Don't forget for a second why we accepted this trade.
CHICAGO, IL: It's been a long time without writing an article, so much time I even lost track of the templates we used to use. But the excitement is back at the Windy City after another busy offseason, and there are multiple reasons why.
Last season's team clearly did not work out, as Danny Green got hurt during the playoffs and teams' lack of depth and any great shooting willing to fire away when needed got exposed. So, GM Marcos went to work.
Offseason goals? Re-shape the team, completely.
First of all, a full rebuild appeared to be the real goal. Offers came in for Conley, Horford, Noah, Butler and even Derrick Rose. Possibility was so real Chicago even went to acquire their 2019 1st rounder back. In the end, though, nothing happened, so decision was quickly reverted towards bringing what they didn't have in previous years in order to re-tool and try to compete for a ring once again.
Rose, Horford and Noah, the pillars of the Bulls' 3 straight 60+ win campaigns, were quickly announced as off the block, and even though an offer including multiple future firsts for Horford came in, the Bulls decided to pass on it without even getting too deep into discussions. Butler, a fan favorite, along with one of the team's cheapest pieces in Brice Johnson, were also rules as non-negotiable. Left was Mike Conley, who, even though had a very good playoff showing, was considered too small and regularly overmatched at the two-guard (with Chicago committed to playing Derrick at the one, featuring as the main playmaker). Satnam Singh, although viewed as a valuable piece because of his fantastic defensive rebounding along with good defensive and shot blocking instincts and incredible size to protect the paint, was made available as well. Least but not last, Chicago decided on shipping Danny Green, despite his elite shooting touch, because he wasn't willing to let the ball fly as much as needed against zone defenses.
In three separate deals involving those players alone, the Bulls were able to bring in Lance Stephenson, Patrick Beverley and Terrence Ross, three players who now figure out as key depth pieces moving forward, along with young Will Barton and versatile David Wear. Thibodeau, returning as the coach for his 7th season, talked about how he believes each of the newcomers will feature in Chicago's dreams of their first Finals' appearance:
A regular matchup during High School times, these two will now be teammates for the first time.
"We looked at this team last season and saw multiple things we did not like, despite another successful regular season. First of all, we have Jimmy Butler, a premier defensive weapon at this league, and he should be starting. But how to start him and Conley? Not enough shooting there. Jimmy and Danny? None of them would score the basket as much as we needed to take the pressure off Derrick and Al, our main scorers. Now, we can start two guys who complement each other very well with Ross at the two and Butler at the three. That's the initial plan."
"Also, Lance brings a whole new dimension to our bench. He's a go-to scorer, efficient, drives at will, can flush the three, he's strong, he can play both wings without any problems. He will be very important here for next season, averaged 20 per game last season, 20 per game at Detroit as well. He's a scorer, he's got a scorers' mentality and he can score from everywhere. Our bench, our depth last season wasn't so good. We had Jimmy off the bench for the wings, and Collison for the guard spot. Now we have Lance, what an amazing player to have off the bench. We have Beverley, a very good defender, this guy can give us great production no matter how many minutes he logs in, because he impacts the game in multiple ways, he can score, he can pass, he can defend, puts up steals and blocks at will. Barton, he'll be a very good piece to have, he can do it all, of course needs time to develop but he fits with any kind of player we want to bring off the bench, that's great. And Wear has been improving every year at Boston, he's cheap, he's from a great program in UCLA, still young, we're happy to add him to the group because we're confident he will step up if needed."
You've got the green light to let it fly, Mr!
"One key aspect was being able to bring two picks for next season so we'll be able to definitely add some cheap talent when all those Cap room complications hits us next season. Plus, Jo, Lance, Jimmy and Terrence, all those guys have flat deals, Bev and Wear with those team options so we control their future we can either pick it up if it fits our CAP situation or try to bring them back on longer but smaller deals. This flexibility, we've lost that every year but we really looked to regain some this season so we could be on top of our future every time." said GM Marcos.
All those moves puts Chicago at roughly 10 players and about 2.3M left in CAP space. They will be now looking to complete the roster with veteran minimum's deals as they get ready for the start of training camp!
Will this be another great, successful year at Chicago? Or did those trades made them more vulnerable? Let us know!
2028
