The Bulls are experiencing a season of ups and downs and Zach LaVine, who signed a four-year deal last offseason, feels the team has grown from the struggles, as Sam Smith of NBA.com relays.
“I don’t try to think negatively, but when you are going through those down times it seems like the days are longer,” LaVine said. “I feel now like…I’m glad we are out of that and hopefully we can stick in the good times. You can see a light in the dark tunnel. You try to prepare yourself for the times you are going to be playing for something, and that’s definitely what we want to do [now] as a team.”
Better times may be coming next season. Otto Porter Jr., who the Bulls acquired at this year’s deadline, recently told Hoops Rumors that he believes Chicago is heading in the right direction.
“We have a lot of young guys, young pieces. The team is definitely headed in the right direction, trying to get back to winning basketball here,” Porter said.
The Bulls have gone 6-5 since the trade deadline and their chemistry appears much improved compared their early-season swoons.
“We have a little bit of a swag to us going out there,” LaVine tells Smith. “We are feeling good and hopefully we can continue to carry it out throughout the end of the season.”
They have 3 starters locked in with Lavine, Porter Jr., and Markkanen. I’d also consider Wendell Carter as a part of the long term starting 5. If they could add someone like Ja Morant in the draft, they’d be in a great place moving forward.
or any of the top four players for Duke. lol I think can reddish would be a good fit and I don’t like Duke really.
cam*
Bulls need to pack it in for the season and secure one of the top 3 spots….or at least increase their odds
Yeah, they’re def. in a weird spot. They’ve been improving since the Porter addition, and the subtraction of Portis. Even still, there’s a severe lack of top-tier PG talents in the upcoming draft.
It is pretty much Morant, or just a potentially average guy in the Vandy kid, the kid from UNC, and Trey Jones..Really, besides Morant, only the freshman from Vandy is projected as a potential top 8 pick/talent.
So, for the Bulls moving forward, it almost has to be Morant, if they have any shot of adding a potential top talent PG to their core. So, the Bulls HAVE TO secure a top 3 pick. With the lottery odds changed, there’s nothing they can do to lock down a top 3 pick, but the more they win, the worse their odds. Right now, the Bulls sit at #4 in the reverse standings, so either way, they still might need some luck to get Morant..
I’m hoping and praying the Bulls are able to walk away this off-season with Morant, a veteran PG to mentor him, and to add another veteran shooter or two to round out their bench. If so, there’s no reason the Bulls shouldn’t be a legit playoff contender come the 2019-2020 season..
The Bulls will have around $20m to spend this off-season, and there has been some talk about bringing D-Rose back home, along with Taj Gibson, and maybe even Joakim Noah. Also RoLo hasn’t been shy about saying he’d like to return to back up/mentor WCJ.
I’m thinking RoLo might be too expensive, and I’m not sure bringing D-Rose back home would be a good idea — on paper, could be great, but in reality, I’m thinking it might end up putting too much pressure on him to play like an MVP again.
In any event, I’d be all in on drafting Ja Morant (if possible) and signing Patrick Beverly and dealing Dunn to PHX for a future pick. Keeping Arcidiacono as the 3rd PG, and inking Taj to play behind Markkanen. And if wr can sign Jo to play behind WCJ with whatever money is left, that would be a nice summer.
Beverly/LaVine, WCJ, Porter/Markkanen starting five w Morant/Valentine, Noah, Hutchison/Gibson as the Bench Mob. Naturally Morant and Beverly could flip/flop between starting/reserve status as the season goes along. I’d also like to hold onto Shaq Harrison and Wayne Seldon for depth, if possible.
That might be a pretty solid roster next season and grow into a nasty, hard nosed crew going forward.
Why would you want Noah back? Have you seen the last couple years? He’s a total head case now and a scrub in terms of on court production.
As for Dunn, I’m not sure we could get anything besides a late second rounder for him as he hasn’t improved much and will only have 1 year of team control left if I’m remembering correctly. Not sure Bulls want to resign him anyways, but might be worth just holding on to him if they can’t get Morant in the draft.
zpgreen have you actually been watching any ball games lately? Noah is actually been a real beast for Memphis, is playing great this year! Maybe you should watch a bit before spewing some garbage dude!
Take Morant if he is there when the Bulls pick, otherwise take the best player avalible. Look for a PG on the market or look at a trade. Hopefully Morant is there when they pick because he would be awesome for the building Bulls.
i hope we throw the bag at terry rozier
That would be a good move, as long as the bag isn’t too excessive.
There’s gonna be a lot of moving parts this summer. For instance, if Kyrie actually goes to the Knicks, the Celtics will match any offer to keep Rozier as he’s restricted. Really no other young PGs FAs that can grow with the Bulls young and talented core.
The clearest path to accelerating this rebuild is drafting Morant, imo. Moving Dunn to a back up role or simply getting rid of him. The Bulls are set 2 thru 5, it’s just the 1 that desperately needs an upgrade.
I think the draft has pretty solid point guards throughout the first round. If PHX doesn’t get Zion at 1 they’re taking Morant so Bulls would have to luck out in the lottery. If they don’t they can draft Garland from Vandy, Tre Jones from Duke, White from NC or Hagans from Kentucky. I also like Carsen Edwards from Purdue who to me has the best court vision and he’s projected early 2nd round. Draftnet has them taking Hachimura, who will ball at the next level for sure, but they do need to replace Dunn.
The Bulls are a PG away from potentially being a good team. I can’t believe how m saying that, but I like the mix. Dunn is not the answer. Morant could be a game changer for this team. Lauri, Otto, and Lavine are playing well together. Carter will just compliment at the 5 next year. Sign a veteran PG and hope for Morant in the draft. Dunn is not a starting PG.