Chicago Bulls Season 54 Preview

[garbageman]

phpBB [video]

Hello again Bulls fans!

Here we are at the start of not only another season, but another era of Bulls basketball. Last year was a solid honeymoon season. We retained most of our championship roster and put together a solid playoff run, but all good things must come to an end, and our main offseason focuses were finding a trade partner for Delmar Lopez and using our cap space to replenish the Bulls roster and get some players we can build our next championship run around.

Boy did we deliver.

We reached an agreement with the Timberwolves that sent them Delmar Lopez in the final year of his contract. Meanwhile, we brought back Carmelo Williams and the 8th pick in the draft, which we were able to trade up a spot in a three team deal for the rights of Simi Shittu--who while raw, is very young with a nice high ceiling. We're excited about Carmelo, too--a 2nd year player with a versatile defensive skillset and solid athleticism.

We followed up our draft day trades with a very successful RFA. Four players signed offer sheets with the Bulls: Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Lyle Galloway, and Charles Hintz, proving that Chicago is a prime free agent destination. We expected that all four contracts would end up getting maxed, but Lyle Galloway's and the Nets were mutually interested in parting ways, and we're happy to see Lyle in a Bulls uniform. He's got some great skills on both sides of the ball, and we're excited to feature him way more heavily than he was in Brooklyn.

UFA came around and we still had over 120mm to play with. We took some major swings and connected, bringing two new faces to Chicago. Jere Bailey's another athletic defender with a nice mid-range game, and he'll add to the defensively tough culture forming here. However, the story everyone in Chicago is buzzing over is of course the signing of Talen Horton-Tucker.

He's THT. He's dy-no-mite. He's THT and he'll win the fight! He's THT, he's a power looooooad. He's THT! WATCH HIM EXPLOOOOOOODE!

OI! OI! OI! OI!

Anyway, yeah...he's going to be a guy who can do it all for us in a season or two.

Not to mention, we were able to bring back:
Bradley Connell
Richard Hunt
Jere Ratliff (oh yeah, we got BOTH Jeres)
Justin Todd
Silky Johnson
Nathan Aker

and of course we still have Les Kim, who showed a lot of skill last year and will play a much larger offensive role for our team this season. We saw flashes (Dan Flashes) when Justin Todd was out a while last season, and we love what he brings to us on the offensive end.

Anyway, it's gonna be an interesting season. We don't have the pressure on us to make a deep run or anything, so we're going to try a lot of things out and keep refining this team until we have a clear future path. This year, we're about seeing what everyone's about, who works best with whom, and how they best work together. We'll also be evaluating needs and trying to fill those needs. But the journey to ring 7 starts now, and if all goes well, will end before we have to re-up THT's contract.

[MexicanMamba]

Realistically we know not all of these young players will last very long with the squad due to your fight for titles. That said, if you were to make a deal to get a big piece, whats the #1 priority in such a move? Is it a certain position? Style of play? Age?

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[garbageman]

Realistically we know not all of these young players will last very long with the squad due to your fight for titles. That said, if you were to make a deal to get a big piece, whats the #1 priority in such a move? Is it a certain position? Style of play? Age?

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

We're pretty flexible in terms of what direction we can go. We've got a lot of young guys who can play a couple positions and they have time to grow into a secondary position if we have a logjam somewhere. Ideally, we'll be looking for anyone who can be an awesome complement to Talen Horton-Tucker--someone with the same amount of talent, but elsewhere on the court. It'd be great to get a point guard who'd be ready to lead a championship caliber team locked in for a couple seasons from now. But we'll want to consolidate to THT-comparable talent wherever we can get it and then fill in the rest from there.

[greepleairport]

You have 4 young pieces ready to go today who are far from hitting their peak: Galloway, Kim, THT (he'll win the fight), and Jere Bailey. And Galloway is the oldest at 24.

Who in the league would compliment these 4 the best, ideally? And would that be a starting lineup in Chicago for years to come? I know you're flexible, but it seems like there's just one missing piece...

[false9]

Recommended put THT at PF, but he has the quickness to play SF. Where do you ultimately want him to settle?

[K-100]

Do you see yourself ever wanting to return as commish in a couple of years? Or do you think you have stepped down for good?

[garbageman]

You have 4 young pieces ready to go today who are far from hitting their peak: Galloway, Kim, THT (he'll win the fight), and Jere Bailey. And Galloway is the oldest at 24.

Who in the league would compliment these 4 the best, ideally? And would that be a starting lineup in Chicago for years to come? I know you're flexible, but it seems like there's just one missing piece...

I think there'll be a lot of competition. Since none of these players are at their peaks, none of them are really ready to go today, and to be honest, there's a bit of overlap. Galloway and Bailey both seem best suited at the 2, and THT and Kim both look to be best at the PF spots. So folks will be playing in multiple positions to see how to make all four young guys work together.

I think there's more than one missing piece before we're seriously competitive again. There were a couple of guys I went after in the offseason who I thought would really fit the team build I had in mind: Zeke Nnaji and Mark Adkison were two guys I really went after.

[garbageman]

Recommended put THT at PF, but he has the quickness to play SF. Where do you ultimately want him to settle?

Ultimately, I think he's natural at PF. We'll need to work on his inside game, but with his post defense as one of his main draws, we think he'll be a solid defender at the 4 spot and a mismatch on offense. Still, you'll see him in a couple different positions this season, and we'll play him where he's comfortable. Ultimately, he's the guy we're building around, so we're going to be best when he's playing where he's best.

[garbageman]

Do you see yourself ever wanting to return as commish in a couple of years? Or do you think you have stepped down for good?

Any time the results aren't up by 5:05, I'm going to wish I was still the commissioner.

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: Has your overall excitement for and engagement in managing your team grown now that you've given up commissionership? I can't remember the last time I've seen this level of enthusiasm from you prior to the season.

[garbageman]

Random Reporter: Has your overall excitement for and engagement in managing your team grown now that you've given up commissionership? I can't remember the last time I've seen this level of enthusiasm from you prior to the season.

While it's nice to get a break from keeping the wheels spinning, I think my excitement this season--at least this offseason--stems more from having a lot of options--and a lot of success--in the offseason. I rarely ever go into UFA with so much cap space, and that's one of the most exciting parts of the game, especially when you luck out and land some targets. Granted, I won't be as excited when we're down the stretch and probably out of the playoff picture, but if the game ever gets stale, just start fresh with a blank slate.

[Eazy P]

Is this a rebuild or retool for your Bulls? Last rebuild/retool won you a ring. At least we though you were rebuilding at the time. Is this one a little different?

[garbageman]

Is this a rebuild or retool for your Bulls? Last rebuild/retool won you a ring. At least we though you were rebuilding at the time. Is this one a little different?

Time will tell. We've definitely got the makings to go a number of directions, but the endgame is to turn this roster overhaul into a championship as fast as possible.

[drkavarga]

Where do you see your team finishing in your division this season? Do you think you can make another long playoff run with this roster as it currently stands now?

[garbageman]

Where do you see your team finishing in your division this season? Do you think you can make another long playoff run with this roster as it currently stands now?

Unless we make some mid-season moves, we're not looking towards the playoffs yet. If we overperform and make it, great, but the main pieces on our roster right now are all under 25, so this season's more about their growth than anything else. We could finish anywhere from 3rd-6th.