ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Chicago Bulls 2025-2026
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I basically don’t follow the NBA at all until the playoffs so can someone please explain the appeal of getting Ivey on an expiring? So they can overpay both him and White? And then throw Simons in there? What’s the end game?
haha, give me all the guards.... ALL THE GUARDS!!!!! (hoping this will make more sense about 46 hours from now)
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Yeah, this is clearly a prelude to other moves that will make this roster make more sense.
....but they have a game in 2.5 hours. Get ready for the Lachlan Olbrich era
Send him over here to the Pacers.
They are doing what they should have done 3 years ago. Maybe they could have gotten some real draft capital then for Vucevic, LeVine and Rozen. As for the strategy now — expiring contracts are the keys to these trades. Conley, Simons and Ivey all have expiring contracts. All indications are they are dealing White — and possibly Ayo.
They will use the rest of the season to give Ivey and Simons auditions. Both have been solid scorers recently before this year, when they’ve been a bit buried on the benches of contenders. Prior to this year, Simons averaged 19.3, 22.6 and 21.1 ppg as well as 4.7 apg over those 3 years. Ivey has averaged 17.6, 15.4 and 16.3 those same 3 years as well as 4.4 apg across all 3 years. Look for them to re-sign the best fit and possibly both (or least likely neither). Should leave them cap space to make a splash in free agency in the summer. Not a terrible strategy if they can get a top free agent(s) to sign. We’ll see.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I hold the Bulls front office in very low regard, but there is a nugget of wisdom in their method.
The conventional wisdom for a losing team in basketball is draft picks, draft picks, draft picks, players who aren't stars are meaningless, the only thing that matters are lottery tickets in the draft to take stars.
The trouble with that is, in the new reality in which essentially every top draft pick is a 19 year old, those are less certain assets that even in the BEST case aren't helping you for 2-3 years. A lot of the biggest stars in the league now are guys who after 2-3 years were sort of anybody's guess if they would blossom into top players.
Plus, in so many of these trades pick protections make the actual value and the timeline of actually receiving a "first rounder" much less favorable than that term appears.
So the Bulls focus has looked more like baseball trades (where draft pick trading isn't allowed of course) where they're looking for a guy that has a bit of pro seasoning and is coming to the age where they can break out.
People trashed the Alex Caruso-for-Josh Giddey trade because they didn't get any draft picks. But Josh Giddey was the 6th pick in the draft and was 21 years old having demonstrated some promise as a pro. Getting his restricted free agent rights and signing him to a reasonable long-term deal for his age 23-26 seasons is a MUCH more valuable asset than the 30th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, which is what the magic beans of a "first rounder" would have gotten the Bulls in that deal.
Ivey is older and not as good, but might project as a quality player long term, will be much cheaper, and the Bulls didn't really give anything up for him.
I think if they can make a good deal, they wouldn’t have a problem trading him. For whatever reason, they really don’t seem to value him. Not sure they’ll want to pay him the money it looks like his next contract will bring. But who knows with this front office.
I don't think he's staying, mostly because he has trade value and the Bulls are starting over, and will eventually need players that are not guards.
So about $26M in expiring contracts and three second round picks for White.
Is Giorgi still on Windy City Bulls? Bring him up.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
So the Bulls have RFA rights to Ivey and Dieng (clearly an asset they were coveting since they were also seeking Jabari Smith, Tari Eason, and Bennedict Mathurin, all from that draft on the last year of their rookie deals). They also have Dalen Terry (who sucks) as an RFA.
Ayo, Sexton, Simons and Zach Collins are UFA's
Giddey, Noa Essengue and (ugh) Patrick Williams under contract for 3 more years, Tre Jones and Buzelis for 2, Isaac Okoro, Jalen Smith and Julian Philips for 1.
All of their own firsts, plus a lottery protected Portland first (which was traded to the Bulls in the Lauri Markannen deal in 2021, has not coverted and if you know anything about the Blazers absolutely will not convert until 2028, at which point it converts as a second rounder, see what I said above about the myth of the "first rounder" being a good trade return).
A buttload of 2nds
And a metric ton of cap space, which is ever harder to use on players who matter.
I suspect they still aren't done (Ayo and/or Tre Jones still to move?), but its a whole lot of flopping around to stay in the same place, imho.
Ayo, Sexton, Simons and Zach Collins are UFA's
Giddey, Noa Essengue and (ugh) Patrick Williams under contract for 3 more years, Tre Jones and Buzelis for 2, Isaac Okoro, Jalen Smith and Julian Philips for 1.
All of their own firsts, plus a lottery protected Portland first (which was traded to the Bulls in the Lauri Markannen deal in 2021, has not coverted and if you know anything about the Blazers absolutely will not convert until 2028, at which point it converts as a second rounder, see what I said above about the myth of the "first rounder" being a good trade return).
A buttload of 2nds
And a metric ton of cap space, which is ever harder to use on players who matter.
I suspect they still aren't done (Ayo and/or Tre Jones still to move?), but its a whole lot of flopping around to stay in the same place, imho.
ptgrd23
- orange county CA
There mistake was signing Vucevic, LeVine and P Williams to mega contracts when they were not worth it, Then they were/are untradeable without attaching draft picks. Caruso was easy to trade because he was cheap and a good player. Ayo is same.
Bulls have made play-in last 3 years. They are trapped in mediocrity. No lottery picks to improve.
they finally got lucky with Josh Giddey - young superstar in the making.
I wonder what Ayo truly wants for his future. Of course he will be paid, somewhere. Does he love Chicago so that he really wants to stay here even with the usual Bulls front office and on-the-floor dysfunctionality and annual playoff washouts? Or does he want to win now with a more loaded team while he has his relative youth and top performing years just ahead.
We all want the best for him in whatever form that takes shape. And Illini Nation will follow him wherever he goes.
Is there some team that we would NOT want him to go to?
mattcoldagelli
- Script Illinois Enthusiast
I challenge someone to find me a bigger dereliction of duty of a front office* in all four major sports than the PAW contract. He is actually a bad basketball player. Not "not producing relative to where he was picked" - he should not be on an NBA roster.
*non-Deshaun Watson-related
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
When they don't make any more moves tomorrow and go forward with eight guards they're all auditioning for long-term deals in the offseason and nobody taller than 6'8"
short answer, yes. long answer, i'll tell you after 3p est tomorrow
Unfortunately I think Bulls fans are gonna get a lot of Lochlan Olbrich unless they trade for another big.
Hey, he got his career high in points in first game of month and then turned around and had season high in rebounds the second game. He’s on a roll. Besides, if you’re going to tank he’s a guy I’m happy to have out there.
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