Chicago Bulls | Game Theory Offseason Preview

Chicago Bulls | Game Theory Offseason Preview

Hello and welcome to the Game Theory podcast offseason preview series where we are going through all 30 teams and discussing all of the big upcoming decisions that they have this summer. Today we’re going to talk about the Chicago Bulls and try to find a direction for the Bulls, I think, is how we’re going to phrase this. We just need to find a a way to get them out of the middle, maybe is the way to put it. Before we get into that though, go hit the subscribe button on the YouTube channel, like over 37,000 of you guys already have. If you enjoy the content, if you enjoy the way Bryce and I talk about basketball, go hit that subscribe button. We really appreciate everybody that has come through this playoff run, this off season, everybody uh has really, really uh shown us a ton of love. So, we thank you guys for that. Go hit the subscribe button on the podcast feeds as well. Spotify, Apple Podcast, whatever podcasting platform that you use. Uh these also go up on the podcast feed, I think daily around 12 Eastern time. So please, please, please go hit the subscribe button there. You’ll be able to get these if you’re an audio only listener as well. Bryce, the Chicago Bulls. Um kind of speechless on where I’m at with the Bulls at this point. Le let’s start here. What do we think they’re trying to accomplish maybe is like the that that might be the easiest place to start. What do we think their goals are? Like are they trying to middle this like Toronto did? Do they think that they’re like bad enough to tank? I think that answer is probably no, right? Given the fact that they have the 12th overall pick this year. What What are they trying to do? because I’m still, you know, after basically since the Lonzo Ball injury, unfortunately, and they were first in the Eastern Conference, like I just don’t know what they’re trying to actually accomplish is my problem. So, I I wonder if they think they are quote unquote staying competitive even though I think we would all agree they aren’t actually competitive. maybe respectable because they make the plan. I don’t know, whatever you want to say, while also building out a young future. And so I think if you ask them, they would say, “Hey, we have what? 24year-old Kobe White on a really good contract right now, which this will be interesting. 22-year-old Josh Giddy. We have 20-year-old Modus Bizelis. We have the number 12 pick. You and I like Iod Dumu at you know on another guy on a good contract. The thing is speaking of good contracts and we’re going to talk the Josh Giddy situation. Kobe White’s about to not be on a good like he may be on a good contract but not a steal of a deal. Dumu’s deal is coming. So you my point is you’ve kind of wasted guys on those lower numbers while you have so you have some interesting names. I don’t know if you have a star like who’s the face of your franchise whenever you think the Chicago Bulls and you’re about to have to start making real financial decisions on quite a few of these guys over the next couple of years anyway. So, you didn’t even take advantage of the really good contract situations you had with them. Yeah, I mean that’s exactly right. One advantage to this I will say for Chicago is that their books are like they could not be more clean going into the summer of 2026. Yeah. Uh like Lonzo Ball has a team option in 2026 27. Uh the Patrick Williams deal is a disaster, but like it’s $18 million and that’s it. Jaylen Smith is on a $9 million deal that summer. And then they obviously have Modis’s deal, Julian Phillips deal, and then the 12 12th overall picks deal. And my guess is that they’re going to have Josh Giddy’s deal on their books that summer as well. Let let’s call it that they’re going to have, you know, 67 62, let’s let’s say 70 million on their books that summer. Kobe White’s only going to have a $24 million cap hold. So, they’re going to be at a place where they have like real max money to be able to spend in 2026 27. But I think that my problem with the Bulls just organizationally as a whole is I don’t know why any free agent would trust this front office at this point to build like a really strong contender based off of what they’ve shown like having moved two first round picks for Nicole Vousvich having moved you know having taken Patrick Williams at number four overall having moved Alex Caruso for Josh Giddy and Giddy, you know, has been fine for them, but that wasn’t the value of the deal at the time. Like to not get a first round pick for Alex Caruso is completely bonkers to me. And while Giddy is a solid player for you and looks like a good, you know, starting point guard in the NBA moving forward, he’s going to get expensive now. And that’s the hard part. And this was always the issue with this contract or with this trade for Caruso for Getty is that Giddy is now going to be making $30 million probably. Like if it’s not 30, it’s 28 or whatever the number is. You know what I mean? So, this is now going to be an incredibly interesting needle to thread if you’re the Chicago Bulls where you’ve almost pinned a large portion of your hopes on getting a star in 2026 27 like the the summer of 2026 like you have to hope that you can find a superstar somewhere or maybe you’re trying to trade for one this summer that you can you know keep long term like I I just don’t again this is what like the direction thing is what’s really interesting to me. I’m just not sure what the direction is. What What’s the draw other than it being Chicago and the Bulls? You know what I mean? Like the history of the Chicago Bulls and and Michael and you know the city of Chicago. What on the roster is a draw? I could go around to a lot of rosters in the NBA and at least be like, you know, there’s a few others where I’m like, I don’t know that there’s a player or whatever that would be exciting for a star like or even like a second guy, right? Or whatever to say, I want to go be that that would be what it’s it is, right? Like somebody that is a currently a number two or three option that’s like Chicago’s the place I can go be the guy. Um, but like there there’s just not a whole lot that’s exciting. And again, the guys that are kind of interesting and on decent deals right now are about to either be gone or be paid. And then no longer do those books look extremely impressive depending on how you handle those. And so it just it seems like it’s the same thing every year with this team. And you know, it’s it’s frustrating. You know, it’s it it is frustrating because I feel like they’ve had opportunities to pick a direction, go down that direction, and start to build this thing out in a way that maybe they could be real contenders at some point. Do do you know what the appeal is to me? Honestly, if if I was like somebody who was in this position and if I was like Chicago trying to pitch free agents, I think I would say the fan base is [ __ ] amazing. Sure, the Chicago Bulls fan base is incredible. If you are the star that brings back the Chicago Bulls to like real relevance, you’re going to be a legend in Chicago. You’re going to be the most popular athlete in the city probably. Maybe you could point to a couple of guys on the Cubs like Kyle Tucker, but like I just think the Bulls are a little bit different there because the baseball town is split obviously. Maybe some guys on the Bears, like maybe Caleb Williams, like if he was to lead the Bears to the promised land, I mean, my god, that would probably actually be number one. But like, if you are the guy who takes the Bulls back to the promised land, you’re going to be incredibly marketable. You’re going to be an absolute superstar because this fan base is going to absolutely adore you moving forward and you’re never going to have to buy a drink in the town again. You’re never going to have to work a day in your life again. like that. That is that’s the pitch to me if I am like the Bull’s front office, but can Okay, I love it. Is it good enough? So So like you got me like, “Oh yeah, I love it.” Like I I would love an athlete to say that. If I was that athletes representation, I would go right back to you and say, “Show me the plan. How are you gonna build out your roster to come show me that I can believe in you to build out your roster around my client to do all of those things? He’s ready to sign up for it. He wants to be the next Chicago Bull legend, but he ain’t going to be the Chicago Bull legend if he keeps playing in the playin because the the we we can’t make the decisions around it to get anywhere further than that. So, um I I just I just don’t know that I trust the the decision- making and and putting the right guys around it to make it happen. Yeah, I agree. So, the number one like, you know, to do on the to-do list this summer at least is Josh Giddy, right? Interesting year for Josh Giddy. I would say the first part of the year was not amazing, if only because he was kind of in this weird log jammed roster where they had Zack Lavine and Kobe White and it just felt so messy and like terrible frankly and we talked about that throughout the course of the season that like nothing here really made sense. If you look at Josh Giddy’s season from, let’s see here, January 20th onward, Giddy averaged 18.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists versus only three turnovers and shot 49.6, 43.880. The shooting splits are like the biggest improvement here. I mean, look like Giddy is not out here like chucking threes, but he took over four threes a game in that window and drilled 44% of them. I don’t think he’s a 44% three-point shooter, but he might be at the point now where he is not a disastrous three-point shooter. Like, I think he is like if he pulls up from three, no, maybe not pulls up, if he catches one from three, if he’s really open, I kind of think the ball is has a real shot to go in at this point. I think this was a hot shooting stretch, but on top of everything else that he does, the passing, the rebounding, the ability to drive play in transition, I do think Josh Giddy is actually a good player. The question is, is he good enough given how much he has to play on the ball? Um, good enough for what I think is always the question with Josh Giddy, right? Like I think he’s an interesting player because he’s not your number one offensive guy. like he’s not your number two off, you know, scoring option. Like what what scoring option is he? And then you have to put the right scoring options around him, Sam, because why did he get traded out to Oklahoma City? Cuz they needed somebody that could play off the ball and play defense. So as soon as you go and get guys who are better options in terms of being able to go get 25 to 28 a game and start putting them on the ball, now his role diminishes a little by little. And and that’s like even if he’s a good cutter, like it’s still interesting, but it’s still like I don’t love having these conversations around Josh Giddy on my team where I have to build my team around him, right? Like he needs to be a player that just fits into whatever else I what whatever else I want to do with my roster. And that’s kind of my issue. So I think you just have to like, hey, he’s going to be our on ball guy. We’ll put a bunch of scoring around him and and hope that we can get these offthe-ball bucket getters. and he just he initiates and runs offense for us. And the pace thing is really important because they were like number two in pace, top three in pace in the regular season. So obviously like him doing that for them is something that they would really value. Totally right. I will say like again, Giddy did make 37.9% off uh of his threes off the catch this year on like almost 250 attempts, right? I wonder if we’re closing in cuz look, he’s 22 years old. Like he is definitely a worker in terms of his game. Like I know that from being over here. Like I do wonder if there is a real point here where he becomes a good enough shooter off the catch and I think we might be closing in on it to where it’s not necessarily that he only can be on the ball anymore. It’s interesting like I’m definitely more interested then again I always struggle a little bit then with the whole mentality aspect of these things, right? Like you take a guy that plays so much on the ball and even if he can shoot it, how much are you, you know, really highlighting his skills and his talents if he’s playing that much off the ball? And so it would just be it obviously makes it it would be a huge part of the equation, right? if he can knock down catch and shoot threes and then like you know it’s fun because then now he’s attacking closeouts and he’s making decisions from an unsettled defense and that gets even more interesting than just playing on the ball and the in the lineups you could play with size and all of that and I’m glad you brought up the rebounding and what he does there. So again, I’m not saying he’s a bad player. He’s just another one of those players I struggle with in terms of like what does he mean for a real playoff contender? Where does that role fall into? And it always seems you like you end up having these conversations and how do we build this team around Josh Giddy? It’s like, well, Josh Giddy should be like the third or fourth best player on our team. Why are we building our team around our third or fourth best player? You know what I mean? Like it that always causes me a little bit of pause. Sam, again, like he’s 22. I’m trying to like I I you know, part of this is that like I really enjoy watching Josh play. Of course, like I’m trying to like figure out is there a case here? Given the fact that he’s 22 years old, given the fact that he’s showing real improvement, like this is the thing again, like the fact that he hit 38% off the catch from three this year is a real important note to me. But here’s where I’m going to like almost like counteract myself. how much of this is like confidence and having the ball in his hand, being able to like play with the flow and like the rhythm that he really enjoys playing with. Because if you look at the 28 games before the stretch that I mentioned earlier where the Bulls were really good where they put the ball in his hands, the 28 game stretch before that he averaged 10 points shooting 4328 84. Yeah. Uh and really struggled from three. So is it a rhythm thing for Josh? Is it a, you know, flow thing? Like what what is it like at this point? Because the shot doesn’t look amazing, but the results are we’re pretty good this year, right? So, he is a guy that I am like kind of in the same boat with you. Like, I do struggle with it a little bit trying to figure out where exactly he sits um in the hierarchy of what he can be in terms of a team. Yeah. And I mean, I think that flow and that rhythm is a real part of this as well. Like when you grow up with the ball in your hands, orchestrating offense, and you’re always getting touches, there’s an aspect of that that it plays into your confidence and your rhythm and your ability to knock down shots. Like it it’s a not an easy adjustment, you know? And that’s what this is the big thing I like to always bring up. Like I grew up playing with the ball in my hands. Like I went to a really small school, so I was probably the best player, whatever. And so they put the ball in my hands. When I went to college, it was like you played division one basketball. You were the best player on your team. It’s fine. Okay. Um, when I went jo it was like I wasn’t like I wasn’t that good on the ball. So, I had to go learn to play off the ball. And even though I was a good shooter, it was a mentality change because I might go a few possessions never touching the basketball, you know? And it’s like, okay, well then whenever I do touch it, okay, now I’m supposed I want to shoot it. I need to shoot it, but now I’m forcing, now I’m thinking about it. Like, it just it is not that he can’t do it. You continue to bring up how young he is, and that’s an important point. And that he grew and got better, which is important also. And and listen, I’m not saying he can’t do these things. This would just be some of my paws with it in general. Um I mean, I think Chicago put themselves in a situation where they have to pay him regardless. Like you pay you you traded you traded Alex Caruso to bring him here. He’s one of your most important players on the roster currently. You can’t like play a game here. I would argue he’s the most important player on the roster current. Yeah. I mean, it’s um it’s him and Modis. Modis. Yeah. Yeah. That’s what like he’s better than Modis right now. You invested a high pick in Modis. Like we could debate that whatever. But yeah, I’m with you for sure. Yeah. Uh what is the Josh Giddy contract in your opinion? More than what I would want to give. Is there another path? Is there a path to like what what are the options here? Like do do they can they can they actually play the game? let him hit restricted free agency and just see what happens. Do they dare do that? Sure, but like you risk him taking the qualifying offer at that point, I would guess. And like again, do I mind if he takes the qualifying offer, which is maybe, but then he’s in uh uh No, that’s the cap hold. What is Oh, that’s the qualifying offer is not that much. Um yeah, I can look it up real quick. Uh the qualifying offer will be let’s see here give me a second I’ll find it. But uh the thing here is that like you risk him going to unrestricted free agency the summer after and then just like losing him for nothing after you traded Caruso which was the best asset on your team. The the problem is not that you didn’t get a talented player for Caruso. You absolutely did. The issue is that you have to pay that guy. The process here was very bad. Yeah. in terms of figuring out the best way to get the most out of that Caruso asset because now you’re have to pay Giddy and you didn’t get a pick at the time, which you probably should have. You didn’t even get a second round pick at the time. It was just straight up for Giddy. So, I think that this number is like four years 120. Like I I think it’s like a big number. Yeah. I mean, that that’s the number I continue to see thrown around and it’s just I’m struggling to wrap my head around that and I know the salary cap is going up. I get it. I I understand. Like I said, I think they have to give it to him cuz I don’t think they can play around with it. And like I mean I like I wonder if like Brooklyn would throw money at him if if they did let this go to restricted free agency and what they would throw at him as well. Um, and so maybe Yeah, maybe they end up at this number regardless, right? Like that’s maybe that if I’m Chicago, I’m going, “Well, now we’re going to piss him off because we let him go to restricted free agency and then Brooklyn’s just going to throw a deal at him that we’re going to have to match anyway that’s in the same number.” So, um, I mean, if if I’m Giddy’s representation, I’m absolutely throwing the Brooklyn thing at them. Saying Brooklyn is interested. They absolutely. And if you’re Brooklyn, you’re not denying it. Like, cuz the goal here is that this is a zero- sum game. And if Josh Giddy is making $30 million on the Chicago Bulls, you know, that eats into their cap space in 2026, right? Like that eats, you know, into like flexibility for them and potentially creates more options for you. Even if you don’t want Josh Giddy, you should say that you’re interested. So, you know, it’s I think the Bulls are in a tough spot here to be able to keep this number down. And for what it’s worth, the qualifying offer is 11.1 million. Yeah, I was looking at the cat poll. That was way too high. My bad. Yeah, I think that this ends up being I think they don’t do the fifth gear. Maybe is maybe that’s the concession like it’s not 5150. Sure. But I think you know you’re probably looking like four 4120 is my read. Yeah. Yeah. I mean I I think I’m with you. Like I say it’s just in general I I’m I’m not one that always likes to spend the money. I I bck at that stuff a little bit. Um but I I think that’s probably what it’s going to end up being. And if they if they can get him lower, like if they get closer to four for 100, then I start to really really like the you know, I start to like that a lot more. Um but yeah, I think he probably does have some leverage in terms of Brooklyn could use a ball handler and they have the cap space and so they they could throw that at Chicago as some leverage. I think that’s right. Uh couple other things here. Nicole Vousvich, you know, is in an expiring situation. I mean, look, like it’s probably time to move on here. If you’re the Chicago Bulls, in my opinion, we’re not talking about this. They never are going to do it. He’s on the team for life. They’re extending him this off season. We’re not We are not getting baited into this conversation again. I mean, it’d be I don’t even know. Is he extension eligible? Let me take a look here. He is according to Spotify. I think they should be very funny. I hope it’s the first news of free agency. I think it’d be hilarious. I I don’t think they will. He’s 35 to start the season next year. Like, you know, it’s I think that they probably look to move him this summer and see if they can get some value. There there are teams that like if I’m Golden State still, like I’m somewhat interested here. It’s a good fit. I mean fairness he he scored he was 1810 and three and a half shooting 40 53 40 81 offensively it’s really interesting like really interesting offensively if you can insulate him defensively because you have wings that really guard or your defensive scheme or whatever he is fascinating for for a team that can do that because the offensive season was really impressive. Yeah it was. I could not agree more. Uh, would you do something like I mean the problem now with Golden State, it’s actually a little bit harder for Golden State to do this after the Jimmy extension. It’d have to be like Buddy and like a signin trade for Gary Payton or something like that or like a signin trade for Kaminga. I was going to say the the name that immediately I actually thought of Kaminga earlier whenever I was talking about a guy who like maybe thinks he could be a higher option. Like Kaminga is never a number one, but maybe Kaminga thinks he could come there and be like sure that that would be that would be very Chicago. They’re pretty far away from the aprons to be a like they could probably do something like this if they wanted to. And maybe it’s like maybe that is it. Maybe it’s a sign and trade with Kaminga and Vu. H interesting. If I’m Chicago, I probably I don’t know if I’m Golden State. The the the Kaminga thing is like eminently fascinating to me just because and we’ll have to talk about this when we do their offseason preview. I just don’t know like do they do they extend him the qualifying offer because that’s like a pretty big amount of money. That that situation is fascinating. I I have no idea. Like I also feel like if I’m Kaminga, I’m just like trying to get out of there as fast as I possibly can. So I’m I’m making whatever decision gets me out of Golden State the soonest. Like he just has to be so unhappy there. But like in terms of who has money, it’s really only Brooklyn. So like how can we figure out a way to like expand the market a little bit? I wonder if it is, you know, uh something like this where it’s like, hey, Kaminga’s number is probably not 30 million like people want, but if he got like $20 million a year because someone really buys into the talent, Chicago is probably the team that should be trying to do this, right? Sure. Yeah, I would be. I mean, you bring him in and Sure. Like I could you could talk yourself into a giddy Bzelis Kaminga core young core there plus the number 12 pick. Like that’s kind of Kobe White. Like that’s kind of fun to me. Like I’d probably watch some Bulls games with that lineup. Like they’re not going to guard a soul, but it’ll be fun offensively. Golden State’s like 25 million away from the first apron still. So like it’s not like the number for Vouch like kills them in terms of their flexibility. Like if it’s Steph, Jimmy, Dre, V, He Moses, Moody, Pods, Trace, Jackson, Davis, Geontos, Quinton Post, Pat Spencer, like it’s not horrendous to me. It’s interesting. Sure. Yeah. Isn’t it’s not terrible at least. And then the Bulls get to take the flyer here. Yeah. I I mean honestly the more I like this would be an interesting one for me if I’m Chicago. Um especially depending on what the contract, right? Like especially if you can get him at a decent number. Um but yeah, that would I I would be I would be interested. Sure. And and maybe Golden State’s not interested in Vu, but like you know, maybe they’ll try and do a sign and trade somewhere else with Kaminga because they’ll get better long-term value. Sure. By doing it elsewhere. Chicago supposed to give up something else, right? Like that’s what I was going to say is like my instinct is Chicago has to add to this a little bit that like even though Golden State has painted themselves in this corner, I still feel like giving Kaminga up for Vouch at 35 on a one-year deal is like I don’t love that process and that value for Kaminga. Even though like they’ve probably tanked his value because of their refusal to play him and how that’s all played out. You know what the other thing is that we get to do that we haven’t gotten to do yet in this series? Talk the draft. We could talk about the draft. The Chicago Bulls have number 12 overall pick. This has not been a part of anything we’ve done thus far which is kind of cra Well the Sixers won was I guess but yeah but like that was even a little bit different like but the Bulls to me like they should be using the number 12 overall pick. They are making this pick. Yeah. We are not talking about them trading out of this like a lot of that conversation was. Agreed. What do you think a realistic draft hope is for the Chicago Bulls here? Um, okay. So, it kind of depends a little bit, I guess, on what they do with Vouch. Let’s say they do look to trade him. Now, you’re really in the market for a center. They would still have Zack Collins on the roster, but I think then I mean, and Jaylen Smith, too. Yeah, Jaylen Smith as well. I apologize. Um, coming off the injury. I mean, I have Common right in this range. It sounds like Common’s probably going to end up going higher than this, but just based off my board, I would be okay with like Go ahead. I’m not sure yet where Common’s going to go to be honest. I’ll just say that like I think this is the range. I think it’s somewhere like seven to like 14 for So I think Common, Derek Queen, Thomas Sorber would all be in play here. whether they fall a little bit. Maybe this is a touch high like but not much for any of those guys. I don’t think I think they would all be in range right here. I think this would be a good pick at the center spot. Honestly, even if you have V on the roster, right? If you still have him on the roster, it’s it’s one year. Like, if you don’t trade him at the deadline on an expiring, then you really screwed this up. So, um I think this is an interesting center spot for them in terms of any one of those three guys. I think so too. Uh I I think common makes a ton of sense here for Chicago. I think that like my guess is that knowing that Arturus Carnis played a role in drafting Nicole Jokic. I would guess that he has some interest in Derrick Queen at least like I’m not saying that you know Derk Queen and is the next Nicole or anything but like you know big skilled dude who can play on the perimeter as a center like I would imagine that there is some interest there at least in Derek Queen. Yeah. Uh I I think Queen would be really interesting. Again, defensively things are going to be like eventually they’re going to have to answer that. But with a team that I don’t think is very good and has any sort of direction, I’m more okay them trying to side solve one side of the ball. Like go be really good offensively. Like even though they were second in pace and fifth in three-point attempt rate and 12th in three-point percentage, they were 20th in offensive rating. Like so if you want to go side, like, hey, let’s go all in on offense. Let’s figure that out. Let’s be fun. Let’s be enjoyable. Let’s find a path. And then you can start figuring out like, okay, now we got to start getting some defense and balancing this thing out a little bit. Um, other name. What if what what if you brought the Wolfman home? So, I was I was going to bring him up as well. Yeah, of course. Danny Wolf, sevenfooter from Michigan, you know, combo big kind of like forward center hybrid. Uh, from Chicago originally, uh, kind of grew up in the suburbs. uh real fun player that I love watching. Another similar like highly skilled big that I can see our tourist carnissivist really liking and really enjoying. Um I think probably would be in the mix here for Chicago. The the names here to me for Chicago are Carter Bryan if he falls I was going to say Carter Bryant is going to be the best name we talk about in this like 10 to 14 range that if he falls to here this team is going to be lucky. common Malawatch, Derek Queen, Colin Murray Boils, Danny Wolf. I I think that like even more than Sorber, those are the names. Like if they took Sorber, I wouldn’t hate it, but those are the names for me personally. Uh a lot of the other players in this range or guards like Walter Clayton, Nolan Trayor, you know, I have fears in, you know, a little bit lower than this range, but he could end up going higher than this range obviously. Uh, you know, I don’t think Will Riley rises into this range. I probably wouldn’t take Essen Gay and have like two high hipped athletic him, you know. Yeah, him and Modest players. I I think that that’s probably setting up for some struggles defensively. But yeah, I I think that that that’s kind of the list for me. Like even like a Cedric Howard, I think you could throw into this mix a little bit. I was going to say Nick and Cedric are also guys that like this is, you know, I I think when you get to the end of the lottery, those are both wings that I would start to be interested in as well. Yeah. So, if I was ordering it, I would say for them probably Carter Bryant. Yep. I would have Cedric Coward ahead, but I don’t think that they will have Cedric Coward ahead. And then I’d probably have Malawatch, then Derek Queen, then Colin Murray Boils, then Danny Wolf. Sure, that’d kind of be my my little list of guys to watch for here. Yep. I like that list. I’m cool with that. And then I mean, look, like any I mean, look, we’ve talked about a lot of the mid-level guys on other um iterations of the offseason previews. Is there anybody here that like really tracks for you? Because I honestly with them I kind of struggled to find mid-level guys because a lot of the mid-level guys this year are more like in the guard uh variety. Yeah. So like Ty Jerome, Carris Lever, like those guys don’t make sense. Not saying those guys are getting the full like even the kill Alexander Walker. I I feel like that’s a little harder, right, Sam? To find the rotation with all the guards they have. I mean, we’re always going to talk about Sam Merrill. Um, what about Yabuselli? They kind of need that. Could they Well, sure. Yeah. I mean, I mean like I think Nas Reed’s deal is going to get bigger than the mid level. Yeah, I agree there. I agree with that. Um, could could they be a Santi Alama spot like potentially? So, I mean my thing with that is like Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking like with Patrick William like you you still have to give him minutes, right? Like because you gave him that contract. So, I struggle with that there. like do you just bury him with the roster and players or do you still try to leave some opening for him to play? So yeah, those names are interesting. I trying to think like more like true wing like three, you know, threes, like some guys that can really slot in as like what I would call a wing a little bit more. Um, but yeah, I will say this like in the playin game like Pat Williams played like 15 minutes and like barely played. No, for sure. I’m it would make sense for them to so yeah in that regard Santi Yabuselli um I mean Lavia is an unrestricted free agent as well. So that’ actually be a really good name for them. So yeah. Yeah. won’t cost the full mid-level, but like correct. That’s that’s actually a really good name that I hadn’t thought of for them. I like that for them. Like it’s a good fit with Modus. It’s a good fit with uh Josh Giddy. Has some defensive versatility and flexibility. That actually might that’s the best name that we’ve said so far for them. Yeah, I like that. Right age group for this like core that you’re trying to build. Sure. You know, 20 what is he 23 now? Like so yeah, that that’s actually a really good target for them. I think that is probably what I would do if I was them. Love it. Look at you, Bryce. Look at you just coming up with these brilliant ideas. Every once in a while, I got one. I love it. Bryce, tell the people where they can find your work. Tell the people what’s going on. Yeah. Motor City Hoops on Twitter, on Blue Sky, the Substack, Pistons Pulse Podcast, and the Game Theory Podcast here with Sam Vassini. Please like, subscribe, share, rate, review. We’re having a blast. We’re growing, but the only way we continue to grow is if you do all that stuff and tell a friend how much you enjoy listening and watching. Hopefully you you enjoy listening, watching because that’s why you’re doing it. So tell a friend about it. Go to the athletic keep me employed over there. Like Bryce said, over 37,000 of you have subscribed to the YouTube channel at this point as of the time of recording this. We appreciate all of you immensely. It is so so kind of you guys to rock with us and hang out. Thank you all for listening. Until next time, we’ll talk soon. Bye.

In this Game Theory offseason preview, Sam Vecenie is joined by Bryce Simon discuss the future of the Chicago Bulls

Follow Sam:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/sam_vecenie
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sam_vecenie/
TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@sam_vecenie

Follow Game Theory:
TWITTER – https://x.com/GameTheorySamV
INSTAGRAM – https://www.instagram.com/GameTheorySamV
TIKTOK -https://www.tiktok.com/GameTheorySamV
THREADS – https://www.threads.net/@gametheorysamv
BLUESKY – https://bsky.app/profile/gametheorysamv.bsky.social

Listen on Audio
Apple- https://bit.ly/3SpkHFJ
Spotify- https://bit.ly/3OvPvU2

Sam Vecenie, a Senior NBA Writer at The Athletic, talks all about basketball. From the NBA, to the NBA Draft, to college hoops and even some high school, Vecenie has you covered in this show.