Kris
@klahoops
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Co-founder @swishtheory . Father, attorney, basketball devotee. Development is not linear. DM for business inquiries.
California
Joined July 2014
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My very long overdue written debut for Swish Theory. I try and provide a roadmap of cognitive athleticism’s effects on defense using Alex Caruso as an example, as well as another player you might not expect! Let me know who else you think showcases this trait (there’s many!)
Defensive playmakers don't just react: they bend the offense to their will.
This is a primer on cognitive athleticism and its impact on defense, viewed through the lens of elite disruptor Alex Caruso. Let
@klahoops
guide you through the what, why and how to identify what makes
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Somebody is lying about Zach LaVine’s health. You don’t miss the first game of the season after a 10-day rest for knee management.
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The Bulls aren’t trading LaVine for Simmons. The whole reason they traded for Vucevic was to build around LaVine. The whole reason to trade for Simmons would be to pair him WITH LaVine and Vucevic. A Simmons/LaVine swap makes zero sense for the Bulls, full stop.
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Every team in the league is DYING to have 6’7’ wings that can defend forwards and shoot 3s and some Bulls fans can’t wait to trade their own. Lunacy. Match any offer, Bulls.
Oklahoma City has ‘great interest’ in Patrick Williams, per
@DarnellMayberry
“If the Bulls have seen enough of the Williams experiment, one team that has great interest, a league source said, is Oklahoma City. The Thunder need more size, and they have an army of draft picks
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@KCJHoop
@NBCSChicago
My goodness KC the notification I got with the words “The Bulls have traded three first-round picks to acquire…” about sent me over the edge.
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I would like the Bulls to go one (1) week this season without losing a player to injury.
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What the Bulls should do:
-S&T DeMar to the highest bidder, trade Caruso and Vuc, rehab Zach’s value and move at the deadline, find long-term pieces
What the Bulls will probably do:
-Sign DeMar to 3/$100m+, extend Caruso, salary dump Zach, chase play-in again under the tax.
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We got to feel good about our team for one whole week in 5 years. One week.
Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a left wrist dislocation, source tells ESPN. He will undergo surgery soon.
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Zach LaVine suffering through 10 years of Wolves and Bulls mismanagement only to get traded to the Pistons would be absolutely brutal for him.
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@scooperhoops
@sreekyshooter
The reporter who asked this is a really cool guy and he probably meant it more in the team context. This guy is from Greece and is constantly up early/late watching these games and reporting, I’d bet it was a misunderstanding.
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NBA Twitter when Bradley Beal can’t carry a bad team vs when Zach LaVine can’t carry a bad team:
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Then don’t trade him. He’s a multi-time all-star in his prime and on a non-super max contract. If he doesn’t bring back positive assets in a trade, the Bulls should do a better job of putting pieces around him that maximize his skill set and value. This is ridiculous.
Zach LaVine’s trade market is so nonexistent to the point that many around the league believe the Bulls will have to attach assets to get off his contract, per
@DanWoikeSports
().
LaVine has three years and $138 million remaining after this season on his
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Zach LaVine remains chronically undervalued by media and fans. He’s an elite 3-level scorer, hyper athletic, good playmaker and on-ball defender, and his off-ball defense is far less concerning. Despite injury concerns, he’s also been highly durable. He deserves more respect.
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Lauri to Cleveland for Larry Nance Jr. would be a really nice way to end this standoff. Nance would fit the role of a defensive, athletic big who can shoot and get to the rim. He’s 99th percentile in steals, 87th in fouling rate, too. He’s on a two-year deal for $10.6m this year.
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Tomorrow is the matchup of the century: the New York Bing Bongs vs. the Chicago DeBallZachs.
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How replaceable is Wendell Carter Jr. and his offensive skillset on the Bulls? His per-36 stats this year are 17.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists. I searched for other centers this year averaging 15/10/3 who are playing at least 20 minutes a game. Here’s the list:
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Some Bulls trade candidates/buyout PFs that wouldn’t require trading Patrick Williams:
-Brandon Clarke
-Kyle Anderson
-Larry Nance Jr.
-Torrey Craig
-Gabriel Deck
-Trey Lyles
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The Caruso trade is actually two upside plays, in my mind. I think Ayo Dosunmu is about as close to a Caruso replacement as Chicago can hope for, and moving Caruso solidifies his role on the team. Can’t wait to see how Ayo grows with this additional responsibility.
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Chicago has now completed FOUR sign-and-trade deals this off-season:
1. Sato/Temple for Lonzo Ball
2. Daniel Theis for TPE
3. Thad/Aminu for DeMar DeRozan
4. Lauri for Derrick Jones Jr.
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Bradley for the minimum is a quality deal. Well done, Bulls. Now go get Millsap and Danny Green.
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Wendell Carter with 21 and 12 in 31 minutes on 8/13, hit two clutch buckets to get the Magic into overtime, then 4 clutch FTs to win them the game. Nice to see a great game from him.
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I’m convinced the Bulls have a very different idea of what competitive means than the rest of us. Their reported plan is continue to bleed their own assets in pursuit of a play-in berth and 1st round exit ceiling. They haven’t made a trade in years. I don’t understand it at all.
The goal of the Chicago Bulls is to stay competitive this season, per
@ChrisBHaynes
“They believe they could move up in the eastern conference standings.”
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“He’s soft, inconsistent, injury-prone, passive, only flashes potential.” Bulls fans said this to:
-WCJ in yr 3. Starter for a po team in his 6th year.
-Lauri in yr 3/4. Became an All-Star his 6th year.
-Coby in yr 3/4. MIP-level in 5th yr.
-Pat Williams in yr 3/4.
Tired yet?
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@itsluka
@rob_schaef
@Bucks
That’s fair, but it shouldn’t take several hours to take that tweet down and an apology should have been issued. And they also blocked
@NBCSBulls
for bringing it to their attention, which made it seem far more petty. Just completely tone-deaf, intentional or not.
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The Bulls are 9-4 against over .500 teams this season. No other team in the East has been better versus good teams, and only the Suns and Warriors have a better over .500 record in the West.
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Everyone is asleep, right? Cool.
If Zach LaVine is healthy, I think he’s going to take another leap next season.
And Pat Williams is going to show us why AKME has so much faith in him.
Let me be optimistic, it’s been kind of a sad off-season (get better Lonzo).
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A lot of national guys saying the Bulls won’t defend anybody this year. Their rating last season (19th before Vuc, 8th after, 12th overall) suggests they were average, and Ball/Caruso help their perimeter defense immensely. If they find another front court piece, they’ll be fine.
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The national discourse around Zach LaVine relative to his peers (Mitchell, Beal, McCollum, Booker, etc.) has been so disappointing. I believe that perception will change dramatically this year if the Bulls are good, but don’t be fooled: he’s already as excellent as those guys.
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Murray on the Bulls, thanks.
Dejounte Murray and Derrick White could both be gettable from the Spurs, sources tell
@talkhoops
, making them a team to keep an eye on around the draft.
🆕 NBA Mock Draft:
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Bulls finished the pre-season with the following ratings:
3rd in offense (111.1)
1st in defense (91.3)
2nd in net rating (+19.8)
3rd in assist/turnover (2.20)
5th in rebounding % (52.3)
2nd in turnovers (12.0)
11th in true shooting (55.5)
8th in pace (106)
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Patrick Williams was 2/2 tonight. Two shots in 23 minutes. His level of involvement in the offense has to take a big jump next season.
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It’s not about Drummond or Gallo, who are both fine. It’s who they didn’t get instead and how they prioritized avoiding the tax and taking half-measures instead of really trying to compete. I hope I’m so wrong but the deadline, draft, and free agency have been very uninspiring.
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Chicago is out just ONE 1st round pick in the next 5 years while adding DeMar, Lonzo, Caruso, Bradley, DJJ w/o cap space! The Bulls are a much better team, found solutions to all their biggest weaknesses, and didn’t mortgage their future while maximizing LaVine’s prime. Huge win.
I have yet to hear an alternative plan put forth for the Bulls from all these people giving them bad off-season grades. Please, tell us who they should have signed or traded for to fit their team needs better than what they did. Genuinely curious.
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If DeMar ends up elsewhere, I think ideally you’re slotting Matas Buzelis at the 4 and slide Patrick Williams (if he’s retained) to the 3. Both of those guys can play either forward position, and I think their skill sets complement well. Then Josh and Coby take the guard spots.
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The Bulls are going to have a devastating offense next year. Elite threats at all three levels and shooters across the roster. They’ve also upgraded rim pressure and foul-drawing (2 big weaknesses), added more high-level creators in half court and transition. Pieces all fit well.
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Really depressing to see people all the way out on Pat Williams two games into basically his second NBA season. It’s totally fair to criticize his poor level of activity so far. He has to improve. But let’s pump the breaks on the “bust” talk. It’s silly. He’s got time.
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Last night’s game is a perfect example of why DeRozan fits this team’s needs. Isolation offense isn’t generally efficient, but when everything breaks down in the 4th and you just need a bucket (hello, last year’s Bulls), DeMar has been the best in the NBA at it the last 2 years.
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Don’t let anyone convince you that the Bulls not being a train wreck on defense is some sort of shocking surprise. The idea that the Chicago Bulls would be a bottom-5 defense this year was always based on a lack of understanding of the roster and how defense works.
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For the season: Patrick Williams and Coby White have been the Bulls’ most impactful players from an on/off standpoint. This is the most important outcome to track this season. Not wins. Not playoffs. It’s whether your young core pieces are taking the reins, and so far they are.
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I find it annoying that the Bulls make Patrick Williams untouchable in trades but also don’t do much of anything to feature him or foster his growth.
Pick a lane. Invest in him if you’re not willing to trade him. And if you don’t think he’s special, he shouldn’t be untouchable.
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This lineup is absolutely likely to cost the Bulls the game. Unthinkable decision from Billy Donovan.
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The Bulls now have $60m of dead salary on the books for the rest of the season (and could be $70m if Pat’s injury is worse than reported), and yet the FO is reportedly unlikely to trade their veterans or do anything to harm their precious play-in goals. On the road to nowhere.
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I know some Bulls fans are a little emotional right now, and rightly so, but let’s get one thing straight: Wendell Carter Jr. was a good player when he was here. He wasn’t as good as fans wanted him to be, or developing as fast as they wanted, but he was never ever “trash.”
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The Bulls are almost certainly going into a rebuild, and very soon. The only question is whether they do it intentionally or by natural consequence. No matter what path they choose this off-season, this is going to be the ultimate result. Here’s why:
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Hopefully Lonzo ends up on the Bulls. But Chicago is not in the driver’s seat. The Pelicans can match any offer, or they can S&T him somewhere else. Lonzo wanting to play in Chicago does not impede the Pelicans’ ability to keep him or trade him elsewhere. That’s the gamble.
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If the Bulls trade Zach LaVine as part of a commitment to rebuilding and player development, I applaud it. Zach would thrive on a winning team.
If he’s traded to reinforce a competitive team around DeMar and Vooch, it will be an unmitigated disaster. I think they’ll pick this.
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Initial reaction: this is a very good trade for the Bulls. They get much needed defensive forward depth I’m DJJ, who has one year and $9.7m left on his contract. They recoup a 1st and a 2nd, and still have room below the tax to add 2 more players with the $3.7m BAE and $5.8m TPE.
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I don’t care what anyone else says. Patrick Williams is going to be so good.
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I have yet to hear an alternative plan put forth for the Bulls from all these people giving them bad off-season grades. Please, tell us who they should have signed or traded for to fit their team needs better than what they did. Genuinely curious.
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@NickFriedell
@WaddleandSilvy
So the two stats that are mostly dependent on who the front office puts around him rather than his actual play, you’re holding those in the highest regard.
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Patrick Williams has career highs per 100 possessions in: blocks, steals, assists, 3PA, 3Pr, and rebounds this season. His shooting % is starting to stabilize to his career averages.
But he dribbles off his foot when he drives left, so let’s focus on that and ignore the rest.
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As we start an exciting Bulls season, I wanted to make a thread of some people who have been doing incredible fan content creation about the Bulls. I highly recommend following them and their work this season:
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Reminder that Patrick Williams is a career 42% 3-pt shooter. He needs to increase the volume on a consistent basis. He’s up to 2.9 attempts per game which is higher than his previous two years (1.9 and 1.7) but I’d like to see that number get to 5-6, especially given his role.
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I see a lot of people blaming Patrick Williams for “failing to box out.” But the reason he couldn’t was because Mitchell had a head start due to the lane violation. Pat was in the right spot to box Mitchell out had he not violated the rule. Instead, he lost a foot race vs a guard
Here’s the Donovan Mitchell put back after the intentional miss. The ref at bottom of screen is so intent on starting the clock he isn’t watching for Mitchell violating the free throw line before the ball hits anything. This cost the Bulls the game.
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It’s easy to place blame on the Bulls’ young guys for not meeting fan expectations, but we should also question what the organization is doing (or not) to develop them. “Disappointing” young guys like Wendell Carter and Lauri Markkanen look much improved since leaving.
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The Bulls’ plan is to keep/re-sign the key players (which they can’t do w/o going into the tax, which they won’t do), improve the roster (without any assets), and triple down on a star trio (with a negative rating on huge sample), all while having $20m of dead money. I’m stunned.
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Also: I hope this change works out for Lauri. He’s got a lot of untapped talent and he should get plenty of run in Cleveland to figure it out. Best of luck and wishes to him and his family, he was nothing but positive and professional in his time in Chicago.
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This was really disappointing. The conclusion is essentially: Simmons is not entitled to seek a better work environment unless he reaches a certain echelon in the NBA. This idea is far too common among fans and media, treating players as commodities instead of human beings.
Good morning! I wrote a column about Ben Simmons and who gets to be called a 'superstar' in the NBA:
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Zach LaVine played 555/711 available games over his first 9 seasons (78%). Since returning from a torn ACL 7 years ago, he’s played 349 out of 383 available games (91%).
I know LaVine is out right now, but he’s been consistently available for years. This narrative must die.
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The Bulls should do what they can to make sure they don’t have 8 players for Tuesday. I hear Caruso’s hamstring needs more rest, good time to sit him.
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The Bulls’ post-Jimmy rebuild did not fail because they picked 7th every year. It failed because they ONLY picked 7th every year. They drafted 6 players total in 4 years. They acquired ONE pick during the entire rebuild. Rebuilding is about picking a lot, not just picking high.
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As someone who really appreciates Vucevic, I do not want the Bulls to re-sign him under any circumstance. The Bulls lost the trade. It sucks, but it’s a sunk cost. Signing up for more Vucevic doubles down on it and delays the necessity of getting legit rim protection.
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Previous 4 games, Wendell Carter: 15 points per game on 71% shooting (25/35), 50% from 3 (3/6).
Bulls fans any time he misses a single shot: “This guy sucks.”
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Zach offers up a package of LaVine, PWill, 3 1sts trade for Lillard. Lillard is awesome, but why would Chicago do that? Lillard/DeRozan are a bad fit offensively, they give up size, and basically lose any ability to get meaningfully better during Lillard’s contract. No thanks.
Lowe Post podcast:
@johnhollinger
and I on the latest Dame trade landscape, the James Harden situation, free agency winners/losers, much more:
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People love to say that it’s easy to put up good stats on a bad team. It’s not. It is, in fact, insanely hard to have Curry-esque production and efficiency on a team that looked nothing like the 2016 Warriors. What LaVine did offensively last year was unprecedented in the NBA.
Here's a comprehensive list of NBA seasons of 27-4.5 -5 on 50fg%, 40 3pt% and more than 8 3pa per game:
2016 unanimous MVP and single greatest offense season ever Steph and 2020-21 Zach LaVine. You don't empty calorie your way into those numbers even if your team sucks
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@JoshEberley
I’ll go out on a limb and say he’s in the running for best Lopez of the 2021 season
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Donovan Mitchell shoves Caruso. Foul on Caruso, Cavs get a free throw and possession back to 14 seconds instead of 3. Huh.
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Whoever designed the Bulls early schedule should be fired and then fired again just for good measure.
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Bradley Beal: 32.8p/5.0r/4.5a on 24.5 att/g at 43/33/89% splits, 51.8 eFG% and 58.2 TS%, team record 6-16, -7.0 diff.
Zach LaVine: 28.2p/5.3r/5.3a on 19.2 att/g at 52/43/86% splits, 61.1 eFG% and 65.2 TS%, team record 10-14, -0.7 diff.
Who deserves All-Star more?
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If Billy has lost the confidence of his best players and can’t regain it, there’s only two realistic options: fire the coach or trade the best players. Billy just signed an extension, so I think we all know which option is likely to happen. That extension was so unnecessary.
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Lineup troubles? Net rating not where you’d like it to be? Call the offices of Sato and Young. They’ll jumpstart your team and get you the results you need. (Limited time offer, cannot exceed 30 mins per game, may negatively affect long term development, results may vary).
Sato and Young will enter the starting lineup for tonight's game against the Raptors.
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Once again: the only thing stopping Wendell Carter is Wendell Carter. He’s got all the talent he needs.
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Tomas Satoransky is a good and valuable player. Don’t use him as a punchline, I wish we didn’t have to send him out.
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Doing nothing made the least sense of all possible paths, and that’s the one the Bulls chose. Now Vucevic can walk for nothing, they almost certainly lose their pick in a top-heavy draft, and have to let Coby and Ayo test the market. There’s no upside to what they just did.
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Coby White is so easy to root for. Loving seeing his development in different areas start to coalesce into an all-around good player, and his joy on the court is infectious.
Development isn’t linear and sometimes it takes a bit! Fit, opportunity, and timing are so critical.
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LaVine: 27/5/5 on 51/42/85% and 63.4 TS%
Irving: 27/5/6 on 50/40/92% and 61.4 TS%
Both of these were incredible feats last season. But Irving had two top-10 talents next to him. LaVine didn’t have a single top-100 ranked teammate. Stop blaming Zach for the Bulls’ failures.
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I can’t stress enough how well Zach LaVine can work off-ball. He was one of the very best cutters, finishers, and 3-pt shooters in the NBA while having to create those shots himself. Adding quality playmaking to the Bulls will only help him get these opportunities easier.
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Invest in player development.
Coby White: "Working with Peter Patton helped me a lot. I finally started to learn my shot. Before this, everybody said I could really shoot so nobody ever taught me how to learn my shot. I kind of just shot the ball. He’s been a big help in helping me learn my shot, why I miss."
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It would be absolute malpractice for the Bulls not to trade Alex Caruso before the trade deadline. I was the biggest cheerleader of bringing him to Chicago in the first place and he’s been everything hoped for and more. But this team is going nowhere. Free him now. Please.
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Jayden McDaniels is an interesting study in Pat’s value as a RFA. Jayden got $136m/5y ($27.5m/y). A $100/5 deal is $20m a year for Pat. They have been extremely similar in production (pic taken in off-season) and rate at 94th (Pat) and 93rd (McDaniels) percentile in D-EPM.
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“Losing” this deal has been worth every penny so far.
The Chicago Bulls paid DeMar DeRozan a 3 year $81.9 million contract in a sign-and-trade this offseason, which was heavily divisive among fans and analysts alike.
@klahoops
dives into the nuance of the deal in defense of overpaying
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