Why Are the Chicago Bulls THROWING AWAY Draft Picks?

Why Are the Chicago Bulls THROWING AWAY Draft Picks?

making that trade down initially with the Lakers from 45 to 55 and yes that phrase that Bulls fans love to hate and hate to hear cash consideration given where the team is given where the roster construction is knowing that you signed Giddy you signed Essen Gay and boom you’re at 14 you can make your piece I think in certain ways with the fact that they did trade down and are looking with the pick that they did select maybe at a draft and stash guy is it also fair to question whether or not AK could have gotten something other than cash when making a trade and making the 45th pick available to any and all takers ready to come to the Bulls with an offer other than just saying “Hey Lakers you got some you got some bills in your bill fold.” Because I think that is the thing that you can be skeptical and critical of today
yeah absolutely and again it’s a as a team that has not seen 500 in three seasons when you’re when you’re making these kind of moves it kind of says that you’re successful that you have made deep playoff runs you know what I’m saying like you’ve kind of got answers at everything that you know on your roster right now like you’ve got answers and real solid answers and young and guys you can move forward with for the next few years even still in fact that happens even teams like OKC still make the dri move move up in the draft to try to get these draft picks you know what I’m saying even the Pacers we saw U even teams like Phoenix who doesn’t have a lot still making moves to move up even the Brooklyn Nets we saw still making those moves to move up yeah so it it strikes that kind of a chord in my brain when when I see those kind of things uh start happening for this Bulls team but like I said man like it just feels like power for the course at this point in time it’s where everybody just hears cast considerations as you said Matt and frets you know a little bit when it when it’s like that yeah i I wish they would have done something more i would have loved more talent and a higherend kind of talent and again it’s the second round this is no disrespect to who they drafted but I’m just saying there were players you know what I’m saying ahead of him that on paper and from what I saw had a little bit more talent a little bit more to offer uh this Bull’s roster so for them to kind of it felt like maybe standing pat a little bit Matt and not rocking the boat moving down to simply not rock the boat but also get some money back which they have shown over the years that they value very very highly and I wish they valued these picks higher and I wish they fire valued talent higher um more so than they did actual finances and things like that but maybe that’s a pipe dream you know just from a fan wanting a team to actually be and operate like that but that’s kind of how I look at it it it left a sour taste in my mouth after the SNG pick where I was like “Yeah okay solid pick nice all right what are you going to do with round two let me see.” Oh okay 45 you you kind of got something let’s see what they can pick up and you trade down uh from that and climb off that hill now Mark Evley did kind of warn us like in that press conference you know he said “Hey there’s a possibility we trade down that’s a possibility we trade out
you know what I’m saying of this draft.” So he kind of let you know it might be coming but even though he told you when you see it it still you know hits you in the pit of the stomach
yeah and I think like they’re going to say “Look we have 12 players on the roster we want to bring back Giddy we just drafted Noah Assen that’s 14 players out of 15 on the roster and we want some flexibility to be able to maybe make a free agent signing maybe bring back Trey Jones maybe take in um you know a two for one send out one contract and take two on so that you can break them up and make them a little bit more easily movable um and I think that’s a fine approach like I don’t think it’s ever bad to have flexibility but for me the issue is just the value proposition you’re talking about a team that last night after the first round the general manager Mark Eversley gets up on the podium and says “We’re valuing internal development we’re going to build you know patiently we’re going to bring this thing up organically.”
Mhm
and then you turn around the next day and sell a second round pick like those are you’re not guaranteed to get anything in the second round uh the guy who ended up going 45th overall was Rockco Zakarski that’s a player that a lot of people were excited about potentially getting in the second round uh could have been a draft in stash for a year could have been a two-way or or maybe they just like made space for him on the roster because they were able to make other moves um and maybe like Lachlan Albrich is not worse than Rocco maybe like he ends up being better you don’t It’s like it’s not so much about that to me it’s more the process of deciding the cash here is more important than the investment in our assets which is the only real assets that we’re putting towards team building right now this is not a team that last night they said they’re not tanking this is not something that they’re doing they made that very clear when they were 22 and 33 at the All-Star break traded their best player and then decided to make a push for the play this is not a team that is going towards the bottom anytime soon at the same point they’re taking the slow and patient approach they’re not pushing their chips in they’re not making a big trade they’re not taking advantage of this wide openen east is what Mark Everly said after media last night and so okay you’re not going to go all in you’re not going to go all out
how do you build you got to build organically you got to build through the draft then invest in draft picks like don’t sell the draft picks maybe you package a couple picks together to move up and you can go get a guy there was a couple of players that I liked uh in the early 30s rasher Fleming was kind of the prize of the second round but Maxim Reno Ryan Kelk Brener I think could have been really valuable players for the Bulls as they move forward who kind of fit their system um or you get multiple picks in uh a future second round or maybe you package a couple of those to move up into the first round one year asset management process of valuing these picks whatever amount of cash that they got to move back 10 second round with the NIL money and so it’s not like the worst thing that’s ever happened by any means this is not like a fireable offense you know like the the pitchforks and whatever but it’s just like it it feels like the same old Bulls doing these like kind of workarounds not really like fully being aggressive you see a team like the Suns today just wheeling and dealing second round picks to be able to maneuver their way into two or three picks in the second round where they’re getting guys Kobe Brea I like as a shooter for them uh Rashir Fleming adding that to Mark Williams and common Molly watch as a guy who can be a contributor and potentially like a rotation player from day one and like I’m not saying that Rockus Zakarsski would have been that if they had stayed there but maybe the Bulls move up and get a guy or maybe you just turn that into something else that can help you um and you you just have to keep stacking those things like stacking good days is a very common trope that you hear from players about like getting better every day and I think it’s the same thing with team building you just have to like keep making the move that gets you to the next move so that you can eventually look at your pot of assets and have some stuff in there
some psychotic Bears fan might say brick by brick
another way to to say that um I look I’m like less crazy PC you know Bulls fan mad about the whole trade down today like fine whatever would I have preferred a couple of future second round picks instead of cash yeah obviously the bigger problem to me is that I just don’t think that AK is really good at figuring out how and when to use picks how and when to trade picks how and when to reaccumulate picks and how to value them like and again we talked about this a little bit earlier on in tonight’s show but to me the one that I’m going to lose sleep over wondering about is not who the Bulls could have had at 45 if they didn’t trade down tonight
like small freaking potatoes y’all
agreed
the bigger one that has been discussed is
the Pelicans really threw that offer at the Hawks to move up to 13 to take Derek Queen you have to imagine that the Hawks picked up the phone before that and called AK and said “What do you want for number 12 cuz here’s what we’re willing to offer.” And if it was the same package that Atlanta got including an unprotected first round pick next year from a Pelicans team that looks like it’s not going to be in the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt next year
mhm if the Bulls got that same call 10 minutes earlier and got that same offer 10 minutes earlier that to me is a much greater example of malpractice and negligence when it comes to how and when to use your draft picks in negotiations without a doubt
because you’re still feeling good about getting a player in the early 20s who’s on the board in the early 20s in this class and then having your own pick and an additional unprotected first and another very talented draft class next year for your young rebuilding team that’s what bugs me tonight more than trading from 45 to 55

The CHGO Bulls crew discuss the Chicago Bulls’ latest trade for cash considerations! They traded the 45th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to the Los Angeles Lakers for the 55th pick and cash – the third time they’ve acquired cash via trade in the last four years. While the Lakers went on to trade the 45th pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Bulls selected Lachlan Olbrich at 55. Why are the Bulls the only team in the league trading for cash? Did they have a better deal on the table with the New Orleans Pelicans?

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