Ryan Schlanser:
Watching HBO's Winning Time, they're going over the coin toss for Magic in the 79 draft. Boy did the Bulls get screwed there! How did the NBA allow Bird to get drafted the year before, then to go play his senior year? Should have been a lock for Bird or Magic
Sam Smith:
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...was the NBA you have no idea about. First the HBO Lakers show. Somebody hates Jerry West. I've never seen a more mean spirited dramatic depiction of a sports figure. You'd think he had his Decision show before going to the Clippers.
It's true Jerry could be tough, if mostly on himself as he wrote in a remarkably searing autobiography a few years back. His torment screams off of the pages, and he could be tempestuous. One time when I was helping the Bulls make trades despite Jerry Krause's objections, I was working on moving Eddy Curry, and mentioned Memphis. Jerry was there as president/GM at the time and was nice enough to call me and explain loudly what an idiot he'd be to make a trade like that. But at the same time, I've done numerous interviews with Jerry in which he always is amazingly gracious, has time for everyone, is polite, informative and respectful. He gives people hours of his time and remains a treasure of the NBA. That's not who he is.
OK, on to that NBA.
The NBA as difficult it is to believe these days was not particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. There was virtually no TV revenues, so teams basically relied on gate receipts to stay in business. Many were having trouble, which led to the landmark cap agreement in 1983 in which the players agreed to a ceiling on salaries (don't get me started on the greedy baseball players who cried for months in their lockout, yet remain the only major sport without a salary cap) and basically a partnership with the NBA.
It doesn't seem like the NBA players are doing too badly with their cap. So draft picks weren't particularly treasured back then. Teams needed players. It was the genesis of the Stepien Rule about not trading consecutive first round draft picks, which Cleveland and owner Ted Stepien were doing en masse at the time. Teams needed players right now to sell tickets. Larry Bird had started at Indiana U. and transferred back home to Indiana State, so his class graduated in 1978 and he was eligible for the draft.
But because he was going back to school for another year, five teams passed on him. Boston got him at No. 6. Magic was the rare player then to leave early, after his second season. He certainly preferred LA, but because the Bulls had Artis Gilmore and his family wanted him close to home, he likely would have played for the Bulls and not gone back to school if the Bulls won the flip. Those things change trajectory.
Phoenix still doesn't have a title in its history after losing the coin flip for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Bucks in 1969. Neil Walk was No. 2. The Bulls picked David Greenwood after Magic. But then they'd probably have been too good with Magic and Gilmore and perhaps a title or two to get Jordan in 1984.
Anthony Davis
Dustin Chaviano:
With the Lakers falling apart and Anthony Davis once again injured, I started to wonder how valuable a trade piece he is. He might not be as persona non grata as Russell Westbrook, but with that huge contract and constantly injured body, isn't he kind of a distressed asset at this point?
Are there teams out there that would give up actual valuable pieces to acquire him?
If I could build a package around Coby White, Derrick Jones, the Theis exception, and maybe some picks, is that a deal the Lakers could be interested in? I'd really think at this point with LeBron on his way out, they'd either want to refresh for one final run, or clean house and trade both AD and LBJ between this summer and the trade deadline.
Sam Smith:
It's true we're likely in a never say never time with the Lakers. Someone probably would take a risk on Davis for, as you say, distressed assets. It probably makes no sense for the Lakers to fill up their roster with role players just to save money. That's not supposed to be the Lakers. We still hear and see way too much about them on TV, but one more run pretty much makes sense.
Fire the coach, which always pleases many. Most of the roster is on one-year deals, so bye Carmelo, Ariza, Bradley, Ellington, Howard, Bazemore, Monk. Now with one year left, maybe they can offload Westbrook, and then it's LeBron and AD and 10 guys LeBron's agency talks into joining the team on one-year deals. Then it's the wild west after that.
Kris Dunn is back in the league with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Mike Sutera:
Kris Dunn with a ‘Blazers 10-day and then 13 and 7 against the Knicks.
Sam Smith:
Yes, the memories. Again, things happen, but that Jimmy Butler trade looked like the all-time coup for awhile. Remember when we were debating regularly if the 2017 draft were redone who was No. 1 among Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum and Lauri Markkanen? Yes, really! That Lauri was an automatic 20/10. Hit the defensive boards, finished with that fading bank shot like Wilt; the All-Star team was just a stop on the way to the Hall of Fame. Dunn had one of the best Summer League's debuts ever. Killer crossover, powerful, sort of Michale Cooper with an offensive game. But there were injuries and personnel changes and injuries and coaching changes, and injuries...
The Bulls got Zach LaVine out of the deal, which made it a wash. But it sure could have been. Kris seemed to be going the Chandler Hutchison whatever-happened-to and there he was.
Portland has given up on the season and forget Charles Barkley, I could barely name three guys on that team. I didn't even know Dunn had been in the G-league. I made a huge exception to watch the Knicks when I saw he was playing. Guy had an amazing backstory. It would be nice to see him get back.
Patrick Williams practicing with the Windy City Bulls.
Kieron Smith:
Patrick Williams cleared for contact. Hopefully this means Javonte Green (not a true power forward, but used as one), won't be playing the role of power forward anymore.
Sam Smith:
I'm not so sure. Donovan indicated a week or so ago when Williams returns, which could be next week, he'll likely come off the bench. No surprise having been out so long and the games ramping up in intensity heading to the playoffs. But seeing how much difficulty a tough veteran like Alex Caruso is having coming back from a similar injury, it's difficult to believe a 20-year-old with so little NBA experience can do much better.
I know everyone is hopeful, and I assume Williams is anxious to help out, as Caruso was in what he said was an expedited return. But we sometimes assume if a player looks OK and is "cleared" that he's ready.
As I recall, that's also what led parts of the community to turning on Derrick Rose, who looked fine, may have been "cleared," but what cleared really means is you're no longer in the hospital. It doesn't mean you are ready and able to play NBA basketball. Especially in the playoffs.
Vucevic is one of the NBA leaders in double-doubles.
Ateeq Ahmed:
Saw an interesting stat yesterday. Top five double-double leaders are Nikola Jokic, Domantas Sabonis, Rudy Gobert, Jonas Valanciunas and Nikola Vucevic. Other than Sabonis, the others were all born outside of the US. People used to say European bigs mostly shoot from outside and our bigs here were the powerful post players.
Has this flipped in terms of how young players around the world are learning how to play?
Sam Smith:
Well, let's see: Hakeem, Mutombo, Ewing, Gobert, Vlade, Capella, Radja, Okur, Nene, Diaw, Gortat, the Gasols, Yao. Oh yeah, Sabonis the Dad. Ok, maybe not Luc. But as we know, Americans can get caught up in that exceptionalism thing.
Young players around the world long have known how to play. It just took a while before we let them do so in the NBA.
Zach LaVine shoots a jump shot.
Ali Merchant:
With dismal results against contenders all year long, I wonder if ownership is reconsidering paying Zach LaVine. If so, what are the alternatives? A sign and trade for a younger first contract player on a strong trajectory up along with first round pick(s)? Do the same action with DeRozan for a full rebuild? Or chalk up everything to injuries and COVID-19 (who hasn't suffered from those) and pay Zach?
Maybe the starters playing together regularly next season along with continued development of Dosunmu and hopefully some of Williams will translate into a team that is a title contender in the years ahead? But there are so many young teams on the upswing that title contending the next years will be much tougher.
This is too hard. What to do? Where is our Jordan?
Sam Smith:
Can we just wait until at least one playoff game. I know the Bulls are currently in a disappointing stretch, and they haven't produced well enough against the playoff teams. But this is the start and Zach is a vital part of all that, and I suspect management and ownership believes and understands that.
Maybe it becomes like that Cubs thing in 2015 of making a run a year ahead. In any case, this is both a team just coming together and one with a lot of veterans. Not retaining LaVine would almost signal a rebuilding, which everyone likely has had enough of. I suspect it's more like your latter alternative with a year in, healthier they hope, more Williams and Dosunmu, and this management group is very creative and I think has that Theis trade exception and maybe another.
And their draft pick, though it looks like their rights to Portland's pick will roll over another year. Could be another interesting summer.
Tracy McGrady recently stated he was almost a Chicago Bull in 1998.
John Reid:
I heard Tracy McGrady on this podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. He said "draft night, I almost got traded for Scottie Pippen. Jerry Krause called my agent and got me up 12 o'clock at night before he draft, had me go to a secret location to take a physical. It was about to go down, but MJ made the call, ‘Yo, if y'all do that, I'm retiring.' So he stopped that real quick."
Is that what happened?
Sam Smith:
No.
Oh, details. Wasn't that in he Last Dance? Though that would have made it four retirements for Jordan, which would have been cool. I'm guessing based on Scottie's latest literary efforts Michael might have regretted if he did. Though as I say, he didn't.
The secret location physical sure was Krause. That was the 1997 draft with Rick Pitino coming in as Boston coach and the Celtics with the best odds of landing No. 1 pick Tim Duncan. But the lottery balls bounced to No. 3 for Boston and No. 1 for the Spurs. And dynasties switched hands. Luck plays a large part in many of these things. The Bulls, certainly, would not have won that sixth championship in 1998 if they had made that trade for rookies.
The Bulls barely won it, anyway, in 1998 the way they squeezed by Indiana in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and then getting that miracle closing sequence and shot from Jordan in Game 6 to stave off a Game 7 in Salt Lake City. As expected and seen in the Last Dance, the team came apart that summer with Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Jud Buechler and Pippen opting for lucrative free agent contracts. Phil Jackson was offered an extension to retool, but declined to get his twice delayed sabbatical before returning to coach the Lakers.
Less mentioned in the Dance was during the long lockout before the 1999 season began in early February, Jordan sliced open his right hand on a cigar cutter and probably would not have been able to play even if he hadn't retired. But Krause always remained determined to get his man.
The Bulls made McGrady their prime target of the 2000 free agency Krause planned once Jordan retired. I listened to the podcast, which I usually don't as I know how to read, and McGrady talked about the Bulls airport welcome for him that summer and everything else that did: A video from Oprah asking him to choose Chicago, a welcome at the Cubs game to throw out the first pitch with an advertising airplane flying overhead with a McGrady banner. But McGrady said despite the Bulls' appeal and that of the Miami Heat, he was determined to return home to play in the Orlando area. I'm not sure about that.
Though that only occurred once the Magic's plan failed, which was to add Grant Hill and Duncan. McGrady said the rumor he'd heard was Duncan backed out when then Magic coach Doc Rivers denied his request to allow Duncan's wife to travel to games with him on the team plane. That's been an NBA urban legend for many years. C'mon, no one has stories like the NBA.
Anyway, back to the Pippen trade talk. It happened. But that's the job of an NBA executive. It's what they do. The story always has been Krause wanted to win without Jordan, which stretched it a bit. With contracts expiring the summer of 1998 on an old team and Pippen in full "I'm outta here mode," the Bulls knew there wasn't much time left. Sacrifice one year when they might not win for maybe another run? After all, McGrady is a Hall of Famer.
You can be sure every GM in the league considers these scenarios all the time: How can we improve? I'm sure the Lakers are talking, at least internally, about LeBron trade scenarios. OK, certainly AD.
Wilt and Oscar were traded. Chris Paul is traded every few years. And while Jordan always was complimentary of Pippen, certainly more so than any of his teammates, he was growing concerned with Pippen at the time because Pippen was mad at the Bulls and talking about delaying his surgery so he could have his summer off and rehab during the 1997-98 season. Which he did.
It seems unlikely Jordan would have under those circumstances threatened to retire if Pippen were traded. Anyway, Bulls managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf has been quoted about that many times. He said Krause brought him the proposal, but Reinsdorf said nothing was worth not trying for the sixth title and they would give it another run with the same group.
It was hardly a guaranteed title, and if they had traded for a star in McGrady maybe there never would have been that Tim Floyd/Eddy Curry/Tyson Chandler, et al, era. Maybe Krause was right. That was the five worst years in NBA history.
Coby White.
Stanley Quinn:
I brought this up last year about Coby White giving the Bulls a better chance to win as a starter. This year the Bulls are 11-5 when Coby starts and 14-15 when Ayo starts and most of those wins he had with Coby starting. Two of our five-game winning streaks were with Coby starting.
What do you think is the Bulls obsession with losing over starting Coby? What's the obsession with "Coby 6th man"?
Sam Smith:
It has been a lot to ask and expect of a rookie, and I also would like to see Coby play more because of those hot shooting streaks he has that no one else on the bench can replicate.
Donovan broached possibly starting Caruso the other day, and I can see Caruso starting. But not now. You can see how much he's struggling in his return from surgery and doesn't seem ready to increase his role. I also do like Coby mainly in that sixth man role off the bench for scoring.
One possibility for change is the way the team comes out now. Some of the slow starts have been because much of the early scoring pressure is on LaVine and Vucevic.
Despite playing more than 1,700 minutes, Dosunmu has attempted just 67 free throws. Green averages slightly more, 1.5 attempts per game. DeRozan likes to use the first quarter to scope out how the defense is playing him and where he can fit in before he looks to score.
Donovan does do some early substitutions. But it might help to change up at times and go with Coby, especially if they still are giving up a lot of points. Like I always write, 132-128 counts as a win, too.
NBA logo.
Carlos Neves:
I just noticed today that in the play-in tournament the 9th seed plays the 10th, and the 7th plays the 8th.
Wouldn't it make sense for the pairings to be 7th vs 10th and 8th vs 9th, like the rest of the playoffs? Make the regular season count? Any particular reason why it's not?
Sam Smith:
I think the NBA has done a great job with this; except for the fact the Lakers don't deserve a chance to be in the playoffs this season. Which they wouldn't in other seasons before last year. But the NBA got the format correct.
Previously, teams Nos. 9 and 10 would not have made the playoffs. So they should have the most difficult chances to get in. So No. 9 plays No. 10 and No. 7 plays No. 8.
I know Nos. 7 and 8 don't like it because they previously would have been in. But no one who finishes seventh or eighth gets sympathy. So No. 7 plays No. 8. The winner is in at No. 7. Then the loser players the winner of Nos. 9 versus 10.
So at No. 9 or No. 10, that team has to win twice to get in and seven or eight once. Seems fair. I'm still confident the Bulls aren't playing in. There's a huge home stretch for them in April, and they are very good at home.