[XYRYXParticipant]

After missing the first part of the season Lauri is really tearing it down over the last couple of weeks after a promising rookie season.

Look at what he did for the month of February over a ten game span: 26/12/2.5apg 48/35/92 at 36 min per game. Just had a 31/17 game in the infamous Hawks/Bulls quadruple overtime game playing 54 min. This lifted his season average to 20/9 in 33 min. 

These numbers are absolutely fantastic and he is only 21. I really think the Bulls have a future All Star in him and seeing him play is a joy and a thing of beauty. 

It should also be noted that he seems to work well with Otto Porter so far and Lavine is doing his usual thing out there. Add in WCJ and this a very nice young core and next summers pick will be a top 5 pick at least if everything stays like that. 

[high floorParticipant]

I’ve always been a WCJ fan (really wanted him for Orlando prior to the draft) and he’s not even playing now. He’ll help the team immediately when he’s healthy again. Now that their chemistry issues seem to be on the mend, the Otto Porter Jr trade + a top 5 pick next year has this team looking nice for the future. Otto has looked quite good the past couple weeks. Potentially having a prospect like Ja Morant on this team would take this team’s ceiling to another level. 

I gotta say though, as I’m typing this I’m surprised their future looks as good as it does. The Bulls front office does not have a great reputation, and you would think they were stuck in no-man’s-land based upon the overall national media coverage / perception of their organization. I feel it’s the opposite actually. If they nail their 2019 draft pick, they’ll be set & likely good for a long time moving forward. And their executive leadership needs to receive credit for that.

[cominup7Participant]

The front office’s main problem these last few yrs has been a lack of consistent vision…are we tanking, trying to make the playoffs or something in between…

MOst of their head scratching moves were before they had a direction (Cam Payne trade, Felicio contract, trading the Jordan Bell pick, etc) now that they are all in on tanking they have actually made a more than a few shrewd moves like the Jimmy Butler and Otto Porter deals. 

As a Bulls fan I’m actually starting to have hope again…this team is exciting and potent on offense, WCJ is a perfect fit as a Horford-like facilitator and defender and if they nail this summer’s pick I have no doubt they’ll be in the playoff conversation next season

[Scott42444Participant]

I’m with you 100%.  The front office’s main problem HAS been a lack of vision. They technically HAVE followed a path, they just have swerved like a drunk grandmother driving a semi-truck to get there.  They want to get younger and more athletic?  They draft Denzel Valentine (the oldest guy in the lottery) and sign 2 vets in Wade & Rondo on the wrong side of 30.  Now, we can all see that when Wade showed interest in leaving Miami, the front office wanted to see if surrounding a Top 20 player in Jimmy Butler with a HOFer (Wade) and a high IQ guy in Rondo would lead to success.  If Rondo didn’t get hurt, they very well could have knocked the Celtics out of the playoffs that year.  But it was the COMPLETE OPPOSITE approach to what their stated off-season goals were.  They took the oldest 1st round pick and they took the guy with the "high floor, low ceiling".  Showing they don’t have any confidence in taking a Pascal Siakam and developing him over time.  They always play it "safe" and that’s led to mediocrity.  When they ALSO have shown a COMPLETE inability to sign major free agents, it’s shown that they basically need to draft a superstar.  Most superstars (not all, of course) are found earlier in the draft.  Of course, Jimmy Butler is an exception to that rule.  They also don’t value 2nd rounders, even though as recently as LAST YEAR’S DRAFT (!!!), we can cite examples of a rebuilding team like the Knicks using a 2nd rounder on Mitchell Robinson and also finding an undrafted free agent like Alonzo Trier to use as either pieces on a future contender in NY or assets to use in a blockbuster trade.  But another reason why the front office doesn’t always succeed?….

…The ownership is cheap.  That usually is a falacy, when fans complain about a team being cheap the less informed fans like to complain that the team "won’t pay players", but we all know the problem in Chicago is that the best free agents won’t take a max contract from the Bulls, despite the maximum allowable salary being offered.  The front office is handcuffed in certain ways.  They have one of the most underfunded scouting departments in the NBA.  Don’t believe me?  I have proof. I’ve watched a few scouting videos where you can clearly see Gar and Pax sitting there watching a draft prospect.  Off the top of my head, go to youtube and search, "Ja Morant Responds to Trash Talker…".  Within the first 10 seconds you can see Gar and Pax sitting there in the front row scouting a low-level Murray State game.  That’s the GM and VP of Ops.  They aren’t there with their local scout, either, confirming what that scout says on the scouting report.  They are doing the scouting report themselves.  Doesn’t that seem a little…minor leagues to anyone else?

Also, all of these trades for cash, like the Jordan Bell one a couple drafts ago and the trades this year (the Carmelo Anthony trade for example).  Why would a GM do those?  The product on the court doesn’t improve in anyway.  It’s because the Bulls ownership group wants the money.  Most teams valued at nearly $3 billion and consistently leading the NBA in paid attendence don’t care about an extra $2,000,000.  They would prefer the team take back a late 1st or a 2nd rounder in the trade.  Not the Chicago Bulls!  They have an ownership group that wants to spend every extra dime because they know the fanbase in Chicago will continue to march through the turnstiles to reminisce about Jordan (and to a lesser extent, Derrick Rose). 

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

The Jordan Bell move wasn’t cheap. It was dumb. They took $2 million to pass on Jordan Bell, and then gave Cristiano Felicio $32 million. Over those four years, Bell would have cost a quarter of what they bid against themselves to give Felicio. A lot of things can be said about that, but cheap is not one of them. They didn’t need to give Jabari Parker $20 million last summer. Obviously, it was a bungled move that they screwed up to a remarkable extent (it is really hard to screw up a one year deal), but it wasn’t cheap. A lot of things could have been done with that cap space. The body of work of Paxson and Foreman since they fell out with Thibodeau (and more or less their roster from when they were good) has been terrible, but not cheap. They took a team built for one style of play (one that they were successful playing) and decided to alter it to accomodate Niko Mirotic and Doug McDermott. They fell in love with "their" guys, and after the fall out with Thobodeau you saw that "their" guys quickly became guys who weren’t holdovers from the previous coach. I have seen a lot of ego moves that have placed them where they are, but that isn’t cheapness.

Also, GMs and higher ups go to see prospects. The game you mentioned was in-state of a widely regarded top 5 pick. I just don’t see the outrage there.

[SubZeroParticipant]

If he’s healthy next season, I’d say he’s a lock for the All Star team. If there was a redraft, he might be the 1st one taken

[r377Participant]

 He surpassed my expectations. Scouting before the draft, I knew he was a good shooter and to be a solid pro but didn’t think he would average 20ppg

[HitsterParticipant]

 The Bulls have a good young core and if they get lucky in the draft can effectively take any player. There could be possible log jams but there are minutes to be shared around and in today’s NBA teams run 3 guard line ups so they would not rule out Ja. Zion would be a no-brainer pick and they could run a 3 man big rotation effectively. RJ could play around OPJ and Lavine and still see good minutes.

If they miss out on one of the top 3 then the next few guys would all have cases for being a good fit in Chi-town.

[Scott42444Participant]

 I think the Bulls are in the best shape of the "worst" NBA teams right now.  The Bulls or Hawks.  Out of the Cavs, Suns, Knicks, Bulls, Grizzlies, Wizards and Hawks I think the Bulls are the furthest along in their rebuild.  If they walk away from this 2019 draft with Ja Morant, RJ Barrett, or Zion Williamson I think they will switch focus to playoffs immediately.  I don’t think that any team aside from the Hawks could say the same.  MAYBE if the Knicks happen to get the #1 pick AND sign Durant & Kyrie they would of course be the furthest along.  But, I’m talking about each current roster.  The Bulls have an actual above average NBA starting lineup aside from the PG position (assuming Wendell Carter Jr makes a significant leap in his 2nd year).  Of course, the rest of the roster is filled with a lot of G-League caliber talent.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Not in the least bit surprised by the success Markannen is having. Remember everyone on this site saying he’s a terrible defender and rebounder and wondering why people think that.

[r377Participant]

 Ive hardly seen him play as a pro.  His defence and rebounding wasn’t great at the college level, whats it like in the pros ?  I saw today he was -6 when all other starters were + in a win against phillie.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Defenitely alot better than Bargnani or Kaminsky. Its hard to measure on a Bulls team that has just started competing.

[Author]

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