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Central Notes: Markkanen, Crawford, Boylen, Bulls

September 29th, 2019 at 7:08pm CST by JD Shaw

The Bulls are preparing for Lauri Markkanen to make a major splash in his third season with the franchise, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports writes.

Markkanen missed part of last season due to a right elbow injury, but the 22-year-old still showed promise by averaging 18.7 points, nine rebounds and 32.3 minutes in 52 contests.

“I think (management) did a really good job drafting and getting high character free agents,” Markkanen said about his team’s success in free agency. “Everybody is coming along really well in our workouts. I’ve played against Thad. He’s a really good player. He’s very physical. And what he really does is lead vocally. I’ve really enjoyed talking to him and working out with him.”

The Bulls added to an already-strong young core of Markkanen, Zach LaVine and Wendell Carter Jr. in free agency, acquiring the likes of Tomas Satoransky and Thaddeus Young on multi-year deals.

The goal for Chicago now, Markkanen explains, is using its new roster additions to make a long-awaited push for the playoffs next spring.

“That’s our goal,” Markkanen said. “Personally for me, just missing the playoffs and having such long offseasons, that’s a bummer. I would love to be in the playoffs. We’re just focused on improving every day.”

There’s more from the Central Division tonight:

Free agent guard Jordan Crawford has been working out with the Pistons ahead of training camp, according to Ben Stinar of Amico Hoops (Twitter link). Crawford has made past NBA stops with Golden State, Boston, Washington and Atlanta.
Bulls coach Jim Boylen has a chance to exercise his well-documented hard-nosed culture with the team at training camp, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Boylen took over head coaching duties when Fred Hoiberg was dismissed last December, with the second-year head coach having his first opportunity at running the franchise’s camp before the season.
In a different story for The Chicago Sun-Times, Cowley examines five potential Bulls storylines this upcoming season. The Bulls did a number of things to improve their team this offseason, including signing veterans, improving the bench, and successfully dealing with injuries.

Eastern Notes: Bulls, Frazier, Oladipo, Stoudemire

July 10th, 2019 at 10:08pm CST by clarkcrum

Bulls head coach Jim Boylen is excited about the new players his team brought in this offseason, and he hopes that the additions of veterans Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky alongside rookies Coby White and Daniel Gafford will allow him to deploy a deeper roster during the 2019/20 season, writes Sean Highkin of NBC Sports Chicago.

“What we (the Bulls) talked about is we wanted to bring in high character depth that could support our current roster,” Boylen said. “I also wanted a team that was duplicit and redundant so we could play the same way (when we go to our bench).”

Specifically, Boylen spoke on how the last couple years’ lack of depth caused the Bulls to rely on G League level players whenever stars like Zach LaVine or Lauri Markkanen were out with injury or sickness.

“We’ve struggled the last couple years to play on a night when we had injury or illness, where we had to change our style of play before the game. I don’t want that (for the Bulls). The good teams don’t have that.”

There’s more news out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

Veteran point guard Tim Frazier is eager for the opportunity that awaits him with the Pistons, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. While Frazier may see limited minutes behind Reggie Jackson and Derrick Rose, Detroit sees value in having a young and experienced option in case Jackson or Rose get hurt.
As Jackie MacMullan of ESPN explains, Pacers guard Victor Oladipo has seen his appreciation for basketball grow as he’s been sidelined with a ruptured right quadriceps tendon. Regarding watching his team’s performance during the playoffs last season, Oladipo said “It was so hard. It makes you appreciate the game more, your teammates more, even yourself more… Sometimes we don’t realize our own impact. You take it for granted. I won’t ever do that again.”
The Knicks do not plan on signing former NBA All-Star big man Amar’e Stoudemire to a contract for the 2019/20 season, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post. Stoudemire worked out for the Knicks and 14 other teams in Las Vegas on Monday. He last played in the NBA for the Heat during the 2015/16 season.

Nets Face Management Makeover

May 19th, 2019 at 1:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Trajan Langdon’s decision to become the new GM in New Orleans represents the third major off-court loss for Brooklyn since the season ended, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

Langdon, the Nets’ former assistant GM and the reigning G League Executive of the Year, has been a popular candidate to move up the management ranks. He recently interviewed for jobs with the Timberwolves and Wizards, as well as the Pelicans.

The time Langdon spent as a player in Europe only adds to his value, Lewis notes. He has wide-ranging contacts throughout the continent and speaks five languages. He also has a scouting background with the Spurs and was responsible for assembling the Nets’ draft board.

Lewis sees Gianluca Pascucci, who serves as the Nets’ director of global scouting, as the leading choice to step into Langdon’s role. However, he is also reportedly a candidate to become GM at Olimpia Milano in the EuroLeague.

Brooklyn’s other offseason losses were G League coach Will Weaver, who left for a job with Sydney in the Australian League after leading Long Island to the championship game, and Chris Fleming, who left the Nets’ coaching staff to become the lead assistant to Jim Boylen in Chicago.

Lewis mentions ex-Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek as a possibility to replace Fleming. Hornacek joined the Nets for training camp, practices and some road trips and may be interested in taking an official position with the team.

Central Notes: Pistons, Adams, Cavaliers, Ham

May 15th, 2019 at 9:59pm CST by clarkcrum

Per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, the Pistons should disregard any positional need with the No. 15 overall selection in this year’s draft and simply pick the player whom the team feels with have the biggest impact during his rookie contract.

Langlois provides examples of teams who have had success employing the same strategy, noting the Spurs in 2011 (traded George Hill for Kawhi Leonard when they had Richard Jefferson) and the Bucks in 2013 (shocked the world by drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo while already having John Henson and Ersan Ilyasovsa on the roster) as ideas for the Pistons to emulate.

One would think that the Pistons should look to upgrade their backcourt to complement both Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, but as Langlois notes, Drummond can opt out of his contract after next season and Griffin is versatile enough to play alongside another power forward.

So who should the Pistons take? For now, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has Detroit taking Indiana swingman Romeo Langford, his 11th ranked prospect and the top-ranked player left on the board when the Pistons make their selection.

There’s more from the Central Division tonight:

In addition to adding Chris Fleming to his staff, Bulls’ head coach Jim Boylen is trying to add one more assistant, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The top candidate appears to be Texas Tech assistant coach Mark Adams.
The Cavaliers were left without an identity for the first time in nearly two decades when homegrown superstar LeBron James left for Los Angeles, but as Ben Golliver of The Washington Post writes, new head coach John Beilein should be able to create a new identity and culture for the franchise.
As we relayed yesterday afternoon, Bucks’ assistant coach Darvin Ham has been identified by the Timberwolves as another head coaching candidate under Gersson Rosas and the team’s new front office.

Reinsdorf Defends Staff, Sees ‘Big Jump’ Next Season

May 13th, 2019 at 5:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf defended his top front office executives and head coach in a radio interview on Monday and said he expects the team to make big strides next season. Reinsdorf made those comments on 670 The Score’s Mully and Haugh (hat tip to NBC Sports Chicago’s Dan Santaromita).

Reinsdorf and the Bulls have taken a lot of heat for retaining GM Gar Forman and VP of basketball operations John Paxson. Reinsdorf said the duo built “championship-caliber teams” before Derrick Rose suffered serious knee injuries. He also feels they have drafted well, naming Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic and Joakim Noah among their best picks.

He’s confident with a young core group and a high lottery pick, the Bulls are on the upswing. Heading into Tuesday’s lottery, Chicago holds the No. 4 spot.

“I feel like we have a great opportunity with this year’s draft to add another player and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think we can jump from where we were this year to a much better record,” Reinsdorf said. “I really think we’re set up. … I don’t claim that next year we’re going to be a championship caliber team, but I think you’re going to see the next step next year and a big jump.”

The Bulls could have up to $19MM in cap space this summer and Reinsdorf says they’ll use it to fortify the bench.

“We’re going to follow this plan through,” Reinsdorf said. “We have some cap space this year to spend on players. I do think we need to add to our depth and we’ll do that.”

Chicago’s decision to hand Jim Boylen a multiyear extension also caused grumbling among Bulls fans, considering the team’s 22-60 record. Reinsdorf was convinced by season’s end that the head coach had earned it.

“I think we knew towards the end of the season that Jim was the right person for us,” Reinsdorf said. “We had enough experience with him and so it was just a matter of getting the contract done.”

Chris Fleming Leaving Nets For Bulls

May 8th, 2019 at 5:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nets assistant coach Chris Fleming will join the Bulls as the top assistant to Jim Boylen, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

A former coach of the German national team, Fleming joined Brooklyn’s staff in 2016 when Kenny Atkinson took over the team. Fleming also served as an assistant with the Nuggets during the 2015/16 season.

Boylen is reshaping his staff after signing a contract extension last week. Terms weren’t announced, but it is believed to be a multi-year deal.

Bulls Sign Jim Boylen To Contract Extension

May 3rd, 2019 at 2:24pm CST by Luke Adams

2:24pm: The Bulls have officially announced Boylen’s extension (via Twitter). The new contract will replace his previous deal, per Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews at ESPN.com.

“He has tremendous passion for developing young talent, is a strong communicator and a good fit for this team,” VP of basketball operations John Paxson said in a statement. “The organization is confident in the direction that he is taking our players, and we are committed to him.”

2:05pm: The Bulls and Jim Boylen have agreed to terms on a deal that will extend the head coach’s contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

Last month, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Boylen and the Bulls were in the process of finalizing a three-year extension. Wojnarowski doesn’t provide the specific terms, but says it will be a “multiyear” extension, an indication that the two sides have completed the deal first reported by Cowley.

Boylen, who took over as the Bulls’ head coach when Fred Hoiberg was dismissed during the 2018/19 season, was already under contract for next season and was expected to be retained even before word of his extension broke. NBA teams rarely let head coaches enter a season on an expiring contract, so it makes sense that Boylen would get a couple more years tacked onto the end of his deal. He may be in line for a raise as well, as his ’19/20 salary of $1.6MM was said to be partially guaranteed for $1MM.

Although his 17-41 record this season wasn’t great, Boylen earned the trust of the Bulls’ front office, who frequently praised his tough-love approach and his ability to motivate players and hold them accountable — even after an eventful first week in which players pushed back against Boylen’s aggressive practice schedule.

Bulls ownership and management view Boylen as the teacher that the club’s young roster needs, and love the way he was able to build relationships with his players, per Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

As K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune tweets, the decision to extend Boylen also relates to the Bulls’ desire to upgrade their coaching staff. With the head coach secure going forward, it should be easier for him to recruit a new lead assistant.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bulls Finalizing Three-Year Extension With Jim Boylen

April 11th, 2019 at 3:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Hours after Bulls VP of basketball operations John Paxson told reporters today that a contract extension for head coach Jim Boylen was “very possible,” Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times cites a source who says that the two sides are already in the process of finalizing a three-year deal. According to Cowley, it’s just a matter of finishing up the details and deciding when to announce it.

Boylen, who took over as the Bulls’ head coach when Fred Hoiberg was dismissed during the 2018/19 season, was already under contract for next season and was expected to be retained. However, NBA teams rarely let head coaches enter a season on an expiring contract, so it makes sense that Boylen would get a couple more years tacked onto the end of his deal. He may be in line for a raise as well, as his ’19/20 salary of $1.6MM was said to be partially guaranteed for $1MM.

Although his 17-41 record this season was modest, Boylen earned the trust of the Bulls’ front office, who frequently praised his tough-love approach and his ability to motivate players — even after an eventful first week in which players pushed back against Boylen’s aggressive practice schedule.

“I think what I’ve seen is his ability to show these guys he genuinely cares about them,” Paxson said today in his end-of-season press conference, per Cowley. “His goal is to get them better as individuals. I’m the first to admit that first week was like dynamite blowing up. It was a rocky week. What I’ve seen since then is a guy who embraces this challenge. He embraces the individuals he’s coaching. He really does view himself as a teacher, a guy who wants to connect with the players.

“It goes back to what I see in this building every day and what I see on the road and how he’s approaching situations. Nobody is perfect. I rub people the wrong way sometimes in this office. Jim is going to rub players the wrong way sometimes. Phil Jackson rubbed players the wrong way. The great ones do. We’re going to try to build something here with him as our coach and I’m confident in that right now.”

As K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune tweets, Paxson said today that he plans to sit down with Boylen to identify where he needs help. The club’s coaching staff will be discussed, so there’s no guarantee that all of Boylen’s assistants will return for next season.

Central Notes: Rose, Griffin, Young, Bulls

April 8th, 2019 at 9:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Derrick Rose hasn’t ruled out a reunion with the Bulls, his agent said in a radio interview on Monday. B.J. Armstrong said Rose is “open” to signing with the Bulls as an unrestricted free agent. He spent the first seven years of his career in Chicago after being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft. Armstrong commented on Rose’s interest in the Bulls during an interview with 670 The Score which was relayed by the Sporting News.

“We’ll see what the Bulls have,” Armstrong said. “There’s no secret, there’s no doubt that in his heart, Chicago will always be there. We’ll see. I don’t know what the Bulls are going to do at this particular time. … If it presented itself, we’d be open to that conversation.”

Rose was enjoying a bounce-back season with the Timberwolves, averaging 18.0 PPG and 4.3 APG, before it was cut short due to injury. The former Bulls MVP had bone chips removed from his right elbow last month.

We have more from the Central Division:

Pistons All-Star forward Blake Griffin probably would be sitting out due to a left knee injury if they weren’t desperately trying to make the playoffs, coach Dwane Casey admits. The Pistons have lost four straight and need to win their last two games to ensure they’ll make the postseason for the second time in a decade. Griffin missed three games because of the sore knee but has played the last two, including a poor-shooting 16-point outing against Charlotte on Sunday. “We need him and we appreciate his effort, what he’s giving to us right now,” Casey said.
Pacers power forward Thaddeus Young feels he can keep going for several more years, Scott Agness of The Athletic reports. Young will be participating in the playoffs for the eighth time in 12 seasons. “It doesn’t look like I’m slowing down anytime soon. The good thing for me is I’m very, very healthy. I’m about 98 percent right now,” he said. “I’m just very happy that I’m able to play and able to continue to play. But I wouldn’t put a cap on what I’m going to play or what I’m trying to play. I have plenty left in the tank.” Young will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and will likely seek a multi-year deal.
Coach Jim Boylen said the Bulls could use more versatile defenders to compete in the division but he’s unsure if they should pursue a big-ticket free agent and divide up their cap space, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. “How we spend the money and how it’s split up … I mean do we hope to get two good players for that chunk of money and add depth, improve our bench maybe or do we get one guy? It really depends on who shakes out [in free agency], who is available, and what happens to the rest of the teams in the league,’’ Boylen said.

Central Notes: LaVine, Lopez, Brogdon, Osman

March 17th, 2019 at 11:40am CST by Arthur Hill

Zach LaVine‘s offer to pay a fine for coach Jim Boylen shows the progress their relationship has made in three months, writes Malika Andrews of ESPN. The Bulls have given their approval for LaVine to cover the $7,000 penalty, which was incurred after Boylen was ejected for an argument with Clippers coach Doc Rivers during Friday’s game. However, NBA rules state that a fine must be paid by the person it was issued to, so LaVine’s offer may not be accepted.

Andrews recalls that LaVine was openly critical of Boylen’s coaching decisions when he replaced Fred Hoiberg in December, while Boylen publicly questioned LaVine’s commitment to defense. LaVine helped organize a meeting involving players, coaches and management after Boylen scheduled a practice the day after a 56-point loss. The tension has disappeared as Boylen has solidified his hold on the head coaching spot, and LaVine is now willing to stand up for him.

“What Jim did, I personally respect that a lot,” LaVine said. “He really cares about us and he’s going to fight for us. That shows his true character the way he feels about us.”

There’s more from the Central Division:

Bulls center Robin Lopez seemed like a prime candidate for a trade or a buyout, but he has stayed and become a veteran leader on a young team, writes Sam Smith of NBA.com. Lopez, who will be a free agent this summer, has been a reliable contributor, playing in 62 of Chicago’s 70 games. “He’s in great shape, takes great care of himself, eats well. His body looks the same as when he was 25,” Boylen said. “When you have a veteran guy who never wants to sit out or skip practice, there’s a lot of power in that.”
Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon is projected to miss six to eight weeks with a plantar fascia tear in his right foot, but the team is optimistic his recovery time will be closer to six weeks, according to Andrews and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. That would have him back in time for the second round of the playoffs.
Turkish native Cedi Osman is excited about the chance to face Team USA — and possibly Cavaliers teammate Kevin Love — in this year’s FIBA World Cup, relays Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Turkey has been slotted in Group E along with the United States, the Czech Republic and Japan. “We are going to shoot our shot and, of course, it’s going to be tough, but we’re going to try to do our best,” Osman said. Love is considering the tournament, but hasn’t committed yet after missing most of the season because of foot surgery.