Official Bulls Tankathon 2025 Thread

[sco]

I think there was a handshake deal with Zach at the start of the season that he'd play nice and keep his mouth shut and we'd take our best offer for him at the deadline. Both sides did their part.

Agreed.

I think our goal may have been to tank post trade, but it has become obvious to me anyway that this team wasn't underperforming because Zach was bad, it was because Pat, Terry and Vuc are really horrible, and if you replace their minutes with capable rotation-level players you more than make up for any drop-off in losing Zach. Also, clearly Zach created some sort of psychological barrier for Coby and Josh being more aggressive, which wasn't on Zach, but it was a problem.

I think it is highly suspicious that we're playing well/better at all.

We're 7-11 (32 win pace) since the trade, the wins are all against teams that threw out tanking worthy rosters except perhaps the Magic.

Philadeliphia - absolute free fall
Raptors - actively tanking and required 4point play at the buzzer to force OT
Magic - below .500 but at least trying
Miami - absolute free fall since Butler trade
Pacers - Haliburton sat this game out
Nets - Tanking
Jazz - Tanking

IMO, the return of Pat and Vuc as well as Ball being out (and Giddey) has made it tough to evaluate this group.

[Jcool0]

He basically sucked as a rookie. Poor shooting, poorer defense.

He was 16/6/5 Per 36 as a rookie. 43% from the field and 74% from the line. His DBPM was 0.5 for comparison it was 0.9 when he won 6th Man.

Not sure what you're trying to say. 43% from the field isn't good. He shot something like 27% from three, and everyone on earth knows that he was always a bad defender. Yes, he could score a little bit and pass well as a rookie, but he wasn't a good player overall. He was literally the worst shooter among the main guys and also probably the worst or second worst defender.

What are you talking about? 43% is fine for a rookie transitioning from Europe. He was taking 1.6 3s per game, who cares what his percentage was. Pippen was one of the better 3PT shooters on the Bulls and he took 2.7 at 32% in 1994.

[dougthonus]

IMO, the return of Pat and Vuc as well as Ball being out (and Giddey) has made it tough to evaluate this group.

Pat / Vuc were there the majority of the rest of the season, and Ball has missed a good chunk of time earlier and was playing really poorly for much of the season while ramping up.

From an overall team analysis, I don't know there is much to analyze. We aren't good. That's pretty obvious. Whether we are the worst of the teams that are really trying or the 4th worst of the teams that are really trying is about all you'd need to evaluate, and that's probably not a real important distinction.

[Guru]

Miami has lost 10 in a row. How is this possible.

Good news for us 6 of the 7 teams right after us won. We are 2.5 games out of the 8th seed with 12 to go.

[Guru]

We are going to play a reeling Miami team in the play in and then Orlando or Atlanta.

Play Lakers 2x, Den and OKC in 4 of the next 5 games. We win any of those we could be dropping closer to the 14 range anyway.

[Muzbar]

It'll be interesting to see how the Raptors go over the next 6 games, or even the remainder of the season.

Their next 6 games are: vs. SAS, @ Was, @ Bkn, vs. Cha, @ Phi, @ Chi.

They've been playing very well lately, they could very well be our play-in opponent in the first game as Miami continues to slide (I guess that's the Jimmy Butler affect).

The only 'good' teams the Raptors face in their final 12 games are the Pistons and Mavericks.

[Donkedave]

It'll be interesting to see how the Raptors go over the next 6 games, or even the remainder of the season.

Their next 6 games are: vs. SAS, @ Was, @ Bkn, vs. Cha, @ Phi, @ Chi.

They've been playing very well lately, they could very well be our play-in opponent in the first game as Miami continues to slide (I guess that's the Jimmy Butler affect).

The only 'good' teams the Raptors face in their final 12 games are the Pistons and Mavericks.

They heard you didn’t they? Raps lost and heat win

[Guru]

Snapshot

Play-in.
Toronto 11 games to go, lost last 4, 6 games back from Miami for the Play-in
Miami 11 games to go, 1-9 over last 10, currently in play-in
Bulls 11 games to go, 7-3 over last 10, 7 games up from Toronto for play-in
Orlando 11 games to go, 4-6 over lat 10, 2 games up from Bulls to hold on to the 8th seed
Atlanta 11 games to go, 7-3 over last 10, 4 games up from Chicago for the 7th seed

Orlandos schedule
Mon, Mar 24 vsLos Angeles
Tue, Mar 25 @Charlotte
Thu, Mar 27 vsDallas
Sat, Mar 29 vsSacramento
Mon, Mar 31 vsLA
Tue, Apr 1 @San Antonio
Thu, Apr 3 @Washington
Tue, Apr 8 vsAtlanta
Wed, Apr 9 vsBoston
Fri, Apr 11 @Indiana
Sun, Apr 13 @Atlanta

Chicagos schedule
Mon, Mar 24 @Denver
Thu, Mar 27 vsLos Angeles
Sat, Mar 29 vsDallas
Mon, Mar 31 @Oklahoma City
Tue, Apr 1 vsToronto
Fri, Apr 4 vsPortland
Sun, Apr 6 @Charlotte
Tue, Apr 8 @Cleveland
Wed, Apr 9 vsMiami
Fri, Apr 11 vsWashington
Sun, Apr 13 @Philadelphia

The snapshot for the draft spot
7 Toronto 24-47 8.5 Lost 4 5-5
8 Miami 30-41 14.5 Won 1 1-9
9 Chicago 31-40 15.5 Won 2 7-3
10 San Antonio 31-39 16 Won 3 5-5
11 Portland 32-40 16 Lost 1 4-6
12 Dallas 34-37 18.5 Won 1 2-8
13 Phoenix 34-37 18.5 Won 3 6-4
14 Sacramento 35-35 20 Lost 2 3-7
15 Orlando 33-38 17.5 Won 1 4-6
16 Atlanta 35-36 19.5 Won 3 7-3

Could probably fall as far as 13 without making the play in. Could move up as far a probably 8th.

[Guru]

We dropped to 11 with our win. 8-2 in last 10 games tied for 4th best record in the NBA over that time

[jnrjr79]

We dropped to 11 with our win. 8-2 in last 10 games tied for 4th best record in the NBA over that time

What's funny is many of us wanted to trade Zach in order to tank. Instead, trading Zach has led to winning. Who woulda thunk it?

At least the Bulls are now in a position to keep their pick due to the trade, though it sure doesn't look to be as high as was hoped.

[League Circles]

We dropped to 11 with our win. 8-2 in last 10 games tied for 4th best record in the NBA over that time

What's funny is many of us wanted to trade Zach in order to tank. Instead, trading Zach has led to winning. Who woulda thunk it?

At least the Bulls are now in a position to keep their pick due to the trade, though it sure doesn't look to be as high as was hoped.

I knew trading Zach was quite possible to make us the same or better. And that's despite him having his best year and playing smarter than he used to. He's just not much of a winning player for very subtle, hard to see reasons, even at his best. I definitely protected Coby would look a lot better without him.

It wasn't just me that talked about it though.

For virtually any bad team in the league, the "lead" players are very often largely to blame for it. The failures are often more because of those guys than despite them. I love Demar, but frankly neither him, Zach or Vuc are really guys that drive winning. Vuc has never been very good IMO, even in Orlando.

[Jcool0]

Up to 13.9% of a top 4 pick.

[DuckIII]

Miami has lost 10 in a row. How is this possible.

1. Trading Butler.

2. Intelligence.

[Guru]

Miami has lost 10 in a row. How is this possible.

1. Trading Butler.

2. Intelligence.

They just won 5 in a row.

[sco]

Miami has lost 10 in a row. How is this possible.

1. Trading Butler.

2. Intelligence.

They just won 5 in a row.

against WAS, PHI, ATL, GS (no Steph), CHA

[NecessaryEvil]

Bulls wil likely beat the raps

Heat will likely lose to the Celts

Back to a tie for 9th

[Dan Z]

We dropped to 11 with our win. 8-2 in last 10 games tied for 4th best record in the NBA over that time

What's funny is many of us wanted to trade Zach in order to tank. Instead, trading Zach has led to winning. Who woulda thunk it?

At least the Bulls are now in a position to keep their pick due to the trade, though it sure doesn't look to be as high as was hoped.

The front office was never going to tank, even after they got their pick back.

It's possible that the Bulls lose again in the play-in and end up with another #11 or so pick in the draft. It's not a great outcome, but hopefully they make the right pick.

[DuckIII]

Miami has lost 10 in a row. How is this possible.

1. Trading Butler.

2. Intelligence.

They just won 5 in a row.

1. Trading Butler

2. Players don’t try to lose.

[jnrjr79]

We dropped to 11 with our win. 8-2 in last 10 games tied for 4th best record in the NBA over that time

What's funny is many of us wanted to trade Zach in order to tank. Instead, trading Zach has led to winning. Who woulda thunk it?

At least the Bulls are now in a position to keep their pick due to the trade, though it sure doesn't look to be as high as was hoped.

The front office was never going to tank, even after they got their pick back.

It's possible that the Bulls lose again in the play-in and end up with another #11 or so pick in the draft. It's not a great outcome, but hopefully they make the right pick.

It depends what you mean by "tank." I suspect the FO thought it would get worse after the Zach trade, not better. But I agree there isn't any appetite for a traditional multi-year, tear-it-down type of tank.

[Jcool0]

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