Simple things AK should do to help the rebuild this offseason, but probably won't

[clonetrooper264]

As an armchair GM, like several of you, the moves that need to be made this offseason, even in spite of how AK has mishandled things so far, are pretty obvious. And while AK has basically already squandered his chance of really resetting this team and putting it on a potential path for future success years ago, even doing these bare minimum things would at least help attempt to right the ship.

1) Attempt to build any form of draft capital for the next 2-4 years.
Doesn't even matter to me if 1sts or 2nds, any draft pick is valuable when you're rebuilding. We just saw Phoenix trade a 1st for 3 2nds this season, so even 2nds could be flipped for 1sts down the line, you never know. Or heck, AK has had somewhat better success picking in the 2nd than the 1st (Ayo and Julian Phillips > PWill and Dalen Terry, jury's still out on Matas), and his supposed claim to fame is being involved in drafting Jokic in the 2nd, so maybe you luck out and find a gem later in the draft.

Some easyish moves that surely someone would do
Vuc -> 2nd rounder
Lonzo -> 2nd rounder(s)
Jevon Carter -> late future 2nd rounder

What AK will probably do instead: continue to get no additional draft picks

2) Decide which PG to go with.
AK seems pretty committed to Josh Giddey, which is fine I guess, but then you need to get rid of the rest of these PGs. Coby and Ayo could surely be moved for draft capital and they're on extremely tradable contracts that are quickly coming up for extensions. You can argue that you can even keep one of Coby/Ayo and Giddey, but then you really have to commit to unloading the rest. Tre Jones is the easiest to get rid of, just let him walk. If he can be signed and traded for a 2nd rounder, even better.

What AK will probably do instead: keep too many PGs on the roster, likely keeping Giddey, Coby, Ayo, Lonzo, and Carter on the team

3) If going with Giddey, let the other teams determine his value.
Giddey is an RFA, and so naturally it makes sense to not outbid yourselves by offering a ton of money (see Patrick Williams). Let Giddey get an offer sheet, and evaluate if that's reasonable or not. To me, anything less than 30M/year is worth consideration, anything over is not. Essentially, that's what GarPax did with Zach on his extension after they traded for him.

One aside here, I'm all for players getting their money. As employees, that's what they should do for themselves. As we know, there is no loyalty on the business side of things (though ironically the Bulls are one of the more "loyal" organizations, generally speaking). All this to say, by all means Giddey should go out and try to find that 30M/year that he supposedly wants, I just don't think the Bulls should be the ones to pay him that amount.

Other side note, 30M/year today is probably worth about the same as maybe 12-14M in the 2010s era, about double the MLE value, or about 20% of the total cap. The sticker price is high, but the salaries have ballooned so much in the last 15 years that we actually have to remind ourselves that in terms of cap percentage, some contracts are not worth as much as we think. For reference in 2010 the salary cap was 58M, today it is 140M. Just something to be reminded of when discussing salaries.

What AK will likely do instead: overpay Giddey at 30M+/year before any team even attempts to give Giddey an offersheet.

4) Trade Vuc.
Similar to point 1, Vuc really should be traded for any kind of draft asset in an ideal scenario. Take back whatever contracts are needed to make it happen, but get a draft asset. But if nothing else, just get him off the team. He is not helping anything, and as much as some of you might hate him at this point, he deserves a chance to play elsewhere instead of languishing the last bits of his career here. Warriors still need a center (please ignore this Quintin Post fellow ), Lakers now still need a center after that Mark Williams deal got rescinded. Options exist and there are teams who should be willing to give SOMETHING for him.

What AK will probably do instead: either trade Vuc for the worst possible return, or fail to trade him again because he asked for too much.

5) Commit to the tank for 2026 draft.
Even if you did nothing else and just kept this same miserable roster together, you can prioritize who plays such that even if these guys play their hearts out, you still are gonna be a high lotto team. Of course, Matas should be starting no matter what, but that also means less minutes for Coby, Ayo, Giddey, etc, and more minutes for Julian Phillips, Dalen Terry, maybe guys like Zach Collins and Kevin Huerter as well. You don't necessarily need to bench and not play the likes of Coby and Giddey, just don't play them 35 minutes a night. Ideally you get a team that puts up a half decent fight before collapsing in the 4th, maybe once in a while you steal a game you shouldn't win, and at the end of the season, you're a bottom 5 team. 2026 draft is supposed to be a strong one as well, put yourself in the best position to get someone good (or multiple chances at a someone, see point 1).

What AK will do instead: make no changes, Bulls will end up right around the 10th seed and fighting desperately for a chance to lose in the play in yet again, and end up with a low lotto pick (pick 11+). The cycle continues, and we're miserable forever.

 

[Raskolnikov]

Great job. Couple things,

1. The jury deliberated for about 15 minutes on Matas and came back...dude is boss level. Maybe not final boss level, but a stud.

2. I like your take on PGs, I think you are correct, and I'd add that the Lonzo extension was kind of both sides buying time to facilitate a fair trade. It's a very tradable contract and I think it's set up that way for next year or off-season if he can recover some more form and anyone with that kind of time off needs it and a full healthy off-season.

3. What AK would do and what we would do are different.
I would also ship Giddey for whatever I can get and roll with extensions on Ayo and White. I like them both and think they keep improving the next 5 years.

 

[Scoot26]

I appreciate the write up clone. I don't know how you do it.

 

[clonetrooper264]

I appreciate the write up clone. I don't know how you do it.

By being arrogant enough to think I can do AK's job better than him lol

 

[clonetrooper264]

Bonus section

What Billy can do to make this team more tolerable to watch

1) Institute more player movement in the halfcourt
I will acknowledge this is easier said than done because of the limited practice time available during the season, but really this has been the Achilles heel of the offense in the BD era. Say what you want about 3PAs, but it doesn't matter how many 3s you shoot or don't shoot if your offense is literally nothing but high pick and roll, drive and kick and see what happens. Similar to when I watch other NFL teams and compare them to the Bears, comparing other NBA teams to the Bulls basically produces the same thought "oh so that's what an actual offense looks like".

The Bulls actually do have some half decent shooters on the team, but other than drive and kick, there's nothing in the offense designed to generate good looks for these guys. The Warriors are a team that is known for jacking a bunch of 3s (perhaps rightfully so with the greatest shooter in the world on their team), but if you even look at that heavily Steph-centric system, the other players get plenty of looks via off ball movement/screens/cuts. Bulls halfcourt offense is literally get the ball to some ball handler (usually Giddey, Ayo, Coby), high pick with Vuc, ball handler attempts to drive. In that time frame no one besides the big and the ball handler move. Other teams do this too, but usually there's some kind of other movement happening once the initial screen happens or once the drive happens. Just listen to Stacey King (if you can because lol TV deal) in any random game, he'll mention guys are just standing around. He's right, and it's by design it seems.

One bonus action that we used to get this season was a corner backcut from Zach to receive a pass from Lonzo or Giddey on the wing. Usually Zach could get at least one layup/dunk out of this per game. That action is dead now with Zach gone, but literally anyone on the team could at least run this action and get the defense to collapse.

2) Play the guys who haven't yet established themselves
As AK mentioned, there's 9 guys on this team 25 and younger, so saying "play the young guys" doesn't really have meaning anymore. Either way, we want to see Matas, Phillips, Terry, maybe Huerter, Jones, and Collins get more minutes. Why?

Matas - pretty straightforward, he's the only hope this team has at the moment. Play him 30+ minutes a night unless he fouls himself out.
Phillips - he's shown flashes of an athletic 3&D role player. One of the youngest players on the team, brings energy, could actually be a rotational role player if given a chance, potentially.
Terry - sure his shot is broke, but he usually does everything else. Another energy guy, always puts forth maximum effort. Maybe more time helps his shot conversion rate too, who knows.
Huerter - imo he's kinda dead weight, but he's known as a shooter and shooters are always useful. So far his shooting has continued to be miserable, but if we can get him on a hot streak, he's a potential trade asset in the offseason
Jones - basically just auditioning for a spot on another team, he needs a contract so he'll at least try
Collins - I don't think Collins is as trash as he's made out to be (definitely overpaid though). From what I understand of his game, he can function as a Vuc lite. Not gonna wow you with scoring, but he can shoot 3s a little, is a good passer, and unlike Vuc will at least try on defense. Cap Vuc at like 27 minutes and at least give this guy some burn because if we're very honest with ourselves, Vuc is going to be gone soon one way or another.

Plus playing these guys more minutes than they're currently getting probably just means the Bulls lose more games. They don't have to play together either, they just should get more minutes. Half this roster doesn't fit with each other anyway already, so don't worry about lineup composition, plus Billy likes playing as many guards as possible.