New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? (August thread : have you changed your mind?)

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Do you believe Bulls are on the right track?

Yes. I love the new management moves so far.
54
22%
Kinda.it was hard to turn that roster around, but they made team competitive again.
83
33%
Not really. team acquired a bunch of paper stars and seem content with treadmill.
102
41%
No. they got rid of high potential guys / picks, and look even less promising than before.
10
4%
 
Total votes: 249

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New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? (August thread : have you changed your mind?) 

Post#1 » by UcanUwill » Sun Aug 29, 2021 11:08 am

In 2020, Bulls Fired their long time office and appointed a new man, former Nugget scout and former Lithuanian national team player - Artūras Karnišovas, as their new president of basketball operations. New president said that Chicago is third biggest market in the NBA and they want to act that way.

Since then we had a massive franchise clean out, new coaching staff, and only 2 players that are left from the Garpax era are - Zach Lavine and Coby White. Jim Boylen gone, Markannen, Wendell Carter Jr traded, drafted Patrick Williams who is already a longest lasting Bull on the roster excluding Lavine and White, brought Nikola Vučević, Lonzo Ball, Demar Derozan, Alex Caruso.

Are they on the right track?
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#2 » by Statlanta » Sun Aug 29, 2021 11:25 am

Bulls fans use the AKME acronym so I think Marc Eversly deserves a name drop.

I say kinda. A lot rests on Lonzo living up to his contract and the young players to provide intangibles/D next to this offensive loaded cast.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#3 » by K3nny Pow3rs » Sun Aug 29, 2021 11:37 am

Their roster would do well with the right coach, needs to be a coach that makes them buy-in to hard work, I guess Thibs.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#4 » by Lalouie » Sun Aug 29, 2021 12:24 pm

bulloney
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#5 » by Johnny Bball » Sun Aug 29, 2021 12:28 pm

6-10 place. Vuc was the biggest mistake and they didn’t fix it. They just painted over it at two positions.

I genuinely feel sorry for Demar having to lead this mess, because that’s what it will come down to.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#6 » by coldfish » Sun Aug 29, 2021 12:47 pm

Random comments:
- The team is almost completely turned over. There will only be 3 players returning from last year's opening day roster. Its really hard to look at last year's team as a projection for this year.
- Beyond that, they clearly used the first half of last year as an extended tryout, starting all of the young guys. Coby, Lavine, Pat, Lauri, Wendell. They got drilled night in and night out with the bench bringing the games back to respectability.
- Losing Thad hurt but he really didn't mesh well with Vucevic. They tried to play in the same spaces.
- After getting Vuc last year, Lavine was out with covid. There was very little sample size last year.
- What the team is trying to do and be is pretty obvious. They want to have a hub center like Denver (AK came from Denver) with 4 athletic, switchable guys who can shoot and handle the ball around him.
- The defense last year really wasn't as bad as people think it was, particularly when you excluded that young person group I mentioned.

On paper I think they are a top 4 team in the east talent wise. That said, its a bunch of career losers and 3rd bananas who have had much more box score success than wins. This is going to come down to health and coaching.

I can paint two extreme pictures.
Bad: The offense bogs down into Vucevic, DDR and Lavine pounding the ball in "my turn" type possessions. No player or ball movement killing efficiency. Lavine, Vuc and DDR just kill the defense and they end up winning less than 40 games in a much tougher east and miss the play in.
Good: With lots of ball handlers and shooters, the team swings it around and gets tons of easy looks on offense. On defense, they have a bunch of athletic guys and Donovan's help scheme makes it so they contest every good look such that they improve on their #12 defensive ranking post Vuc trade. 50+ wins.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#7 » by iLLmatic860 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 1:00 pm

Honestly it all depends on Lonzo

But they looking like a readmill team
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#8 » by robillionaire » Sun Aug 29, 2021 1:48 pm

I like their moves, I don't think it makes them a contender but it at least moves them in the right direction into being competitive
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#9 » by SA37 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 1:51 pm

I see them finishing somewhere between 7-11 in the East, depending on injuries.

Offensively, they have tons of firepower, but I am not sure how DeRozan and Lavine will mesh since they are both pretty ball-dominant players.

I am leaning towards them missing the playoffs just because I think they'll be below average defensively, they are really thin up front, and new teams usually take time to gel. On top of that, I expect Toronto and Indiana to be much better than last year. However, they will definitely be a threat to make the play-in.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#10 » by cool007 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:00 pm

As a Bulls fan, I love what AKME have done so far (Executive of the year IMO). They traded away a lots of bums or got rid of them and followed their vision (Yeah they actually have a vision unlike the previous Regime).

It may or may not work and they don't have a super bad contract or for long-term. If this doesn't work out, they can always either re-tool (when another superstar asks out) or build the team again next to youngsters (Pat Will, Lonzo, Lavine, Coby, TBJ, etc).

Also, no one has any idea how good/bad Bulls will be next year. Let them play first. I put my money on Bulls being top 6 seed at worst and a very tough out in the playoffs.

In short, I love what the front office did in just just 1 season and Bulls finally have a talented roster. Now it's up to Billy D to figure this out.

I give them A+ EASILY.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#11 » by anatomicbomb » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:07 pm

I think a lot of these moves were about (re)building a culture. Plus, if they can keep the team marginally competitive while rebuilding that's better for the fanbase and franchise revenue.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#12 » by Wagonband » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:10 pm

They might not win a championship, but can be a legit playoff team for years to come with this core. I like what they are doing. I always prefer teams fighting to have an outside chance to go deep in the playoffs than a team tanking for 20 years hoping to get one draft right and then build a serious contender.

People hate on the moves too much. If i was a Bulls fan i'd be happy to hopefully finally having some meaningful games in Chicago, even rather than wait another 10 years hoping for a better future
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#13 » by jbk1234 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:12 pm

I think they should've taken Nance in the Lauri trade and cut the Blazers out. P. Williams is going to be asked to do too much, for far too minutes out of the 4 position. Especially on defense.

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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#14 » by ArtMorte » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:15 pm

The FO has done well to bring Vucevic and Derozan to join Lavine. They aren't huge stars and are getting on a bit, but they are about as good players as we could have hoped to sign and getting two of them is a job well done. I'm not sold on Lonzo yet, but his work ethic seems fine, hopefully he'll be worth the 20m per season.

It's all eyes on Donovan now to get us into the playoffs, that has to be the minimum goal with this roster.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#15 » by KembaWalker » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:16 pm

the ExpendaBulls? big names that nobody believes in anymore
i don't see any reason why they couldnt do what the Hawks did last year. they have a ridiculous amount of talent the east has a bunch of teams with either major injury concern or gaping roster holes. a good coach can find a mismatch against most of the teams in the league with the breadth of their talent. should be Lavine going off most nights and then depending on what the other team wants to give up any given night DeRozan or Vuc is the 2nd and the rest of the guys fill in the gaps
I like it a lot on paper but it will take a masterful coaching performance to get the most out of a team like that and get the guys to buy in. i can see why their fans are excited
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#16 » by old skool » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:33 pm

The Bulls upgraded their talent, opting for immediate capability over hoping to hit on draft picks down the road.

I see two challenges.

First is that after a handful of key veterans, the rest of the roster is youngsters age 23 and younger. That combination rarely breaks into the upper echelon of any conference. It takes the youngsters a couple of seasons to hit their stride. Such development is often at odds with a win now approach

Second is that Vucevic and Lavine have put up good numbers and have been the best players on a team, but they have never had to step up and step back to make the team a winner. How they mesh and handle being an important component instead of the number one who just keeps hoisting regardless of the game situation could be a key issue.

Philly, Miami, Boston, Atlanta and New York all start out with more team cohesion. Toronto and Indiana look to rebound from disappointing seasons. The Bulls and Charlotte have legitimate reasons to expect they can be playoff teams. The reality that is when the playoff brackets are set, three of those teams will not be included. Nothing is certain.

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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#17 » by boomershadow » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:41 pm

I like Demar and Lonzo. Those two with some shooters and a defensive center would be pretty decent.

Which makes the Vucevic move a complete waste.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#18 » by LofJ » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:48 pm

I liked all of their moves except for the DeRozan sign and trade. He duplicates a lot of what Lavine does, but is worse in every way except for his playmaking. They also lost their best frontcourt depth player in Thad Young to make that trade and have yet to sign a replacement.

I loved the Lonzo, Caruso, and Vucevic acquisitions though. They needed to move their young bigs in a consolidation trade. I think the 2023 pick was a bit too much to give up, but I imagine there was another bidder for Vuc that required them to up their offer.

How good they end up being will depend on how well Lavine and DeRozan play with the rest of the team. They need to commit to defense and finding the best shot on offense, not getting to their desired PPG total.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#19 » by PistolPeteJR » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:50 pm

Johnny Bball wrote:6-10 place. Vuc was the biggest mistake and they didn’t fix it. They just painted over it at two positions.

I genuinely feel sorry for Demar having to lead this mess, because that’s what it will come down to.


“I feel sorry for this FREE AGENT having CHOSEN to come here for MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to do a job HE’S OPTED FOR.”

Fixed.
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Re: New direction Bulls. do you bullieve? 

Post#20 » by Reeko » Sun Aug 29, 2021 2:56 pm

The talent is certainly there, how it all fits together and how they make it work is another story. I'm not too worried about the offense, Zach will be given the bulk of the shots and I imagine that in the half court the offense will be led by DeMar. They're not going to stop anybody but, it's going to be tough to stop them.

I figure they're a top 5 seed if everything goes well, with a second round ceiling. In the short term they've put together a competitive roster. Unfortunately, I don't see what the long game is for them and how they get back to serious title contention with these moves.
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