Pretending otherwise is dumbfounding.

[babyjax13]

Count me as another thinking that the Bulls don't have this easy of an out on LaVine.

[drchaos]

If we are taking Lavine's salary and a first for Simmons (expiring) why do we need to throw in a good prospect like Wilson?

[ecuhus1981]

The 2025 free agency group is not as talented as it seemed it would be, due to extensions. Still, Brooklyn is not going to give up on their plan to have max capspace available, at least not for Zach with only 1 good 1st as sweetener.

And I don't think Lavine and Thomas make sense as a backcourt pairing.

[meekrab]

Awful for the Bulls, they aren't running a Call of Duty Esports team which is the only thing Simmons could really play for.

[cgf]

I don't see how AK could sell this to ownership. Who knows what'll happen with Lavine this season, but when he came back from injury last season Chicago had their most successful stretch of the season and with DDR leaving town, their offense could really use Zach next to Coby.

They won't make any noise in the postseason and will really need to scrape for that 10th seed given how strong the East's top 8 is and how solid Atlanta should be, but a White - Lavine - Giggity - Williams - Vucevic starting 5 makes sense on paper; and with Ayo, Terry, Duarte, Buzelis, Smith, etc. there's some talent on the bench even if Lonzo breaks again.

[leo921]

I like another Bulls trade for Simmons

Bulls trade - Ball/Vuc/Terry
Nets trade - Simmons

Nets can use a center as there starter Sharpe is both injured and not good even when healthy. Vuc is a solid center
who wont hurt the tank but can help the younger players like Claxton and Cam Thomas develop. Vuc has this year and
next at 20m, Ball is a 20m expiring contract who can help in limited minutes as he comes back, Terry is a prospect flier.

For the Bulls Simmons is a great value even if he doesnt play as a 40m expiring contract and gets the Bulls off Vuc.
IF he does play you can run something along the lines of Giddy/White/Lavine/Williams/Smith with
Ayo/Phillps/Buziles/Simmons off the bench.

[Scoot McGroot]

I don't see how AK could sell this to ownership. Who knows what'll happen with Lavine this season, but when he came back from injury last season Chicago had their most successful stretch of the season and with DDR leaving town, their offense could really use Zach next to Coby.

They won't make any noise in the postseason and will really need to scrape for that 10th seed given how strong the East's top 8 is and how solid Atlanta should be, but a White - Lavine - Giggity - Williams - Vucevic starting 5 makes sense on paper; and with Ayo, Terry, Duarte, Buzelis, Smith, etc. there's some talent on the bench even if Lonzo breaks again.

I think it’s a pretty easy sell. 50% of Simmons’ contract has been paid this year already (due to Simmons contract quirk hat has 50% of his salary paid by October 1), so he can tell ownership he cleared Lavine’s $138m potentially owed and they now only owe about $20.2m total. And for only one well protected first? They save $23m in cash payments alone this year. They’ll love to hear that.


I also personally think that Chicago may end up keeping their first his year regardless of this trade.

[cgf]

I don't see how AK could sell this to ownership. Who knows what'll happen with Lavine this season, but when he came back from injury last season Chicago had their most successful stretch of the season and with DDR leaving town, their offense could really use Zach next to Coby.

They won't make any noise in the postseason and will really need to scrape for that 10th seed given how strong the East's top 8 is and how solid Atlanta should be, but a White - Lavine - Giggity - Williams - Vucevic starting 5 makes sense on paper; and with Ayo, Terry, Duarte, Buzelis, Smith, etc. there's some talent on the bench even if Lonzo breaks again.

I think it’s a pretty easy sell. 50% of Simmons’ contract has been paid this year already (due to Simmons contract quirk hat has 50% of his salary paid by October 1), so he can tell ownership he cleared Lavine’s $138m potentially owed and they now only owe about $20.2m total. And for only one well protected first? They save $23m in cash payments alone this year. They’ll love to hear that.


I also personally think that Chicago may end up keeping their first his year regardless of this trade.

Gotta pay somebody to get people to show up, and the Bulls haven’t exactly been a huge FA draw; so I’m not sure that ownership would throw in the towel on their play-in dreams that easily.

[Scoot McGroot]

I don't see how AK could sell this to ownership. Who knows what'll happen with Lavine this season, but when he came back from injury last season Chicago had their most successful stretch of the season and with DDR leaving town, their offense could really use Zach next to Coby.

They won't make any noise in the postseason and will really need to scrape for that 10th seed given how strong the East's top 8 is and how solid Atlanta should be, but a White - Lavine - Giggity - Williams - Vucevic starting 5 makes sense on paper; and with Ayo, Terry, Duarte, Buzelis, Smith, etc. there's some talent on the bench even if Lonzo breaks again.

I think it’s a pretty easy sell. 50% of Simmons’ contract has been paid this year already (due to Simmons contract quirk hat has 50% of his salary paid by October 1), so he can tell ownership he cleared Lavine’s $138m potentially owed and they now only owe about $20.2m total. And for only one well protected first? They save $23m in cash payments alone this year. They’ll love to hear that.


I also personally think that Chicago may end up keeping their first his year regardless of this trade.

Gotta pay somebody to get people to show up, and the Bulls haven’t exactly been a huge FA draw; so I’m not sure that ownership would throw in the towel on their play-in dreams that easily.

I disagree. As an Indy fan, I’ve seen that belief held up for guys like Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Malcolm Brogdon, etc, but what’s actually sold more tickets was the eventual shift to a true rebuild. Plus, how much is Lavine actually selling tickets there, nowadays? And, we’re talking about a TON of cash savings, and on a guy that’s made it clear he doesn’t want to be there. That’s going to be a LOT MORE than a game or two in the play in could make them.

[cgf]

I think it’s a pretty easy sell. 50% of Simmons’ contract has been paid this year already (due to Simmons contract quirk hat has 50% of his salary paid by October 1), so he can tell ownership he cleared Lavine’s $138m potentially owed and they now only owe about $20.2m total. And for only one well protected first? They save $23m in cash payments alone this year. They’ll love to hear that.


I also personally think that Chicago may end up keeping their first his year regardless of this trade.

Gotta pay somebody to get people to show up, and the Bulls haven’t exactly been a huge FA draw; so I’m not sure that ownership would throw in the towel on their play-in dreams that easily.

I disagree. As an Indy fan, I’ve seen that belief held up for guys like Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Malcolm Brogdon, etc, but what’s actually sold more tickets was the eventual shift to a true rebuild. Plus, how much is Lavine actually selling tickets there, nowadays? And, we’re talking about a TON of cash savings, and on a guy that’s made it clear he doesn’t want to be there. That’s going to be a LOT MORE than a game or two in the play in could make them.

I understand what you’re saying but the UC is just too consistently packed despite having a mediocre team for me to believe this ownership group will risk losing even a cent from those fans coming through the gates, despite the ticket prices, by admitting to tanking.

Granted I do think Lavine could have a strong bounce back year and basically replace what they lost with DDR, next to Coby & the other kids. So I don’t think they are completely delusional to think they could make the play in.

[schaffy]

I don't see how AK could sell this to ownership. Who knows what'll happen with Lavine this season, but when he came back from injury last season Chicago had their most successful stretch of the season and with DDR leaving town, their offense could really use Zach next to Coby.

They won't make any noise in the postseason and will really need to scrape for that 10th seed given how strong the East's top 8 is and how solid Atlanta should be, but a White - Lavine - Giggity - Williams - Vucevic starting 5 makes sense on paper; and with Ayo, Terry, Duarte, Buzelis, Smith, etc. there's some talent on the bench even if Lonzo breaks again.

I'm not at all convinced that lineup is going to make a decent push for the play-in. Offensively it seems like it should make sense even if there is more than a few guys who need and/or want the ball to be effective. But wet newspaper would provide more resistance than their defense. That's gonna be rough against anyone except the other bottom teams.

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[cgf]

I don't see how AK could sell this to ownership. Who knows what'll happen with Lavine this season, but when he came back from injury last season Chicago had their most successful stretch of the season and with DDR leaving town, their offense could really use Zach next to Coby.

They won't make any noise in the postseason and will really need to scrape for that 10th seed given how strong the East's top 8 is and how solid Atlanta should be, but a White - Lavine - Giggity - Williams - Vucevic starting 5 makes sense on paper; and with Ayo, Terry, Duarte, Buzelis, Smith, etc. there's some talent on the bench even if Lonzo breaks again.

I'm not at all convinced that lineup is going to make a decent push for the play-in. Offensively it seems like it should make sense even if there is more than a few guys who need and/or want the ball to be effective. But wet newspaper would provide more resistance than their defense. That's gonna be rough against anyone except the other bottom teams.

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Their rim protection is going to be poor again and losing Caruso will definitely hurt them against top teams, but they have a lot of scrappy-to-very-good defenders on the perimeter...Williams, White, Dosunmu, Terry, Lonzo?, and Duarte; with Giddey & Lavine not being liabilities...and Donavon is an excellent defensive coach.

[schaffy]

I don't see how AK could sell this to ownership. Who knows what'll happen with Lavine this season, but when he came back from injury last season Chicago had their most successful stretch of the season and with DDR leaving town, their offense could really use Zach next to Coby.

They won't make any noise in the postseason and will really need to scrape for that 10th seed given how strong the East's top 8 is and how solid Atlanta should be, but a White - Lavine - Giggity - Williams - Vucevic starting 5 makes sense on paper; and with Ayo, Terry, Duarte, Buzelis, Smith, etc. there's some talent on the bench even if Lonzo breaks again.

I'm not at all convinced that lineup is going to make a decent push for the play-in. Offensively it seems like it should make sense even if there is more than a few guys who need and/or want the ball to be effective. But wet newspaper would provide more resistance than their defense. That's gonna be rough against anyone except the other bottom teams.

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Their rim protection is going to be poor again and losing Caruso will definitely hurt them against top teams, but they have a lot of scrappy-to-very-good defenders on the perimeter...Williams, White, Dosunmu, Terry, Lonzo?, and Duarte; with Giddey & Lavine not being liabilities...and Donavon is an excellent defensive coach.

They had the 21st rated defense last yr and they are effectively swapping Caruso and ddr for lavine and giddey in the lineup and getting williams back more in place of roleplayers. Maybe I'm wrong but I just don't see that starting group being any better defensively than last yr.

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[cgf]

I'm not at all convinced that lineup is going to make a decent push for the play-in. Offensively it seems like it should make sense even if there is more than a few guys who need and/or want the ball to be effective. But wet newspaper would provide more resistance than their defense. That's gonna be rough against anyone except the other bottom teams.

Sent from my SM-S901U using RealGM mobile app

Their rim protection is going to be poor again and losing Caruso will definitely hurt them against top teams, but they have a lot of scrappy-to-very-good defenders on the perimeter...Williams, White, Dosunmu, Terry, Lonzo?, and Duarte; with Giddey & Lavine not being liabilities...and Donavon is an excellent defensive coach.

They had the 21st rated defense last yr and they are effectively swapping Caruso and ddr for lavine and giddey in the lineup and getting williams back more in place of roleplayers. Maybe I'm wrong but I just don't see that starting group being any better defensively than last yr.

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Caruso to PWill is a downgrade for sure, but a) Lavine & Giddey will be better than DeRozan, and b) they had a lot of young players who should continue improving defensively.

Duarte, Lonzo, and their rookie also weren’t part of the equation last year…though I dunno how many of them will make a positive impact this year.

[letsgobulls23]

This could have been done for the past year and a half and didn't happen. So for the umteenth time

yes it's great to get the expiring contract for Lavine

When you put Simmons on the Bulls his only position is PF. Today Lavine starts at the SF with Giddey and White at guard, Patrick Williams at the 4. OK Simmons can't shoot so at best he's a defensive, passing PF with Williams moving to the SF. Even if Vucevic returns to his shooting form Giddey is maybe good not great from behind the arc so they have White who is very good and Williams who has not shot in volume for his career yet. Dosunmu could step up and Lonzo Ball off the bench may come back, how does he shoot, it's hard to remember he's been out for 2 2/3 seasons.

The Bulls aren't trying to tank to #10 because they owe a protected 1st, they are in the midst of changing the roster and they will change more next summer with or without an expiring Simmons.

no deal

You speak as if the Bulls had the chance to do this and didn't and you provide a long rationalization, which is crazy, because this would never happen but not because of the Bulls but the Nets, who definitely don't want to take on 2 years and 100M of another injury prone flawed player like Lavine. Bulls would take this deal so fast your head would be spinning. Pretending otherwise is dumbfounding.

100% correct. The Bulls would realistically take this offer in a split second.

[DarkXaero]

The Nets aren't doing this, it's tank season for them and they want to retain their cap flexibility going forward. They'll happily let Ben expire than take on Lavine

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