Nothing Nick said was out of line. He's been spot on with the Bulls for a while, we've just had our red tinted glasses on for too long (Stacey included).
Stacey, I have to respectfully disagree with the Lonzo take. When we had Lonzo, we were winning against bad teams, losing to the top teams. I don't think Lonzo being healthy 21-22 season makes us a contender. Even going over the tax. Vuc had no real backup. Our bench was a mess. I think we were still a few years away with a healthy Lonzo. Great Content Stacey. "Does anybody know how to post videos to Facebook?"
Nailed it. There was a 9-game win streak there, in Nov-Dec 2021, where we beat something like the Pacers, Wizards and Magic twice each and won three more games against like ... Houston and two other bad teams. I once did the math, and if we merely split those nine games I don't think we even make the play in. We were never 'good' behind Lonzo. We had a streak of national media attention and Bulls fans have been creaming their shorts about that squad ever since. Giddey is not a Lonzo replacement. Infact, I think Giddey is BETTER than Lonzo, and the parts Lonzo fed are being traded away.
The difference between Lonzo and Giddey? You will have to know what makes Lonzo special? 1. Lonzo is a ball mover not just a stat padder or collecting assist by usage. Lonzo makes the hockey pass and he will never register an assist but it's a good bb play. I've seen him direct a pass for a 3rd pass already anticipating the next pass before it happens. 2. Lonzo is an excellent transitional passer and he can make 1 pass off a rebound. If you ever view games with Zion, he made full court alley opps to Zion for dunks. Never seen anything like that. 3. Lonzo always takes on the toughest players defensively. In fact, he was ranked at the top player in that category with the Bulls. I believe it's the reason he is hurt. The best block during that Bulls first half was a block Lonzo had head on Isaiah Stewart's dunk at the basket. It wasn't from the side or from behind. It's face to face. Never seen a PG do that. That's a center. Lonzo was guarding power forwards at times like Giannis and Julius Randle and Kwahi, etc. Let's put Giddey on the top scorers at the forward spot at 6'8. He's taller so he should be able to defend them. With the Bulls the first half, Lonzo was averaging 2 steals and a block and would have been the 1st PG in NBA history to do so. 4. Lonzo improved his 3 point shooting to around 40%, which is the number he also had at UCLA when he came out as the top 3 point shooter in his class. Most don't realize that. 5. Lonzo has played with elite players and has picked their brains from Rondo, Jrue Holiday, and Lebron. Giddey shots 3's at 30%. Can Giddey get here? He will have to view the 5 things mentioned above. But I really like Giddey's game but I haven't seen it result in winning as Zo did with the Bulls.
@@ciddyfent4246 The Bulls don't make their schedule. But winning is winning. That first half also included wins against the Celtics, Brooklyn (Kevin Durant), Dallas, Clippers, Lakers, Denver, Knicks,
I feel that we will get no.1 pick for 2025 this will be for the bulls after all the crash and burn happened in bulls years. Damn! Young roster is gonna be fun! Ridendie! #seered let's go bulls keep our head up!
Maybe it's not the F/O, maybe nobody wants to come to Chicago. Also, Doncic doesn't play defense nor does Kyrie. Tatum plays just as hard as Zach. There are plenty of scoring players who don't play defense
Stacey King should be Bulls President of 🏀. End of argument. John Paxton should be the head coach. See Steve Kerr. And then you go out and find the next great GM. Pry the Ast GM in Boston
Zach isn’t a superstar player, but he is an Allstar and deserved to get paid when he did. Didn’t turn out how we hoped, but it was the right thing to do at that point in time
Or, the Bulls can keep Lavine, Ball and the rest. When Ball was in the line up, Lavine looked good and the team won. When LaVine came back briefly in 2023, he looked good and again, the team won.
Back before Lavine made an allstar game, and way before he got the max contract, he’d speak as if he had already arrived. That he was a great player and didn’t have anything to prove to anyone. This, without ever being on a winning team! This was a red flag. He always took the process, from contract negotiations to coaching, as disrespect. I wonder how he’ll take the NBAs total disinterest in his availability. Of course the Bulls shouldn’t have let him walk for nothing, but that’s why you trade him when you can get a haul in return.
@@jordanmartel2937 so just wipe a decade off and expect fans to turn up.? No he’s wrong. You try to build the other way like Denver did like Miami do like the pistons in the early 2000’s did. Waiting for a lottery pick is stupidity
@@christopherconstance2971 the bulls have wiped 26 years since their last finals appearance and have consistently had top 5 attendance every single year making hand over fist profit, this team isn’t trying to win they are trying to make enough money to satisfy reinsfdorf. If you can’t see that I don’t know what to tell you. Tanking for a franchise player which you NEED to win in the nba would tell me they care more about winning than profit. Until then they don’t give a shit. Let me guess, you drank the koolade in the 2000s and were convinced luol deng was untradeable for a star player. Give me a break.
@@jordanmartel2937 why have they wiped 26 years? Because they’ve tried to draft that superstar and gotten fuck all in return. You rely purely on the draft and you get nothing. You create a competitive team and wit for the right trade or FA.
Yes, I remember a few years ago when friedell was down on the Bulls moves, he really did seem like a hater. But he’s right, he’s been right. This last year has been absolutely embarrassing. And why would you allow AKME to rebuild this dumpster fire? Most every move they’ve made has been ridiculous. I have to assume they’ve been receiving close guidance from the Reinsdorfs every step of the way. Don’t tell me about Lonzo, when he got hurt, changes had to be made before last season began AT THE LATEST.
Thanks fellas!! Good podcast. Nick, always keeping it real. Levels to this. He knows the Chicago Bulls fans are loyal but we need the truth! Appreciate you all.
I disagree with Nick on John Paxton being a bad GM he built a team that went to the eastern conference finals and he drafted better and developed players better
I've been saying it since day one. Zac is a wish app Tatum. He's got low bball iq, always hurt, and isn't a team player. Oh and we paid him the same money that KD got to goto the suns.
Hey! Last season at this time of year I was bashing Nick's anti-Bulls rant, but I'm gonna have to give him kudos for keeping it real this time. Man, I'd like to have Gar/Pax back!
Nick is totally right about them refusing to trade their assets when they had value. And Jerry sucks cuz he insist on never paying the luxury tax despite this terrible team always leading the league in attendance. A plan to only make the play in tournament is completely flawed in itself. Bulls fans wanted a rebuild once it was clear Lonzo was never coming back because this team stinks.
It's not just a binary decision about whether to re-sign Zach or lose him for nothing. I think the league is suspicious about how the Bulls were put in that position to begin with. Normally, you decide at the Feb deadline, just before free agency, if you want to re-sign a player or trade him to get something back. Go back and look at the play where Zach pulled up 'injured' around Jan 13, just before that deadline. It's a no-contact injury, and I think the league smells a rat. That FORCED the Bulls INTO the risk of losing him for nothing. Add to that that he led a revolt against Boylen (who went on to the Olympics and is now respected in Indiana despite what Bulls fans say about him), and that he seems to have been in some power struggle about 'roles' with 6-time All Star DeMar DeRozan (halftime Minnesota locker room). The Bulls just didn't make the feud public. I think the league sees him as a perpetual malcontent who believes himself to be a better player than he is and isn't worth the headache or the money, or the risk that he'll put his next team in a similar position when THIS contract ends.
No, the league sees the Bulls as desperate now since they hold the cards in any trade. Watch a team like the Lakers get him in a steal where the Bulls will be giving up more to the Lakers than the Bulls receive.
@@BallGuy-pm8pz you and I don't disagree about where this will wind up. The Lakers probably WILL get Lavine plus. We disagree about how the Bulls found themselves in this situation.
