Official Chicago Bulls Thread: Pick #7 third year in a row (2 Viewers)

Juxtatarot said:

Looks like they are signing Jabari Parker.  We'll see what the Bucks do but I think he's going to be a Bull.  I mentioned up-thread that I wasn't crazy about this possibility due to his poor defense.  K.C. Johnson tweeted that they want to try to play him at SF.  LaVine-Parker combo at wing defense is horrible.  Maybe long term they'll be able to play him at the 4 more but I'm struggling to figure out good rotations with Parker for this year.

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This makes no sense, this signing. They must really feel they have zero chance of signing a street free agent next summer. They also apparently couldn't care less about defense. 

Parker is likely to be a liability at the 3 spot. He needs to play the 4. Which would make sense if they moved Markkanen to the 5. But now, Wendell Carter lives there. 

This feels like "use the cap space now when no one else has it, accumulate whatever talent we can, and figure out how it all fits later." Either that or they're just trying to assemble the ACL All-Stars and just haven't told us yet. 

Option for the 2nd year changes a lot.  I think I'd still have pursued other options but I won't complain about this Jabari signing.  Hoping for the best!

Juxtatarot said:

Option for the 2nd year changes a lot.  I think I'd still have pursued other options but I won't complain about this Jabari signing.  Hoping for the best!

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1 year with a team option for year 2 is WAY more palatable than just 2/40. I went from hatred to ambivalence. 

The Antonio Blakeney signing was another head scratcher for me. It just seems so unnecessary at this time since he was already under team control with a 2-way contract. Although he is a talented scorer, he doesn’t do much else and the Bulls have plenty of those already. I assume he doesn’t crack the rotation unless there are injuries.

I hope the Bulls spend their entire room exception on Nwaba. A high energy, plus defending wing is what this team needs most now.

I’m not sure what to predict out of this team. I’m interested in seeing this new, simplified switching defense Hoiberg has mentioned. If they can somehow be only slightly below average on defense they would have an excellent shot at the playoffs. More likely they will finish around 10th in the East. Still, it should be a decent season to watch. They have a lot of young talent to be excited about.

Evilgrin72 said:

1 year with a team option for year 2 is WAY more palatable than just 2/40. I went from hatred to ambivalence. 

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Early signs point to that option not being picked up.  Real games have yet to start but Jabari coming off the bench seems like a bad sign, especially with Markennan out.  Unfortunately Jabari can pout a bit and let those things affect his game.

trader jake said:

Early signs point to that option not being picked up.  Real games have yet to start but Jabari coming off the bench seems like a bad sign, especially with Markennan out.  Unfortunately Jabari can pout a bit and let those things affect his game.

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I agree with you about Jabari.   But to give credit where credit is due, Portis has been fantastic and deserving of taking a starting spot.  His offensive game seems to grow every year.  Even besides Portis, though, Hoiberg has started Holiday at SF when there had been talk before Lauri's injury that Jabari would start there. 

I assume Fred will stick with the Dunn-LaVine-Holiday-Portis-Carter lineup to start the season but who knows?

So our Bulls start the season in my Hometown of Philly on Thursday. Thankfully the game is on nationally so I don't have to listen to the 76ers guys. I'm debating on getting tickets but with the 76ers giving a #### about winning now and somewhat good prices have been jacked up. Lowest offer is $28 to sit high 11th row. I use to pay $25 and be able to sit lower level. Hard for me to pay 28 for a game where the home team I could careless about. If this was in CHI its an easy decision if I lived there I'm going. Not only that but Lauri isn't even playing. 

Kind of a shame Lauri, Kris and Bobby are all hurt.  Denzel too.  No doubt they are struggling.

Zach's offensively has been awesome.  He's drawing fouls too which he hadn't done too much before.  From early results, I'm certainly now glad they matched the Kings' offer.

I think the Bulls will be decent when/if everyone gets healthy.  

I kind of hope they semi tank the rest of the year. I think the top 5 in next years draft can be game changers.

Lavine should be more of a second or third option on a contender. 

Love what I've seen from Carter so far.

Parker is a scrub.

Holliday is trash. 

Probably cant trade Lopez, but they should try.

Never understood the Felicio contract.

I'd like to see more out of Hutchinson.

I feel like this team can play .400 ball at full strength, but that takes them out of running for a gamechanger in the draft.

Juxtatarot said:

Kind of a shame Lauri, Kris and Bobby are all hurt.  Denzel too.  No doubt they are struggling.

Zach's offensively has been awesome.  He's drawing fouls too which he hadn't done too much before.  From early results, I'm certainly now glad they matched the Kings' offer.

I think the Bulls will be decent when/if everyone gets healthy.  

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They suck. LaVine is a ball hog. He can score but is not a good shooter. He'd be a good second or third option, he's not a star. Parker stinks. Most of the team stinks. They need to tear it down and start all over building around Markkanen and Carter. Get rid of everyone else. If the LaVine contract is a good deal, some team would jump at the chance to trade for him (Ed note : they won't.)

Unfortunately, I don't love this draft. A mid-lottery pick may yield a whole lotta nothing. 

Future is coming gents...

This franchise is an absolute mess.  How ####ing long is GarPax going to remain in control?  Enough is enough already.

Jabari dropped from the regular rotation. Good signing there. 

Evilgrin 72 said:

Jabari dropped from the regular rotation. Good signing there. 

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There was always a good chance that he wouldn't work out as we discussed in this thread at the time.  Good thing they have the team option.

This season has certainly been a disappointment.  I still have some hope they will show some promise as the Zach-Lauri-Wendell-Dunn-Portis core finally gets some playing time together.  However, they've dug themselves in too big of an early hole to be relevant this season.  At least they'll be more ping pong balls that we were expecting.

My initial thoughts on Boylen is he'll won't make it to next year.  I'll give him a chance over the next few months though and try to keep an open mind.

The question now is what to do with this wasted season.  The Bulls have plenty of money in expiring contracts with Parker, Lopez, and Holiday (and even Payne).  None of those players have much value, but I'd seriously consider taking on 2019-2020 season salary in a dump trade from another team if the Bulls can get a future first.  I'd prefer the Bulls to use their cap space that way instead of signing some consolation "prize" after all the good free agents sign elsewhere.