How much time does AK have?

[Dez]

AKME don't miss..........unless it’s the playoffs, then he missed.

[Guru]

There is also no conceivable way we are any better next season. No cap to sign anyone that makes us that much better.

We are legit tanking despite AK’s best efforts to get to the play in.

We are looking like a real bottoming out. This and next draft.

He's not trying to get into the play in. You don't trade away Zach if that's the case.

[Chi town]

There is also no conceivable way we are any better next season. No cap to sign anyone that makes us that much better.

We are legit tanking despite AK’s best efforts to get to the play in.

We are looking like a real bottoming out. This and next draft.

He's not trying to get into the play in. You don't trade away Zach if that's the case.

Listen to his last presser. Lot of talk of play in and playoffs and how new players would help us get there.

[Guru]

There is also no conceivable way we are any better next season. No cap to sign anyone that makes us that much better.

We are legit tanking despite AK’s best efforts to get to the play in.

We are looking like a real bottoming out. This and next draft.

He's not trying to get into the play in. You don't trade away Zach if that's the case.

Listen to his last presser. Lot of talk of play in and playoffs and how new players would help us get there.

He has to say those things. You can't say you are tanking

[DuckIII]

There is also no conceivable way we are any better next season. No cap to sign anyone that makes us that much better.

We are legit tanking despite AK’s best efforts to get to the play in.

We are looking like a real bottoming out. This and next draft.

He's not trying to get into the play in. You don't trade away Zach if that's the case.

Listen to his last presser. Lot of talk of play in and playoffs and how new players would help us get there.

You have to ignore that. That is said for the casual fans who want to save up and take their kids to a memorable night at a Bulls game. Lots of Bulls fans just want to go out and watch a competitive game with their entertainment dollar. They don’t really care about or understand what it takes to try to build a sustainable contender.

AK has to say these types of “competitive” things for marketing purposes.

I also hope it’s why he said that delusional thing about winning titles with no stars, but I’m afraid he totally believes that one.

[dougthonus]

He's not trying to get into the play in. You don't trade away Zach if that's the case.

Listen to his last presser. Lot of talk of play in and playoffs and how new players would help us get there.

You have to ignore that. That is said for the casual fans who want to save up and take their kids to a memorable night at a Bulls game. Lots of Bulls fans just want to go out and watch a competitive game with their entertainment dollar. They don’t really care about or understand what it takes to try to build a sustainable contender.

AK has to say these types of “competitive” things for marketing purposes.

I also hope it’s why he said that delusional thing about winning titles with no stars, but I’m afraid he totally believes that one.

I think he really wants to make the play-in. I don't think he necessarily believes they will, but I think he absolutely believes that it would be a good thing if they made it with their young talent (which is what he said).

I'm glad he only speaks four times a year, because every time he speaks he somehow sets the bar lower for how incompetent I think he is. I mean there has never been a press conference where I thought he came off like he knew what he was doing. Every time he speaks, the most positive thing you can say is "well he had to say that but doesn't really believe it".

It's worth noting that casual fans looking to take their kids to a Bulls game don't watch press conferences and probably will never be aware of anything he said. I think the reality is that he has no intention of being bad or doing a full rebuild and desperately wants to make the play-in this year, and if he doesn't, he will desperately claw to get into it next year.

If we are really bad and tank, it will be due to his incompetence, not due to a designed plan. You can already see that by the fact he hung on to Ayo / Coby when those guys aren't going to be able to be extended and will hit unrestricted free agency and likely leave the team and serve no purpose to us next year if they aren't going to be here longer than that. It will be evidenced again, when he pays Giddey stupid money this off-season while trying to build his core of 9-10 mediocre guys to win a title.

[Guru]

Listen to his last presser. Lot of talk of play in and playoffs and how new players would help us get there.

You have to ignore that. That is said for the casual fans who want to save up and take their kids to a memorable night at a Bulls game. Lots of Bulls fans just want to go out and watch a competitive game with their entertainment dollar. They don’t really care about or understand what it takes to try to build a sustainable contender.

AK has to say these types of “competitive” things for marketing purposes.

I also hope it’s why he said that delusional thing about winning titles with no stars, but I’m afraid he totally believes that one.

I think he really wants to make the play-in. I don't think he necessarily believes they will, but I think he absolutely believes that it would be a good thing if they made it with their young talent (which is what he said).

I'm glad he only speaks four times a year, because every time he speaks he somehow sets the bar lower for how incompetent I think he is. I mean there has never been a press conference where I thought he came off like he knew what he was doing. Every time he speaks, the most positive thing you can say is "well he had to say that but doesn't really believe it".

It's worth noting that casual fans looking to take their kids to a Bulls game don't watch press conferences and probably will never be aware of anything he said. I think the reality is that he has no intention of being bad or doing a full rebuild and desperately wants to make the play-in this year, and if he doesn't, he will desperately claw to get into it next year.

If we are really bad and tank, it will be due to his incompetence, not due to a designed plan. You can already see that by the fact he hung on to Ayo / Coby when those guys aren't going to be able to be extended and will hit unrestricted free agency and likely leave the team and serve no purpose to us next year if they aren't going to be here longer than that. It will be evidenced again, when he pays Giddey stupid money this off-season while trying to build his core of 9-10 mediocre guys to win a title.

The plan right now is to get as low of a pick as possible and if you somehow all come together for the play-in great. If that's not defined as a tank I'm ok with that but he certainly has shifted to a youth movement and plan B

[League Circles]

Listen to his last presser. Lot of talk of play in and playoffs and how new players would help us get there.

You have to ignore that. That is said for the casual fans who want to save up and take their kids to a memorable night at a Bulls game. Lots of Bulls fans just want to go out and watch a competitive game with their entertainment dollar. They don’t really care about or understand what it takes to try to build a sustainable contender.

AK has to say these types of “competitive” things for marketing purposes.

I also hope it’s why he said that delusional thing about winning titles with no stars, but I’m afraid he totally believes that one.

I think he really wants to make the play-in. I don't think he necessarily believes they will, but I think he absolutely believes that it would be a good thing if they made it with their young talent (which is what he said).

I'm glad he only speaks four times a year, because every time he speaks he somehow sets the bar lower for how incompetent I think he is. I mean there has never been a press conference where I thought he came off like he knew what he was doing. Every time he speaks, the most positive thing you can say is "well he had to say that but doesn't really believe it".

It's worth noting that casual fans looking to take their kids to a Bulls game don't watch press conferences and probably will never be aware of anything he said. I think the reality is that he has no intention of being bad or doing a full rebuild and desperately wants to make the play-in this year, and if he doesn't, he will desperately claw to get into it next year.

If we are really bad and tank, it will be due to his incompetence, not due to a designed plan. You can already see that by the fact he hung on to Ayo / Coby when those guys aren't going to be able to be extended and will hit unrestricted free agency and likely leave the team and serve no purpose to us next year if they aren't going to be here longer than that. It will be evidenced again, when he pays Giddey stupid money this off-season while trying to build his core of 9-10 mediocre guys to win a title.

You certainly might be right, but you might not be, and let's hope you're not. He made a number of future based moves this year that could not be perceived to help us make the playoffs considering we didn't last year. Caruso for Giddey, letting Demar walk, and even the Drummond for Smith swap was never likely to help us in a relative sense on the court this season.

We can extend Coby and/or Ayo if we want. I'm just as cautious as you and everyone else about doing so, but those guys are absolutely still on the table long term, and if the outcome ends up being that they walk for nothing when we could have gotten **** late FRPs for them, I say so be it. Both of those guys probably have a MUCH higher chance to help us long term than their draft pick trade-returns would, even acknowledging that they don't have a super great chance to help us long term (cause they're not that great and will possibly be paid too much if we keep them, though that very much remains to be seen).

Looks to me like we're trying to be bad now. Billy played 14 guys and we lost by 40 last night. We traded our best player for trash and a decent but not great draft pick.

You can expect to be bad and still want to be good. If we magically make the play in or playoffs this season still it will clearly be due to our very young players, which would be a good thing even in the context of a rebuild because it would mean we're a lot further along than we look right now. We're quite bad right now.

[dougthonus]

You certainly might be right, but you might not be, and let's hope you're not. He made a number of future based moves this year that could not be perceived to help us make the playoffs considering we didn't last year. Caruso for Giddey, letting Demar walk, and even the Drummond for Smith swap was never likely to help us in a relative sense on the court this season.

He's moved very slowly in this direction, but he hasn't made definitive moves in it, he's still sitting between two lanes and being bad at both.

We can extend Coby and/or Ayo if we want. I'm just as cautious as you and everyone else about doing so, but those guys are absolutely still on the table long term

We probably cannot extend them prior to hitting UFA, because of the 140% cap on extensions.

and if the outcome ends up being that they walk for nothing when we could have gotten **** late FRPs for them, I say so be it. Both of those guys probably have a MUCH higher chance to help us long term than their draft pick trade-returns would, even acknowledging that they don't have a super great chance to help us long term (cause they're not that great and will possibly be paid too much if we keep them, though that very much remains to be seen).

On new contracts that represent the highest bidder in the league, they aren't assets. The vast, vast majority of good teams are built first in the draft. Effectively no teams are built around signing a ton of non top 3 guys to long term deals at peak market value rates. It's not even a path to be average, let alone a path to be above average.

Looks to me like we're trying to be bad now. Billy played 14 guys and we lost by 40 last night. We traded our best player for trash and a decent but not great draft pick.

Started 50 games too late and didn't go far enough, which is why we will likely finish 8th which isn't particularly high odds of moving up in the draft.

You can expect to be bad and still want to be good. If we magically make the play in or playoffs this season still it will clearly be due to our very young players, which would be a good thing even in the context of a rebuild because it would mean we're a lot further along than we look right now. We're quite bad right now.

Sure, two years from now, when we have Coby/Ayo on new deals, it will look as dumb as when we passed on trading Zach for multiple picks 3 years ago or DeMar 2 years ago, or Caruso a year ago.

[jnrjr79]

He's not trying to get into the play in. You don't trade away Zach if that's the case.

Listen to his last presser. Lot of talk of play in and playoffs and how new players would help us get there.

You have to ignore that. That is said for the casual fans who want to save up and take their kids to a memorable night at a Bulls game. Lots of Bulls fans just want to go out and watch a competitive game with their entertainment dollar. They don’t really care about or understand what it takes to try to build a sustainable contender.

AK has to say these types of “competitive” things for marketing purposes.

I also hope it’s why he said that delusional thing about winning titles with no stars, but I’m afraid he totally believes that one.

Yeah, I feel like the bolded is underrated and a huge disconnect between the average fan and the kind of person that would be posting on a Bulls message board.

A lot of people might come in for a Bulls game once a year, but they don't really watch a lot of games. They want to see an entertaining game and want their kids to enjoy it, so they care about that individual game, without really caring much about the overall season.

This is sort of the style of Cubs fandom pre-Epstein as applied to an NBA team.

[League Circles]

You certainly might be right, but you might not be, and let's hope you're not. He made a number of future based moves this year that could not be perceived to help us make the playoffs considering we didn't last year. Caruso for Giddey, letting Demar walk, and even the Drummond for Smith swap was never likely to help us in a relative sense on the court this season.

He's moved very slowly in this direction, but he hasn't made definitive moves in it, he's still sitting between two lanes and being bad at both.

We can extend Coby and/or Ayo if we want. I'm just as cautious as you and everyone else about doing so, but those guys are absolutely still on the table long term

We probably cannot extend them prior to hitting UFA, because of the 140% cap on extensions.

and if the outcome ends up being that they walk for nothing when we could have gotten **** late FRPs for them, I say so be it. Both of those guys probably have a MUCH higher chance to help us long term than their draft pick trade-returns would, even acknowledging that they don't have a super great chance to help us long term (cause they're not that great and will possibly be paid too much if we keep them, though that very much remains to be seen).

On new contracts that represent the highest bidder in the league, they aren't assets. The vast, vast majority of good teams are built first in the draft. Effectively no teams are built around signing a ton of non top 3 guys to long term deals at peak market value rates. It's not even a path to be average, let alone a path to be above average.

Looks to me like we're trying to be bad now. Billy played 14 guys and we lost by 40 last night. We traded our best player for trash and a decent but not great draft pick.

Started 50 games too late and didn't go far enough, which is why we will likely finish 8th which isn't particularly high odds of moving up in the draft.

You can expect to be bad and still want to be good. If we magically make the play in or playoffs this season still it will clearly be due to our very young players, which would be a good thing even in the context of a rebuild because it would mean we're a lot further along than we look right now. We're quite bad right now.

Sure, two years from now, when we have Coby/Ayo on new deals, it will look as dumb as when we passed on trading Zach for multiple picks 3 years ago or DeMar 2 years ago, or Caruso a year ago.

I 100% understand the plausibility of Coby and Ayo being on bad deals if we keep them. But I definitely don't understand the certainty you have. The league and our team are full of examples of contracts that were signed at "peak market rate" yet ended up being good. As well as plenty of deals ostensibly restricted to be below peak value market rate that ended up being bad. I think you're underappreciating a few things:

1. NBA free agency isn't much of a market. Only a few teams at most are genuinely looking into signing any particular free agent, cause most don't have cap room, and of the few that do, they often may already have a similar style/caliber player and aren't enamored with a guy like Coby or Ayo.

2. Different players have different values to every potential team they're on due to the construction of the rest of the roster, timelines of other contracts, etc.

3. Even in a vacuum (not considering the specifics of their roster), all teams evaluate each player's talent uniquely. Considering we drafted and re-signed them and play them bog minutes, it's plausible that we value those guys more than any other team. It's also plausible that our evaluation is better than other teams (on a specific player). That's what teams do generally speaking - they "overpay" the guys that they think the rest of the league undervalues. Now I don't love our FO's talent evaluation overall to be sure, but we've already signed value deals IMO to a number of players at "peak market value":

1. Demar
2. Caruso
3. Smith
4. Drummond


On the flip side we've also overpaid guys under non peak market conditions in Patrick, possibly Coby and Ayo, etc. We've also of course done what you are warning against and overpaid guys under ostensible peak market conditions in Vuc's extension, probably Zach's extension, etc. I just don't think things are as predictable as you do.

[jnrjr79]

Listen to his last presser. Lot of talk of play in and playoffs and how new players would help us get there.

You have to ignore that. That is said for the casual fans who want to save up and take their kids to a memorable night at a Bulls game. Lots of Bulls fans just want to go out and watch a competitive game with their entertainment dollar. They don’t really care about or understand what it takes to try to build a sustainable contender.

AK has to say these types of “competitive” things for marketing purposes.

I also hope it’s why he said that delusional thing about winning titles with no stars, but I’m afraid he totally believes that one.

I think he really wants to make the play-in. I don't think he necessarily believes they will, but I think he absolutely believes that it would be a good thing if they made it with their young talent (which is what he said).

Of all the dumb stuff he said, this probably bothered me the least. If the Bulls went on some hot streak toward the end of the season, it would be bad in the macro sense for the draft pick positioning, I suppose, but also if it was like "now that Zach's gone, the young guys have really been kicking ass with their increased opportunities," there's some sense in that.

But I also agree with Duck there is a marketing element to it where you're just not going to come out and say "actually, we wouldn't mind losing more games to improve our draft pick."

[ChiefILL53]

I hope not long, but being realistic prolly another 4 years.

[Jcool0]

Read on Twitter

[kulaz3000]

The above post should not come as a surprise to no one.

[Evil_Headband]

The Chicago Bulls have suffered a 63 percent DECREASE in average year-over-year viewership this season, which is the greatest decline in the NBA. The next closest is the Miami Heat at -56 percent.

https://www.bleachernation.com/bulls/2025/02/13/chicago-bulls-viewership-d/

[burlydee]

I think they could be gone this summer. Maybe it's just hope, but do you want to give these guys the keys to a total rebuild?

[prolific passer]

Meh. In the end. JR just doesn't fire people.

[Jcool0]

The Chicago Bulls have suffered a 63 percent DECREASE in average year-over-year viewership this season, which is the greatest decline in the NBA. The next closest is the Miami Heat at -56 percent.

https://www.bleachernation.com/bulls/2025/02/13/chicago-bulls-viewership-d/

No one can get the games. I haven't had a clear picture for 99% of the games. Not surprising. FWIW Dallas is +58 & that's about to drop off a cliff.

[DuckIII]

Listen to his last presser. Lot of talk of play in and playoffs and how new players would help us get there.

You have to ignore that. That is said for the casual fans who want to save up and take their kids to a memorable night at a Bulls game. Lots of Bulls fans just want to go out and watch a competitive game with their entertainment dollar. They don’t really care about or understand what it takes to try to build a sustainable contender.

AK has to say these types of “competitive” things for marketing purposes.

I also hope it’s why he said that delusional thing about winning titles with no stars, but I’m afraid he totally believes that one.

I think he really wants to make the play-in. I don't think he necessarily believes they will, but I think he absolutely believes that it would be a good thing if they made it with their young talent (which is what he said).

I'm glad he only speaks four times a year, because every time he speaks he somehow sets the bar lower for how incompetent I think he is. I mean there has never been a press conference where I thought he came off like he knew what he was doing. Every time he speaks, the most positive thing you can say is "well he had to say that but doesn't really believe it".

It's worth noting that casual fans looking to take their kids to a Bulls game don't watch press conferences and probably will never be aware of anything he said. I think the reality is that he has no intention of being bad or doing a full rebuild and desperately wants to make the play-in this year, and if he doesn't, he will desperately claw to get into it next year.

If we are really bad and tank, it will be due to his incompetence, not due to a designed plan. You can already see that by the fact he hung on to Ayo / Coby when those guys aren't going to be able to be extended and will hit unrestricted free agency and likely leave the team and serve no purpose to us next year if they aren't going to be here longer than that. It will be evidenced again, when he pays Giddey stupid money this off-season while trying to build his core of 9-10 mediocre guys to win a title.

There is a lot to agree with in here. But this year, for remainder of this season only, I do believe they want to lose. You can see it in the rotations now too. The problem is AK thinks it’s a 3 month thing and then you immediately try to make the playoffs again