The G League affiliate of the Cavaliers – the Canton Charge – and the G League affiliate of the Pacers – the Fort Wayne Mad Ants – are among the teams that plan on participating in the NBA’s G League proposed “bubble” this season, per JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).
As we previously reported, the G League affiliates of the Celtics, Heat, Lakers, and Pistons are leaning toward opting out of the NBAGL bubble season, expected to take place in Atlanta.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Bulls reserve shooting guard Denzel Valentine will miss Chicago’s first two preseason games with a tweaked hamstring, according to Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. Injuries have limited Valentine to appearing in just 170 of 393 possible regular season contests during his first four seasons with Chicago. “I’ve been working with the medical and training staff right now. It’s pretty much day by day,” Valentine said.
- Cavaliers wing Kevin Porter Jr. rejoined the club for his first practice with Cleveland this season, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. A source told Fedor that the Cavaliers “probably won’t rush” Porter into the Cavaliers’ first preseason contest on Saturday, against the Pacers.
- In a new mailbag, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago expressed optimism that the Bulls will be able to work out a rookie scale contract extension with eligible power forward Lauri Markkanen before the December 21 deadline. Johnson anticipates that new coach Billy Donovan will emphasize Markkanen moving without the ball this season.
Bulls made the qualifying offer to Valentine because he provides spacing. So much spacing that the path is clear for anyone on the roster to take his minutes.
Even as a Bulls fan, I still chuckled…Well done @PutoBelga12
And yes, hopefully Markkanen can be asked to move around more, but hopefully he’s used more as well.
Instead of just running the offense through LaVine, like Boylen did, the offense needs to be ran more through WCJ, Markkanen, and Porter. Plus, they need to have more guys moving through and setting screens. To say their offense was stagnant and predictable is quite the understatement..I’ve seen rec youth leagues use more creativity in their offensive schemes than Boylen utilized last season..
Fleming tried to help and assist Boylen, but more often than not Boylen just did it his way, which is why he’s unemployed now.
If so, all three will have bounceback/breakout seasons, especially Carter Jr..
As for Valentine, it would be really nice to see him healthy for a change..With all that time off, his shot should be deadly by now!! lol
Valentine essentially was drafted injured and has never stayed consistently healthy since. It’s not his fault, but the Bulls shouldn’t be paying a guy who only plays like 25% of the time. Give that slot to a guy who will actually play in games.
It sounds like Donovan and the Bulls are going to go with the following depth chart:
PG: White, Sato, Dotson/Arcidiacono
SG: LaVine, Temple, Valentine
SF: Porter Jr., Williams, Hutchison
PF: Markkanen, Young, Kornet/Vonleh
C: Carter Jr., Gafford, Shittu/Felicio
Something like that looks about right, but I really just hope they dont ever start that 2nd unit without any of the starters..lol
Sato, Temple/Valentine, Williams, Young, and Gafford is a really strong defensive unit, but good lord points would be hard to come by with that group..lol
That’s why the Bulls really should have went with a PG in the draft. They could have molded him and eased him in, especially working with a starting group that has 4 other guys capable of making plays..Then, White could have continued his role as a spark plug scoring option off the bench, which is how I believe he will reach his full potential..
There is certainly nothing wrong with the career Lou William’s has had, and I think White could have carved out a similar career as an awesome 6th man. However, I’m not so sure he is ever best suited to run an offense, he just doesnt seem to have the floor vision..
I could be wrong, and for the Bulls sake, I hope I am, but I just don’t see it being one of White’s strengths..
Who knows though, maybe Donovan will use White’s speed to run out on breaks more often, and try to force a more uptempo pace, and then when things are forced to slow down in the half court, Donovan will have others take turns running the offense..??
I can’t say I really have a clue to be honest..It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen an actual offense in Chicago…
I don’t get why teams are opting out of the G-League bubble? Like unless I’m missing something the alternative is no basketball at all for the G-League players right? So if that’s the case… why opt-out? — also what happens to the guys on Exhibit-10 deals with those clubs? For example the Celtics just signed a guy last week to an exhibit-10 deal… but if they have no G-League games… what was the point/how is that sorted out?
Opt out to save money. Exhibit-10 guys have a good case to get their $50k anyway.
Lauri has a good future. I would sign him. The next Dirk.
He might have a pretty good NBA career, but he’s not the next Dirk.
Yeah definitely not the next Dirk
Too soon to tell. Donavan may be the first legit head coach he’s ever had.
The Bulls looked absolutely horrible tonight, just like most lesser teams will against the Rockets this season. But in their defense they were playing one of the truly elite squads in the NBA, not some average eastern team, so it’s not really their fault.
Sure they were missing both Valentine and Young, but the Rockets were missing 3 of their top starters (Harden, Wood, and Tucker) and still managed to lead by 30 points before a meaningless fourth quarter. Both Wall and Cousins looked great.
So proud of a preseason success. True, Bulls are not good and Wall is.