Bulls vs Heat 7pm CT Apr. 9 2025

[Chi town]

Yup he’s been overshadowed by Giddey,Coby, Matas but Vuc has been getting the job done consistently again.

He had a bad stretch right after the trade deadline, didn’t seem interested since it seemed like they were tanking and got an injury but after these young’s guys picked up their game and started winning he too is back to good ol Vuc.

Also we don’t know if he has a future here or not. He could very well stay until the end of his contract.

I like Vuc and I believe he wanted to stay. Guys like that are great at the locker as well…

He absolutely cannot stay beyond his contract, and even that is too long. If the team is going to be built around Coby and Giddey you cannot, under any circumstances, have a C like Vuc as the starter.

Then again knowing AKME, who knows, maybe he'll be here til he retires.

I bet he extends him another year at a cheaper rate.

[WindyCityBorn]

We're gonna be a lot less rosy on Giddey and Coby when we're paying them $40M+ per year unless they play like this pretty much all the time.

At that price they'll have to lead us to non-play-in playoff appearances on a yearly basis to justify it.

Coby has to prove it for a whole other year. I’m not worried about him. He’ll maintain or decline. Easy peasy.

As for Giddey, he’s a perfect fit with Matas and you simply have to accept the risk and pay him due to his age and the absurdity of what he is doing now. Having another year like we have with Coby would be great, but alas. Just gotta take the plunge.

I'm certainly not suggesting letting him walk. We have to keep him, but it's gonna be a huge risk and will make things a lot less fun when he's not putting up video game numbers. Can a core of Giddey/Coby/Matas lead to wins? It better because we're going to likely max two of them.

I think It really depends on what happens with Buzelis. If he becomes mid 20s scorer then absolutely we can build serious contender with them. He has unlimited potential and he showing production now. He has elite two way all-defense first team tale talent.

Coby on a really big deal worries me a bit because he doesn’t give you much else if he isn’t scoring. Very similar to Zach. He is less efficient, but seems more clutch and bit smarter with decisions making than Zach. Definitely not a first option on a serious contender. Possibly a really strong second option like Murray in Denver. Elite 3rd option.

Giddey does everything and is even becoming a respectable defender. He’s probably gonna average 20/8/8 next season. He’s easily our best player right now. Ideally Buzelis would surpass by him year 3.

So yeah I’m really confident in the Giddey/Buzelis combo. Less confident in the trio if we have to give Coby a LaVine type money. If we can get him $25 million then that gives a lot more flexibility. But we said the same thing about Giddey and flexibility and he’s about to get $30 million per at minimum.

[GuardianEnzo]

What a bonehead play be Herro, LOL. Just dunk it.

Giddey's rebounding is kinda unbelievable for a guard, even a big one.

He’s got some Jason Kidd in his game

I'd take that career any time.

What people forget about Kidd is he was a great three-point shooter - .429 for his career on high volume. That's a big difference with Giddey so far, but also goes to show you what consistently being around 40% could do for him. I don't think Giddey will ever equal Kidd as a shooter or defender, but could achieve similar heights as a playmaker, and due to his size be an even better rebounder.

[GoBlue72391]

I'm just a casual fan of the Bulls these days, but I don't get the hesitation to pay some of our young guys the market rate. Because what's the alternative- let them walk and then be right back to hoping that whoever we draft each year becomes as good as those guys we just let walk away? If you have a young player who is worth 40M on the open market, then either you have to pony up, or admit you're a second rate franchise who will only pay guys market rate if they happen to be the second coming of MJ or Kobe?

Maybe you don't pay ALL of them, but having two guys each making a lot of dough is what most teams have, isn't it?

I don't think anyone has an issue with paying Giddey/Coby, but they've only played at this level for part of a season. The question is: Will they continue playing like this next season? Or regress back to the players they were last season?

If I told you, before the season started, that Giddey/Coby are worth 35+ million a year you'd probably say I was crazy. Now...not so much.

Also, the team still needs more talent even with those two (plus continued improvement from Matas) so having some financial room to worth with helps (even if it's just to do things like avoid the tax or sign a minor player).

Exactly. Their come up has been so sudden that there's no way anyone should be able to easily accept that these are the players they are now and will continue to be in the future.

Even just 2 or 3 months ago this very topic would have been laughable. What makes it even crazier and uncertain is it's not 1 player making a monumental yet questionable in terms of sustainability jump, it's 2...at the exact same time...and 1 of them has an entire career of hot and cold streaks to look back on...and both are negative defenders, but that's a far distant concern compared to the others.

Anyone making any definitive decisions right now regardless of what side they fall on is rushing to judgment. They've been playing at this level for a couple months...maybe the combination of getting rid of Demar and Zach is the true reason for all this and Coby and Giddey will be like this from now on.

But it might not be, and that outcome has to be given at least as much credence as the opposite.

[GoBlue72391]

What a bonehead play be Herro, LOL. Just dunk it.

Giddey's rebounding is kinda unbelievable for a guard, even a big one.

He’s got some Jason Kidd in his game

I'd take that career any time.

What people forget about Kidd is he was a great three-point shooter - .429 for his career on high volume. That's a big difference with Giddey so far, but also goes to show you what consistently being around 40% could do for him. I don't think Giddey will ever equal Kidd as a shooter or defender, but could achieve similar heights as a playmaker, and due to his size be an even better rebounder.

Jason Kidd? The guy they called Ason Kidd early in his career because he had no J?

You got his stats mixed up. He's a career. 349 3-point shooter on 4.1 attempts per game.

[MrSparkle]

What a bonehead play be Herro, LOL. Just dunk it.

Giddey's rebounding is kinda unbelievable for a guard, even a big one.

He’s got some Jason Kidd in his game

I'd take that career any time.

What people forget about Kidd is he was a great three-point shooter - .429 for his career on high volume. That's a big difference with Giddey so far, but also goes to show you what consistently being around 40% could do for him. I don't think Giddey will ever equal Kidd as a shooter or defender, but could achieve similar heights as a playmaker, and due to his size be an even better rebounder.

Had to check cause that didn’t seem right…

Kidd’s career 3P average was .349. He did hit a career-high .425 in 2009/10.

Anyway, Giddey’s game the last 2mo has been revelational.

[NecessaryEvil]

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[NecessaryEvil]

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So, his numbers have put him in convo’s with names like Michael, Scottie, LeBron and Joker this yr. That’s crazy.

[wolffy]

Yup he’s been overshadowed by Giddey,Coby, Matas but Vuc has been getting the job done consistently again.

He had a bad stretch right after the trade deadline, didn’t seem interested since it seemed like they were tanking and got an injury but after these young’s guys picked up their game and started winning he too is back to good ol Vuc.

Also we don’t know if he has a future here or not. He could very well stay until the end of his contract.

I like Vuc and I believe he wanted to stay. Guys like that are great at the locker as well…

He absolutely cannot stay beyond his contract, and even that is too long. If the team is going to be built around Coby and Giddey you cannot, under any circumstances, have a C like Vuc as the starter.

Then again knowing AKME, who knows, maybe he'll be here til he retires.

I tend to agree but sometimes I wonder what the half court game looks like with a defensive style big instead of Vooch.

There are some line ups Billy puts out there and you look a think Vooch in the post is the best option.

[GuardianEnzo]

He’s got some Jason Kidd in his game

I'd take that career any time.

What people forget about Kidd is he was a great three-point shooter - .429 for his career on high volume. That's a big difference with Giddey so far, but also goes to show you what consistently being around 40% could do for him. I don't think Giddey will ever equal Kidd as a shooter or defender, but could achieve similar heights as a playmaker, and due to his size be an even better rebounder.

Jason Kidd? The guy they called Ason Kidd early in his career because he had no J?

You got his stats mixed up. He's a career. 349 3-point shooter on 4.1 attempts per game.

ROFL, my bad - read the wrong stat line.

[eierluke]

I like Vuc and I believe he wanted to stay. Guys like that are great at the locker as well…

He absolutely cannot stay beyond his contract, and even that is too long. If the team is going to be built around Coby and Giddey you cannot, under any circumstances, have a C like Vuc as the starter.

Then again knowing AKME, who knows, maybe he'll be here til he retires.

I tend to agree but sometimes I wonder what the half court game looks like with a defensive style big instead of Vooch.

There are some line ups Billy puts out there and you look a think Vooch in the post is the best option.

Vuc does not fit our new uptempo style of play, but let's not forgete that overall he has played a good season. If he'd be that bad why does Billy not play Collins or Smith over a 34 year old Vuc?
Collins had his moments is a great hustler and good passing big. He however isn't a reliable 3pt shooter (I personally still can not believe that this appears to be that important these days) and he ain't a big time athlete (rarely blocks a shot). Not sure that he'll inherit the starting spot here?
Smith is a misery, over his career he has put up respectable per 48 min numbers (> 24 pts and > 15 rebounds, > .50 fg%). His playing time however remains limited to 16 minutes per game for his career and does not increase even though he has just turned 25. What hinders him from becoming a starter? What are his limitations, overall athletic, motor, agility, BBall IQ?

[Mk0]

[Mk0]

Did anyone else have "Nikola Vucevic blocks Bam Adebayo at the rim in year of our Lord (Naismith) 2025" on their BINGO card?
Did I hallucinate that?

[BullChit]

Did anyone else have "Nikola Vucevic blocks Bam Adebayo at the rim in year of our Lord (Naismith) 2025" on their BINGO card?
Did I hallucinate that?

Wasn't that followed up BY a Giddey pull up 3?

[Ice Man]

If Giddey is said to be unathletic, then we need to re-define that term. There are a lot of ways of being athletic besides pumping iron, jumping high, and winning sprints, and Giddey is exceptional at pretty much all those other things. He's damned athletic, just not in an Obi Toppin way.

[Ice Man]

Jason Kidd isn't the right comparison because Jason was better than Giddey in being an elite defender, and worse than Josh in being a lower-volume scorer.

[NecessaryEvil]

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[bullskokie]

Pros and Cons. Vuc may not be athletic enough but so does Joker, Sengun… its about how you gel with the current core. Vuc stretches the floor, good passer… just look at his number and compare them to any athletic bigs like Gafford, Williams, Carter, Hayes… geez id take Vuc any day. Count your blessings guys!

[sco]

What a bonehead play be Herro, LOL. Just dunk it.

Giddey's rebounding is kinda unbelievable for a guard, even a big one.

He’s got some Jason Kidd in his game

I'd take that career any time.

What people forget about Kidd is he was a great three-point shooter - .429 for his career on high volume. That's a big difference with Giddey so far, but also goes to show you what consistently being around 40% could do for him. I don't think Giddey will ever equal Kidd as a shooter or defender, but could achieve similar heights as a playmaker, and due to his size be an even better rebounder.

Kidd was never much of a scorer during his career. Always a great passer and defender. Developed his 3 ball later. Kidd is closer to Ball.

The best Giddey comp I can think of is Magic.

[sco]

Good game by the Bulls. Billy gets his kudos for resting guys against CLE. No way we win without a rested squad. This was one of the few true quality wins of late. MIA was at full strength and very motivated.

Giddey saw that Coby didn't have it going and was smart enough to know that he needed to attack. A trip dub and 5 stocks...crazy. We gotta stop dissing his defense and 3's...I remember our early discussions on him saying "this guy could be good if he develops a 3 and plays decent defense"...I never thought it would be this season!

Coby either looked off or MIA put extra defensive attention on him.

Vuc gets my criticism often, but I will give him kudos for his play since coming back from injury. Giddey and Coby both know where to get him the ball, which helps him.

Huerter has been this teams unsung hero since Ball and Jones went down. Dude has really stepped up as the glue guy in the starting line-up. Way better in transition scoring and making hustle plays than expected, but that was the guy that I really liked in ATL.

Matas had an efficient offensive game, but his defense was very important IMO.