The Bulls recently announced that they have promoted a number of members of their basketball operations department (Twitter link via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago). Those promotions and new titles are as follows:
- Pat Connelly – Assistant GM
- Faizan Hasnany – Manager of basketball strategy and analytics
- Josh Malone – Assistant GM of Windy City Bulls (G League affiliate)
- Steve Pankow – Head equipment manager and travel coordinator
- Chigozie Umeadi – Director of basketball operations and GM of Windy City Bulls
- Steve Weinman – VP of basketball strategy and analytics
Chicago has also added Shaquin Albrow to serve as senior manager of team services and player development.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic gives the Bulls a “B” grade for their relatively quiet offseason. Mayberry notes that the team was able to re-sign Zach LaVine, Andre Drummond was a solid and affordable bench upgrade at center, and Goran Dragic will be an insurance policy in case Lonzo Ball is still dealing with his knee injury when the season rolls around. Dalen Terry, the No. 18 overall pick of last month’s draft, also looks like a solid addition, but Mayberry expects him to spend a good amount of time in the G League as he works on adding muscle and improving his shot.
- Eric Nehm of The Athletic covers a number of Bucks-related topics in his latest mailbag column. Nehm doesn’t believe Milwaukee will give veteran extensions to either Khris Middleton or Brook Lopez before the season starts — Lopez is entering the last year of his contract at $13.9MM, while Middleton has a $40.4MM player option for 2023/24. The 2023 offseason will be a crucial one for the Bucks, Nehm notes, because if Milwaukee fails to win the Finals, ownership might choose to dodge the luxury tax and retool the roster with the salary cap flexibility created by Lopez and possibly Middleton becoming free agents.
- The Wisconsin Herd, the Bucks‘ G League affiliate, have acquired the rights to Alex Antetokounmpo and a second-round pick in the 2023 G League draft from the Raptors 905, Toronto’s affiliate, in exchange for the rights to Jalen Lecque, the Herd announced in a press release. The youngest Antetokounmpo brother appeared in a total of 23 G League games last season, but didn’t receive much playing time.