Just for fun: What do you do to go all in on this team?

[PaKii94]

We need an athletic defensive C. I would love to have Lauri back here with giddey/tre/ayo feeding him. He would be a good fit. But not next to vuc

[nomorezorro]

not really an "all in" guy, but if we're looking to build on the no-weak-links approach to roster construction, i'd be pretty interested in jarrett allen, especially if coby is looking good enough to re-sign.

would also keep an eye on zubac in the event of a clippers implosion

[sco]

not really an "all in" guy, but if we're looking to build on the no-weak-links approach to roster construction, i'd be pretty interested in jarrett allen, especially if coby is looking good enough to re-sign.

would also keep an eye on zubac in the event of a clippers implosion

Yeah, those 2 coupled with a healthy good Coby resigned would make a huge difference. I'd put Hartenstein and Robinson in a similar bucket.

[coldfish]

We need an athletic defensive C. I would love to have Lauri back here with giddey/tre/ayo feeding him. He would be a good fit. But not next to vuc

The more I think about it the more I think that the priority at C should be a guy who is athletic and can shoot the 3. A guy like Kessler might do a lot of damage to the offense.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional?PerMode=Totals&PlayerPosition=C&Season=2024-25&dir=A&sort=FG3M

Funny that Vuc was 9th in 3pm at c last year. Again, the guy that sticks out is JJJ.

[Indomitable]

We need an athletic defensive C. I would love to have Lauri back here with giddey/tre/ayo feeding him. He would be a good fit. But not next to vuc

The more I think about it the more I think that the priority at C should be a guy who is athletic and can shoot the 3. A guy like Kessler might do a lot of damage to the offense.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional?PerMode=Totals&PlayerPosition=C&Season=2024-25&dir=A&sort=FG3M

Funny that Vuc was 9th in 3pm at c last year. Again, the guy that sticks out is JJJ.

Ke'el Ware would be perfect actually.

[ScrantonBulls]

So, let's say that all the best case scenarios actually play out. Matas becomes a 20 PER player. Giddey is near a triple double every night. Coby is good Coby. The depth looks good and the team continues to hustle. They are starting to look like a mid 40's win team and you actually want to build on it. The Bulls have tons of expiring deals and all their picks. The east looks wide open.

How do you do that? What position do you target? Who do you trade? Who do you trade for?

One of the interesting things is that I think that Matas would be fine as either a SF or PF.

Huerter + Patrick + Carter + 1st for Lauri?
Giddey
Coby
Matas
Lauri
Vuc / Collins

Vucevic + Patrick + Carter + 2 1sts for Adebayo?

Take a chance on Zion?
Brandon Ingram?
Sabonis?

Who else is out there who could possibly be available?

Are you of the mindset that there is no possible way that you would ever "invest" in this team? Even if they start 20-2 or something, its fool's gold so don't do it.

Last note: I fully expect the team to go back and forth between wins and losses all season and people to be bagging on everyone and doom and gloom after the losses. We just tend to focus on the downside here and rarely discuss the upside.

I've been thinking of the subject lately and trying to see what defensive center would be perfect for this team. You absolutely nailed it with this trade idea. Adebayo would be a perfect fit for this team. I'd love to see it happen to be honest. We all know AKME will trade capital in order to get better players. I expect it to happen again. Getting Adebayo would make this team really fun. Now my hopes are up.

[RSP83]

Somehow I feel today's NBA is more like rolling a dice. I think AK has a point about building a team consisting of 8-9 good players. I'm not saying that we're good by any measure right now. But that seems to be how everybody is building their team in addition to their top lottery talent (e.g., the Zions, the Ant Edwards, the SGAs). You see the Knicks doing the same thing without their own top lottery talent.

When do you go all in on this team? I don't know to be honest. I think the indicator to go all in is not "when how good we are", but "how tough is the competition right now?". It's probably a different story if we have an elite core young piece like a Flagg, a Wemby, etc. But we don't, so with this group it's really going to take the long way approach.

[Dez]

Please stop bringing up Markkanen, he's not a needle mover and has become wildly overrated on the back of one season he hasn't replicated.

Let him rot in Utah.

[PaKii94]

Please stop bringing up Markkanen, he's not a needle mover and has become wildly overrated on the back of one season he hasn't replicated.

Let him rot in Utah.

What did he do to you lol. He's still a bonafide #2 on the right team. He needs to be setup but he's still a premier scorer with low usage

[Chi town]

We need an athletic defensive C. I would love to have Lauri back here with giddey/tre/ayo feeding him. He would be a good fit. But not next to vuc

The more I think about it the more I think that the priority at C should be a guy who is athletic and can shoot the 3. A guy like Kessler might do a lot of damage to the offense.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional?PerMode=Totals&PlayerPosition=C&Season=2024-25&dir=A&sort=FG3M

Funny that Vuc was 9th in 3pm at c last year. Again, the guy that sticks out is JJJ.

A 3 ball would certainly be nice for spacing but defensive rim protection and strong passing is more important IMO.

I don’t really know about Hart. No 3. Great passing. Don’t really know about rim protection. He’s not a giant either that keeps people from attempts.

Ware. Don’t think he’s going anywhere.

I like Allen a lot but think Cavs would move him out of conf. Strong rim protection. No 3. Meh passing.

AK wanted to draft Beringer which would indicate he wants a big man that can run, is super athletic, and can be an eraser at the rim. Beringer has nill offensive skill at this point too.

[MikeDC]

Somehow I feel today's NBA is more like rolling a dice. I think AK has a point about building a team consisting of 8-9 good players. I'm not saying that we're good by any measure right now. But that seems to be how everybody is building their team in addition to their top lottery talent (e.g., the Zions, the Ant Edwards, the SGAs). You see the Knicks doing the same thing without their own top lottery talent.

When do you go all in on this team? I don't know to be honest. I think the indicator to go all in is not "when how good we are", but "how tough is the competition right now?". It's probably a different story if we have an elite core young piece like a Flagg, a Wemby, etc. But we don't, so with this group it's really going to take the long way approach.

Is this move likely to make us a team that makes at least the conference finals more than once?

[drosestruts]

I saw the thread title and immediatley thought of Bam Adebayo and was happy to see he was mentioned in the very first post, and in subsequent posts since then.

In a world where Miami doesn't want to keep Bam on their books if they feel Ware can/should be their full time center, I'd imagine we could put together an intriguing offer.

Bam with Giddey and Jones would be electric.

[Dez]

Please stop bringing up Markkanen, he's not a needle mover and has become wildly overrated on the back of one season he hasn't replicated.

Let him rot in Utah.

What did he do to you lol. He's still a bonafide #2 on the right team. He needs to be setup but he's still a premier scorer with low usage

He's a number 2 on a bad team sure, he doesn't make teams better.

One good season does not make a career.

[BullChit]

We need an athletic defensive C. I would love to have Lauri back here with giddey/tre/ayo feeding him. He would be a good fit. But not next to vuc

Bamboozle Utah into giving up Kessler and Lauri...

Giddey
White
Matas
Lauri
Kessler

Whitest line-up ever....(pun intended)

[GoBlue72391]

Please stop bringing up Markkanen, he's not a needle mover and has become wildly overrated on the back of one season he hasn't replicated.

Let him rot in Utah.

He had two amazing years in a row for Utah, then one year where Utah jerked him around while they were tanking. And he's off to a great start this season.

Where's this one good year that he can't replicate coming from? And why such venom towards him? Let him "rot" in Utah? Did he piss in your Wheaties or something?

He's a super efficient volume scoring #2 who doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective.

All of this anti-Lauri stuff is just sour grapes, that's been obvious for years.

[GoBlue72391]

Please stop bringing up Markkanen, he's not a needle mover and has become wildly overrated on the back of one season he hasn't replicated.

Let him rot in Utah.

51 and 14 for him tonight in the win against the Suns. There's still time for you to delete this lol

[Dez]

Please stop bringing up Markkanen, he's not a needle mover and has become wildly overrated on the back of one season he hasn't replicated.

Let him rot in Utah.

51 and 14 for him tonight in the win against the Suns. There's still time for you to delete this lol

Against Phoenix.

[GoBlue72391]

Please stop bringing up Markkanen, he's not a needle mover and has become wildly overrated on the back of one season he hasn't replicated.

Let him rot in Utah.

51 and 14 for him tonight in the win against the Suns. There's still time for you to delete this lol

Against Phoenix.

Bitter. Typical.

What are you gonna say when he has another 25+ PPG on 60+ TS% season? That would be his 3rd out of 4 years with Utah, even though you keep lying that it was only one.

[Dez]

51 and 14 for him tonight in the win against the Suns. There's still time for you to delete this lol

Against Phoenix.

Bitter. Typical.

What are you gonna say when he has another 25+ PPG on 60+ TS% season? That would be his 3rd out of 4 years with Utah, even though you keep lying that it was only one.

Not bitter at all, just don't want him back on the team because he has an absurd contract and doesn't move the needle. He's content being a big fish in a perennial tanking team.

LaVine got criticism despite efficiency, how is this any different? LaVine also made more than one All-Star team yet you've got people clamouring for Lauri like he's an MVP.

[MikeDC]

Against Phoenix.

Bitter. Typical.

What are you gonna say when he has another 25+ PPG on 60+ TS% season? That would be his 3rd out of 4 years with Utah, even though you keep lying that it was only one.

Not bitter at all, just don't want him back on the team because he has an absurd contract and doesn't move the needle. He's content being a big fish in a perennial tanking team.

LaVine got criticism despite efficiency, how is this any different? LaVine also made more than one All-Star team yet you've got people clamouring for Lauri like he's an MVP.

I'm not sure I want him at his contract, but he's tempting because unlike Zach, he moves and scores without the ball. If we're talking about fit, he's' probably the second best fit in the league with Giddey (after KD) in that he and Giddey would complement each other offensively.

I don't know that makes it worth it, but on the whole I think GoBlue is obviously right. But AKMEBD are never going to buy hi on a guy they sold low on, because they have the same emotional insecurities that many fans do.