Woj: Vucevic/Aminu for Carter Jr/Porter/ 2 1sts

[bad knees]

Anyone have a link to an updated contracts/salary cap summary for next season? BBRef and NBA.com still haven't updated theirs. Damned slackers!

Spotrac is updated.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Also, unlike in years past where GarPax would prioritize signing big names and exclude input from the head coach, this time you can bet that BD was 100% in with the plan. That's a big deal because you know that we targeted a player whose skillsets fit the system we're trying to run. These guys will be playing to their strengths, no more trying to jam square pegs in round holes.

If we still had GarPax may guess it would have gone like this.

Never would have a chance with Billy Donovan and Boylen would still be here.
They would have salary dumped Lauri before deadline.
The would keep Wendell and stay another year before another salary dump.
They would have let Otto just expire.
And going into next year they would try and trade Zach in the same fashion as Jimmy.

Then they would have a presser about them retrying the rebuild and blame the players. Then give themselves a 3 year extension.

The fact is, GarPax just didnt know how to build or acquire talent without it being helped with tons of cap space or draft capital. They had no clue how to get Jimmy help so they bailed.

In this half season of play, AKME found a way to actually have a direction, recognize a star PLUS hitch his wagon on him. Now we have 2 allstars as a base for the foreseeable future.

Instead of going into the offseason hoping and praying lottery balls are on your side, we go into each offseason figuring out how to tweak the team. Its a huge difference.

[Dan Z]

Right now Tankathon has the Bulls drafting at #10 (2021 draft). I assume we climb up the standings a bit, but how high? 12th? 14th? ??

Last year #12 was Tyrese Halliburton and #14 was Aaron Nesmith.

In 2019 #12 was P.J. Washington and #14 was Romeo Langford.

There should be good players for Orlando to pick, but most likely not a star.

The other pick that the Bulls gave up (2023) is too far out for me to guess how that will turn out.

It's a good trade for the Bulls.

We should not be in the lottery at all if the team meshes quickly.

I agree, but it's probably going to be a tight race. Right now the Bulls are at #10 with the Pacers, Celtics, Heat, Hawks, Knicks and Hornets all ahead of them.

Who drops a bit as the season goes on?

[HouseOfLight]

Markkanen is a scrub in the NBA. He’s a goner. AK knows this, so does BD. It’s only a matter of time. There have already been rumblings that he doesn’t fit their immediate plans going forward

You also just really have to laugh at this notion that Markkanen A.) has some semblance of a “fanbase” (how loosely are we defining fanbase?), and B.) that he somehow garners enough conviction necessary to elicit anything other than utter neutrality. No one cares, and as I stated in that other thread, no one aside from ppl who watch the Bulls & a handful of folks that vaguely remember him for the 3p shooting during his rookie year, even knows who LM is. He’s an irrelevant non factor, some random 4th year lottery pick who is somehow still a project. Notice he was on the block all season, and yet no one bit, because no one wants him lol. His game directly contributes to the team losing basketball games

[MrSparkle]

Then I won’t be arguing with ZOMG anymore. Hell with it. Give Lauri his $80 million and cross your fingers.

Then you still have Coby and Williams to develop as players or assets.

I was down for trading Lauri but it seems pretty clear with the moves that the Bulls are going to extend him and roll the dice that he will (no longer "can", this needs to be a "will" to make this all work out) develop into a really solid and dependable player.

As I said somewhere yesterday, some of the comments seem to indicate that the Bulls would have dumped Lauri for a 1st but no one in the league offered it. During AK's presser yesterday, he point blank said they weren't done and mentioned capspace which can only exist if they let Lauri go.

I'm not thoroughly convinced that what happened yesterday means that Lauri is in the team's long term plans. They may end up just letting him walk.

Yeah. Lauri/Vuc will be one of the worst defensive tandems in the NBA. Donovan will give it a shot (put Thad back in the 6moy picture), but I'm not sure it'll stick. But if it works out, you have a good problem in the off-season. To me the ideal scenario is S&T with a strong return, cause we just upgraded the front-court with way too many interesting pieces to bother spending ANY significant cap on Lauri, who seems incompatible with 80% of players.

As low on Lauri as I've been, his actual-value (salary, trade) was hard to read last year. I wanted to trade him, but for what? You don't want to give him to Lakers for a 25th pick and then see him start averaging 21 PPG on 66% TS with Lebron assists while we come away with Jaden McDaniels and some bad salary.

Pretty challenging this past week, since everyone's ready to blame the guards for his defensive short-comings, injuries for rust and sample size, and poor line-up combos. But there will be zero questions left after this season ends; especially if he gets injured yet again. Letting a mediocre player walk is cap-space, which is an asset if used for something other than Felicio.

[kodo]

This was funny. As if Vuc is a "long term fit" with anyone - he could be retired or playing in Spain in 3-4 years.

Read on Twitter

I don't get the age joke. Is Kawhi close to retiring too? They are only 8 months apart.

[kodo]

Anyone have a link to an updated contracts/salary cap summary for next season? BBRef and NBA.com still haven't updated theirs. Damned slackers!

Spotrac is updated.

Yeah they had it updated hours after the trade, they're amazing.
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/chicago-bulls/cap/2021/

But there's a lot of flexibility there. If AK hates this roster and just wants to keep Vuc & Lavine, it's doable. He's halfway to nuking the roster already.

[The Explorer]

Also, unlike in years past where GarPax would prioritize signing big names and exclude input from the head coach, this time you can bet that BD was 100% in with the plan. That's a big deal because you know that we targeted a player whose skillsets fit the system we're trying to run. These guys will be playing to their strengths, no more trying to jam square pegs in round holes.

If we still had GarPax may guess it would have gone like this.

Never would have a chance with Billy Donovan and Boylen would still be here.
They would have salary dumped Lauri before deadline.
The would keep Wendell and stay another year before another salary dump.
They would have let Otto just expire.
And going into next year they would try and trade Zach in the same fashion as Jimmy.

Then they would have a presser about them retrying the rebuild and blame the players. Then give themselves a 3 year extension.

The fact is, GarPax just didnt know how to build or acquire talent without it being helped with tons of cap space or draft capital. They had no clue how to get Jimmy help so they bailed.

In this half season of play, AKME found a way to actually have a direction, recognize a star PLUS hitch his wagon on him. Now we have 2 allstars as a base for the foreseeable future.

Instead of going into the offseason hoping and praying lottery balls are on your side, we go into each offseason figuring out how to tweak the team. Its a huge difference.

Don't forget the obligatory mention of recovering from the Derrick Rose injury. Also Forman would have talked about retaining flexibility and Boylen would have compared Felicia or Kornett to Robert Horry!

[HouseOfLight]

Right now Tankathon has the Bulls drafting at #10 (2021 draft). I assume we climb up the standings a bit, but how high? 12th? 14th? ??

Last year #12 was Tyrese Halliburton and #14 was Aaron Nesmith.

In 2019 #12 was P.J. Washington and #14 was Romeo Langford.

There should be good players for Orlando to pick, but most likely not a star.

The other pick that the Bulls gave up (2023) is too far out for me to guess how that will turn out.

It's a good trade for the Bulls.

We should not be in the lottery at all if the team meshes quickly.

I agree, but it's probably going to be a tight race. Right now the Bulls are at #10 with the Pacers, Celtics, Heat, Hawks, Knicks and Hornets all ahead of them.

Who drops a bit as the season goes on?

Knicks, Celtics, Hornets, and possibly Miami are all going to either stagnate or plummet

Celtics fans are apparently livid with the Theis decision. It was allegedly done at the owner of the team’s behest purely for financial reasons, IE: them being cheap. Theis is a big part of making their team go. This will hurt them big time, especially their defense

Knicks were always going to fall off, too young & inexperienced

Hornets were getting overrated & lost one of their key players

Miami, ehh. That team is real bad without Butler. Oladipo isn’t a needle mover. He can still toss up some lofty scoring #s from time to time, but unfortunately injuries have absolutely ravaged his body. He can no longer play competent man defense & the explosion isn’t there anymore

Chicago automatically, after one afternoon, has one of the most lethal offensive duos on the planet. You factor in Theis, who will bolster bench defense *big time*, and don’t be surprised to see Chicago shoot up the standings.

[Stratmaster]

OK experts, please tell me if this summary is correct:

The Bulls are currently 37 mil under the luxury tax for NEXT season.

They can increase that by shedding any of the following:
Arch 3 mil
Thad 14 mil
Sato 10 mil

However, none of that accounts for:
Resigning Lauri (16.8 mil hold)
Resigning Theis (9.5 mil hold)

I am assuming that Felicio, Val, Temple and Mokoka would all be gone.

Why am I hearing that the Bulls have taken themselves out of free agency with the moves they made? Is it because they are over the cap this season? I still see 23 mil in "practical cap space" listed for next season.

I am translating all this to mean they would either have to renounce 2 out of 3 of Thad, Sato,and Lauri, to get under the cap and be a player in free agency.

Am I on the right track here?

[Dieselbound&Down]

I was down for trading Lauri but it seems pretty clear with the moves that the Bulls are going to extend him and roll the dice that he will (no longer "can", this needs to be a "will" to make this all work out) develop into a really solid and dependable player.

As I said somewhere yesterday, some of the comments seem to indicate that the Bulls would have dumped Lauri for a 1st but no one in the league offered it. During AK's presser yesterday, he point blank said they weren't done and mentioned capspace which can only exist if they let Lauri go.

I'm not thoroughly convinced that what happened yesterday means that Lauri is in the team's long term plans. They may end up just letting him walk.

Yeah. Lauri/Vuc will be one of the worst defensive tandems in the NBA. Donovan will give it a shot (put Thad back in the 6moy picture), but I'm not sure it'll stick. But if it works out, you have a good problem in the off-season. To me the ideal scenario is S&T with a strong return, cause we just upgraded the front-court with way too many interesting pieces to bother spending ANY significant cap on Lauri, who seems incompatible with 80% of players.

As low on Lauri as I've been, his actual-value (salary, trade) was hard to read last year. I wanted to trade him, but for what? You don't want to give him to Lakers for a 25th pick and then see him start averaging 21 PPG on 66% TS with Lebron assists while we come away with Jaden McDaniels and some bad salary.

Pretty challenging this past week, since everyone's ready to blame the guards for his defensive short-comings, injuries for rust and sample size, and poor line-up combos. But there will be zero questions left after this season ends; especially if he gets injured yet again. Letting a mediocre player walk is cap-space, which is an asset if used for something other than Felicio.

How much cap space does that free up?

Does that cap space allow you to sign someone better than a Jaden McDaniels?

If the cap goes down and the market is flooded, this potentially could be a great year to be a spender as there may be lots of value.

I may not be imaginative enough (or pay enough attention). Maybe letting him walk is a better basketball move for team building than trying to trade him. I'm open to being convinced by you folks.

[FriedRise]

Read on Twitter

Oh how the turn tables.

[Stratmaster]

I was down for trading Lauri but it seems pretty clear with the moves that the Bulls are going to extend him and roll the dice that he will (no longer "can", this needs to be a "will" to make this all work out) develop into a really solid and dependable player.

As I said somewhere yesterday, some of the comments seem to indicate that the Bulls would have dumped Lauri for a 1st but no one in the league offered it. During AK's presser yesterday, he point blank said they weren't done and mentioned capspace which can only exist if they let Lauri go.

I'm not thoroughly convinced that what happened yesterday means that Lauri is in the team's long term plans. They may end up just letting him walk.

Yeah. Lauri/Vuc will be one of the worst defensive tandems in the NBA. Donovan will give it a shot (put Thad back in the 6moy picture), but I'm not sure it'll stick. But if it works out, you have a good problem in the off-season. To me the ideal scenario is S&T with a strong return, cause we just upgraded the front-court with way too many interesting pieces to bother spending ANY significant cap on Lauri, who seems incompatible with 80% of players.

As low on Lauri as I've been, his actual-value (salary, trade) was hard to read last year. I wanted to trade him, but for what? You don't want to give him to Lakers for a 25th pick and then see him start averaging 21 PPG on 66% TS with Lebron assists while we come away with Jaden McDaniels and some bad salary.

Pretty challenging this past week, since everyone's ready to blame the guards for his defensive short-comings, injuries for rust and sample size, and poor line-up combos. But there will be zero questions left after this season ends; especially if he gets injured yet again. Letting a mediocre player walk is cap-space, which is an asset if used for something other than Felicio.

For this season, Vuc/Thad need to start. Pairing Lauri with Theis, who I understand to be solid defensively, on the 2nd unit seems to be the logical way to approach it. But if Lauri can't play next to Vuc, that means Lauri is only going to get about 18 mpg.

[Jstock12]

Read on Twitter

Oh how the turn tables.

[Am2626]

There seriously needs to be someone that compiles all of the hilarious comments from the other night in multiple threads. They were too hysterical to just let fade away. It needs to be an organized poster with all of the comments plastered all over it like a collage

Not only is this the greatest trade in Bulls franchise history, but Chicago absolutely decimated everyone else who was active at the deadline. They won it by a complete landslide. AK demoralized the Magic. This was akin to the Gasol Lakers fleece trade. Just incredible stuff from Artie & Marc. I

I don’t people realize just how good the Voochmeister is. He’s the best C in the league on some nights. He is a BEAST, one of the last true Swiss Army knife unicorn Cs in basketball who can do everything well & at an absurdly high level. He’s an Ironman who is always healthy. He’s still got 4/5 years of great play left in him, and he’s somehow on an affordable deal. He & ZLV are gonna be incredible together, people have no idea

And this is just the beginning

I seriously have no idea how he battered up Orlando like that. Whoa. That was an obscene robbery. Even if WCJ becomes Horford x100, it’s one of the worst trades in recent memory. Just below the Butler trade in terms of “wow wtf were they thinking...”. I was against getting Vooci Mane because I thought it’d cost like 4 1sts or something crazy, but had no idea that AK was going to torch a team like he did. Either way, everyone making those comments in those other threads should copy & paste them here & in the Theis thread lmfao

The crazy thing is that Vooch is actually improving. His game relies on almost no athleticism, it’s all footwork & sheer skill. And he’s an *ironman*. Never gets hurt.

I saw someone compare this to the Boozer signing, and I’d disagree. Boozer was a massive question mark. He was extremely injury prone & Jazz fans were thrilled to see him go. It was heavily questioned whether or not he’d be the player he was post-injuries, at a slimmer weight, and he wasn’t that guy anymore. Vooch is a top 20 player in his prime, in 2021!!! This is the biggest Bulls news since the 2008 lottery announcement

Markkanen next, plz!

I get the excitement, but let's not rush to criticize the Orlando Magic.

People were criticizing us for trading Jimmy Butler. Orlando HAD to trade Vooch because the Magic is a true dumpster fire. They cannot build around Vooch because Vooch is 30 years old. The current surrounding pieces are awful. If Vooch was 25-27 then Orlando is definitely not trading him. The Magic did Vooch a favor by trading him away to a team that is in a better position, for now and the rest of Vooch's years, which is 4 more seasons at max.

We only have Vooch for 2 full seasons after this season ends. He'll be 32 years old when he becomes UFA. Are we gonna re-sign him? If not, gotta trade him. We'll see how the rest of this season and next season goes.

Actually I would say the criticism of Orlando is warranted. I really don’t care because I’m a Bulls fan and not a Magic fan but no organization is ever obligated to give away assets for nothing. They didn’t have to make any deals and Vooch himself publicly stated his commitment to Orlando before the trade happened. While Vooch is 30 his game is based on his footwork and fundamentals not athleticism. That means that he will continue to play at a high level as he ages. Big men like that can extend their playing careers. Look at how many successful seasons Kareem Abdul Jabbar had. While he had athleticism early in his career it was his fundamentals, footwork and skills that kept him playing at an All Star level until he retired at 41. Vooch still has a long and successful career ahead of him.

Now we look at Orlando. Carter Jr. is an undersized big that has be a big disappointment. I don’t see much upside with him and Orlando already has Mo Bamba. This trade didn’t fill any areas that they needed to fill. The draft picks don’t have much value because they are top 4 protected. Porter Jr is on his last legs and had no value. This is nothing like the Butler trade. The Bulls got back 3 young upside players which one in LaVine has turned into a Superstar.

[TheFinishSniper]

For this season, Vuc/Thad need to start. Pairing Lauri with Theis, who I understand to be solid defensively, on the 2nd unit seems to be the logical way to approach it. But if Lauri can't play next to Vuc, that means Lauri is only going to get about 18 mpg.

I mean that's on Lauri himself. If he cant play with Vuc that's his problem. We traded for Vuc out of need because Lauri himself was uncapable be player we needed. So Lauri has 2 choices. Either adapt and play with Vuc or play in 2nd unit with backup like Theis with who you can hide your weaknesses on defense while provide good scoring role from bench.

This is last warning for Lauri. AK is doing literally everything to lit fire under his ass. If it doesnt lit it up now it likely never will. After that Lauri needs settle and not only his adjust his expectations about contract situation in FA but what role can he play.

[HouseOfLight]

There seriously needs to be someone that compiles all of the hilarious comments from the other night in multiple threads. They were too hysterical to just let fade away. It needs to be an organized poster with all of the comments plastered all over it like a collage

Not only is this the greatest trade in Bulls franchise history, but Chicago absolutely decimated everyone else who was active at the deadline. They won it by a complete landslide. AK demoralized the Magic. This was akin to the Gasol Lakers fleece trade. Just incredible stuff from Artie & Marc. I

I don’t people realize just how good the Voochmeister is. He’s the best C in the league on some nights. He is a BEAST, one of the last true Swiss Army knife unicorn Cs in basketball who can do everything well & at an absurdly high level. He’s an Ironman who is always healthy. He’s still got 4/5 years of great play left in him, and he’s somehow on an affordable deal. He & ZLV are gonna be incredible together, people have no idea

And this is just the beginning

I seriously have no idea how he battered up Orlando like that. Whoa. That was an obscene robbery. Even if WCJ becomes Horford x100, it’s one of the worst trades in recent memory. Just below the Butler trade in terms of “wow wtf were they thinking...”. I was against getting Vooci Mane because I thought it’d cost like 4 1sts or something crazy, but had no idea that AK was going to torch a team like he did. Either way, everyone making those comments in those other threads should copy & paste them here & in the Theis thread lmfao

The crazy thing is that Vooch is actually improving. His game relies on almost no athleticism, it’s all footwork & sheer skill. And he’s an *ironman*. Never gets hurt.

I saw someone compare this to the Boozer signing, and I’d disagree. Boozer was a massive question mark. He was extremely injury prone & Jazz fans were thrilled to see him go. It was heavily questioned whether or not he’d be the player he was post-injuries, at a slimmer weight, and he wasn’t that guy anymore. Vooch is a top 20 player in his prime, in 2021!!! This is the biggest Bulls news since the 2008 lottery announcement

Markkanen next, plz!

I get the excitement, but let's not rush to criticize the Orlando Magic.

People were criticizing us for trading Jimmy Butler. Orlando HAD to trade Vooch because the Magic is a true dumpster fire. They cannot build around Vooch because Vooch is 30 years old. The current surrounding pieces are awful. If Vooch was 25-27 then Orlando is definitely not trading him. The Magic did Vooch a favor by trading him away to a team that is in a better position, for now and the rest of Vooch's years, which is 4 more seasons at max.

We only have Vooch for 2 full seasons after this season ends. He'll be 32 years old when he becomes UFA. Are we gonna re-sign him? If not, gotta trade him. We'll see how the rest of this season and next season goes.

Actually I would say the criticism of Orlando is warranted. I really don’t care because I’m a Bulls fan and not a Magic fan but no organization is ever obligated to give away assets for nothing. They didn’t have to make any deals and Vooch himself publicly stated his commitment to Orlando before the trade happened. While Vooch is 30 his game is based on his footwork and fundamentals not athleticism. That means that he will continue to play at a high level as he ages. Big men like that can extend their playing careers. Look at how many successful seasons Kareem Abdul Jabbar had. While he had athleticism early in his career it was his fundamentals, footwork and skills that kept him playing at an All Star level until he retired at 41. Vooch still has a long and successful career ahead of him.

Now we look at Orlando. Carter Jr. is an undersized big that has be a big disappointment. I don’t see much upside with him and Orlando already has Mo Bamba. This trade didn’t fill any areas that they needed to fill. The draft picks don’t have much value because they are top 4 protected. Porter Jr is on his last legs and had no value. This is nothing like the Butler trade. The Bulls got back 3 young upside players which one in LaVine has turned into a Superstar.

WCJ definitely is not undersized at all, he’s 6’10 which is above average for an NBA C (a position that is becoming increasing smaller). His issues were the injuries/being out of shape which therefore affected his speed. When he was in optimal shape, he could defend fine at the 5 spot, or even the 4. He had two really nasty injuries that prevented him from conditioning properly. Once Wendell gets back into shape, he’ll likely be fine. As good as Vooch? Of course not, but somewhere between Antonio Davis & Horford is a good projection for him. Now, being in Orlando, who have rotten management & no player development to speak of, that’s a different story, but he can always sign elsewhere

Mo Bamba is absolutely terrible. Do you watch him play? No clue why he’d be brought up here, he’s a non factor. He might be out of the league soon. He is the drizzling s****s, zero coordination & can barely get through a quarter of NBA basketball

As far as the trade is concerned, yeah, the magic got dee-stroyed by AK. One of the bigger robberies ever. Especially when you factor in what Milwaukee & the Clippers had to give up in order to get George & Holiday. It’s also crazy that AK outworked Ainge

[MrSparkle]

As I said somewhere yesterday, some of the comments seem to indicate that the Bulls would have dumped Lauri for a 1st but no one in the league offered it. During AK's presser yesterday, he point blank said they weren't done and mentioned capspace which can only exist if they let Lauri go.

I'm not thoroughly convinced that what happened yesterday means that Lauri is in the team's long term plans. They may end up just letting him walk.

Yeah. Lauri/Vuc will be one of the worst defensive tandems in the NBA. Donovan will give it a shot (put Thad back in the 6moy picture), but I'm not sure it'll stick. But if it works out, you have a good problem in the off-season. To me the ideal scenario is S&T with a strong return, cause we just upgraded the front-court with way too many interesting pieces to bother spending ANY significant cap on Lauri, who seems incompatible with 80% of players.

As low on Lauri as I've been, his actual-value (salary, trade) was hard to read last year. I wanted to trade him, but for what? You don't want to give him to Lakers for a 25th pick and then see him start averaging 21 PPG on 66% TS with Lebron assists while we come away with Jaden McDaniels and some bad salary.

Pretty challenging this past week, since everyone's ready to blame the guards for his defensive short-comings, injuries for rust and sample size, and poor line-up combos. But there will be zero questions left after this season ends; especially if he gets injured yet again. Letting a mediocre player walk is cap-space, which is an asset if used for something other than Felicio.

How much cap space does that free up?

Does that cap space allow you to sign someone better than a Jaden McDaniels?

If the cap goes down and the market is flooded, this potentially could be a great year to be a spender as there may be lots of value.

I may not be imaginative enough (or pay enough attention). Maybe letting him walk is a better basketball move for team building than trying to trade him. I'm open to being convinced by you folks.

I'm positive Artunas can make better moves with $20-25m cap (or more, if they clear space for max), as opposed to extending Lauri early or trading him last year for a junky offer. Lauri's value hit rock-bottom last summer, and it's hard to salvage in a RFA year, but if that TS remains high and Bulls win more games with him involved, there's a chance he nets a good S&T return. We saw expiring Niko/Portis trades play out, and selling just to sell doesn't necessarily leave you in better shape then just letting them walk. We actually got saddled with expensive Asik and Otto salaries in both cases.

This deadline, while a big win, also doubled down on the fact that veteran bigs really do have the worst trade value. Orlando sold a low-salary, high-impact star for a weak return, and Boston gave away a 40 mpg ECF starting center for luxury tax savings. Theis was given away for rubbish, similar to our Taj dump. And I'm not sure Lauri ever plays as well as Theis did last season.

For Vuc: I'd be hurting if I was a Magic fan. Imagine if we gave away our #1 option bargain star Jimmy for an expiring contract and two top-4 protected picks. You already figure the first pick is in the 12-20 range.

Lauri is obviously never going to be in the class of a Jokic or Embiid. In his wildest hopes and dreams he has a career peak somewhere between Vuc and Theis (I doubt it). What's the trade market for a $20m Lauri at 25yo? If he can't fetch anything in S&T, I'd rather avoid the headache of having such a contract on the books unless he actually demonstrated he could be a positive 40-minute contributor like Theis.

If it comes down to the most boring scenario, I'd honestly rather use Lauri's cap-hold on resigning Theis, Temple, Valentine, Javonte Green and rookie-salary Simonovic. That is a hell of a better use of the money.

[TheFinishSniper]

Right now Tankathon has the Bulls drafting at #10 (2021 draft). I assume we climb up the standings a bit, but how high? 12th? 14th? ??

Last year #12 was Tyrese Halliburton and #14 was Aaron Nesmith.

In 2019 #12 was P.J. Washington and #14 was Romeo Langford.

There should be good players for Orlando to pick, but most likely not a star.

The other pick that the Bulls gave up (2023) is too far out for me to guess how that will turn out.

It's a good trade for the Bulls.

We should not be in the lottery at all if the team meshes quickly.

I agree, but it's probably going to be a tight race. Right now the Bulls are at #10 with the Pacers, Celtics, Heat, Hawks, Knicks and Hornets all ahead of them.

Who drops a bit as the season goes on?

those who dont have two all stars

[Pentele]

For this season, Vuc/Thad need to start. Pairing Lauri with Theis, who I understand to be solid defensively, on the 2nd unit seems to be the logical way to approach it. But if Lauri can't play next to Vuc, that means Lauri is only going to get about 18 mpg.

I mean that's on Lauri himself. If he cant play with Vuc that's his problem. We traded for Vuc out of need because Lauri himself was uncapable be player we needed. So Lauri has 2 choices. Either adapt and play with Vuc or play in 2nd unit with backup like Theis with who you can hide your weaknesses on defense while provide good scoring role from bench.

This is last warning for Lauri. AK is doing literally everything to lit fire under his ass. If it doesnt lit it up now it likely never will. After that Lauri needs settle and not only his adjust his expectations about contract situation in FA but what role can he play.

Yeah, we are finally at the juncture in which it is clear that Lauri should adapt to the players around him, and not vice versa. That is what playing with two all stars means. Before this, one could reasonably argue that Lauri is the second most talented player on the roster. Now there are (at least) two players above him whose "needs" shape the team... Lauri included if he wants to stay with the team.