Finalizing Roster for 20-21

[LateNight]

So - as of draft night: AK says he plans to stash Simonovic, and we've offered QO's to Makoka and Denzel.

If those guys accept the QO, then our roster is currently locked in at 15:

COBY/ LAVINE / OTTO / LAURI / WENDELL
ARCHIE / SATO / YOUNG / WILLIAMS / GAFFORD

HUTCH / KORNET / FELICIO

OPTIONS:
DENZEL & MAKOKA


RELEVANT CONTRACT STATUS:
-Otto is expiring.
-Felicio (7.5m) and Kornet (2.3m) are also both expiring
-Hutch (2.4m) and Archi (3m) have team options
-Lauri is about to be an RFA (not super relevant)

SUMMARY:
Obviously, there could be trades (sign and trades might be best for us if we want a free agent). Barring that, if we want to open a roster spot we have to make some cuts and we're not in a great cap-position to pursue free agents - I believe the MLE is the best we can offer a FA right now (please correct me if I'm wrong).

So - RealGM - what moves do you make?

[Nate3carp]

I'd give Denzel a small raise from the QO in exchange for either getting a Team Option on year 2 of a contract. Maybe $6.5M or so. I'd try to trade Thad and Sato for truly expiring deals to maximize cap space next offseason. I'd give Lauri a low ball extension offer to see if he'd take it (basically MLE level, maybe up to $11-12M). Besides that, I think I'd run it back and see what type of improvements the guys have made since March, see how they gel with the new coaching staff/philosophies.

[coldfish]

Based on what I am reading, the plan is to let Donovan work with the existing team. This is going to be an oddball season with little rest and no preseason. Its going to take a while to get anything going.

After this year, the roster opens up with a ton of players expiring. Porter, Thad, Sato, Felicio, Kornett and Denzel will likely be gone, freeing up $60m in salary. Lauri could also depart in 2021.

I suspect that Chicago would be more active at the deadline than now as far as roster moves.

[ArtMorte]

I don't think we'll see many if any changes.

Sure, I'd like a proper C, but I'm not against giving WCJ another season to hopefully show improvement. (That said, our center options are abysmal).

No one will be interested in Porter Jr, just let him expire. The same goes for Felicio.

Just go with this team, I guess.

[ZOMG]

I'd give Denzel a small raise from the QO in exchange for either getting a Team Option on year 2 of a contract. Maybe $6.5M or so. I'd try to trade Thad and Sato for truly expiring deals to maximize cap space next offseason. I'd give Lauri a low ball extension offer to see if he'd take it (basically MLE level, maybe up to $11-12M). Besides that, I think I'd run it back and see what type of improvements the guys have made since March, see how they gel with the new coaching staff/philosophies.

Lauri might take it. (He's said before he already has much more money than he knows what to do with.)

His agent won't.

[MrSparkle]

I think atleast 1 of the centers is dumped or even bought out by Xmas. I can see Felicio just getting waived. Little reason to move forward with both Gafford and Wendell.

Right now the trade market is bonkers, as the contenders desperately shoot for the A & B players. Next we’ll have some frantic FA moves. Once the dust settles, should be able to make a few tweaks.

[Nate3carp]

I'd give Denzel a small raise from the QO in exchange for either getting a Team Option on year 2 of a contract. Maybe $6.5M or so. I'd try to trade Thad and Sato for truly expiring deals to maximize cap space next offseason. I'd give Lauri a low ball extension offer to see if he'd take it (basically MLE level, maybe up to $11-12M). Besides that, I think I'd run it back and see what type of improvements the guys have made since March, see how they gel with the new coaching staff/philosophies.

Lauri might take it. (He's said before he already has much more money than he knows what to do with.)

His agent won't.

I agree with that. I'd offer to see if we can get a potential steal. If we can't, I'm more than content to let him play the season out and potentially trade him or see if he fits our plans for the future next offseason.

[ChettheJet]

Right now they have what they have and that amounts to playing these guys and seeing who they want to keep and who the cap space will bring.

I still think there are moves to be made and in the next few days some teams will release guys and some will decide they drafted a project and need some help in the meantime. That's where the Bulls have to get involved. There just aren't many FAs out there now so not much for the Bulls to make room for and other teams might thing those two Bulls look like they help. Moving Young and Satoransky still makes sense, with both bringing back either an expiring contract which seems unlikely or a better but more expensive player. My thought goes towards Young brings back a guard from a team short up front and Satoransky brings back a big from a team needing a guard.

Making the qualifying offer to Valentine and then drafting Williams, to me, signals that Young is on the move and Hutchison might be gone because Porter sliding over joins Kornet behind Lauri and gives Williams more minutes. Valentine can play behind Lavine/White at the SG and Porter/Williams at the SF.

The teams that could or should be dealing would be NOP with all those FRPs and the Knicks who drafted a bunch of kids and I just don't think Thibs will develop a new enlightened attitude about playing rookies.

[dougthonus]

So - as of draft night: AK says he plans to stash Simonovic, and we've offered QO's to Makoka and Denzel.

If those guys accept the QO, then our roster is currently locked in at 15:

COBY/ LAVINE / OTTO / LAURI / WENDELL
ARCHIE / SATO / YOUNG / WILLIAMS / GAFFORD

HUTCH / KORNET / FELICIO

OPTIONS:
DENZEL & MAKOKA


RELEVANT CONTRACT STATUS:
-Otto is expiring.
-Felicio (7.5m) and Kornet (2.3m) are also both expiring
-Hutch (2.4m) and Archi (3m) have team options
-Lauri is about to be an RFA (not super relevant)

SUMMARY:
Obviously, there could be trades (sign and trades might be best for us if we want a free agent). Barring that, if we want to open a roster spot we have to make some cuts and we're not in a great cap-position to pursue free agents - I believe the MLE is the best we can offer a FA right now (please correct me if I'm wrong).

So - RealGM - what moves do you make?

You'd have to assume both Valentine and Makoka take the QOs. I don't see a market for either guy.

[sco]

In terms of needs, we still need another scoring guard off the bench (e.g. Augustine, Clarkson, Trey Burke or JJ Barea) or a proven 2nd quartile starting PG (e.g. Teague or Dragic) to push Coby back to that role. I think one of Thad or Hutch can be traded, but then again, we were horribly short on forwards last year, so depth at 3-4 makes some sense. I worry about scoring with a bench of Sato, Arci,Val, Hutch, Pat, Thad, Gafford and Kornet. I think that either Sato or Thad gets traded, one of Val/Mokoka gets his QO rescinded, or Felicio gets bought out.

[MGB8]

Honestly, I'd probably go into the season flat, but the big decision that I'd want to make by the trading deadline is whether Lauri is a very special player that needs to be kept (even at a high cost), or not. If not, I'd still want to "pump up his value" and then look for a trade at the deadline.

I'd be looking to make similar evaluations on WCJ and, to a lesser extent, LaVine (whether he's going to be worth the Max or near Max) - to figure out what to do moving forward.

I don't think that management, much less we fans, have enough information to make sound decisions yet.

[TheSuzerain]

I think atleast 1 of the centers is dumped or even bought out by Xmas. I can see Felicio just getting waived. Little reason to move forward with both Gafford and Wendell.

Right now the trade market is bonkers, as the contenders desperately shoot for the A & B players. Next we’ll have some frantic FA moves. Once the dust settles, should be able to make a few tweaks.

It's a major disappointment if we're sitting out a crazy trade market.

[TheSuzerain]

So - as of draft night: AK says he plans to stash Simonovic, and we've offered QO's to Makoka and Denzel.

If those guys accept the QO, then our roster is currently locked in at 15:

COBY/ LAVINE / OTTO / LAURI / WENDELL
ARCHIE / SATO / YOUNG / WILLIAMS / GAFFORD

HUTCH / KORNET / FELICIO

OPTIONS:
DENZEL & MAKOKA


RELEVANT CONTRACT STATUS:
-Otto is expiring.
-Felicio (7.5m) and Kornet (2.3m) are also both expiring
-Hutch (2.4m) and Archi (3m) have team options
-Lauri is about to be an RFA (not super relevant)

SUMMARY:
Obviously, there could be trades (sign and trades might be best for us if we want a free agent). Barring that, if we want to open a roster spot we have to make some cuts and we're not in a great cap-position to pursue free agents - I believe the MLE is the best we can offer a FA right now (please correct me if I'm wrong).

So - RealGM - what moves do you make?

You'd have to assume both Valentine and Makoka take the QOs. I don't see a market for either guy.

Which really raises the question of why we offered it.

Mokkoka is especially a headscratcher. In no way does he deserve an NBA contract.

[MrSparkle]

I think atleast 1 of the centers is dumped or even bought out by Xmas. I can see Felicio just getting waived. Little reason to move forward with both Gafford and Wendell.

Right now the trade market is bonkers, as the contenders desperately shoot for the A & B players. Next we’ll have some frantic FA moves. Once the dust settles, should be able to make a few tweaks.

It's a major disappointment if we're sitting out a crazy trade market.

Why? You wanted to trade multiple FRPs for Jrue?

Trade half the roster for a veteran star so that they ask for a trade out when Thad, Sato and Coby prove to be too little help?

Actual contenders are scrambling for guys like Gallinari and Bogdanovic. Why would the Bulls get in on that?

Bulls apparently inquired about Kemba. Ainge probably asked for #4, if not more, and AK probably politely hung up. And i don't blame him.

[TheStig]

Based on what I am reading, the plan is to let Donovan work with the existing team. This is going to be an oddball season with little rest and no preseason. Its going to take a while to get anything going.

After this year, the roster opens up with a ton of players expiring. Porter, Thad, Sato, Felicio, Kornett and Denzel will likely be gone, freeing up $60m in salary. Lauri could also depart in 2021.

I suspect that Chicago would be more active at the deadline than now as far as roster moves.

I agree, I think we'll see a lot of changes in trades during the year and the offseason. I think a lot of these guys have had their value depressed by Boylen. I don't think the Bulls will win a lot more games but I think they will look a lot better.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see Lavine moved. He's going to get a max or near max money as a UFA. I don't know that they want to tie that up in him and will have value.

[dougthonus]

Which really raises the question of why we offered it.

Mokkoka is especially a headscratcher. In no way does he deserve an NBA contract.

One note that I realized, the Bulls can normally withdraw the QO (even if the player attempts to accept) within 2 weeks. Not sure what the period is now and couldn't find it with a google search, but probably a week or so.

[Nate3carp]

So - as of draft night: AK says he plans to stash Simonovic, and we've offered QO's to Makoka and Denzel.

If those guys accept the QO, then our roster is currently locked in at 15:

COBY/ LAVINE / OTTO / LAURI / WENDELL
ARCHIE / SATO / YOUNG / WILLIAMS / GAFFORD

HUTCH / KORNET / FELICIO

OPTIONS:
DENZEL & MAKOKA


RELEVANT CONTRACT STATUS:
-Otto is expiring.
-Felicio (7.5m) and Kornet (2.3m) are also both expiring
-Hutch (2.4m) and Archi (3m) have team options
-Lauri is about to be an RFA (not super relevant)

SUMMARY:
Obviously, there could be trades (sign and trades might be best for us if we want a free agent). Barring that, if we want to open a roster spot we have to make some cuts and we're not in a great cap-position to pursue free agents - I believe the MLE is the best we can offer a FA right now (please correct me if I'm wrong).

So - RealGM - what moves do you make?

You'd have to assume both Valentine and Makoka take the QOs. I don't see a market for either guy.

Anyone know if Makoka's QO is for a full NBA contract, or is it a 2-way QO? Meaning, if he gets an NBA offer we can match, but if he accepts the QO it's for a 2-way contact.

[TheSuzerain]

You'd have to assume both Valentine and Makoka take the QOs. I don't see a market for either guy.

Which really raises the question of why we offered it.

Mokkoka is especially a headscratcher. In no way does he deserve an NBA contract.

One note that I realized, the Bulls can normally withdraw the QO (even if the player attempts to accept) within 2 weeks. Not sure what the period is now and couldn't find it with a google search, but probably a week or so.[/quote]
I hope so. If that's the case, I can't begrudge optionality.

[PrimzyBulls81]

AK said they will address scoring depth thru free agency.. Soo there will be for sure some change,maybe even thru trade!?
I would still like to see Bulls add veteran PG to mentor Coby..

White, Lavine, Porter, Markannen, Carter
Archie, Sato, Valentine, Mokoka, Williams, Hutchinson, T.Young, Gafford, Kornet, Felicio

they can waive Kornet for sure, sign veteran PG,maybe bring back Rondo or DJ Augustin,because Dragic,Teague,Clarkson I dont think will be available -- one another option,go HARD after FVV !? Try to trade Sato for bag of chips LoL..
This roster still needs a few upgrades to be really competitive.

[Chi town]

If we are healthy lots of guys won't be seeing the floor.

Our greatest need is a vet PG. Sato is not a PG. At all.