The Armchair GM Knows Best Thread - Choose Your Own Adventure

[clonetrooper264]

Much has been made over the Murphy's Law riddled tenure of Arturas Karnisovas. Since obviously random people on the internet know better than the professionals, use this thread as the chance to prove your mettle and turn this team into at least a top 6 team in the East.

1) You must start from present day, what has happened has happened. Just as AK must live with his results and pick up the pieces, so must we

2) You don't have to turn it around in one season, but...

3) Chicago fans are impatient, you have 3 seasons to make it happen before you too become the next GM pariah

4) The 2023-2024 salary cap is expected to increase by 8.4%, $134M salary cap and $162M Luxury tax. For the purposes of this thread, you may use these numbers for the next 3 seasons

5) As we all know, the luxury tax number is your hard cap. Even if you feel your team is a title contender, you may not exceed $162M in salary

6) For FA purposes, assume any starter or 6th man level player will be re-signed by their current team, if you want them you have to work out a S&T for them. Role players who are UFAs you can sign freely. Assume RFAs will be retained by their current teams, so again you need to S&T for them.

7) For trade purposes, assume no player in the league is "untouchable" but use some common sense. Just because it works in the ESPN trade machine doesn't mean you can just trade whoever. Be reasonably realistic.

8) For current Bulls players, you may assume their trade/FA value is what you yourself value them as. For example, if you believe Patrick Williams is a steaming pile of crap, that is his trade value. Why? Because if you think they suck, why should anyone else think otherwise?

Feel free to use 2023 NBA Free Agents Tracker for FA reference (there are options to go beyond 2023)

For draft prospects you can reference ESPN Basketball Recruiting - Player Rankings.

For our intents and purposes let's just say the rankings remain as is for each draft year (ie top ranked HS prospect in the class will be ranked as the projected #1 pick). These are college recruitment rankings so assume the players will all be one and done (so 2023 ranked players like DJ Wagner and Bronny are draft eligible in 2024).

 

[Scoot26]

For references of others, this is the Bulls salary situation going foward:

 

[Scoot26]

So, this is pretty hard, since it's impossible to say how things open up, who's even available, and what kind of trade you can even pull off in the NBA off-season.

That said, I would try and trade DeMar for some sort of 1st round pick, may have to be Top 14 protected, but ideally you'd trade him to someone who will make the playoffs, thus you'll get the pick.

I would entertain trading Zach Lavine if it brought back some unprotected 1st(s). I don't even know what his value is to anyone else really, but that's what I would be looking for. Otherwise, I just roll with Zach.

I would not re-sign Vuc.

I would buy out Lonzo.

I would let Coby White run around the FA market and see what someone offers him. If he gets a substantial offer sheet, don't bother matching, and just go about your day. At that point, you just re-sign Ayo for cheap. If White doesn't have a market, or the offer sheet is reasonable, I wouldn't mind matching it honestly to have him as a 6th man type of player.

After that, my goal is to pretty much suck for 2023-24 and hope for a Top 5 draft pick. Ideally, you'd have Portland make the playoffs and then you have three 1sts in the 2024, granted two of them would be lower 1sts, but hey its better than nothing.

After this point I have no idea what the FA market is going to look like in 2024-25, nor what kind of trades/deals the team could make. So that's where this becomes hard.

Ideally, your Top 5 pick becomes a superstar, making everything easier and you are a Top 6 team rather quickly.

 

[Enasic]

3 more seasons for the Bulls to be top 6 in the East? Yikes…let’s hope the expectations are higher than that…but we all know they’re probably not

 

[Anytime23]

Hello

 

[Scoot26]

Hello

Hi?

 

[clonetrooper264]

3 more seasons for the Bulls to be top 6 in the East? Yikes…let’s hope the expectations are higher than that…but we all know they’re probably not

This is the Reinsdorf we're talking about. Feel free to make a title contender in 3 years though

 

[clonetrooper264]

Hello

This bodes well for this thread

 

[Enasic]

This is the Reinsdorf we're talking about. Feel free to make a title contender in 3 years though

Ha…this team ain’t sniffing a chip within 3 years. AKME was aggressive and pushed all their chips in and their moves completely bombed.

In 3 years, I believe it’ll be year number 6 for them. Their highlight is one six seed so far. If in 3 years the highlight is still a 6th seed, it’s pretty obvious they should be shown the door. If that’s the best you can do in 6 years, you’re not the one.

As far as what I would do, I agree with scoot in that it’s difficult to even say who’s going to be available or what options there will be. I agree with most of his philosophy as well. Shop DeMar. Take the highest 1st you can.

I would not re-sign Vuc. Try to get creative with a S&T.

I’d be open to trading LaVine. It wouldn’t be mandatory, but he’d be available. As would anyone on the roster.

P.Will. Who wants him? He’d be heavily shopped. Would someone give up a top 20 pick? If so, let’s talk.

Id talk to Portland and see if there’s something we can work out to adjusting the protections on their pick. Unlikely, but not impossible and their GM has stated he has had convos with AK about hypotheticals already.

I have no interest in Ayo. He’s not a true point, his offensive game is bad, and he’s nothing special defensively. Explore a S&T or let walk.

Coby is still young and I think he’s shown some improvement. His minutes decreased this year and think it was silly to do so. I’d be open to him coming back, but the money would need to make sense. If it doesn’t, again, explore a S&T.

All in all, the Bulls future is bleak. AKME gambled and lost. Hopefully he can do better than the armchair GMs and get them out of this. What’s funny is that when he was hired, the Bulls biggest needs were PG, wing, and HC. 3 years later they still need a HC and a PG and if they trade DeMar, a wing as well. Oh….having Lauri at PF would look a hell of a lot better than Williams, so they managed to downgrade that position. They definitely have their work cut out for themselves

 

[knoxville7]

Ha…this team ain’t sniffing a chip within 3 years. AKME was aggressive and pushed all their chips in and their moves completely bombed.

In 3 years, I believe it’ll be year number 6 for them. Their highlight is one six seed so far. If in 3 years the highlight is still a 6th seed, it’s pretty obvious they should be shown the door. If that’s the best you can do in 6 years, you’re not the one.

As far as what I would do, I agree with scoot in that it’s difficult to even say who’s going to be available or what options there will be. I agree with most of his philosophy as well. Shop DeMar. Take the highest 1st you can.

I would not re-sign Vuc. Try to get creative with a S&T.

I’d be open to trading LaVine. It wouldn’t be mandatory, but he’d be available. As would anyone on the roster.

P.Will. Who wants him? He’d be heavily shopped. Would someone give up a top 20 pick? If so, let’s talk.

Id talk to Portland and see if there’s something we can work out to adjusting the protections on their pick. Unlikely, but not impossible and their GM has stated he has had convos with AK about hypotheticals already.

I have no interest in Ayo. He’s not a true point, his offensive game is bad, and he’s nothing special defensively. Explore a S&T or let walk.

Coby is still young and I think he’s shown some improvement. His minutes decreased this year and think it was silly to do so. I’d be open to him coming back, but the money would need to make sense. If it doesn’t, again, explore a S&T.

All in all, the Bulls future is bleak. AKME gambled and lost. Hopefully he can do better than the armchair GMs and get them out of this. What’s funny is that when he was hired, the Bulls biggest needs were PG, wing, and HC. 3 years later they still need a HC and a PG and if they trade DeMar, a wing as well. Oh….having Lauri at PF would look a hell of a lot better than Williams, so they managed to downgrade that position. They definitely have their work cut out for themselves

What’s funny is you can’t read directions well. OP stated what’s happened has happened, deal with it from here

 

[Anytime23]

This bodes well for this thread

You know it, old friend.

Is there a reason i never see you in the Bears section?

So yeah, being out the NBA game for a while and still saw that this roster was going nowhere. #CALLEDIT

Stinky Russian better get his shit together

 

[Enasic]

What’s funny is you can’t read directions well. OP stated what’s happened has happened, deal with it from here

I said how I'd approach it. You playin along or no?

 

[Enasic]

You know it, old friend.

Is there a reason i never see you in the Bears section?

So yeah, being out the NBA game for a while and still saw that this roster was going nowhere. #CALLEDIT

Stinky Russian better get his shit together

Have to give you credit…pretty sure you were in the 30s for Bulls wins when everyone else was predicting 45+ wins, myself included. Well done.

 

[Anytime23]

Have to give you credit…pretty sure you were in the 30s for Bulls wins when everyone else was predicting 45+ wins, myself included. Well done.

 

[Enasic]

I’d also add that I’d fire BD. I realize he was just extended, but that was dumb.

Regarding Lonzo, how does a buyout work? Would his contract still count against the cap? If not, I’d buy him out. If it still counts against the cap, I’d let him play out his contract. Would suck having him on the books for the next two years, but it is what it is. Not a big fan of stretch provision because it prolongs the cap hit. Granted, at a lower yearly number. Would rather just take the hit for the next two years then be done with it

 

[clonetrooper264]

You know it, old friend.

Is there a reason i never see you in the Bears section?

So yeah, being out the NBA game for a while and still saw that this roster was going nowhere. #CALLEDIT

Stinky Russian better get his shit together

#calledit you did my friend. Your foresight is commendable

Bears generally cause me too much frustration to post about lol, the NBA is where my heart is so here is where I am

 

[clonetrooper264]

I’d also add that I’d fire BD. I realize he was just extended, but that was dumb.

Regarding Lonzo, how does a buyout work? Would his contract still count against the cap? If not, I’d buy him out. If it still counts against the cap, I’d let him play out his contract. Would suck having him on the books for the next two years, but it is what it is. Not a big fan of stretch provision because it prolongs the cap hit. Granted, at a lower yearly number. Would rather just take the hit for the next two years then be done with it

A buyout is a mutual agreement between the team and player where the player agrees to forgo a portion of his remaining salary to enter FA. For example you could try to convince Lonzo to give up 10M of his remaining 40M salary and then you'd owe him 30M total over the remainder of his contract.

The simple answer is, he'll still count against the cap because no way he'll waive his whole contract so for you, just let it play out.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Edited OP for some guidelines regarding trades and FAs

 

[clonetrooper264]

Ha…this team ain’t sniffing a chip within 3 years. AKME was aggressive and pushed all their chips in and their moves completely bombed.

In 3 years, I believe it’ll be year number 6 for them. Their highlight is one six seed so far. If in 3 years the highlight is still a 6th seed, it’s pretty obvious they should be shown the door. If that’s the best you can do in 6 years, you’re not the one.

As far as what I would do, I agree with scoot in that it’s difficult to even say who’s going to be available or what options there will be. I agree with most of his philosophy as well. Shop DeMar. Take the highest 1st you can.

I would not re-sign Vuc. Try to get creative with a S&T.

I’d be open to trading LaVine. It wouldn’t be mandatory, but he’d be available. As would anyone on the roster.

P.Will. Who wants him? He’d be heavily shopped. Would someone give up a top 20 pick? If so, let’s talk.

Id talk to Portland and see if there’s something we can work out to adjusting the protections on their pick. Unlikely, but not impossible and their GM has stated he has had convos with AK about hypotheticals already.

I have no interest in Ayo. He’s not a true point, his offensive game is bad, and he’s nothing special defensively. Explore a S&T or let walk.

Coby is still young and I think he’s shown some improvement. His minutes decreased this year and think it was silly to do so. I’d be open to him coming back, but the money would need to make sense. If it doesn’t, again, explore a S&T.

All in all, the Bulls future is bleak. AKME gambled and lost. Hopefully he can do better than the armchair GMs and get them out of this. What’s funny is that when he was hired, the Bulls biggest needs were PG, wing, and HC. 3 years later they still need a HC and a PG and if they trade DeMar, a wing as well. Oh….having Lauri at PF would look a hell of a lot better than Williams, so they managed to downgrade that position. They definitely have their work cut out for themselves

Addressing this approach (and by extension Scoot's), presuming you manage to trade and/or let everyone go who you mentioned, you have a handful of draft picks and the bench left. Where are you going with that once you have those assets in hand? You're looking pretty good to have a very high pick in 2024 so you can have a foundation in place to meet the requirements, but you haven't fleshed it out further than blowing it up.

This is just saying the answer is incomplete so far, which is fine, but leaving it there doesn't satisfy the parameters quite yet. Perhaps with the additional things I added to the OP that'll make it a little easier to name some names in FA or whatnot

Of course if your answer is AK screwed this up so badly that this task is impossible, that's not what this thread is for

 

[knoxville7]

Ha…this team ain’t sniffing a chip within 3 years. AKME was aggressive and pushed all their chips in and their moves completely bombed.

In 3 years, I believe it’ll be year number 6 for them. Their highlight is one six seed so far. If in 3 years the highlight is still a 6th seed, it’s pretty obvious they should be shown the door. If that’s the best you can do in 6 years, you’re not the one.

As far as what I would do, I agree with scoot in that it’s difficult to even say who’s going to be available or what options there will be. I agree with most of his philosophy as well. Shop DeMar. Take the highest 1st you can.

I would not re-sign Vuc. Try to get creative with a S&T.

I’d be open to trading LaVine. It wouldn’t be mandatory, but he’d be available. As would anyone on the roster.

P.Will. Who wants him? He’d be heavily shopped. Would someone give up a top 20 pick? If so, let’s talk.

Id talk to Portland and see if there’s something we can work out to adjusting the protections on their pick. Unlikely, but not impossible and their GM has stated he has had convos with AK about hypotheticals already.

I have no interest in Ayo. He’s not a true point, his offensive game is bad, and he’s nothing special defensively. Explore a S&T or let walk.

Coby is still young and I think he’s shown some improvement. His minutes decreased this year and think it was silly to do so. I’d be open to him coming back, but the money would need to make sense. If it doesn’t, again, explore a S&T.

All in all, the Bulls future is bleak. AKME gambled and lost. Hopefully he can do better than the armchair GMs and get them out of this. What’s funny is that when he was hired, the Bulls biggest needs were PG, wing, and HC. 3 years later they still need a HC and a PG and if they trade DeMar, a wing as well. Oh….having Lauri at PF would look a hell of a lot better than Williams, so they managed to downgrade that position. They definitely have their work cut out for themselves

What’s funny is you can’t read directions well. OP stated what’s happened has happened, deal with it from here

I said how I'd approach it. You playin along or no?

the bolded part was hindsight chatter. Guess you don’t grasp that