On Damian Lillard, Zach LaVine and more – NBC Sports Chicago

Submitted by National Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich

Even with training camp less than two weeks away, the Zach LaVine rumors aren’t going to die. To your questions.

Are the Bulls in the Damian Lillard lottery? — Brian H.

In July, the teams engaged in at least preliminary talks, which are detailed in this article. That piece’s sentiment about Zach LaVine still applies. Basically, there always seem to be internal hurdles for LaVine to be widely accepted as a premier option on a championship-contending team. Hence, he is constantly falling into trade rumors.

Or as LaVine himself said in a July interview with Monty Ball of NBC Sports Bay Area before playing in the US Century Golf Championship: “When there’s smoke, there’s fire. When there’s smoke, there’s fire. There is smoke, there is fire.” Every now and then, you see a very large amount of smoke. I’ve been with the Bulls for seven years. My name has been in trade talks. You don’t like it, but you understand the work. I’ve been traded before.”

PHLY_Sports’ Kyle Newbeck upped the ante late Wednesday by saying on his outlet’s podcast that the Bulls “may try to move LaVine as part of a multi-team deal just to see if they can get into the Lillard sweepstakes.” Multiple league sources indicated throughout the offseason that the Trail Blazers showed little interest in acquiring LaVine outright, mostly because he doesn’t fit their rebuilding trajectory and their commitment to a young backcourt of Scott Henderson and Anfernee Simmons.

With the quiet weeks of August and early September in the rearview mirror and training camp quickly approaching, Lillard’s situation is getting worse. The Trial Blazers have no obligation to trade Lillard to his preferred destination in Miami. If the Bulls trade for Lillard, a contract extension for DeMar DeRozan, who shares Lillard’s agent, would almost certainly follow. (It might happen anyway, obviously.)

That means the Bulls will be tied to roughly $115 million for three players in Lillard, DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic once Lillard signs a two-year, $121.8 million extension for the 2025-26 season. Trading LaVine to clear the decks for Lillard would also cost at least one other asset in the form of a young player like Patrick Williams, Coby White, or first-round picks. So you should be committed to the idea of ​​this big three, especially since the Bulls still owe the Spurs a first-round pick in the acquisition of DeRozan.

The next two weeks will tell us how much the Bulls value LaVine.

With the generally depressing sports scene in Chicago these days and on a dreary, rainy day, I thought why not buy some stock in Team #Continuity and try to lift the spirits of Bulls nation. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about this team. They addressed their biggest weakness this summer with good-value free agency signings and continued to work the early part of the second round in search of a potential diamond in the rough. For the first time since the ball dropped, the Bulls have depth at PG (if not an elite option), on the wing and in the middle. Maybe this is the season where Donovan and company finally put together an above-average offense and defense at the same time as the Big Three, and maybe the team can maintain their excellent health from last year. Maybe Pat, Kobe, or Ayo will make the jump this season; Heck, maybe all of them do! If the All-Stars are so identical, is it impossible to see them improve after 10 games? 50-32 seems like a lofty goal, and a more modest improvement (if any) is certainly much more likely. But at the dawn of the 10th season since our last second-round playoff win, why not raise our collective hopes to insanely high levels? — Nick B.

I made this point on our Bulls Talk Podcast. I feel like the 2021-22 Bulls won some wild “clutch” games—defined as being within five points or less with 5 minutes to play—and the 2022-23 Bulls lost some wild clutch games. So I’m very supportive of this team that has between 46 and 40 wins. Since I’m generally optimistic, I’ll go with 44-38. This is assuming good health.

The Eastern Conference is full of undermatches. Splitting has also become more difficult. (I like what Indiana is building, and they have one of the most overlooked elite coaches in the game IMO.) I agree that the Bulls, on paper, have a ton of depth. Donovan and his staff have countless collection options and combinations.

Who is the player you are most interested in at the start of the season and why? — Matt A.

Coby White. I think he’s expected to have a very strong season, and I’m interested in seeing his continued growth as a two-way player. By almost any measure, he had his best season last season despite posting his lowest scoring average. He put in his offseason work. Between the organization that made re-signing him a priority and his personality blossoming off the field last season, him making another leap wouldn’t be surprising.

What are the odds of Billy Donovan getting more movement into his offensive schemes? —Jason

high. How many times did you hear Donovan talk about less isolation during training camp last season? The word he chose at the time, and later refined, was “randomness.”

All coaches strive to move the ball and players. Donovan likes to play at a fast pace as well, which is why he sometimes opts for the small ball. You’ll hear a lot about playing fast during training camp this season. But also: Players play to their strengths. When the Bulls really need a hoop, DeRozan prefers to play slower, get into his spots and score in the middle of the field. So there must be a balance.

Why not trade DeMar DeRozan and see what Patrick Williams can do in a bigger role? He will never develop as a fourth option in the team. I know DeMar provides value in many ways, but his game is getting old. He is a mid-range shooter in the 3-point shooting league and plays no defense. We need to see what Patrick can do before we give up on him early and watch him flourish like Lauri Markkanen is doing now at Utah. Your thoughts? — Amir M.

I’m not a believer that these scenarios fall into the “either/or” section. Some do. Me, no.

I thought Williams improved quite a bit last season, which was essentially his second season given the major injury that clouded his second season. He can improve with DeRozan on the roster. In fact, DeRozan is helping his development by taking him under his wing in offseason workouts and the like.

Now, whether or not DeRozan should be traded is a separate discussion for me. And if the Bulls stumble at the February 2024 deadline, I have to believe this iteration of the roster will finally get a makeover.

Do you think it would be better for Patrick Williams’ development to play mostly with the second unit where he has more offensive freedom? I see Torrey Craig as a great fit for the first unit and knows how to handle not being the main option and play his role. I think Patrick’s favorite style of play is to play more with the ball. — Victor D.

This, to me, is one of the biggest storylines of training camp. I think Billy Donovan and his staff expertly managed Williams’ transition to Division II last season, and I think that benefited Williams and the team.

I agree with you that Craig is one of those “smooth” players who would be a great complementary piece with the first unit. But he will also be strong no matter what role he fills.

Is it important for Williams’ confidence and growth to get the starting spot? This is a question I’m sure the coaching staff has asked and answered before camp. One possible scenario is for Williams to start but swing his minutes so that he also plays a solid portion of his minutes with the second unit and against opposing second units. Stay tuned.

Can the Bulls trade Lonzo Ball this season? Will they take this into consideration? —Dan J.

Before answering this interesting question, let’s be sure to acknowledge the obligatory fact that everyone is rooting for the ball to come back. Injuries are the worst.

With that out of the way, from a business perspective, let’s assume Paul is unfortunately unable to return. He has a $21.4 million player option for 2024-25 which he will certainly exercise. But if his career is declared over, the Bulls could apply to have that salary cleared from the salary cap and luxury tax rolls. Do they use this to their advantage or look to use his soon-to-expire contract as an asset in a trade, almost like salary cap relief? My feeling is that nothing will happen this season because the ball is working hard to try to come back.

The Bulls still don’t have a true point guard and we know how important Lonzo Ball was to this team when he was healthy. They were one of the best teams in the league. I love Coby White and I think he’s going to have a breakout year. I also like Jevon Carter’s signature. But they are not true point guards. Do you think the Bulls would consider using the $10 million exception they have available from Lonzo’s injury on Kyle Lolley if he becomes available once Miami trades for Damian Lillard? Does this $10 million count toward the maximum? I feel like Lowry would be a great fit to play 25 minutes a game on this guard-heavy but point guard-heavy team. — Molly S.

Lowry is scheduled to make $29.7 million this season. Therefore, several steps, including an acquisition, must be taken for this scenario to be considered.

Separately, actually counting $10 million against the salary cap isn’t the issue because it’s called the Disabled Player Exception for a reason. You can use exceptions to exceed the cap that bulls have. But any player’s salary will likely be credited for luxury tax purposes, and therein lies the problem. The Bulls, by virtue of using part of the mid-level exception to sign Carter, have a cap hit of $172.3 million. Currently, they have approximately $165.5 million in committed salary. So, as currently set up, they can only use a shade under $7 million of the disabled player exception, which is just above the remaining portion of the mid-level exception they have.

What is the biggest challenge facing Billy Donovan, maintaining good defensive performance or improving offensive production? — Bulls Nation Brazil

I think it’s the latter. The Bulls ranked fifth in defensive rating last season and added solid defenders like Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig. They rank 24th in offensive rating, which shouldn’t happen for a team with such talented offensive players. On paper, Carter and Craig add smart, quick shooting and offensive decision-making. But it’s clear that it’s not just them. The offense must outpace the defense and not become predictable in the half court.

What are the “stakes” of this season? What results can be considered a success and what results can be considered a failure—either in your view or in the eyes of the organization? —Steve B.

I don’t like to disappoint you, but my classes are about mundane things like flights being on time and such. But obviously you mean from a team performance point of view, so here it is.

In my opinion, a successful season would be a top-6 seed and a playoff series win. This is not a championship team. So, while this may seem like a modest expectation, to me it represents this team reaching its full potential. Failure would be another non-playoff season.

I look forward to hearing the organization’s goals at Information Day. The administration said last season that it expected improvement compared to the previous season. This did not happen. How is the administration framing this season? We’ll find out soon enough.

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