Charging Forward
When the Bulls traded Jimmy Butler to the Wolves this past summer, the consensus was the Bulls struck a bad deal. Jimmy is a 3 time All-Star, plays both ends of the court, and he was just hitting his stride. Words like tanking (losing to get a top draft pick) were thrown around the city of Chicago when describing the state of the Bulls and the focus was on the 2018 NBA Draft. No one really knew if the pieces the Bulls received would pan out. Can Kris Dunn become the point guard of the future, can Zach Lavine come back successfully from a torn ACL, and does rookie Lauri Markkanen belong in the NBA? The future seemed dim for the Chicago Bulls.
Today, the Butler deal looks like it was a great move by Bulls organization, led by President John Paxson. Kris Dunn is starting to break through and has shown the ability to take over games. Markkanen is a top 5 rookie…even LeBron was gushing over him. Zach Lavine looks like he is coming back to his old form and dueled with Butler the other night. Lavine scored the final Bulls 8 points in the last minute in a victory over Minnesota and is showing his ability to be a closer—he also had the winning steal and bucket tonight against the Magic. Dunn, Markkanen, and Lavine are 3 core pieces that the Bulls can build around. Having young athletes to build a team around is promising. The Bulls have potentially 2 future All-Stars (Lavine and Markkanen) and Kris Dunn could turn into one. 2nd year pro Denzel Valentine is also coming along and showing signs of improvement, he is looking more like a versatile utility player off the bench.
In this upcoming NBA draft, the Bulls could potentially land 2 lottery picks (their own plus the Pelicans pick). The 2018 draft looks strong with potential franchise players and if the Bulls can pick up at least another high-quality starter, they might be back quickly. There are questions about LeBron staying in Cleveland after this season, and outside of Boston and Toronto, the East looks wide open. The Bulls can be relevant again and their young core could grow up quickly to give the city of Chicago something to get excited about.
Some other NBA thoughts:
Koby Altman did it. The rookie GM transformed a lethargic team to one that is young, vibrant, and motivated. I know it’s only been a couple of games but the Cavs look like Eastern Conference champs again…Can Houston really take on the Warriors in a 7 game series? I am not sold on them. Paul and Harden have never battled in a playoff series together. It will be a fun series if they make it to the Western Conference finals and they look like the only real threat, but would anyone really bet against the core of Durant, Curry, Thompson, and Green?…If Gordon Hayward can come back, the Celtics team will be really good and fun to watch….I really hope the Sixers make the playoffs. The process took way too long, and they are a fun team. Embid is great for the NBA and he exudes joy every time he is on the court. And Ben Simmons is the real deal…The Knicks are in trouble. Coming back from an ACL injury is tough and Porzingis was playing at a high level. The Knicks only really have one star in Kristaps. They need another star as a hedge and potential compliment if @kporzee comes back healthy…That’s all for now. Thanks to all my loyal fans…all 2 of you.