Bulls vs Sixers 7pm CT Jan. 25 2025

[dougthonus]

And even if, make him fetch an offer sheet ! They made Zach do that and he had shown 10X more than Patrick thru his rookie deal.

FWIW, that was our last FO that made Zach sign an offer sheet. AK has never made anyone sign an offer sheet.

[Stratmaster]

He's still playing, and will continue to play as long as he's healthy, because we just signed him to 5/$90M. If it was up to Billy I'm sure he'd banish him to the shadow realm, but I'd be surprised if AKME isn't forcing him to play Pat to save face and/or try to rebuild whatever value they can for him.

If the reason Billy has been starting Williams almost every game he is available, during Billy's entire tenure here, is because AKME told him to... then Billy needs to go simply due to a lack of any spine or balls. You don't get and take that contract extension to ruin your career by being a yes man.

If Billy didn't demand they get a big to upgrade the 4 over the last couple seasons, then his entire strategy is completely flawed (a bunch of 6x5" to 6'8" wings).

He can't be absolved from this. At the least he is complicit. At the worst he is the one driving it.

Generally, ignoring your boss's direct orders doesn't turn out well. There's plenty to complain about in regards to Billy, but Pat's playing time isn't one. It's clear his hands are tied.

Not being argumentative. Really. But how is that "clear".

I managed people. And had a boss. If they had told me who on my team to assign to accounts and tasks I would have found another job. And I wasn't making 5 mil or whatever the hell Billy makes a year.

It's just another excuse for Billy. Just like all the excuses made for Pat.

[WindyCityBorn]

The answer is crystal clear. You need to start making moves before a stupid injury, Lavine's and Vuce value going down the drain.

Enough is enough

Pretty sure Vuc is gone. I guess you’re still in denial about it, but Zach isn’t getting traded.

He's still wearing a Bulls jersey last I saw.

I meant I’ll be shocked if Vuc doesn’t get traded.

[Muzbar]

Pretty sure Vuc is gone. I guess you’re still in denial about it, but Zach isn’t getting traded.

He's still wearing a Bulls jersey last I saw.

I meant I’ll be shocked if Vuc doesn’t get traded.

I wouldn't.

[Red8911]

First domino has got to be Donovan axed, no?

One issue is that he signed a contract extension not long ago. I'm not sure what the years/money are, but I doubt JR wants to pay him to go away.

Why do the bulls make the same mistake over and over again with coaches. They keep getting stuck with coaches because of these long extensions. Billy could have been fired from last year if it wasn’t for the extension.

They should have some kind of deal where if fired they won’t have to pay them extra. Sure the better coaches won’t accept this but there’s also a lot of good coaches who would accept this. It’s actually a fair deal, get paid well but if fired it’s over.

Same goes for AK. Why give him so many years ? Sign him for a couple years and if he does well then sign him again for another 2. AK is not the only person in the world who can do this job. Many people can do it and probably do better too. I don’t understand why we need to be stuck with these people when they are failing.

[Red8911]

According to this we'll know in the next few weeks if the Sixers continue to try and go for it or give up on the season.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/278916/Josh-Harris-Sixers-Built-Elite-Team;-To-Take-A-Few-Weeks-To-Evaluate-Path-For-Rest-Of-Season

Go for what that team is as cooked as the Bulls are. They might feel good about themselves that they won but doesn’t mean they’re any good.

They might actually be in a worse situation than the Bulls, Embiid is close to being finished. Having him out all the time is the worst thing for a team who relies on him heavily. I don’t think he’s ever going to be the same again.

[Red8911]

If the reason Billy has been starting Williams almost every game he is available, during Billy's entire tenure here, is because AKME told him to... then Billy needs to go simply due to a lack of any spine or balls. You don't get and take that contract extension to ruin your career by being a yes man.

If Billy didn't demand they get a big to upgrade the 4 over the last couple seasons, then his entire strategy is completely flawed (a bunch of 6x5" to 6'8" wings).

He can't be absolved from this. At the least he is complicit. At the worst he is the one driving it.

Generally, ignoring your boss's direct orders doesn't turn out well. There's plenty to complain about in regards to Billy, but Pat's playing time isn't one. It's clear his hands are tied.

Not being argumentative. Really. But how is that "clear".

I managed people. And had a boss. If they had told me who on my team to assign to accounts and tasks I would have found another job. And I wasn't making 5 mil or whatever the hell Billy makes a year.

It's just another excuse for Billy. Just like all the excuses made for Pat.

AK has the power to control anyone’s minutes especially with Billy. Pat just signed this contract and they need him to play. Either A to prove to the boss that this was well paid money and B to raise his value in order to trade him away. Him playing is a hope that he will turn it around.

These won’t happen if he’s sitting on the bench by “coaches decision”. If Billy does bench Pat that makes AK look bad. First Reinsdorfs will question and criticize why he wasted so much money on a bench player and then 2 teams would never even entertain the idea of trading for someone who doesn’t even play.

[Dan Z]

First domino has got to be Donovan axed, no?

One issue is that he signed a contract extension not long ago. I'm not sure what the years/money are, but I doubt JR wants to pay him to go away.

Why do the bulls make the same mistake over and over again with coaches. They keep getting stuck with coaches because of these long extensions. Billy could have been fired from last year if it wasn’t for the extension.

They should have some kind of deal where if fired they won’t have to pay them extra. Sure the better coaches won’t accept this but there’s also a lot of good coaches who would accept this. It’s actually a fair deal, get paid well but if fired it’s over.

Same goes for AK. Why give him so many years ? Sign him for a couple years and if he does well then sign him again for another 2. AK is not the only person in the world who can do this job. Many people can do it and probably do better too. I don’t understand why we need to be stuck with these people when they are failing.

The crazy thing is that Billy hasn't done a great job here, so what did he do to earn that extension? I know he's much better than the last coach (Boylan), but if you're judging based on that then it's a low bar.

[Dan Z]

According to this we'll know in the next few weeks if the Sixers continue to try and go for it or give up on the season.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/278916/Josh-Harris-Sixers-Built-Elite-Team;-To-Take-A-Few-Weeks-To-Evaluate-Path-For-Rest-Of-Season

Go for what that team is as cooked as the Bulls are. They might feel good about themselves that they won but doesn’t mean they’re any good.

They might actually be in a worse situation than the Bulls, Embiid is close to being finished. Having him out all the time is the worst thing for a team who relies on him heavily. I don’t think he’s ever going to be the same again.

They have Embiid so you never know. They might think that if he's healthy around playoff time that they can go on a run, which could happen.

My two cents is that tanking this season makes sense for them (but hopefully not because it's better for the Bulls if the Sixers continue to try).

[Stratmaster]

Generally, ignoring your boss's direct orders doesn't turn out well. There's plenty to complain about in regards to Billy, but Pat's playing time isn't one. It's clear his hands are tied.

Not being argumentative. Really. But how is that "clear".

I managed people. And had a boss. If they had told me who on my team to assign to accounts and tasks I would have found another job. And I wasn't making 5 mil or whatever the hell Billy makes a year.

It's just another excuse for Billy. Just like all the excuses made for Pat.

AK has the power to control anyone’s minutes especially with Billy. Pat just signed this contract and they need him to play. Either A to prove to the boss that this was well paid money and B to raise his value in order to trade him away. Him playing is a hope that he will turn it around.

These won’t happen if he’s sitting on the bench by “coaches decision”. If Billy does bench Pat that makes AK look bad. First Reinsdorfs will question and criticize why he wasted so much money on a bench player and then 2 teams would never even entertain the idea of trading for someone who doesn’t even play.

And after trying it Billy has the right to say "screw you, it's my career too. Not gonna do it any longer. Go ahead and fire me". How's that going to look for AK? The idea that Billyv didn't buy into this is ridiculous.

[kodo]

Upcoming :
- Denver
- Boston
- Raptors
- Miami
- Timberwolves
- Golden State

I could see us losing 5 of these. We may even lose the Raps game and up winning another upset somewhere.

[dougthonus]

Go for what that team is as cooked as the Bulls are. They might feel good about themselves that they won but doesn’t mean they’re any good.

They might actually be in a worse situation than the Bulls, Embiid is close to being finished. Having him out all the time is the worst thing for a team who relies on him heavily. I don’t think he’s ever going to be the same again.

If I were the 76ers, I'd be seeing if I could just get out of Embiid/George's deals for salary relief (and any assets I could gather), tank hard this year, and quick rebuild around Maxey.

That said, Embiid and George might both be untradeable.

[drosestruts]

Philly's pick is top 6 protected - if it's outside the top 6 they lose it.

Do you really think they could tank hard enough to be a bottom six team?

They currently have the 8th worst record, the 6th worst team has 5 more losses and are the Brooklyn Nets who are tanking themselves. The team below Philly are:

Portland
Brooklyn
Toronto
New Orleans
Charlotte
Utah
Washington

I don't know if Philly could out tank these teams even if they wanted to. They could maybe swap with Portland but getting any lower would be difficult.

[Dan Z]

Philly's pick is top 6 protected - if it's outside the top 6 they lose it.

Do you really think they could tank hard enough to be a bottom six team?

They currently have the 8th worst record, the 6th worst team has 5 more losses and are the Brooklyn Nets who are tanking themselves. The team below Philly are:

Portland
Brooklyn
Toronto
New Orleans
Charlotte
Utah
Washington

I don't know if Philly could out tank these teams even if they wanted to. They could maybe swap with Portland but getting any lower would be difficult.

I bet Philly continues to go for it. They don't want to waste another year of Embiid's prime (even though he might not be healthy come playoff time).

[drosestruts]

Philly's pick is top 6 protected - if it's outside the top 6 they lose it.

Do you really think they could tank hard enough to be a bottom six team?

They currently have the 8th worst record, the 6th worst team has 5 more losses and are the Brooklyn Nets who are tanking themselves. The team below Philly are:

Portland
Brooklyn
Toronto
New Orleans
Charlotte
Utah
Washington

I don't know if Philly could out tank these teams even if they wanted to. They could maybe swap with Portland but getting any lower would be difficult.

I bet Philly continues to go for it. They don't want to waste another year of Embiid's prime (even though he might not be healthy come playoff time).

I agree. With Maxey, Embiid, and George you just gotta make the playoffs. And then - if healthy, anything is possible.