dougthonus wrote:DrModesty wrote:I feel like the 'East got weaker' stuff applies to every other team more than Chicago.
Teams that were out of Chicago's league got worse, but not to the point where they are clearly worse than the Bulls. In fact most would pick Boston, Pacers, Bucks to finish ahead of them next year.
On the other hand the teams around Chicago all got better. Atlanta is better. Orlando is better. Toronto is better. Philadelphia will be better even if PG13 and Embiid are injured again. Charlotte is worse than Chicago, but they have been destroyed by injuries for several years in a row. If they are healthy for once they might be on the Bulls level. Miami is the only question mark, and they got Powell for free, Bam had his worst year since he became a guy, and they can put the toxic Butler situation behind them properly. They will also be looking at Ware to make a leap like Chicago is looking at Matas.
Plus the Bulls were more healthy than most teams last year as far as they primary players are concerned (Lavine, Giddey, Coby). The guys who came over in the Lavine trade also played close to career best too, when on other lottery teams they fell down the pecking order over time. I doubt Giddey has a regression year given the first half of the season, but I can definitely see a shooting regression coming. Coby, who knows. These guys are going to go in to the season as the guys that actually got scouted against this time. Matas too, to an extent.
The Bulls made a low level addition in Okoro (Who is worse than Lonzo, but healthier). They picked a raw 18 year old project in the draft. Vuc is another year older. A huge number of guys playing for contracts, and not necessarily with the Bulls.
This does have the makings of a 30-33 win team.
If we have the makings of a 30-33 win team, then we should be forcing Josh Giddey out, selling Ayo, Coby, and literally everyone except Matas/Noa for anything we can get.
I only have a few hesitations with that statement:
- Giddey's still very young.
- The reality of the NBA's team minimum salary - at least one player often has to get paid a pretty high annual amount, and no one on the team is currently getting it. Giddey for $25M-$30M annually for the next few years can fill that role.
- Tre Jones is on a good value deal and can play a bigger role. In other words, he shouldn't be given away cheaply.
- And, of course, we should never trade for just "anything we can get," but rather "the most we can get."
Otherwise, yes:
- Coby should be traded. He is going to want a higher contract than the Bulls should pay (for the quality of team he would lead them to in the coming seasons).
- For Ayo, it's hard for me to identify how much he will command on the open market, but the Bulls are in no position to pay top money for a player like him for the next few years (especially with Tre Jones on the roster). So unless they project him to be the starting PG or are committed to having a small back court going forward, he should probably be traded as well before his contract runs up.
- Like you said, the same can basically be said for everyone except Matas/Noa, plus what I mentioned about Tre Jones above. Though I could be swayed on moving Noa for the right price, but he's the type of players the Bulls should be seeking and featuring right now - young and with high potential.
- The Bulls need to quit letting players with expiring contracts walk at the end of seasons. Utilize the assets to get something in return while it is still possible.
Rack up future picks while bringing in hardworking, underappreciated (/undervalued) players where possible. Draft well, continue to collect assets where possible, then consolidate multiple players on good contracts and picks in trades for great players to play with Matas in a few years. That's the process that should have been happening for years now, and there's no reason why we still shouldn't proceed that way.
As far as the initial question, I think we should be a little over, but we're an injury or two away from making lengthy watch threads for AJ Dybantsa.
