Which young Bull(s) step up next year and how far can we go?

[Chi town]

Pat needs to be OG. Just makes 3s and play great D. No dribbles please. Make your dunks too.

Buz is going to go next level. Think he gets to 16ppg with more FTs and 3s. Think his D improves too. Want more on ball action.

Giddey will keep the FTs up and improve his volume of 3s. Expecting improved form and CS 3s and dribble up transition 3s. Expecting him to emerge as a winning player that makes everyone better.

Coby doing Coby things. Same as post trade Coby. Hopefully less streaky from 3. Hopefully average on D.

Duck has me excited about Ayo! Do think he will be better and shoot better too. Guddey will be getting him an easy breakaway bucket every game.

Would love to see our draft pick have a similar season to Buz. Contributing to winning by end of year.

[jnrjr79]

I've seen Ball in trade rumors, but I don't recall seeing any the Bulls initiated. I think it would be dumb for so many reasons. First, the only way you trade him is if you believe he's not going to be healthy. But we re-signed him. Odds are slim to none anything you get for Ball will be better than healthy Ball for cheap for the next two years. Second, with all these young guys, you need a couple of vets. I'm more bullish on the Vuc trade, Huerter and Collins are new and not leaders, we need Ball of the court too. He's a cheap vet option, and with a healthy season his value increases. Most players are tradeable, but I'd start with the worst fit/bad deals/ worst performing ones, not arguably one of the best players on a cheap contract.

Ayo's probably near his trade value low, but I could see him getting traded. Shouldn't happen now. Didn't put Jones in the poll, but I'd expect them to re-sign him if Ball and/or Ayo leave. The value of most of our young guys is probably pretty low, we should ride it out with Terry, Phillips, Smith, Ayo at least until they up their value. If not, they're cheap let them expire.

I'll add a caveat. I think Ball is worth at least as much as Caruso. If a Giddey type trade comes for Ball, I'm all for it.

What's your highest estimate of what Coby could get in free agency? Worst case scenario, because you know if we let him reach unrestricted free agency we're making/matching the highest offer. He probably scores a lot on this team as constructed and should have great counting stats. Maybe 25+ pts/game. 2026 version of Jordan Poole contract?

IMO, Lonzo was re-signed specifically with an eye toward the fact that the contract would be very easily tradeable, so I wouldn't bet on him being around for the entire season.

As to the OP, like Duck, I don't really see a point in making predictions now in terms of team success, because it seems quite possible some significant pieces are moved. As to players, Matas is the only one I really think could break out relative to prior production.

[burlydee]

I expect improvement from:

Coby - full season as the Guy. True #1 option for first time in his career. He's starting to understand how he can get his points. I expect his best statistical season of his career.

Giddey - also for the 1st time comes into camp with a defined role and no clear competition for minutes (beyond Dononvan...). Expect him to put up large counting stats all year.

Ayo - he's been injured. Full off season to get healthy plus playing a style that should fit him. That said, his defense and 3pt shooting need to get back up to previous years.

Matas - you Expect the rookie to improve although it may not look completely linear. Hoping he can grab some boards.

PWill - had the worst season 9f his career. Enters offseason healthy. I expect him to have a bounce back year although I still think people will be disappointed. He'll never live up to that pick.

I don't see why things should change for:

Huerter or Collins. Both guys will have increased roles but I expect them to perform within the range they have most of their careers.

I'm not sure Terry/Phillips/Smith are going to have an opportunity. I don't think Donovan likes them over guys currently on the roster (the aforementioned players plus Ball and Vuc) and they run real risk of having the #12 pick push them out of rotation entirely.

[kodo]

I'm still an Ayo believer despite him basically flatlining. He blows by anyone defending him 1 on 1, and he should be able to build on that.
Unfortunately his role on the team has him mainly being off-ball, where he's not a natural sharpshooter even though he hit 40% last season.

[Guru]

They are rebuilding the plane while flying it because they believe winning matters more than tanking for young player development ie playing in meaningful games. There are 3 pieces that will be here in 2 years Giddey-Buz-Employee #12.

The wild card is Coby. The Franchise loves him but his contract demands will cloud his future. It's very possible he's the 4th guy on that list.

In 2026-2027 they will have these current players under contract
Pwill if not traded at 18M
Jalen Smith at 9M
Buzelis on a Club Option they are sure to pickup 5.4M
Probably Julian Phillips on a club option at 2.4M
Giddey on a long term deal above 30+

In 2026-2027 they will have a huge amount of cap room and all their draft picks.

[kodo]

I don’t expect Coby or Giddey to improve over late-season levels and will be ecstatic if they can just be more or less the same. That would be a MAJOR development.

For sure. Post ASG Giddey was 21 ppg 11 rpg 9 apg 50% FG 47% 3P, 2.3 stocks, +7.2. Those are basically Joker #s with a lot less scoring.
I'm glad he had an extra gear he could push himself for the season end, but that's not sustainable for 82 unless you're a fringe MVP candidate.

[Infinity2152]

I added Coby and Giddey, but that's because of their full season. If they can sustain their second half of season performance for the entire year, think the team record will be better just from those two alone. Add in the other young players and rookie, stoked for this season.

Torn soooo much on Coby. Really like the guy, and he's a great player at what he does. He can clearly play with Giddey, but we'd need GREAT defense around them. Feels like we're starting Jamal Crawford or Lou Williams type at SG. Great players, but super sixth man types.

Biggest problem is he's an unrestricted free agent. We can guess at his max, but it's not even $40 mill. Bradley Beal signed for $50 mill AAV and that was in 2022 with a much smaller cap than 2026. With a great season, Coby could approach those numbers and AK just might pay it. Or another team could and we lose him for nothing, and gain $12 mill in cap space. Ugh.

[MGB8]

Coby is the wild card longer term. I like him at a reasonable cost, but he doesn't strike me as a true #1 - a guy who can still volume score at good (if not great) efficiency when opposing defense are designed to take him away. To inconsistent from the perimeter, struggles a bit too much inside against decent defensing team - forcing him to rely on FT for efficiency - and that doesn't work in the playoffs (see DDR).

Still, for this season, I expect a good year from Coby and Giddey (though not sure it counts as growth of they just match what did in end part of current season). And I expect progress from Matas.

Who else will show progress is the big question. Pat just getting back to where he was as a rook would be huge. Terry and Phillips have the room to grow. Ayo could bounce back and/or grow, but fit questions. Does Lonzo get back to 90%+ pre injury Lonzo (from last year's 70-75%)? Collins, Smith?

Huerter looked better on O than had in a while, but his D was awful; can that improve?

Easiest calls are some improvement in Terry and Phillips just because of trend and where they are on their curves (room to grow), but how much, how much impact?

[Guru]

They are creating a situation where they will have young talent to trade and/or the space/picks for them to add a veteran to.

I assume it will be something like Coby-Giddey-Matiss-DP and then they do what they did when they went and go Vuc, Ball and DeRozan.

So maybe its a Giddey-Coby-Buz-Durant-Newell

Then the rest is gravy. They shouldn't have to trade any of their chips this season for a big name.

Who is available? Durant, Giannis, Jaylen Brown, Lauri, Trae Young, Zion

[meekrab]

Hoping this is the year Ayo steps up from his role player beginnings and becomes a real sixth man.

[League Circles]

To me, Ayo and Patrick are the obvious guys to look at to step up, even if just to their previous bests.

[League Circles]

Hoping this is the year Ayo steps up from his role player beginnings and becomes a real sixth man.

He's already started over half of his career games and I expect he's the most likely guy to be our 5th starter (over Huerter, Ball, Patrick).

[ThisGuyFawkes]

I picked Coby, although I'm hoping to see great things from Matas and Giddey. I think we finally start to see some consistency from Coby as he's learning to get to his spots and he's much more crafty in the paint. So when the 3pt isn't falling, he can still score, unlike his first few seasons.

With that consistency, I legit feel like Coby could be a 25ppg scorer and maybe even sniff an all-star appearance. He's already scoring 20+ with a 45/37/90 slash. Brining those up to 47/40/90 would be insanely good for our team.

[ShouldaPaidBG]

I think Ayo is actually one of the best possible fits next to Giddey, and losing him had a bigger impact than we think. I'm excited to see them together in a Zachless world from the beginning of the season after a full offseason.

[sco]

I think Ayo is actually one of the best possible fits next to Giddey, and losing him had a bigger impact than we think. I'm excited to see them together in a Zachless world from the beginning of the season after a full offseason.

Yeah Ayo as a rookie looked like a legit POA defender but he flamed out his 2nd year, and hasn't shown it since.

IMO, this roster needs a very good POA defender (and a Rim Protecting C). I want to believe, but I'm not confident that a pairing of Ball/Ayo can play that role (don't think we'll get Jones back).

[Hangtime84]

Ayo - Down year for his standards last year. Really is focus on getting better. Also bringing a bit more attention to himself with the vlogging and livestreams.

Pat - Canceled his social media account. I guess basketball will be the focus. He will be in shape.

Terry - One of the better plus defenders we got. He knows he needs to improve his 3pt shot if wants to see the floor. Always training with elite talent over the summer. Does the ball handling activities that Coby does. He can potentially beat out Williams for that wing rotation minutes especially if that shot comes around.

Matas - I think sophomore slump is coming. He will be fine normal progression not some big leap.

Smith - No Vuc = PT for a guy we didn't know was that good. He should be healthier as well.

---
I don't see that much improvement from Coby or Josh. But i would like consistency.

[kodo]

Good mention of Terry, I forgot about him and everyone is pretty down on him.
I remember him playing well to finish the season. 3P shot was going down, hustle was there. Don't think he'll ever be doing dribble stepback 3s in someone's face, but he'll defend and might hit a shot if left wide open.

He's got a 7' 1" wingspan, a good example of a kid with fast feet, motor, and gigantic wingspan still not being a great defender in the league. Worth remembering in the draft.

[sco]

Ayo - Down year for his standards last year. Really is focus on getting better. Also bringing a bit more attention to himself with the vlogging and livestreams.

Pat - Canceled his social media account. I guess basketball will be the focus. He will be in shape.

Terry - One of the better plus defenders we got. He knows he needs to improve his 3pt shot if wants to see the floor. Always training with elite talent over the summer. Does the ball handling activities that Coby does. He can potentially beat out Williams for that wing rotation minutes especially if that shot comes around.

Matas - I think sophomore slump is coming. He will be fine normal progression not some big leap.

Smith - No Vuc = PT for a guy we didn't know was that good. He should be healthier as well.

---
I don't see that much improvement from Coby or Josh. But i would like consistency.

Good points.

I don't know who Ayo is anymore. He came into the league looking like a guy who could become a lock-down POA defender and a guy who could go up and down the court and score in transition. He developed a 3 ball, but his game went in the toilet last year. How much was his shoulder, how much was him getting to swole to stay quick, which was his game. After watching Jones have a big impact, I emotionally moved on from Ayo, but if we don't keep Jones, I like our 5th starter spot split with him and Ball.

Pat is equally likely to regain his mojo after a healthy offseason as he is to be completely out of the rotation. I know he bears responsibility for his lack of development, but if he could somehow just be relegated to a 3-D role and focus on those things, he's good.

Terry is a hard worker and a root for those guys, but IMO he is the Mendoza line for success of the team. If the team is good enough for Terry never to see the court, we're probably pretty good.

I'm with you on Matas in that I think that teams have enough tape on him to take away some of his game, but like you said, it's the way guys get better. I want to see a little more out of him defensively, but mainly, just feed him the ball and minutes this season.

It would be great if the reason that he didn't play was injury related (assuming he's healed). I thought he was our best C.

If somehow we can role with: Ball/Ayo, Coby, Giddey, Matas, Smith/Collins plus come away with a promising rookie next season, I won't be bothered. Should be entertaining.

[ShouldaPaidBG]

I honestly love the idea of good versions of Ayo-Pat-Terry-Phillips as a supporting cast. All they need is consistent jumpers, a ringleader (Giddey), and a rim protector and we can be cooking. Really need that rim protector though.

[prolific passer]

Easily Matas.