Lonzo Ball Thread (UPDATE: Bulls Offer Sato + 2nd Round picks)

[HomoSapien]

If you guys get Ball next to Lavine, I'm full on a Bulls fan.

Can you bring Siakam with you?

[GoBlue72391]

Prep that Lonzo Ball Bulls jersey. Let’s stabilize that pg position for the next 6-8 years.

He's not the playmaker he was billed to be when he came into the league. He's having his best season playing primarily as an off-ball 3 and D guy, where his weaknesses (finishing, shot creation, half court playmaking, etc.) are minimized. Playing him at PG just brings those weaknesses back to the forefront, and he'll have much less catch and shoot opportunities playing on-ball as opposed to off-ball.

If we're going to trade for Lonzo, fine, but I don't think we should view him as our long term answer at PG. If we trade for him and keep Sato, I wouldn't be surprised if we use him primarily as a 3 and D SF, which has proven to be his best role in the NBA up to this point.

[VolumePoster]

If you guys get Ball next to Lavine, I'm full on a Bulls fan.

Can you bring Siakam with you?

I really like siakam. Fantastic story. I truly hope he starts ascending again; seems to have hit a bit of a rough spot.

[WindyCityBorn]

If you guys get Ball next to Lavine, I'm full on a Bulls fan.

Can you bring Siakam with you?

Toronto is about to go through a rebuild. He might become available at some in the foreseeable future.

[WindyCityBorn]

Ball has been significantly better than Lauri, Bulls will likely have to add to the deal, something Zach Lowe mentioned

We are not giving up a lot for a half-season rental. No one else would offer them a player like Lauri and we probably shouldn’t. That’s a joke.

[TheStig]

Here's a funny thought--if you make Sato officially available, I bet you get calls from every single playoff bound team in the league.

What rumors do we have so far for Lonzo?

* Bol Bol--last guy off the bench for the Nuggets; is not ready to play and will not play on NO
* Sixers--won't give up Thybulle for him, a guy who while a good defender, hasn't broken 5 ppg yet; if Lonzo doesn't even net you a super-raw, defense first modern-day version of Ronnie Brewer, they're probably offering straight-up trash
* The Hawks offered Cam Reddish--one of the worst busts of the last decade (he's like bad Coby, but full-time)
* The Knicks beat writers quoted NY execs saying they're giving up neither draft assets nor major rotational pieces because they're playing well and don't want to disrupt chemistry
* We've offered Sato and 2nds.

So, in the "bidding war", we're the only ones offering anything that's NOT utter trash.

It's kind of like the Lauri situation. We want a good return and teams are low balling us. Closer to the deadline, someone might step up to the plate.

[fleet]

I like the Ball and Thibs pairing.

Jes the perfect “type” with Zach too. Big perimeter and defense

[TheFinishSniper]

I'm confused, at first your issue was contracts, now you're calling Ball a pawn? So its the on court play? You don't think Lauri has been better than Ball, do you?

Lots of rumors 24 hours before the deadline, like every year. Don't scare so easily, you sound wound up. Take a breather from the computer.

Yes contracts. Bulls feel confident they will keep Lauri if they want to. They will listen offers and move him if real player is on market available, but ultimately they will if needed match offer in FA. Pelicans on other hand dont wanna get in position where Ball leaves for nothing. They dont intend to match offer sheet due amount of PG's and playmakers they have. Not mention Ball wants to leave. And they know Bulls will be gunning for Lonzo.

So Pels naturally asked Lonzo for Lauri when that's not even in reality where Bulls wanna go. Bulls can if they want keep Lauri and get Ball. But first they need to get Ball. Hence why they want trade deal happen for Sato and 2nd rounders. Because otherwise they will be forced to overpay in FA. This way can maybe do S&T or if FA happens just match offer sheet. And yes chess logic, because I dont wanna sacrifice one piece for another. It doesnt get me anywhere. I wanna keep my piece and get another, and if I cant keep my piece I at least wanna lose that piece on position where I feel I get later advantage.

This is beyond any logic you or Lowe assumed. Which makes that idiot report even more stupid. And I dislike stupid person with power of thousands of followers.

[Chicago-Bull-E]

Ball has been significantly better than Lauri, Bulls will likely have to add to the deal, something Zach Lowe mentioned

We are not giving up a lot for a half-season rental. No one else would offer them a player like Lauri and we probably shouldn’t. That’s a joke.

1. Ball's better than Lauri. Just look at...anything.

2. Bulls are getting his RFA status, which means they control his future. They'd be getting their point guard of the future, sans some lunatic max contract offer from another team.

[WindyCityBorn]

Ball has been significantly better than Lauri, Bulls will likely have to add to the deal, something Zach Lowe mentioned

We are not giving up a lot for a half-season rental. No one else would offer them a player like Lauri and we probably shouldn’t. That’s a joke.

1. Ball's better than Lauri. Just look at...anything.

2. Bulls are getting his RFA status, which means they control his future. They'd be getting their point guard of the future, sans some lunatic max contract offer from another team.

What team is offering an equivalent or better player/package than Lauri? No one. We can trade Lauri for another asset.

[GoBlue72391]

Ball has been significantly better than Lauri, Bulls will likely have to add to the deal, something Zach Lowe mentioned

How so? Lonzo is a better defender and gets more assists than Lauri, but Lauri is better at literally everything else and has a higher ceiling. Lauri has shown flashes of stardom while Lonzo never has, and this season is the first time in his career that he's been better than guys like Lauri, Collins, Mitchell, Tatum, Fox, etc. were as rookies.

Lonzo per 36: 16, 5, and 6 on 43/39/77 splits with a 15 PER, 56 TS%, 55 eFG%, and 64% at the rim

Lauri per 36: 21, 7, and 1 on 48/40/83 splits with a 16 PER, 62 TS%, 59 eFG%, and 77% at the rim

Furthermore, Lonzo is having his best season playing primarily as an off-ball 3 and D guy, where his weaknesses (finishing, shot creation, half court playmaking, etc.) are minimized. Playing him at PG just brings those weaknesses back to the forefront, and he'll have much less catch and shoot opportunities playing on-ball as opposed to off-ball. He's more of a 3 and D wing than a PG at this point in his career.

[Chi town]

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1374822885857050629%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2020638start%3D1840

OPJ and Sato for Ball and Adams?

Clearly Adams doesn’t work next to Zion.

[HomoSapien]

Our big issues are PG and C. Clearly this trade addresses out PG issues, but there's been absolutely no rumors about us going after a big. I wonder if we have any leads we are pursuing.

[Chicago-Bull-E]

We are not giving up a lot for a half-season rental. No one else would offer them a player like Lauri and we probably shouldn’t. That’s a joke.

1. Ball's better than Lauri. Just look at...anything.

2. Bulls are getting his RFA status, which means they control his future. They'd be getting their point guard of the future, sans some lunatic max contract offer from another team.

What team is offering an equivalent or better player/package than Lauri? No one. We can trade Lauri for another asset.

No one has any concrete evidence of anything that's being offered. All conjecture.

If the Bulls could have traded Lauri for a meaningful asset, they likely would have. They just benched him and kept him out of crunchtime. And they weren't close on a contract extension in the offseason. And they're going to pay a player 20 million when they didn't bother playing him down the stretch? I think more highly of this FO.

[BullChit]

The longer this goes on the more my GarPax PTSD kicks in and I see "stand Pat" messaging incoming

Sent from my CPH1979 using Tapatalk

[HomoSapien]

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1374822885857050629%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2020638start%3D1840

OPJ and Sato for Ball and Adams?

Clearly Adams doesn’t work next to Zion.

Sato and Otto for Ball and Adams?

[drosestruts]

The Lonzo rumors have been around for so long I'm almost to the point where I'll be disappointed if he's not a Bull tomorrow, and I'm not even the biggest Lonzo fan.

[Chicago-Bull-E]

Ball has been significantly better than Lauri, Bulls will likely have to add to the deal, something Zach Lowe mentioned

How so? Lonzo is a better defender and gets more assists than Lauri, but Lauri is better at literally everything else and has a higher ceiling. Lauri has shown flashes of stardom while Lonzo never has, and this season is the first time in his career that he's been better than guys like Lauri, Collins, Mitchell, Tatum, Fox, etc. were as rookies.

Lonzo per 36: 16, 5, and 6 on 43/39/77 splits with a 15 PER, 56 TS%, 55 eFG%, and 64% at the rim

Lauri per 36: 21, 7, and 1 on 48/40/83 splits with a 16 PER, 62 TS%, 59 eFG%, and 77% at the rim

Furthermore, Lonzo is having his best season playing primarily as an off-ball 3 and D guy, where his weaknesses (finishing, shot creation, half court playmaking, etc.) are minimized. Playing him at PG just brings those weaknesses back to the forefront, and he'll have much less catch and shoot opportunities playing on-ball as opposed to off-ball. He's more of a 3 and D wing than a PG at this point in his career.

Significantly better net rating, better BPM, significantly better RPM, better VORP. Basically stats that attempt to cumulate more than just scoring, all point to Ball being much better.

All of those stats you listed in 2 line items gravitate back towards scoring (aside from Lauri's slight edge in rebounding and Lonzo being a much better passer). Lauri is a better scorer (although his TS% is dipping back to reality, so stay tuned).

Moreover, Ball's increase in his play every year has been pretty impressive. Look at his shooting stats from his rookie year to now, pretty remarkable. Lauri has been fairly static for fours aside from the efficiency bump (which may be coming back down).

And Ball has played in twice as many games this year.

As for the fit, Zach can still do some of the playmaking he's already doing, I wouldn't want Zach to play off ball. So Lonzo will be off ball some too.

[WindyCityBorn]

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1374822885857050629%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2020638start%3D1840

OPJ and Sato for Ball and Adams?

Clearly Adams doesn’t work next to Zion.

I'm sure they would love that. Taking on a bad contract for a player they have no intentions of keeping beyond this season.

[Chicago-Bull-E]

Our big issues are PG and C. Clearly this trade addresses out PG issues, but there's been absolutely no rumors about us going after a big. I wonder if we have any leads we are pursuing.

I'm getting dangerously close to wanting the Bulls to throw 25 million at Jarrett Allen and see if Cleveland flinches. His advanced numbers are fantastic, and he's very young. Fits like a glove.