Alex Caruso 2nd Team All-Defense, The Bulls Future, and More w/Will Gottlieb

Alex Caruso 2nd Team All-Defense, The Bulls Future, and More w/Will Gottlieb

welcome in everyone you’re listening to Bull Central and uh keeping on the theme of having guest appearances during the offseason I’m actually joined by none other than the goat himself you know for all of his great work over chgo and the chgo Pod and covering the team on the beat uh it’s my pleasure to welcome back to the show will the goat got Le of chgo will appreciate you making the time man and it’s good to have you on yeah thanks so much for having me back it’s been a while so I’m excited to chat some bulls with you you know is it is it weird when when people call the goat like is that like make you feel uncomfortable or anything like that what’s funny is actually like in high school my brother was always goat Le and nobody ever called me that and so like when CHD started I think you know they just mad Dave pulled it out because it works and uh now that’s me I guess although I brother so I I used to have Rob Schaefer on back when he was uh NBC Sports Chicago and you know they used to call him the young goat and and I was like so where did that come from he’s like you know it always makes me feel really uneasy Adam and mean said it once and now everyone’s using it so that’s the reason I it’s definitely a little strange of a nickname because like I’m not one to really call myself that kind of thing but it does it does make sense with my last name so I’ll allow it uh well anyway uh guys now of course I’m sure you know most of you are already but if you’re not give will a follow at will _ gole be sure to check out all the great work over at chg.com as well as uh subscribe to the chgo Bulls podcast and YouTube channel uh that will does with my guys also Matt peek and Big Dave they keep the content going all season long even in the offseason they’re still doing shows every day Monday through FR days a week um so make sure you tune in in those as well now uh we’ll obviously we’ll talk about the Bulls the offseason I did want to talk about draft prospects we did get some breaking news um about probably about a half hour ago for those watching we recording this Tuesday afternoon Alex Caruso selected to Second Team all defense um want to get your thoughts I I know you kind of tweeted about it just a little bit ago and that those were my sentiments as well right is this because they made this uh position list now right it kind of forced all these guards that are incredible perimeter Defenders down to the second team when some of them probably should be deserving of all NBA first team defense which I think Alex kuso personally should have been I think it also didn’t help the Bulls overall were not as good on defense this year when they were top five last year but I wanted to get your thoughts on that as well yeah totally agree I mean when you when you make the all defensive teams position lless like of course centers are going to be the ones that get the majority of the tension because you typically are building your defense around a center right like if you can funnel the ball handler into the paint and you have a great rim protector down there you’re in a good position to take away those shots at The Rim Force you know more difficult contested pull-up jump shots in the mid-range area or just like get teams to have to kick it out and start over their offense from scratch like halfway through the shot clock so I think you know traditionally big men are a more valuable position on the defensive Spectrum but when you look at the Bulls specifically I mean they had Nicole abovich who you know I think is a little bit um unfairly maligned for his defense like he’s been a part of good defenses before I think he executes his role within the scheme um as well as he can given his physical limitations but he’s not a elite rim protector like Rudy goar or any of those guys down there so the Bulls have really built their defensive system around their ability to cut off actions at the point of attack and nobody in the league in my opinion does that better than Alex kuso he is an absolute mad man on the ball he is one of the smartest defensive players in rotation um and playing off the ball he guards one through four you know there were times where he was guarding Giannis and Zion last year there were times when he was guarding Steph Curry so he really does it all and um I think when you make the defensive teams uh position lless it’s a little bit different to me than like the all-nba teams all NBA teams like you want to have the five best players in each team right because offense is a little bit more position lless but defense I think that kind of marginalizes and devalues the importance of perimeter defense and I think for a lot of teams maybe the Bulls more than anybody else that is really important and Caruso does it like I said better than anyone so um you know it’s not a slight to cuso Second Team all defense there’s 10 players that make that team it’s a great honor um and I know he was very excited about it so um not to you know marginalize what he’s done but uh that’s I wouldn’t be um opposed to them kind of moving back towards the traditional not necessarily like one two three four and five but guards and bigs or guards Wings in a big or something like that to kind of even the scales a little bit because of course it’s going to be all you know shop blocking centers down there were there any uh other surprises uh between the 10 players and where they were selected or any you know subs for that matter I’m going back and just looking at the team so it was Rudy goar Victor bam Anthony Davis and Herb Jones on the first team and then Caruso Drew holiday jadden McDaniels jayen Suggs and Derek white I mean I I think that makes sense like those are probably the 10 guys that I would want those are in my opinion like the 10 maybe best defensive players in the league um you know Isaiah hartenstein was really good this year but he didn’t qualify for um the minutes because of like I mean he played enough games but he didn’t necessarily play as many minutes as he needed to within games um kawh Leonard’s obviously somebody that you could maybe throw in there but um I think all things considered those are like the right 10 guys um so let’s talk let’s shift gears real quick and talk about the draft and and Prospects um so obviously you know the Bulls have the 11th pick in this upcoming draft and what’s being viewed as a pretty weak draft class overall but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that you know there is talent in this class and and gems that can be found in the right places uh I know you talked about this you know to an extent obviously in in some of your recent shows but based on your coverage of the combine and talking to the players watching them go through drills what’s your take overall on this draft class and what are the opportunities here for the Bulls uh with the 11th selection yeah super interesting draft class just because there’s no wanyama at the top obviously there’s also no scoot Henderson there’s no Brandon Miller there’s really not even like an amen Thompson maybe an assar Thompson so I think like maybe all five of those guys might go number one in this draft um but like you’re saying I mean that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s not good value to be had later on in the lottery and in the first round like I I do think there are a lot of contributing level role players um you know mid to even high level starters um potentially down the line for some of these guys so I do think that’s an opportunity for the Bulls to you know have the right guy kind of fall to them they’re not necessarily going to be the ones at the top of the draft taking the big swings um because in this draft like those big swings might result in a bust um so I don’t think it’s necessarily a terrible thing that they didn’t move up in this draft now last year would have been great next year definitely would be great but um you know I do think there’s going to be opportunities to get um a contributor at this 11 spot and I think there are some there definitely some guys uh that are interesting even I know a lot of people don’t want to draft another guard you feel like you’ve got Kobe and iio and Zach on the team and Lonzo maybe comes back um but I think there are some good guards I think there are some good wings um some of the bigs maybe a little bit of a reach at 11 but with this draft being kind of as even as it is um it wouldn’t surprise me if the Bulls did decide to go that direction so I think they have a lot of options and I think in that sense it’s kind of nice to let some of the other players fall off the board and then just kind of take whoever Falls to you um but then the other piece of that is you know all these teams are looking at the players and saying well there’s not really anybody that we’re in love with here there’s nobody that’s going to be a franchise changing player maybe we can move down and pick something up and from the Bulls perspective maybe they love someone and they can maybe move up in the draft a little bit more cheaply than they would in other years where there’s really a defined um hierarchy so uh definitely some opportunity whether they stay or want to trade up or or even move back you know that actually is one thing I wanted to ask you about that I feel like hasn’t been talked about very much is um whether the Bulls will actually trade this pick whether it means trading up or down in the draft or just trading the pick to get you know another player in a package deal um they obviously can’t trade the pick until draft night um because of the pick they owe to the Spurs next year in 2025 but have you been hearing anything on your end as far as whether the Bulls are actually looking at something like that right make maybe shipping that pick to actually acquire some win now type Talent given the fact that a lot of these players are project players that probably can’t contribute right away if the goal ultimately is still to still be competitive yeah it’s a really interesting situation that the Bulls have found themselves in um you know even these two assistant coaching hires to me kind of indicate that they’re not necessarily going to start tearing things down and rebuilding from the studs like in AKA you know said at the end of season press conference everything’s on the table but he still wants to like move forward and I just don’t think that that’s really in his DNA um now that decision might be out kind of out of his hands if Demar D rozan wants to walk in free agency um and you know Caruso says I don’t want to sign an extension here maybe you are kind of forced into trading him and starting over in that way but um you know I think the Bulls from what I understand would like to avoid having to attach assets to move Zack LV but that’s a scenario where you you could potentially see them attaching that 11 pick to Zack in order to move him or in order to kind of get something a little bit more valuable back uh in return so that could be a situation um but at the end of the day like they’re so with this uh projected extension for DeRozan coming in at 40 million and we’ll see if that actually happens uh depending on what happens with Patrick Williams like they’re going to be really far up against a luxury tax if not way over it and so keeping these young players on rookie scale contracts for four plus years and then you have restricted rights on them that’s really valuable I think that’s kind of the way that the league is with these new CBA rules I think that’s the way that the league is kind of forcing teams to build so I think in an Ideal World they keep that pick they continue to load up on young players and that kind of eases the inevitable transition away from DeRozan whether it’s this year or in two or three um so I would be surprised if they did move on from that pick but um certainly if it helped them get something of value for Zack it could be on the table you assuming they keep the pick who do you think the Bulls will ultimately take and I know that that’s hard to you know say because the draft and how it’s projected is all over the place and you kind of have no idea who’s going to be on the board when the Bulls are on the clock but I guess maybe let me ask it a different way how do you think the Bulls will prioritize who to pick given they’re still looking to be competitive do they maybe try and go for an older player who is maybe able to start contributing right away or maybe they still look for a project player who has more side long term but will take a few years to really start having an impact yeah I I want to just start by saying that this is like total speculation because I don’t have any uh reporting on who the Bulls are going to be looking at here but um you know we can look at it from a couple of different perspectives you can look at the best talent available and in that case maybe Aon Holland falls to the Bulls or maybe Cody Williams uh who has been kind of a popular name maybe even Isaiah klier a guard who um you know had some trouble last year care of the basketball but clearly an NBA build ready to um attack the basket and put pressure on the rim at all times and really kind of a special playmaker uh with upside there so that could be an option but like you’re saying maybe they want to have someone a little bit more ready to come in and actually contribute dton connect I think would make a lot of sense in that regard he’s a about a 65 66 Wing who can really shoot the ball who can come off of screens um who can even create his own shot in a lot of ways so he’s somebody who’s versatile and I think could fill a big hole for what the Bulls are kind of missing with this current roster and then you could even go and look at what arturus has kind of prioritized in previous drafts and you can say look you got Patrick Williams you got I you got Julian Phillips Sten Terry these are all toolsy long big players that can kind of be you know you can if you squint you can see a guard in them um but also can play a little bit off ball and I think Cody Williams kind of falls into that category uh Devin Carter is a little bit further back in the lottery in a lot of mock drops but he’s somebody who I could see the Bulls taking he’s kind of a offg guard um incredible athlete he tied the U Max vertical at the combine with 42 inches um he can really shoot he can really defend he kind of reminds me of like a hyper aggressive IO in that way so um I think that kind of guy kind of fits into the mold of what AK likes in the past um or has liked in the past but they are at a Crossroads here the Bulls are and so um maybe it’s time to switch it up maybe it’s time to get something is a little bit more ready to produce and contribute on a team that really has some clear needs in in the form of shooting and rim protection um kind of Shifting to that a little bit away from the draft I mean it’s it’s pretty clear like you mentioned the very critical offseason you for this organization and offseason where we’ve been promised changeed or at least AK has you know said that in his end of season press conference he recognizes the need for Change and that the time is now um I think the biggest thing in all of our minds as Bulls fans is is well how are they going to enact change meaningful change right because they’ve expressed the desire to resign dear uh they want to keep Patrick Williams who is a restrict free agent um it doesn’t seem like they’re going to be able to get out of the final year of lonzo’s contract off their books by medical retirement which we can talk about that as well um as of right now the trademark for Zack LaVine doesn’t really seem to have changed from what it was in the deadline so I guess how do they make concrete changes to this roster and maybe maybe a two-part question has anything changed uh from what you know or understand in terms of the market for Zack LaVine and Lonzo balls injury uh status of him potentially returning yeah I mean that is the big question my monra this offseason and really kind of the last trade deadline on has been like in order to make changes you’re going to have to make big changes and because of the way that the cap or the Bulls salary cap sheet is constructed um it’s just not going to be possible to bring back dear at that 40 million number that has been reported by various outlets now um unless you trade Zack LaVine and to your point it doesn’t really seem like there’s a lot of interest uh in Zach around the rest of the league um I think even if teams do become interested in Zach it will take Paul George to sign somewhere else it will take Donovan Mitchell or darus scarland to maybe get traded and Brandon Ingram um other dominoes are gonna have to fall before people become interested in Zach and so by that time you’re going to be midway into free agency will dear have resigned by then the Bulls are probably not going to get themselves caught $15 million past the luxury tax and you know coming up on the second apron before they figure out what they can do with Zach and so when I say that you know some of this might be out of our tourist’s hands as far as what he wants to do that’s kind of what I mean here I mean there’s no way the Bulls are going into the luxury tax for a team that can’t make it out of the play in uh but they they clearly still want to compete and and get into the playoffs so how do you do that something’s got to give um I don’t think it’s going to be Zach at this time I think teams just you know kind of hearing a little bit around the league like teams are going to want to see Zach and what he looks like coming back from this injury before they’re ready to make a trade for him as I mentioned with the CBA just really restrictive now in how much money you can hand out to players especially like second or third options which is what Zach would be um in an ideal scenario for a lot of teams so I don’t see the Zack situation getting resolved uh anytime soon really uh and I think that forces the Bulls hands with Patrick and or Demar um but even if you can bring those guys back uh at team-friendly discount deals well you’re running it back with the same team and of course AK said he wanted to make some changes so right like I said something’s got to give I’m not sure what it will be at this point um but I am kind of just sitting here with my bucket of popcorn waiting because I am just so curious to see how they navigate this with you know this clear situation of you’re up against the attacks you can’t really bring in any free agents to make change that way you don’t have a a draft pick that could result in an impact player that helps you now the only way to make it uh make change is going to be to trade Zach or let dear walk and and where does that leave you and so really interesting offseason ahead you know it’s funny because I think AK has mentioned this before and I don’t know if he did it in his last end of season presser but talking about hey we got creative in 2021 right you know in terms of what we were able to do from a Sally cap perspective and the sign and trades that they were that they made for ball and for demard de R rozan I don’t see how they get creative here you know what I mean like it’s one thing that you can be creative but in this scenario it’s like I mean you guys on your show have run through all the options of potentially being able to enact change while still being able to be competitive and it’s just not there do you think they will ultimately bring Demar back I think they would like to um that seems to be what kind of the reports are indicating at this point but it just like I said it might be out of their hands now there are a couple things they could do you know I think this this Lonzo ball contract um could be of value to other teams around the league who are trying to shed long-term money he’s going to be an expiring contract and you know until he starts playing again insurance is paying that money as I as I believe Sam Smith said on your show a couple weeks ago now um and so that could be enticing maybe you attach the pick to that or uh you know attach another younger player to that um I think they’re they’re going to try to utilize that contract to hopefully bring in some Talent um but even if not like create a little bit more space to be able to do some other stuff um because that Lonzo contract I think is much more palatable to teams than the $43 million contract of Zack LaVine so you know I think they’re going to try to look to trade V that could be an option I don’t really see a lot of suitors for him so I think they’re just kind of in a situation where they’ve let their assets depreciate and value to the point where they’re not really movable uh for positive value anymore and it becomes really difficult to make changes in that scenario so I think Caruso and dear are really the two guys and obviously IO and Kobe who it seems like they don’t really want to move on from are the ways that you do that and so are you going to try to continue to compete are you going to try to stay out of the luxury tax like how do you kind of manage both of those things while also enacting change or even running it back at this point it becomes very difficult to do that so we shall see I did want to clear something up uh because there seems to be this misconception that you know the Bulls can just deem it themselves that they feel that Lonzo ball is uh no longer able to play again and they can therefore just wipe the salary his salary off their books that’s not actually the case though right because the process would be you know panel of doctors that would all have to determine and confirm his injury to be career ending and more importantly I think you mentioned this before on your show Lonzo actually has to be in agreement that his career is done that he’s not going to be able to come back and he’s going to retire am I correct in that understanding that all those things would need to occur in order for this to actually happen yeah that’s my understanding as well I’ve talked to a couple of uh cap people around the league um and basically like if if you know a team wanted to just to remove a guy from their contract and they could just get them medically retired whenever they want that would happen all the time for back contract so I just don’t think it works that way um I’m not sure how much Lonzo has to be like on board with it or not like you know if an independent panel of doctors determines his thing is his KNE is a career ending situation then I don’t know maybe they can overturn that but from what I understand that is not the case that uh there does have to be some cooperation from lonzo’s side and you know he’s on his podcast saying he’s 70% he could play um you know Lavar is on 670 The Score saying you know he he thinks Lono will be back in August or September so it just doesn’t really seem like it’s trending that way so you could wave and stretch him but that leaves you with about $7.1 million of a cap hit on your books for each of the next three seasons um and that’s why I think kind of moving him could be of use to some teams um of course it would just be kind of a bummer to have to give up on him right when he’s about to come back after all these years but that’s the situation that they’re in at this point let’s talk about line for a little bit um when I saw you when I went to the Bulls game at the United Center at the beginning of the season this was shortly after all the drama news broke that both Zach and the Bulls were looking to find uh a new team for him um and we were talking about it prior to the game you know potential trade destinations for Zach and you were like I don’t know man I don’t really see it I don’t see a potential trade they’re going to be able to find for Zack LaVine sure enough the Bulls you know weren’t able to trade him and obviously he’s still with the team as of right now are you any more confident than you were at the beginning of last season when we talked about that to now in the Bull’s ability to find a trade for Zach one being that now there’s only three years left on his deal obviously now though the other downside is he’s coming off a major injury so teams aren’t able to see him play but given the fact that it’s the off season there’s probably going to be some you know playoff teams that fell short of expectations they might be a little bit more desperate than they were at the beginning of the year do you have any more confidence in terms of the Bull’s ability to find a trade partner for Zack I have a little bit more confidence uh just because I do think there’s going to be a lot of movement this summer and when kind of the merry go round stops or whatever the musical chair stops and and there’s one person left um you know who who missed out on all their opportunities to to bring in a star player maybe they do end up looking for Zach I do not think he’s going to be the first Domino to fall unless you know the Bulls just say like you know what just take him you take the money we won’t ask for anything in return maybe a team who has Max cap space would want to absorb him and just basic treat it like a free agent signing for three years right um but I I just think that other teams are going to be more interested in some of these other options out there and like I said maybe Zach does end up getting traded um but I think at that point you are into free agency and will have already had to make decisions on durose and and Patrick Williams um and and do those things align and if those things don’t align like how does that change your future you know if tomar and Patrick walk now maybe it makes more sense to keep Zack and let him rehab his value a little bit to where you can hopefully get something POS positive of the trade deadline um you I think teams are ultimately going to be curious about him um but even like the Pistons who are kind of like the main team right before the trade deadline they’re hiring a new president of basketball operation so it’s maybe not likely that they would be still interested um obviously Troy Weaver is still involved and so you know maybe that’s a thing but um it it’s just really hard to say but I do feel like if it happens it’s not going to be until later on this summer and even then I do think teams will feel much more comfortable if they can kind of see him come back and play at a high level before taking that big swing so for you it’s more the other dominoes need to fall in place before we really see what Zack lavine’s trade value is going to be right exactly I mean it’s just a situation where like you know the even like the magic who are a team with a lot of cap space like I think they’re probably going to be more interested in Paul George uh they’re going to be more interested in maybe a Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell what depending on what happens in that situ a there’s going to be a lot of teams that are kind of vying for these like secondary stars that are becoming available and you know Zach’s in that category but I just don’t think he’s at the top of the list and so um there’s there’s potential for him to get moved but um I’m just not confident in the timing of it all kind of aligning in the way that that would help the Bulls the most if they do want to bring everybody back what would you say of the odds that Zach is in a bull’s uniform on opening night maybe 75 25 I just think it’s more likely than not in favor of him being with the bulls you’re saying yeah because ideally they’re not like attaching picks to to get off him I think even if you do kind of recognize that you want to still compete at the same time like the Mar’s 35 if you give him a two to threee contract um and you’re giving up picks in order to get off of Zach to do that like you’re kind of setting yourselves back you really need to start accumulating some of those younger players even while you’re trying to compete and um giving up picks when you already got one out the door next year I think that would just be kind of a recipe for disaster long term so um I just I don’t think they’re going to want to do that I think that’s been kind of a non-starter for them in the past and so U maybe that changes just because the you know they’re they’re in a situation now where they they do need to make a decision about dear but um I think that would be a really tough pill to swallow and so at that point like it’s probably better to keep them that’s what happened at the trade deadline right you know one thing I forgot to mention you you kind of touched on it a little bit ear uh recently announced the Bulls have HED two new assistants uh former Wizards head coach uh in West unel Jr Clippers assistant Dan Craig I personally thought these were good hires as it relates to their level of experience and being offensive-minded coaches not sure if it really moves the kneel for the Bulls I think obviously the more important thing is uh making changes to the roster but what were your thoughts on The Hires and anything additional you can share about these guys yeah I think very much aligned with what you just said like you know I think great to have experienced coaches great to have respected high level coaches that have you know competed for championships that have been through uh you know the head coaching ranks in Wes ult’s case um who has that experience who can kind of come in and supplement what Billy does so um you know I think it’s great that they’re doing that I think to me it kind of indicates that they’re continuing to move forward as opposed to tearing things down as I mentioned um but I think at the end of the day like there’s only so much you can do with the Personnel that you have and if your personnel does not kind of afford you to play faster to shoot a lot of to get running up and down that it’s hard to do that you can’t just like tell guys to do stuff that they’re not comfortable doing or that they can’t do um and so I do think there’s going to have to be some changes to the actual roster before we actually see any changes even just like changing head coaching I I don’t think would change a lot of what this team does right now because they’re so kind of limited in stylistically what they can do on the court so um I think this is a good first step it’s like the time in the offseason where you can’t really sign anybody in free agency it hasn’t started yet the draft still about six five six weeks away so this is a good start but I think there still needs to be a lot more movement this summer and um yeah I I’m just really curious to see how that all kind of unfolds now conspiracy theory time and apologies if you guys actually addressed this in a recent pod on chgo and I just missed it but uh some fans are speculating this is Billy Donovan preparing an exit strategy and setting up his replacement should he look to take on a new role whether it be you know coaching on a new team or potentially even a front office role with the bulls thoughts on this and if you think there’s any legitimacy to it yeah we talked about this yesterday Big Dave was a very big proponent of this conspiracy but I’m I’m not I think uh you know if billy gets fired or if Billy wants to leave like I don’t see why he would be setting up the the next in line for a job that he’s leaving like to me that’s uris’s Mo and maybe that’s him kind of making this call uh he worked with West unseld for I believe five years in Denver before uh unel moved to Washington so maybe that’s our tourist is doing um but just from Billy’s perspective like I think and just getting to work with him on a day-to-day basis like he is so consumed with how things are going on the court today and so I think some of this like bigger picture stuff is just not his job and not his concern um at least as far as what we can talk to talk to him about you know he’s been the focal point and the spokesperson for the organization Whenever there are questions about that stuff because Urus and Mark everle just don’t speak to the media very often um and so he’s had to answer some of those questions but he’s always been consistent about you know they tell me when something is imminent they ask for my information or input when they feel like something is imminent but for me it’s like I deal with what we have to deal with in the locker room and I believe we have enough and so um I think that’s just kind of his emmo at this point and you know he he maybe is starting to think about what’s happening next he’s only got I believe two more years left on his contract um but I just I don’t know that he would be like kind of setting up his next in line just because I I don’t really think that concerns him if he’s out the door yeah well and let me kind of ask it a different way and I actually asked Sam Smith when I had him on as well um I mean the way I look at it right is does did Billy sign up for this right and and the the reason I say that is because he left OKC because he didn’t want to be a part of a rebuild and obviously the Bulls are not at that stage but it’s possible they could be right I mean if this year really goes horribly they run it back and things are just not working the way that they thought it would they’re going to be forced to do that right um especially given the fact that they have a pick owed to the Spurs which is top 10 protected um do you think Billy would want to stick around in that instance that the Bulls do tear everything down and just go full-blown rebuild yeah I think that’s the bigger question um and really the more important one uh you know like I said two more years on his contract I think it’s really rare that coaches step down um I think the idea that you know it was kind of his decision solely to move on from the OKC rebuild situation is a little bit um overblown because his contract was up I think kind of both parties just felt like it was time to move on right um but certainly I mean he has said he was so careful this year not to say like we’re underachieving we’re disappointing we want to be better until after that last Nick game at Madison Square Garden when he said like do we want to be in the plan every year no we want to be competing for you know a higher Eon spot in the Eastern Conference um so I think they kind of all know the situation I think they believe in M themselves and even though they finished ninth I think they truly internally believe that they could beat this Nicks team in a seven game series I think they could beat they feel like they could beat the Pacers or whoever it is like I do think and they competed with those teams um this year during the regular season so obviously it didn’t work out that way um and the end result is the end result but their whole thing was like build with what you’ve got get better you know don’t necessarily put a ceiling on what you want to accomplish like just continue to build and and kind of all those uh coach team cliches that you can think of but I think genuinely speaking that was kind of where they were coming from and so you know if if our tourist decides um and is allowed by ownership to undergo a rebuild like that’s his decision and Billy has to be on board with that because it’s not his decision he could certainly step down if he wanted to uh but that’s a lot of money he’s walking away from and who knows if he would get another head coaching job so um all that to say you know I think you make those decisions from a front office perspective with everything in mind but at the end of the day like if it’s best for the organization then that’s what you got to do even if it isn’t necessarily in line with what some of your employees may want well I’ll get you out of here on this uh what’s going to be the biggest surprise in your view that will happen this offseason for the Bulls um wow I think it’s gonna be kind of this decision between Patrick and dear because I’m sorry uh Zach and dear because I do think ultimately that’s it’s going to be very challenging to bring both of them back um I think they’re going to look to trade Zack that’s that’s certainly something they going to be aggressive with Urus mentioned um that he was going to be much more aggressive this offseason I believe that’s what he was referring to uh but what if he can’t find it and is that gonna kind of force dear out the door because you know the thing with dear is is anybody else gonna offer him $40 million is anybody else gonna offer him 30 or even 25 who knows but is there a better chance that he you know wants to if the if the money isn’t that much better in Chicago why wouldn’t he want to go play for a team that could actually compete at a much higher level so like maybe 30 million for the Bulls and 15 million for another team isn’t is more like in line and so in order to kind of keep him and get him to stay you have to overpay him even more so I don’t think it’s just like here tomor sign the dotted line because we’re offering you $1 more than the next high is bidder I think the situation and the money kind of does weigh itself out um a little bit differently and so you know certainly he says he wants to come back I think there’s a lot of dollars and reasons why that would be the case but um if the Bulls can’t afford to give him that kind of paycheck does he still want to come back and I guess that remains to be seen so I think we are at kind of a Crossroads here where it has to be one or the other unless you know some other big changes with the roster happens and you can kind of offload Vu and lonzo’s money and create space to bring it back um but I just don’t necessarily see that happen happening either so um something’s got to give this summer and and I’m just curious to see who is coming back and and who’s on the on the way out yeah well we’re all we’re all going to be waiting like you said it’s just kind of uh sitting with our popcorn waiting for some of these dominoes to fall and uh getting the post season you know wrapped up and seeing where the Bulls kind of take things from there hopefully nothing crazy happens while you’re on vacation I don’t I don’t think it will that would be not ideal timing yeah uh but will as always man appreciate you uh making the time means a lot uh keep up the great work over chgo and uh be sure to tell the guys that said hello uh and enjoy the uh rest of the offseason we’ll do it and same to you uh always a blast coming on and talking with you so uh hope to be back soon and we got to get you on our show soon too I’m I’m always down man you just you guys let me know I’m ready but anyway thank you all for tuning in and I will see you guys in the next one

One on one interview with CHGO’s Will “the GOAT” Gottlieb as we discuss the Bulls offseason, draft prospects, and impending free agency

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