There are times in which blind ambition can be rewarding, and there are times when you're simply being blind. The Bulls were 10.5 games out of the playoffs and 1.5 games out of the top 5 of the lottery going into the tank off against the Magic. Orlando went into the match up without Vucevic, Isaac, Gordon and Ross. Half of their rotation was given the night off, while the Bulls played their established veterans in RoLo (26 minutes) and Holiday (35 minutes) for excessive minutes. All while leaving developmental players like Valentine (18 minutes), Nwaba (14 minutes), Zipser (13 minutes), Felicio (DNP) and Vonleh (DNP) on the bench for most of, if not the entire game. The Bulls beat the Magic on a clutch defensive play by LaVine followed a break away dunk to seal the deal. While it was exciting to see, it was rather hard to enjoy the win. This current direction denies the message relayed to fans, from both the head coach and president of operations. Granted Paxson implied that after the All-Star break would be the time in which we saw the likes of Felicio, Zipser and Payne more consistently. But where does that fall in terms of logic? There is no more veteran trade value to be gained.
Being shameless in the attempt to land a top pick hasn't worked out very well for multiple teams who find themselves lottery bound yearly. The idea of hindering your best players in order to acquire better players on draft night tends to be a never ending cycle. But this is not the situation that presents Chicago. The Bulls managed to land 3 potential long term pieces for their rising super star in Butler, whose impending super-max contract and growing diva personality made the decision to start fresh easier. With Zach LaVine missing such a large portion of the season, the Bulls were presented with a rare opportunity to underachieve with a nice stash of talent already. Throw in the infamous Portis punch that sidelined both Bobby and Niko for an extended period, or the scary fall Dunn had in the midst of a team stuck between pushing for the playoffs or sticking to the plan in a wide open lottery race. This Chicago team was never going to be as bad as most predicted and to be in the position they currently are speaks volumes to that statement. If you take the punch and fall out of the equation and look at what this team accomplished at full strength, it's almost scary. But the wow factor takes a major hit when you look at the East as a whole, or even the league for that matter. There are maybe 10 teams worthy of the playoffs and another 6 sneaking in due to the vast majority of teams trying to win the draft lottery in the last year of increased odds. Is being better than teams determined to lose really an accomplishment or is it just foolish pride?
While the Bulls front office has made several consecutive moves that benefit the teams long term success, they have also shot themselves in the foot along the way. To continually play a short term asset like RoLo for 30 minutes a game while the recently overpaid Felicio has only played in 30 of the 56 games is completely backwards in a season dedicated to development. Being the best mediocre team brings no rewards. This is the predicament that put them into their current situation. Being just good enough to hurt youself, is much worse than being last in the NBA. In a cap driven league, where stud rookie contracts rule the market and star players can be offered more money to stay with the team that drafted them, getting top talent isn't an easy task. Generally the top players in the league are only moved for coveted future stars on rookie deals or future lottery projected picks in situational team trades. So to stay the course of overplaying veterans post trade deadline in a season worth losing, with the most fortunate of situations at hand is both baffling and counterproductive.
The Bulls opted to be neither shameless or foolish, in a trade market where sellers often lose because of the leverage at hand. Trading playoff ready veterans from a losing team usually means accepting the worst of offers for the best of the veteran market. Teams are fully aware that "tanking" teams will cut high end veterans loose after the trade deadline in the buyout season. Which puts the contenders in full control of the market, only in cases of desperation can the negotiation platform be evened out. Which the Bulls did take advantage of in the best of ways when trading Mirotic to the Pelicans for a lightly protected potential lottery pick, just after a season ending injury to Cousins. When it came to RoLo and Holiday the price the Bulls demanded was far too much compared to acquiring buyout veterans like Gregg Monroe, Marco Belinelli, Tony Allen, Derrick Rose and so on... The decision to keep our veterans instead of giving them away for contracts equal to or greater than theirs and crumbs was wise, and not at all shameless. But the foolishness to continue to play said veterans excessive minutes is confusing to say the least. The direction was supposed to be defined in the offseason with the trade of a top 15 player, yet the plan has yet to follow as such.
So why do the Bulls choose to remain consistent in their indecision? It's hard to believe it is a matter of miscommunication, Hoiberg has front office experience, he was also a recruiter as a college coach, to think he lacks the comprehension of what it means to position one self for top talent would be more than concerning at this point of his career. It would also be hard to point the finger in his direction for this situation, as Fred was hired to take orders instead of creating his own agenda within like a certain past head coach (Thibs). So although Fred is first in the line of fire, he is likely the victim of a greater plan. What that plan is remains undetermined, the Bulls draft well, but not well enough to knowingly subject themselves to worse odds. The argument could be made that the reliability of the veterans could translate into greater progress from our young talent, but one could also counter that with the possibility of picking 1-5 opposed to 7-14 would have been worth taking crumbs in exchange for short term assets.
This indecisiveness could work it self out in the long run with another lightning strike at the draft lottery in Chicago, but it could also be the difference in drafting a future All-Star or just some more rotation players. As the front office continues to roll the dice, fans continue to teeter between hating them or loving them for the exceptional but highly criticized trade that has them closer to the middle than the bottom. There is only one more game for the Bulls prior to the All-Star break, luckily the Raptors are a true contender and will likely set us back on the tank track just before our tank commanders come into play after the break. Bring on the Payne. Please?
Being shameless in the attempt to land a top pick hasn't worked out very well for multiple teams who find themselves lottery bound yearly. The idea of hindering your best players in order to acquire better players on draft night tends to be a never ending cycle. But this is not the situation that presents Chicago. The Bulls managed to land 3 potential long term pieces for their rising super star in Butler, whose impending super-max contract and growing diva personality made the decision to start fresh easier. With Zach LaVine missing such a large portion of the season, the Bulls were presented with a rare opportunity to underachieve with a nice stash of talent already. Throw in the infamous Portis punch that sidelined both Bobby and Niko for an extended period, or the scary fall Dunn had in the midst of a team stuck between pushing for the playoffs or sticking to the plan in a wide open lottery race. This Chicago team was never going to be as bad as most predicted and to be in the position they currently are speaks volumes to that statement. If you take the punch and fall out of the equation and look at what this team accomplished at full strength, it's almost scary. But the wow factor takes a major hit when you look at the East as a whole, or even the league for that matter. There are maybe 10 teams worthy of the playoffs and another 6 sneaking in due to the vast majority of teams trying to win the draft lottery in the last year of increased odds. Is being better than teams determined to lose really an accomplishment or is it just foolish pride?
While the Bulls front office has made several consecutive moves that benefit the teams long term success, they have also shot themselves in the foot along the way. To continually play a short term asset like RoLo for 30 minutes a game while the recently overpaid Felicio has only played in 30 of the 56 games is completely backwards in a season dedicated to development. Being the best mediocre team brings no rewards. This is the predicament that put them into their current situation. Being just good enough to hurt youself, is much worse than being last in the NBA. In a cap driven league, where stud rookie contracts rule the market and star players can be offered more money to stay with the team that drafted them, getting top talent isn't an easy task. Generally the top players in the league are only moved for coveted future stars on rookie deals or future lottery projected picks in situational team trades. So to stay the course of overplaying veterans post trade deadline in a season worth losing, with the most fortunate of situations at hand is both baffling and counterproductive.
The Bulls opted to be neither shameless or foolish, in a trade market where sellers often lose because of the leverage at hand. Trading playoff ready veterans from a losing team usually means accepting the worst of offers for the best of the veteran market. Teams are fully aware that "tanking" teams will cut high end veterans loose after the trade deadline in the buyout season. Which puts the contenders in full control of the market, only in cases of desperation can the negotiation platform be evened out. Which the Bulls did take advantage of in the best of ways when trading Mirotic to the Pelicans for a lightly protected potential lottery pick, just after a season ending injury to Cousins. When it came to RoLo and Holiday the price the Bulls demanded was far too much compared to acquiring buyout veterans like Gregg Monroe, Marco Belinelli, Tony Allen, Derrick Rose and so on... The decision to keep our veterans instead of giving them away for contracts equal to or greater than theirs and crumbs was wise, and not at all shameless. But the foolishness to continue to play said veterans excessive minutes is confusing to say the least. The direction was supposed to be defined in the offseason with the trade of a top 15 player, yet the plan has yet to follow as such.
So why do the Bulls choose to remain consistent in their indecision? It's hard to believe it is a matter of miscommunication, Hoiberg has front office experience, he was also a recruiter as a college coach, to think he lacks the comprehension of what it means to position one self for top talent would be more than concerning at this point of his career. It would also be hard to point the finger in his direction for this situation, as Fred was hired to take orders instead of creating his own agenda within like a certain past head coach (Thibs). So although Fred is first in the line of fire, he is likely the victim of a greater plan. What that plan is remains undetermined, the Bulls draft well, but not well enough to knowingly subject themselves to worse odds. The argument could be made that the reliability of the veterans could translate into greater progress from our young talent, but one could also counter that with the possibility of picking 1-5 opposed to 7-14 would have been worth taking crumbs in exchange for short term assets.
This indecisiveness could work it self out in the long run with another lightning strike at the draft lottery in Chicago, but it could also be the difference in drafting a future All-Star or just some more rotation players. As the front office continues to roll the dice, fans continue to teeter between hating them or loving them for the exceptional but highly criticized trade that has them closer to the middle than the bottom. There is only one more game for the Bulls prior to the All-Star break, luckily the Raptors are a true contender and will likely set us back on the tank track just before our tank commanders come into play after the break. Bring on the Payne. Please?
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