The Bulls Are Gonna Be Bad And We Couldn't Be Happier (S59 Presser)
Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2022 1:15 am
Dear Bulls Fans,
Last season marked the worst Bulls season under my management. We traded away our remaining core championship pieces in Talen Horton-Tucker and Michael Sneed, getting back Terrence Lewis-Weeks, Jalen Warley, and a pick we used to draft Ayo Dosunmu. We resigned the newly acquired Frank Daily to a big contract only to swap him back to the Pistons for Charles Jarrett and Emoni Bates. We made what we thought were some solid signings in free agency with some proven stars in Dan Yandell and OG Anunoby and some calculated gambles in Graig Howerton, and Malik Osborne. On paper, I thought last year's Bulls could squeak into the playoffs depending on how things shook out.
We only won 26 games and finished with the 4th worst record in the league. After a rough start, we leaned into it. We made some trades midseason and gave some run to our young guys to see what they had early on. We liked some of what we saw, but it was clear to us that we still had some work to do to lay a strong enough foundation for our rebuild.
Now, I don't think our record's going to be much better than it was this year. Heck, it might not be better at all. But, boy, did we build a strong foundation from the future.
We were really active on the trade market during the draft. The Lakers had expressed interest in Emoni Bates last season, but we couldn't get a deal done because of cap restrictions. Once they were able to open up some cap space in the offseason, we resumed talks and sent them Emoni (and a late 1st) for a young big man named Fabian Hub, who projects to be a solid contributor on both ends of the court. This deal also opened up plenty of cap space, which we'll get to later.
In terms of the draft, we had picks 3, and when it came time to pick early on, we were torn between Mikal Bridges and Brandon Ingram. We ended up trading back a pick to get some cash considerations, and luckily, one of them was still there for us at pick 4. Even more luckily, it was Brandon Ingram.
But we weren't done with draft day moves yet. We really liked Victor Wembenyama at pick 7, and we went to business with the Bucks again, sending them Terrence Lewis-Weeks and Jalen Warley.
Now, we liked Emoni, Terrance, and Jalen, but we didn't see any of them as part of the long term plan for the Bulls. The timing wasn't right. We wish Jalen and Terrance a great season in Milwaukee, trying to win a ring, and Emoni with whatever the heck the Lakers are doing. At least the weather's nice.
Anyway, RFA came and we had two players to deal with. The first was Charles Jarrett, who after last year's training camp, emerged as our most promising young star. We matched the Wizards max contract with no hesitation and look forward to what he can do as the best player on this team this season. We're not expecting wins or monster stats, but we'd like to see how he responds as a leader of a young unit (with help of course from two notable vets, of course).
Aron Lizarraga was a different story. He didn't like our qualifying offer, but there wasn't much else out there. So we agreed he'd test the waters in unrestricted free agency and told him we'd make another offer there, hoping he'd cooperate with us on timing so we could make some more signings. He kind of did, I guess, but like, not really. So 10 points and he's yours on less than 20mm a year for 3 years with team option on that third year.
But the rest of UFA went pretty well. We got our number one target, Gerald Dixson, who looks like he's going to be an absolute scoring machine at multiple positions. Then Aron signed, blowing our chance at Harold Schiff. And then we got an intriguing target at C in Tony Throckmorton, one of the ol' Throckmorton boys. He's no Schiff, but he can score inside, he can rebound inside, and he can swat the ball into the stands. Not a bad plan B at less than half of what we offered for the Schiff-ster.
Then, OG resigned with us...after everyone else signed or couldn't sign our offers due to cap restrictions. What a professional! He can be yours for 5 points. We also brought back some of our riches, Stark and Hunt, to be exact...for bird right purposes...as long as old Richard doesn't retire.
And finally, the highlight of the offseason...and forgive me, because I'm not used to saying this...Training Camp.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that all of our young guys came into Training Camp not only competing for a spot in the lineup or more minutes this season. They were competing for a spot on this team for years to come. They were competing for a spot on this team when the Bulls are ready to add some more banners to the rafters of the Madhouse on Madison.
Some standouts?
Ayo Dosunmu really worked on his scoring and projects to have a deadlier mid-range game than we thought as well as a better ability as a shot creator.
Victor Wembenyama was right there working on those skills with Ayo. His extra work in the steals department has him looking like a future DPOY candidate with the same offensive talents as Charles Jarrett in a 7'3 body.
Even Malik Osborne got in on the fun. He really pushed his three point shot to the next level, and this young, uber-athletic player on a value contract we gambled on a year ago (with a team option next year and full bird rights after that) will be exciting to watch on the court. We're also not tied to him ending the season in a Bulls jersey. Call me!
But the biggest story out of Training Camp was, of course, Brandon Ingram. Brandon came into camp with a chip on his shoulder. He was projected to go 2nd in the draft, and we know he feels a little passed up--even by us since we traded back instead of picking him at 3. Coming out of camp, Brandon's goal is to prove, down the road, that he could come out #1 in future redrafts of the S59 draft.
We know this season will be more about growth than results, but the future looks so bright there aren't many teams out there that wouldn't trade places with us.
For media inquiries, please write to Sham Smith's mailbag!
Last season marked the worst Bulls season under my management. We traded away our remaining core championship pieces in Talen Horton-Tucker and Michael Sneed, getting back Terrence Lewis-Weeks, Jalen Warley, and a pick we used to draft Ayo Dosunmu. We resigned the newly acquired Frank Daily to a big contract only to swap him back to the Pistons for Charles Jarrett and Emoni Bates. We made what we thought were some solid signings in free agency with some proven stars in Dan Yandell and OG Anunoby and some calculated gambles in Graig Howerton, and Malik Osborne. On paper, I thought last year's Bulls could squeak into the playoffs depending on how things shook out.
We only won 26 games and finished with the 4th worst record in the league. After a rough start, we leaned into it. We made some trades midseason and gave some run to our young guys to see what they had early on. We liked some of what we saw, but it was clear to us that we still had some work to do to lay a strong enough foundation for our rebuild.
Now, I don't think our record's going to be much better than it was this year. Heck, it might not be better at all. But, boy, did we build a strong foundation from the future.
We were really active on the trade market during the draft. The Lakers had expressed interest in Emoni Bates last season, but we couldn't get a deal done because of cap restrictions. Once they were able to open up some cap space in the offseason, we resumed talks and sent them Emoni (and a late 1st) for a young big man named Fabian Hub, who projects to be a solid contributor on both ends of the court. This deal also opened up plenty of cap space, which we'll get to later.
In terms of the draft, we had picks 3, and when it came time to pick early on, we were torn between Mikal Bridges and Brandon Ingram. We ended up trading back a pick to get some cash considerations, and luckily, one of them was still there for us at pick 4. Even more luckily, it was Brandon Ingram.
But we weren't done with draft day moves yet. We really liked Victor Wembenyama at pick 7, and we went to business with the Bucks again, sending them Terrence Lewis-Weeks and Jalen Warley.
Now, we liked Emoni, Terrance, and Jalen, but we didn't see any of them as part of the long term plan for the Bulls. The timing wasn't right. We wish Jalen and Terrance a great season in Milwaukee, trying to win a ring, and Emoni with whatever the heck the Lakers are doing. At least the weather's nice.
Anyway, RFA came and we had two players to deal with. The first was Charles Jarrett, who after last year's training camp, emerged as our most promising young star. We matched the Wizards max contract with no hesitation and look forward to what he can do as the best player on this team this season. We're not expecting wins or monster stats, but we'd like to see how he responds as a leader of a young unit (with help of course from two notable vets, of course).
Aron Lizarraga was a different story. He didn't like our qualifying offer, but there wasn't much else out there. So we agreed he'd test the waters in unrestricted free agency and told him we'd make another offer there, hoping he'd cooperate with us on timing so we could make some more signings. He kind of did, I guess, but like, not really. So 10 points and he's yours on less than 20mm a year for 3 years with team option on that third year.
But the rest of UFA went pretty well. We got our number one target, Gerald Dixson, who looks like he's going to be an absolute scoring machine at multiple positions. Then Aron signed, blowing our chance at Harold Schiff. And then we got an intriguing target at C in Tony Throckmorton, one of the ol' Throckmorton boys. He's no Schiff, but he can score inside, he can rebound inside, and he can swat the ball into the stands. Not a bad plan B at less than half of what we offered for the Schiff-ster.
Then, OG resigned with us...after everyone else signed or couldn't sign our offers due to cap restrictions. What a professional! He can be yours for 5 points. We also brought back some of our riches, Stark and Hunt, to be exact...for bird right purposes...as long as old Richard doesn't retire.
And finally, the highlight of the offseason...and forgive me, because I'm not used to saying this...Training Camp.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that all of our young guys came into Training Camp not only competing for a spot in the lineup or more minutes this season. They were competing for a spot on this team for years to come. They were competing for a spot on this team when the Bulls are ready to add some more banners to the rafters of the Madhouse on Madison.
Some standouts?
Ayo Dosunmu really worked on his scoring and projects to have a deadlier mid-range game than we thought as well as a better ability as a shot creator.
Victor Wembenyama was right there working on those skills with Ayo. His extra work in the steals department has him looking like a future DPOY candidate with the same offensive talents as Charles Jarrett in a 7'3 body.
Even Malik Osborne got in on the fun. He really pushed his three point shot to the next level, and this young, uber-athletic player on a value contract we gambled on a year ago (with a team option next year and full bird rights after that) will be exciting to watch on the court. We're also not tied to him ending the season in a Bulls jersey. Call me!
But the biggest story out of Training Camp was, of course, Brandon Ingram. Brandon came into camp with a chip on his shoulder. He was projected to go 2nd in the draft, and we know he feels a little passed up--even by us since we traded back instead of picking him at 3. Coming out of camp, Brandon's goal is to prove, down the road, that he could come out #1 in future redrafts of the S59 draft.
We know this season will be more about growth than results, but the future looks so bright there aren't many teams out there that wouldn't trade places with us.
For media inquiries, please write to Sham Smith's mailbag!