#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Hello, and welcome to another offseason wrap-up and season preview with the Chicago Bulls. Last season, we finished with a 36-46 record and were disappointed to land outside the playoffs. We felt we put a good team together, but we had problems staying healthy, and didn't really get a chance to see what our core could do when healthy.

This season, I think we've added a lot of depth to our roster. We were able to trade the draft rights to A.C. Williams for Simon Pheonix and the Wizards' 1st round draft pick next year, and we added veterans Enes Kanter and Bradley Beal to bolster our second unit. We expect Patrick Edmunds and Wanderlei Silva to be bigger contributors this year, and as we saw in the offseason, Aaron Donald could be poised to have another all-league caliber season.

That being said, our expectations are for improvement upon last season in terms of both individual performance and team play. There are a lot of extremely talented teams in the East, and there's a lot of ball to play, so we'll see how things shape up in the early part of the season, find out what our identity is--we have a deep enough roster that different lineups will excel in different areas--and re-evaluate, but to start off, we're going to take advantage of our frontcourt's ability to bang down low and fight for second-chance points. Defensively, we're going to have to play high-effort, team defense without getting into foul trouble. With the roster we have right now, our sights are set on a return the playoffs, and if we're to achieve that goal, we're going to have to work harder when the season comes and keep growing together as a team.

Now, I'll open the floor to any questions you may have.

There's talk of Aaron Donald being an MVP candidate this season. Is such talk warranted?

Wombataholic wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:59 pm There's talk of Aaron Donald being an MVP candidate this season. Is such talk warranted?

We'll see after we've played some regular season games.

Sticky Smith, Chicago Tribune: With the acquisition of Simon Pheonix from the Utah Jazz, you now have 3 power forwards competing for minutes. What sort of role will Pheonix play?

digiskunk wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2019 2:04 pm Sticky Smith, Chicago Tribune: With the acquisition of Simon Pheonix from the Utah Jazz, you now have 3 power forwards competing for minutes. What sort of role will Pheonix play?

Right now, he's third on the depth chart at Power Forward and Center. This season, there will be limited minutes for us. If we find a good fit for Simon, it'll be more for future seasons as this is the last year of Aaron Donald's contract, and Pheonix is still a developing talent.

GWR: Patrick Edmunds has really come on as of late. What do you see as his ceiling?

JNR wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2019 3:03 pm GWR: Patrick Edmunds has really come on as of late. What do you see as his ceiling?

When we traded for him last season, we saw that he had a high basketball IQ. He shows potential in every facet of the game...defense, scoring...even rebounding and running an offense, which allows him to play SF at 6'6. Since being able to do anything is not the same as being able to do everything, we're going to first focus in developing his game as a shooting guard. He's already stronger as a scorer and a perimeter defender, and we think his size and athleticism will see him excel faster at the 2 spot. We'll play him some at the 3 as well. As far as ceiling goes, we think that he can be as strong a scorer as Leroy and Wanderlei, and that in a season or two, we'll have a variety of ways we can beat you offensively thanks to Edmunds.

Any thoughts on Russell Westbrook who retired right before the draft? Are you surprised he made the Hall of Fame in the game and what kind of impact did he have on your franchise?

78# wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 9:39 am Any thoughts on Russell Westbrook who retired right before the draft? Are you surprised he made the Hall of Fame in the game and what kind of impact did he have on your franchise?

It's no surprise Russell Westbrook made the hall of fame. He's a 3 time champion who was the MVP of two of those championships. His last championship was the Bulls first championship, so he means a hell of a lot to this franchise. Russ could do it all, and he went above and beyond for his position by adding rebounding to elite skills in scoring, running an offense, and playing defense. I think his veteran leadership also helped accelerate the careers of guys like Dennis Smith, Jr., Leroy Haugh, and Keith Pfeffer.

The preseason saw you leading the league in pace, which led to a lot of points, but also quite a few points allowed. Are you committed to the high pace or can we expect a more controlled style to start the season?

false9 wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:53 am The preseason saw you leading the league in pace, which led to a lot of points, but also quite a few points allowed. Are you committed to the high pace or can we expect a more controlled style to start the season?

We could still kick our pace up. We're just getting started.

Do you see Leroy Haugh as the long-term successor to DSJ at point guard, or is that position one of the areas you hope to evaluate and maybe address this season?

Xist2Inspire wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:12 pm Do you see Leroy Haugh as the long-term successor to DSJ at point guard, or is that position one of the areas you hope to evaluate and maybe address this season?

We were hoping so. We felt like DSJ was one of the best--and most underrated--PGs in the league, so he's a tough act to follow. Leroy showed some promise there this year, but in the offseason, especially in training camp, it seems like he fell off a little bit from where he was at last year and reverted to his tendency to look for a shot first. We still plan on having Leroy run our offense and hope it starts to come back to him naturally.

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News:

You have a few young talented players on your team. Which one do you think has the highest ceiling?

AngryBanana wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2019 11:56 am Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News:

You have a few young talented players on your team. Which one do you think has the highest ceiling?

It's hard to compare across positions, but since I already talked at length about Patrick Edmunds, I'm going to say Wanderlei Silva. He can score inside, has a great shooting touch, goes after rebounds, plays solid defense, and is an excellent rim protector. If he can learn the 4 spot as well as the 5 spot, he can be a consistent all-star.

It's hard to get a read on your front office philosophy - Donald may be poised for an MVP season and yet he's on the trade block. Are you all in to win now or rebuilding?

This isn’t current season specific, but I’m curious. What do you consider your best move ever as GM?

WigNosy wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:34 pm It's hard to get a read on your front office philosophy - Donald may be poised for an MVP season and yet he's on the trade block. Are you all in to win now or rebuilding?

Last season when we traded for Aaron Donald, we knew he was an impact player. We thought that him and Haugh playing together would give us an incredible scoring tandem, but due to injury, we didn't get to see what the team was fully capable of with everyone healthy. Hopefully, we get to see some of that this year, but even if our team stays healthy, Aaron Donald might be ready to make a deep run now while our young core of Leroy Haugh, Wanderlei Silva, and Patrick Edmunds--while all looking really good--might still be a year or two away. With our payroll high above the salary cap and Aaron Donald in the last year of his contract, we think he'll have a stellar year, but whether it's with us or with another team depends on the start we get off to and the offers we get. If he's on the team at the end of the season, that should means he's on the team for a playoff run, and it also means we'll be looking for a way to bring him back again for another contract.

Simon Pheonix and Silva are back together as teammates. how has the locker room been since those have reunited?

Eazy P wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:54 pm Simon Pheonix and Silva are back together as teammates. how has the locker room been since those have reunited?

To be honest, not great, but that hasn't had anything to do with them. Our backcourt players seemed to have not meshed too well between Haugh, Cameron Payne, and Long Donaldson. Eventually, we decided to release Donaldson, and cohesion seemed to improve a bit, but in the simulations our data nerds were doing in the offseason, either the personnel issues we had in the backcourt led to Haugh's disapointing camp or the other way around.

Where do you see yourself falling in the divisional rankings?

IamQuailman wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2019 1:14 pm Where do you see yourself falling in the divisional rankings?

LOL

You didn't like my question?

TheSyndicate wrote: Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:42 pm This isn’t current season specific, but I’m curious. What do you consider your best move ever as GM?

Thomas Robinson for Vernon Desantis.