Did the Chicago Bulls reject a top-10 pick for Alex Caruso?! | CHGO Bulls Podcast

Did the Chicago Bulls reject a top-10 pick for Alex Caruso?! | CHGO Bulls Podcast

[Music] what’s going on bulls Nation welcome in to a fresh week of bulls coverage from us here at chgo bulls comany live from our studios in West Loop downtown Chicago on pack Bulls pack big day B bwl Sports will the go goly willor goly our pal producer on the controls is one Joyce BS at Joyce BS only uh today’s show is going to be a doozy y’all a doozy uh we we got some news mhm reported by none other than our very own willig go Godly we will get to what’s in that report what it means and how we feel about it later on in today’s show real quick plug um we told you last week we’ll tell you again a week from no less like less than uh a week a week from Wednesday sorry week math is hard yeah it is NBA Draft round one Wednesday June 26 we will be doing a live show from pbnj here in the West Loop of Chicago wonderful Vibes uh it will be presented by our friends at Kors light great Kors light deals all night long come hang out there’s no ticket or admission fee to get in just come in take advantage of the uh the Great Deals the delicious pizza and uh and Vibe with your fellow Bulls fans and see what happens with the bulls with their first round pick yeah Matt and I will be there come hang out with us will be there too uh come talk to to us man come laugh with us come cry with us come drink some beers with us all that [ __ ] like we’re there for all of it Joey will also be there all your people’s producer will baby joey be there oh baby Joey’s there but he’s not there he’s everywhere but nowhere okay that’s it that’s baby Joey’s emo and it’s a live show throughout the first round so we’ll be breaking down picks we’ll be talking about trades we’ll be you know figuring out what the Bulls are going to do reacting to whatever it is that they do do maybe it’s a trade maybe it’s moving up in the draft down in the draft making a trade for one of their players we’ll be breaking it all down so we’ll have plenty to talk about and troll Joe might be there too ooh might teasing a troll Joe appearance might might I’ve been waiting years and also shout out to the burg Brothers they’re back in effect today shout out to them as well it is hot it’s hot it is hot it’s hot um shout out to the fans before uh before we dive into this crazy report uh and I tear my hair out let’s like have a quick moment of hopefully happiness did everybody have a nice weekend I did oh yeah I told you man I was doing great I was doing great until I read a certain column this morning until that column smack me across the face and it changed my whole mood I now have a headache um oh God oh God but yes my weekend was good my weekend was really really good man like honestly it was really good I had a great one I’m glad to hear that yeah I had a great weekend too I spent a lot of time working on this article I really wanted to make sure that it was fair and it came off correctly while also reporting the news I hope I accomplished that so we’ll have a lot to talk about today hey Larry say he’s Draft ticket confirmed coming down let’s go let’s go Bo let go come on through it’s going to be a fun time come on hang out with us man be just like strick come hang out with us man gr where you at I know you in here gr Gary Ross you come hang out too sir oh yeah I know you in here come on through come on through man look at throw all the hats patience young Squire oh it’s coming doggy uh okay well I’m I’m glad we all had a good weekend uh let’s dive in so will the go got Le dropped a column this morning about the let’s say uh uncertain future of Alex Caruso MH who has entering the final year of his Bulls contract is extension El eligible uh and uh in that column you talked about some of the figures of that potential extension and you also dropped just a few details of how and why it is to be that Alex kuso is still here SC yeah basically what I wanted to do was write about the situation that the Bulls find themselves in with Caruso um he is entering the final year of his contract he’s going to be making $9.9 million uh and that is a bargain deal uh just and it’s a deal that teams have been really interested in yes uh over the past couple of years um and now the Bulls are at a point where they’re kind of facing the same situation that they faced with Rosen last summer which is do we extend him and try to keep him do we trade him and try to move forward without him I think the difference is you know whereas D rozan and V before him and maybe even LaVine before that weren’t going to have really robust markets on the free agent Market if they got there true that is probably not going to be the case with cuso I think a lot of teams are going to be interested in cruso Services if he gets to free agency and so the Bulls don’t want to do that they want to try to lock him up in an extension before that or should they look to trade him and if they do look to trade him here are some deals that they have declined in the past the reasons why they’ve maybe declined those deals and how does that really inform what deals they could look to make um before the end of the off season yeah so about that last part and deals that they have declined and why about last night if you haven’t had a chance to read goat’s column yet because you’ve had a busy Monday no worries we got you here is an excerpt on that column the Bulls took calls on Caruso but never made them according to a source with knowledge of the situation the Bulls received offers from multiple teams consisting of multiple protective first round picks ahead of the 2024 trade deadline one of those deals included a pick that ended up in the top 10 of the 2024 draft The Source said the Golden State Warriors were among teams who made a strong offer for Caruso multiple sources confirmed internally the Bulls party line was that they would have they would have to start searching for Caruso replacement from the moment they traded him they may have been F that may have been fin in a rebuild which lead executive AK admitted ownership supported however the source indicated that there was a mandate from the Rin dorfs to fight for the playoffs that no doubt impacted the front office’s decision making when it came to pulling the trigger on any Caruso deal yeah I mean it’s a lot um I I guess we can maybe start with the second heart yeah that’s how it should be my hat bucket that’s how it should be that was the most hats you’ve ever thrown at one time that was symbolically oh yeah accurate give s will you were saying yeah go ahead will I mean I was just going to say like some of these deals obviously sound great um it was protected picks from multiple they had multiple different options and this is coming from like over the past year so you know prior to last trade deadline obviously even into last last offseason and so they had opportunities to trade him but I thought what was actually most interesting about this like you know and one of those picks obviously ended up being a top 10 pick that would have been great value I think any of these deals would have um but I thought what was interesting about this was that and obviously this goes against what AK said at his press conference and it goes against actually what some of my colleagues have uh reported at various times over the last year which is that ownership did support a rebuild based on my reporting and I’m going off of that that is not the case there was a mandate for ownership to continue to push for the playoffs and obviously that’s going to impact what decisions AK makes with his valuable assets right if you are a team that doesn’t want to go into luxury tax and you are you know under pressure by ownership to make the playoffs it becomes very difficult to trade your second best player for draft capital I think that’s just the reality of the situation in so um now like I said they are faced with more of a serious situation where they have to actually consider some of those offers or extend him and I and I wonder if those same offers are going to be available now that he only has one year left on his deals compared to two uh I’m sorry when he has one playoff run left on his contract as compared to two which is what he had at the trade deadline you know I don’t even know where to begin with with stupid [ __ ] like this I think I I’ll start with AK you know what I kind of honestly want to leave ownership to this man right here because I just want him to burn it and then me sit back and laugh at the fire but [ __ ] like that when you when you say okay we want you to make the playoffs all right that’s your mandate one first of all you failed let’s start there you did not do that you failed you failed at what you would really were told to do was make those playoffs you didn’t do it if that’s the Mandate secondly when you pass on when I see [ __ ] when you’re receiving offers from multiple teams consisting of multiple protected first round pick for that that is egregious and incompetent and malpractice that is ridiculous because trading out as I said a thousand [ __ ] times sitting in this chair it doesn’t if you want to go to the playoffs you you are a playing team we know who the Bulls were we looked at them we know it we were like this is a playing team we get it if you keep Alex Caruso you’re still a nine seed you let him go you’re 10 you’re still a playin team it does not change who you are keeping him if if you say Demar D rozan yes that changes things that’s your best player even Zack LaVine might change things because that’s one of your best players who also you had no problem wanting to trade and get rid of if you’re talking about making the playoffs let me get Zack LaVine up out of here and what you with that [ __ ] no Alex Caruso is the one that’s propelling me to the six seed where I’m passing on multiple first round picks for a role player malpractice egregious and unacceptable you I would I would walk you out of the office immediately I don’t care if I told you my mandate is I want you to make the playoffs oh get it fine make the playoffs it’s the East wonderful because obviously that means make the play in you still going to get that opportunity when you’re going to be a 10 seed you’ll still have that chance to do that cuz again nobody underneath you wanted to go to the goddamn playin nobody wanted else to go oh my God this is what’s so maddening about it and my fans were like well D this you said you wanted to go to the playoffs well then you weren’t listening to me because I told you a million times you can still do that and not have Alex Caruso you can still make the play in and still get what happened to you without him there you just set up better for your future because you have first round pick on your team it’s dumbass [ __ ] and it’s unacceptable man that’s malpractice bro like you don’t know what you’re doing I shouldn’t be around and hearing [ __ ] from people who don’t get paid to make those decisions who are making better decisions you’re you get six figures for this and you do nothing even if you’re saying man let’s make the playoffs you did nothing you say let me go get Chante green what that’s propelling us to the six seed you did absolutely nothing and that’s what pisses me off more than anything bro you stood Pat and you wasn’t cool with oh God it’s [ __ ] stupid it’s stupid give me a hat I give me a hat am so happy for this brief moment in time I’m happy because that brought me so much joy Dave it’s stuck it’s man you know incompetence and miscommunication drive me crazy yes I do that is in in as [ __ ] man eater pug says Big Dave being mad feels like when the cool teacher loses their [ __ ] in the class and I completely agree that’s what it is look at what they did did you read these wonderful words that this man wrote did you see this [ __ ] how you cool with that who’s okay with that on a role player who’s cool with that and you can love Alex Cru all you want he is a role player the reason the Lakers said it’s okay I’m not saying he ain’t cold I ain’t saying he ain’t good cuz he’s all of those things but got you got a team offer you multiple picks for that deal every day before M goes I do want to push back on that last piece because and I wrote this too like I don’t think alexo is a role player I think that’s that does not capture what he does for this team um and I wrote it like he does for the defense of this team what demard dzan does for the offense I really think he has that caliber of impact on the defensive side you may think defense isn’t as is as important as offense that’s maybe true but still for a team that wants to be competitive like to get rid of your defensive anchor I get it but Caruso according to Stephan no’s uh projection model which he actually updated today um is worth I think it was let me see if I can find it um according to like based on the amount of minutes he played the games he played and his production he was worth $28 million this year so that’s that’s like an Allstar caliber player so I do think it’s fair for the Bulls to ask for a lot obviously they they got offered a lot and they turned that down um but you know protected picks I I understand if that was the Mandate now we can disagree with the Mandate but I understand why they would be hesitant to do that and maybe we can talk more about that after the break uh yes plenty more to get to in this conversation uh people in the comments sounding off we’ll get to as many of y’all’s thoughts and comments uh about this as we can keep them coming um this is a a fascinating topic Bulls fans are obviously feeling a lot of feels about it but everybody very much appreciated that ran for Big Dave I definitely did as did I somebody said damn I think it was P Chicago said damn cover baby Joey’s ears uh stupid no worries baby Joy’s heard a thing or two in his life already um more to come after we tell you about I’m so upset yo this is I’m sorry I’m sorry no you’re good buddy you’re good um I mean maybe maybe you need a little coar light right now now could you you know what if anybody needs to find their chill right now I think it’s going to be me yeah I think I got to find my chill man find your chill and hit that like button for D the place to do it at it’s course life because between work social media and the choices life throws your way it’s no wonder you can get a little bit more worked up but Kors light thank you Kors light celebrates Rising above and choosing a chill mindset why not turn that rained out barbecue into the 112th annual will the go g Le karaoke party or after tough loss settle some scores with the ice cold peace offering one or 12 of them make sure you choose chill then reach for Coors Light and some of that mountain cold refreshment because when the mountains turn blue you know exactly what to do it’s as cold as a Colorado co light is coold logger Co filter and co- package for a smoother finish and will you Embrace that chill mindset it’s a good time to choose chill and crack open a course light Mountain coold refreshment crisp and refresh in as them Colorado Rockies make the most out of your time make sure you choose chill get Kors like delivered straight to your door via instacart by going to kik.com slcgo basketball that’s cor likee.com cgo basketball celebrate responsibly Kors Brewing Company Golden Colorado woo if uh 15 of them if you want to maybe try and find some some Chill Vibes in a different way there’s always Sunnys side oh thank thank you maybe that’ll help feel like Dave needs to swing by Sunnyside on his way home from work today might be right our friends of sunnide cannabis dispensary are here to help elevate your summer Sunnyside is home for judgment free cannabis shopping they have a crazy selection with over 100 different strains indas hybrids sativas to choose from with easy online ordering and in store pickup stop in the store nearest you throughout Illinois and Chicago land area for expert guidance from their staff or select from quality lines like Cresco or Flor Cal head to sunyside do shop use that promo code hi chgo hi chgo hello uh at checkout for 35% off your favorite Brands like kresco floral good news try those brunch gummies they are delicious and perfect to elevate your summer and to elevate that first purchase again that promo code is hio for 35% off sunyside cannabis dispensary bright buys every day only for 21 and over or Illinois mad card holders all right and and will to your point about Alex again we know his impact we know how great he is you’ll never hear me talking down or dismissing any of that I get that for me that’s he knows his role and he plays it very very very well and especially on a good team when you’re on a good team he is perfect that’s why they brought him in here cuz they knew exactly where they needed him and where they want him to be and he’s coming off the bench that’s where the impact for me me is more largely felt throughout his career more largely felt coming in off the bench yes he can subve in as a starter yes he can play three maybe four positions on the floor but you know his impact is coming in and just being that Tasmanian Devil and making sure everybody got where they got to go on on the floor for me that’s a role you know what I’m saying that is a role and a good one that he’s at and why he’s got the contract that he does now that contract is going to be way higher you know what I’m saying like you mentioned for Stephen no but the reason is where it was was because that was what you were paying those role players was that kind of salary it’s why the Lakers didn’t want to pay him even though he was deserving of it but it’s why they didn’t want to pay him that money but now he’s earned it they won’t have no choice but the Bulls to not recognize that kind of [ __ ] is egregious to me when I see it and you don’t get him out of here and bring it something that can help you in the long run man that’s what the anger is for me no and I understand that I think kind of my and again I’m not saying that you don’t recognize how good Alex Russo is I just think that so stupid from the Bull’s perspective and this is me speculating and guessing here like they clearly feel that his value is greater than those picks maybe even independent of the situation but then when you put on top of that the situation where you do have to try to compete I think it like I think it justifies I don’t think it’s a good justification but I think it at least makes sense whereas when we talked to AK coming out of the trade deadline he just kept on he kept on saying like we wanted to be competitive like that doesn’t make any sense how do you reason with that when you are the ninth seed or whatever they were at that time yeah however many games out of the sixth seed and you just are saying you want to be competitive that doesn’t make sense but now for this to come out and say well they wanted to be competitive because they were being forced to be competitive that that helps explain I think why they didn’t make any moves now the question is is and I couldn’t get I couldn’t nail down like hard reporting on this so I don’t know mm but the question is does that mandate still exist does that still apply to where they go this upcoming season and if so then gu I would find it hard to believe that they’re going to trade Caruso and if it’s not the case then I think they they do have to start thinking about trading him a little bit more seriously yeah Julia in the comment said Dave needs a hug sending a virtual one thanks jul Charlie in the comments saying I mean going back to just how you define Caruso is he a role player is he more than that how much value is there that we’re talking about the bulls turning down multiple first for him Charley in the comments saying I mean arguably the top two or three best players in the world are below average defenders in Luca and Joker offense way more important I’d trade AC all day every day and twice on Sunday for multiple first round picks um see I hate when I see stuff like that like brandan saying I don’t know how good he is oh I [ __ ] know how good Alex Caruso is do I know how amazing he is I don’t I think the people who are overvaluing it are the people who are making these decisions in the front office cuz that’s you have to see that and understand when you have to move certain pieces and get off of certain guys Fe knowing the feel of your team and having your finger on the pulse is something I’ve said a lot and something I’ve said I don’t think they have is like a pulse a finger on the pulse of the squad and they told me that AK told me that when he didn’t even know how [ __ ] far out they were in the playoffs when he came out and talked about it that lets me know you w know what’s going on only three games back Dave oh that’s it only three games back back and you in a ni se but if you’re thinking and you’re telling me keeping Alex Caruso means you elevate from 9 to six no come on what are we doing what are we doing here you know what I’m saying no I got to keep that bro got to keep that that’ll Elevate us to get us up here and I’m going turn down these oh God multiple traffic for my man Alex K man shout out Alex kuso who is getting all this love and deservant sold for him cuz he’s an amazing basketball player but consecutive all defensive team selections hustle Player of the Year award like no everyone in the league wants this guy everybody and he as and that is reflected in the in the trade as you say Dave he is he is fancy rims on a car without an engine just some amazing rims dog why are you holding on to that but your car don’t run uh nugy bogs one in the comments saying AK doesn’t have to do his job well just what he’s told to do um I think it was Adrian in the comments earlier bringing up the you know the stadium being full uh talking point um and look I mean that’s why and Dave you and I have had this debate before sure sure who gets the most blame for when things go poorly and this is a very you know centrally focused example of bulls fans being frustrated with ownership SL management about a decision they made and when we learned about it sure you often take the side of well ownership is who they are and we always have known how ownership functions idiots yeah yes it’s the executives making basketball decisions you should be more mad at because they are the ones my that your your angle right is is they are the ones failing in those jobs and again they’re terrible ownership and they’re don’t don’t ever want to dismiss this all right but I always leave that to you because yes well and so to me that’s the point if this mandate mhm is in fact contradictory to what AK told the media and Bulls fans by proy himself when will I believe you clarified when you asked him on trade deadline day if you thought a rebuild and selling off some pieces right now was the best direction for your franchise would ownership support you in that and he said yes mhm this sounds like the opposite of that MH so either AK was lying for ownership or somewhere that mandate changed like you were just suggesting will yeah as a lifelong and often cynical Bulls fan I think that that mandate has always been there keep the stadium full with a team that is just close enough to competitive MH that the stadium is full Bulls led the league in attendance again this season top five in merch sales this season more of the same for Bulls fans who love their team mhm and if ownership said don’t blow this up yet keep fighting try to get to the playoffs and AK felt like he had to do that then it is just the latest in billions of examples of bulls fans having to hear or listen to a piece of news the verifies and confirms what we have always known is that this ownership group does not give a single flying [ __ ] about competing for championships so the mandates that they put down to their front office as far as midseason decisions that need to be made are about as our friend Darnell said with us the other day when he was talking about his column the bottom line and what is the bottom line it’s staying under the luxury tax and making as much money as you can it’s never about making the best decisions for the present and future of your team actually being competitive in the real big boy way not the fake hey we went to the playin two years in a row way that is why I will always blame ownership first because now we are hearing very conflicting reports or or not conflicting reports but a report that directly conflicts what AK said at the deadline which is if I thought a rebuild was the way to go ownership supports that mhm nope sorry just kidding actually what they said was don’t do anything that would cost our chances at making the playoffs M it’s [ __ ] no yes and that verbiage is different for me Matt if ownership said don’t blow this up we want to make the playoffs then yes me and you I will I will buy you the [ __ ] pitch fors and I will buy you the Torches and light them myself and hand them to you and we’ll go burn it down if that’s what was said that’s great but what was what will have reported was they it was the mandate to make the playoffs for me that’s why I got so mad in that first segment because you could still do that and make this trade which falls on AK which falls on the person in charge of actually making that decision again if they’re telling me dude no keep it as is don’t do nothing yes let you buy me one of these like let’s let’s let’s tear It To The Ground all right great I’m with that but dang like when you just telling me to do that knowing I’m in the East and I can still do that without having a see there but still actually make my team even better looking that’s great and also it doesn’t look great for you because this is your job you know because at the end of the day Matt if you don’t do what OIP ask you to do you have still failed and guess what going around the league looking at you you think they looking at your resume and being like well no you know ownership is just bad no no you didn’t make the playoffs no you wouldn’t make these trades no you couldn’t do this this and this no I don’t want you doing nothing on my team absolutely not your resume looks ass and that’s about that’s what they’re going to look at is that bottom line of it because that’s what ownership is right bottom lines that’s what they look at Matt’s right they want the money they want to sell out people there of yes you want all that stuff too but when you don’t do what the bottom line what they told you to do guess what it’s still on you it’s never on them it’s going to still be on you so get some D balls man and do these things and make these decisions that you know will help this team that’s what you have to do yeah and I think like you know teams I think can run into situations where if they if they’re GM or lead executive is like making decisions in order to fight for their job that’s when teams get themselves in trouble and to me that’s kind of what it feels like the situation is if there and I’m not like saying AK is necessarily on the hot seat but I do feel like there’s probably and again speculation here I do feel like from him there’s probably a sentiment of like I’ve got to make ownership happy by making the playoffs here so I can’t give up any asset that would take away from my ability to do that um so to me it’s yeah it’s just a situation where the constraints that ownership is putting them through make it difficult for him to do that job and I’m not saying that there aren’t still ways out because I think there probably were but um I think that’s the challenge for AK and like I said I’m not sure if that mandate still persists I have no idea but going off of History like that seems to be a very important thing for the Bulls and you know I just it makes it it makes making any decision very difficult and so when you look at it through that lens it helps explain to me why they haven’t done anything for so many years because any move would either take away from their chances to be in the playin or in the playoffs or it would put them into the luxury tax and if you can’t do either things what can you do other than stay put and again as as Sylvie always said if it starts at the top everything that when you’re looking at bad why I tell you when people lose I blame everyone everybody gets a piece but it all starts at the top there organization of failures and it starts at the tippy top and that is the truth yes you can win with shitty owners I’ve made out a million times absolutely right but when it’s all going bad oh that’s when you see that shitty is Show Shine bright in these kind of situations man so yes it definitely starts at the top no question uh and that top Anthony in the comment saying and we’re always told Jerry wasn’t involved [ __ ] the dude some worst ster in two different professional League that’s you know that’s that’s the other thing that we hear often times especially in the last I don’t know maybe 5 to 10 years window of like hey Jerry’s Grandma Jerry’s getting kind of up there he’s passed most of the duties down to Michael and you know he they hired people and they’re letting AK run AK stuff um so yeah it’s it’s on AK which maybe would also feed into your argument of like hey actually maybe the Bulls just hire ownership hired these guys and are leaving them alone to run the team so how mad can you be at ownership really if they just hired them and are ignoring them very but maybe some people still are skeptical enough to not believe that of course at the end of every big decision there is someone at the very top with the final say and stuff like this uh sport Chicago down in the comments saying Drummond could have brought uh some sort of return but alas he’s walking and we get NADA uh Coe did have a little tidbit about Drummond uh in his latest uh today saying he’s looking for a new team and uh yeah that’s just more more of the same uh let’s take our second break we will uh come back and continue diving into this conversation uh and we can even also touch a bit more on on that giant contract question that you posed in your column as well will uh throw us anything else on your mind while we’re doing that Bulls Nation we will get to as many of your comments as we can throw super chat if feel feel so inclined hit that like button if you didn’t do it the first time around Big Dave you know what this is a great example of why you guy should be a die hard just sitting there watching this kind of thing and understanding the Golden Pin of the goat over here when he puts it down and write something like this but you can also check out that big draft by big board that he’s got only for the die hards that you guys would be smarter fans following guys like this right here and the other awesome writers we have for every single team we cover at chgo of course podcast live and live shows every day of course you get the post game shows but like I just told you that premium written content all the members at allo.com 20% off your event if they having an event and it’s going to cost you 20% off is what you going to get just for being a die hard man that is awesome dope merch that’s what you get for sure like this thing right here that Wheels got on pretty dope and guess what that could be your free shirt because you become a member you get the free shirt of your choice and of course that members only Discord that chgo Lounge which I’m sure will be on fire sitting here talking about the Chicago Bulls and since we’re talking die hards come hang out with us like Matt said at our dread party June 26 is going down baby live Matt pack Big D will to go got Le we’ll be covering that draft live from PB and J it is free you hear what I said free just RSVP and it is free to come hang out and yell and laugh and drink and toast with us and of course the people’s producer Joey fatis will be in the house man become a die hard today Today’s Show also brought to you by our friends at Circa cir Circa sports book we do still have another NBA Finals game yeah tonight game five you’re right let’s go basketball’s not dead yet no I love it and SOI to you because it means more opportunities to have fun putting some bets down and putting money in your pocket with that Circa Sportsbook app offering tyght money line splits in their low hold model always striving to have starting odds minus 110 on these NBA finals game spreads point total over unders and all that jazz unlike a lot of other sports books these days who push those starting odds to- 115 or -120 for no reason at all Circle also keeps as little money as possible on large Market bets like Futures golf tournaments we had the US Open this past weekend we still got more golf action coming up this summer um especially compared to other sports books uh whose odds and uh and value winnings on those large Market bets are not as good as they are at Circus who also offer of course the very best in customer service real people behind that circus sports brand who resolve any issues you might have in a timely fashion unlike those other books who use the dreaded jackpots down with the machines all aspects of the app are being run by the same team that run that main circus Sportsbook at cir Resort and Casino in Las Vegas total winner download the cir Sports Illinois app at ciras sports.com Illinois Das app to sign up today be on the lookout also for circus events watch parties and T G around the Chicago land area including every Friday Cubs 120 club with our Cho Cubs crew hanging out at Murphy’s before the game hanging out in the bleachers hanging out almost home after the game yeah go hang out with our CSO Cubs crew and the the wonderful people at Circa got to get goat out there hey if you are someone you know may have a gambling problem call 100 Gambler that’s 426 2537 text gamb to 833 234 or visit are winning.com uh speaking of which did you guys see that our palel Cody got a a home run ball that dropped in the basket on Friday I did see that man but it was a home run ball hit by a Cardinal player yes it was poor bastard yeah did he throw it back I didn’t see I would assume so he did okay all right oh Joey you were uh out at Friday 120 Club how was it Bud was a good time uh Cubs played horrendous and so that made it less fun but it was a good time to be out there uh I sat with me and my guy Luke stuck me one-on-one in the bleachers it was a good time um and yeah like I said horrendous game think the Cubs had two or three hits the whole game but yeah Cody caught the ball or landed in the basket in front of him I wanted to video him throwing it back but the crowd you know was like throw it back throw it back and so he kind of panicked and threw it back pretty quickly P pressure um but it was a good throw and it was always fun with Friday 120 Club i’ I’ve never listen I’ve never caught any ball ever as many games I went to so the protocol for throwing it back is there a time limit on throwing it back it’s usually pretty pretty soon I mean before the next batter is coming up is rounding the bases I feel you’re not yeah it’s not like you’re throwing it back in the middle of the game like hey this was from a couple Innings ago but you do want to like give give the crowd in the bleachers a few seconds to start the chant yeah the crowd was starting the throw it back chant and then throw throw it back and then Cody threw it back okay okay I got it the guy was probably in between second and third all right have you caught a foul ball before um not like a true foul ball like I’ve been on the field before when there were when there were some like team activities going on batting practice and like I haven’t CAU caught a ball that has come in the stands like that okay you um I went to the I went to a Cubs game when I was a kid once and I went there early for batting practice and I like chased down a home run Ball but I’ve never caught one oh so we got to see the go Galloping out there showing the skills when I was a kid yeah for sure for sure that’s awesome you got one I’ve never caught a foul ball ever uh but I will say that Joey Stucky Cody brags that whole crew hanging down holding down the the bleachers Friday 120 Club couldn’t get the W I went to the Saturday Cubs game with my brother and a couple of our friends shout out Curry for the tickets incredible seats we brought home the W talk to him man so you know talk to him man quickly before we continue with the Caruso I did go when I was younger in the summer probably around this time to Miller Park as it was formerly called in Milwaukee with George and and Lisa and I remember a foul ball literally straight off George’s hands like straight off his hands and I was probably 6 years old I’m like are you kidding me catch the ball you being a jerk to your six ridiculously upset I’m like catch the ball what are you doing right off his hands I’m are you what give me the keys I’m driving it was right to you I mean Joe Joey might still be just young enough that he could be the benefactor of of an adult catching a foul ball in Jo that’s not even funny and then just handing it to Joey iuck if I caught the ball there was a kid in front of us I would have given it to the kid okay because now the joy is just catching it it’s just catching it I caught it I have the memory of catching it give it to the kid continue with the like six-year-old Joey would have sat at like the head of the table like you don’t sit here no more Sir George big piece of chicken right here right here for young Joey I’ll cut the turke that’s right you set the table uh can I just say real quick before we get back into cruzo oh guys 225 people watching 47 likes oh come on oh come on hit the like give us some thumbs is giving you all this wonderfulness out here yeah please like speaking of which uh daddy Dexter 64 in the comments said just came over from Twitter knew it was bad but rejecting a top 10 pick is terrible ryes are awful don’t buy tickets if you’re in Chicago shout out to the goat for the great reporting amazing rep shout out to you shout out to you shout out to you uh also shout out to flex digs in the comments who said Caruso is a crash T dummy for a team that can’t make the playoffs get something for him before he is broken into a thousand pieces and you get nothing that scares me that and I mean will you kind of touched on that in your column as well talking about the kind of player Caruso is and this daunting extension that lies ahead of him and the Bulls this summer if they do want to try to lock him down is a piece that they just cannot afford to lose and like money be damned how are we going to figure out how to sign Caruso to a new multi-year deal and stay under under the tax but that that other part of it which is do you really want to sign this guy to that much more guaranteed money that many more guaranteed years when you know you’re coming off of two years in a row knock on wood where he played consecutive season high or career high in games played did it last season did it this season yes what’s the likelihood that that continues for a guy Caruso’s age I mean that’s that’s the question they have to be facing right now which is if you are betting on Caruso to continue playing at his level through his age 31 2 3 and Four Season then maybe you do feel comfortable offering that 4-year extension worth almost $79 million which is the max extension he can sign starting on July 6th if you aren’t comfortable with offering him that then you run the risk of him getting to free agency and once he gets there like I said at the top other teams are going to be interested this is not a scenario where like d rozan like vich like LaVine you can just outbid a Marketplace that doesn’t exist to keep your guy there will be people out there trying to sign kuso and they may even be willing to exceed what the Bulls can offer in an extension so if you’re Caruso and you may have a chance to make more money and play for a contender why would you sign this extension and so if you cannot get cuso to sign this extension now at risk of maybe losing him for nothing as a free agent you’ve got to consider seriously trading him I don’t think the Bulls have seriously considered actually giving cuso away to this point but like this is we we do this every year where we talk about D rozen’s free agency should we sign and trade him or bring him back or let him walk for nothing we did this with Zack LaVine should we give him the max extension or should we just give him the best possible offer that nobody else is willing to Matrix seed should we give V $20 million a year or should we just give him $1 more than the next highest bidder like they run into this problem year after year with their best players and it’s like watching the exact same movie happen again in slow motion this time because you know this is happening with Caruso and so to me um I don’t know if I would be willing to sign him to that kind of extension I think he’s worth it like I said last year uh or I’m sorry this upcoming year his like projected value based on Steph’s um model is $ 28 million so that’s like $10 million more than where his extension will start but you’re you’re talking about paying this guy who already is very injury-prone who plays like a madman Tasmanian Devil into his mid-30s like that’s a scary proposition and unless you are really confident that one he’s going to continue to play at this level and two you’re going to be able to trade him down the line for as much as you could get for him now then you really do have to start considering that trade and to me that was like kind of the whole point of this and so okay if you do reframe this around maybe now’s the time they finally start thinking about trading this guy what can they get for him well look what they turned down in the past it’s got to be at least that if not more but the question is can they still get that same offer when he’s only got you know one playoff run left on his contract before you have to be the team that now pays him and that that is where they have gone wrong with the Rosen uh where they didn’t trade him two deadlines ago same thing with LaVine same thing with bovich when you continue to let your assets turn into liabilities and then you double down on those liabilities by extending them at above market value Jesus that’s where you run into the situation where you are up against attacks where you can’t make tough decisions because there’s no Financial flexibility to do so and that is the lesson that the Bulls should be learning from their previous mistakes they can’t let it happen with cuso because he actually could get them real value V last trade deadline I don’t know if you really get much for him dear last trade deadline probably could have gotten something but like yeah they they probably missed on opportunities to get something for him at last deadline if there was interest sure same with Zach but Caruso legitimately had interest he legitimately could have gotten them a lot and so to pass up on that and then also to make the bad money decision that exposes yourself to Serious downside I think that would be like really truly a disaster I like I’ve said before I I’m trying to stay optimistic with this because I think if they make some of these tough calls right now they can position themselves into better positions longer term but this is the one where if they continue to reinvest in this core by doubling down on cuso giving him that Max extension or letting him Walk For Nothing in fre agency that is where you running into like Rock Bottom Skies falling Chicken Little scenario oh the bars oh goat yes just had to let that breathe for a second cuz I was just over here man I like how Julia said Matt and Dave look so defeated you know what it’s because I I damn near am I I am I just it it’s not surprising right I read this column from the goat this morning I was like I couldn’t wait he was like teased it a little bit like five minutes before it dropped and I was like what do we got and I read it and I was immediately Furious and also just so deflated and not surprised MH because it it went along with everything I’ve always believed as a bulls fan about how this team operates and how the people who own this team operate cuz it’s it’s not about winning it’s not about it’s never about winning with them no they love to remind us all when it was about winning and and not not because of anything they did because they got lucky and found a guy named Michael Jeffrey Jordan thank you Mike and then listened to Jerry Krauss when Jerry Krauss said I want to promote Phil Jackson yeah those two things yeah six championships in eight years those two things everything sense has been hey remember when we won a lot and that was fun hey thanks for continuing to pack this stadium and buy all of our [ __ ] while we provide you with mediocre season after not quite mediocre season after maybe a little bit more mediocre season again and then what what are we doing toiling around like this this team’s record since the dynasty ended is somewhere well below 500 in like the 900 and something wins to the 1100 and something losses MH five playoff series wins five in 25 years since the dynasty ended so when I read something like goats reporting from this morning I immediately get mad and then I immediately get cynical and defeated because I know that we will continue to read and hear reports just like this one until the sun burns up unless someone else owns this team that gives a [ __ ] about winning and that’s why it’s immediately maddening and you feel so goddamn helpless other than that thank you Jay that was perfect you hat toss oh and then you hit Jay I just it’s it’s the same [ __ ] in different wrapping paper every time and we what what can we do and of course there is the one answer what can we do don’t show up don’t buy their [ __ ] that is the only option we have and that sucks cuz we like to support our team yeah but this is [ __ ] TOS it sell the goddamn team Jerry sell the goddamn team Jerry it’s [ __ ] sell can you read can you read sell the team I’m sick of this [ __ ] oh no oh no hey that worried me a little cuz I didn’t know I forgot it was a shirt underneath that I was like wait a minute yo he’s just getting naked on getting naked right now like Ricky Bobby having his panic attack oh yeah save me Tom Cruz oh yeah yeah this is how we all feel right now it’s so it’s so maddening man I was just so I was so upset because Matt’s right and Matt listen Matt loves being right but damn it he I know he don’t want to be this right no because of what we’re seeing right here he don’t want to be this right about it to be like yeah my team is a complete joke he don’t want to feel like that but damn when they put you in this kind of position to do these kind of things and just something simple as not doing anything as far as trading a player on your squad because you think that keeps you in a position to do something good when we all knew that it wasn’t I remember that graph that came out I don’t know if you saw it but it showed the fluctuation of all the NBA teams in each conference of how they they kind of fluctuated through the season do you remember looking at how the Bulls one was it just looked like a flatline that’s it it didn’t it was like and then it would tip tip and then just keep going and then maybe down a little bit and then but keep going it was the exact same nothing changed how can we sit there and watch it game after game and everybody look and you know what you are and we see what you are but you’re like you know what nah no no it’s not that we need to hold on to that and continue with this I think that’s what’s maddening and what’s frustrating becomes malpractice to me when when you turn down these kind of deals on on the player like this where you’re going to have to make a decision on as will just broke down you’re GNA have to make that decision on him sometime soon and that decision is he’s going to get paid he’s going to get his money and the Bulls not going to give him that we all know this he’s not going to get that check but he’s going to get it from somewhere else so what do you do you say hey thank you for what you’ve done but we have an opportunity to get a little bit better not even tons better we’re not even talking about just like oh man we about to get light years better because of this you know what this will help us in the long run and and as quick as next year this could help you as quickly as that and you still said we got it we good you know just wait how about you watch it first and then you judge me by what we saw out there remember that line remember that line right there I do I remember that [ __ ] T Craig and all we saw was that all we saw was shating moments and injuries happen to players like that coming in off your bench and now you still conflicted and and as will keeps pointing now you’re in a position where now you are being forced to do something something cuz you have to do it you don’t want to stay in that Tech and you’re not going to pay it we all know that so now what do you want to do and now we’re looking at sh like and then now teams know you’re in that position you know how I looked at this when when when you were writing this and I’m reading it I looked at it like teams were offering you know the Bulls stuff and they’re like H Bulls are pretty shrewd you know what I mean you know what let’s up that a little bit how about multiple picks you know what I’m saying multiple first round Pi that’ll get it that’s a shrewd move Bulls we like that you you’re held out and now here you go still I’ll stay I suggest you hit sir oh that’s so dumb that’s see calls and they’re like we’ll give you all of our first round picks and SGA for Alex Caruso no no we’ll stay we we like our chances right here we can make the playoffs with that’s obvious Hyperbole and we’re just having fun but when you think back to the actual reported offers it is insane to not take those offers yeah when you contemplate all of the context of where the Bulls are as a team yeah in the NBA competitive or not landscape and the specifics of Alex Caruso the player mhm what he has provided for you this far what he might provide you if you keep him or what he might provide you if you trade him turning down those offers for him is wild wild mismanagement dumb so to me like I’ve kind of been saying it it was very much the opposite like obviously seeing the kind of offers that they could have gotten for Caruso like I would have taken any of those I would have been very happy with that kind of return but that’s also assuming that my ideal direction for this team which was down yeah was on the table and it wasn’t so to me I feel like again I I’m not agreeing with this justification but just thinking like when I think about the Bulls when I think about you know trading certain players letting guys walk in free agency what do they do with thearrow how do they manage theact TR trade landscape it’s all within the context of if I was the GM of this team and I had control over basketball operations how would I how would I get this team to a point where they were competing at a high level not just like trying to make the plan sure sure sure right but when when the idea of going down or taking that pathway out of the equation like I do and and look I’m not saying Urus is perfect I’m not saying that he hasn’t also passed on opportunities to get better that could have helped this team get to the playoffs whatever it may be but when that option is removed from you it I can understand why it becomes more difficult to make trades now again I’m not saying that that’s a good reason I disagree with that reason and I feel like if you are going to own a sports team why not try to figure out the best way to get this team to compete so I’m not like saying that I agree with the reasoning but from a front office perspective I understand why that would be difficult I still probably would have done it and found another way to do it but it also helps explain why they didn’t trade Drummond for two second round picks which was what was reported because they weren’t going to have a backup center and you you probably need a backup center if you’re going to try to make the plan it it also helps explain why they might be ready to offer d rozan uh you know people have speculated 40 million his max extension for this year and next year is40 million uh this year and $43 million next year $47 million in year three um my guess is again this is a guess speculation not reporting that the Bulls are trying to offer him a Max extension over two years not over three and so when you think about it through that perspective of we have to still try to compete then it makes why they would want to retain D rozan the issue with that is they’re in a situation now where that’s going to either cost them picks in order to get off of Zack LaVine in order to do that or they’re just simply not going to be able to do that because it prevents them from going to the attack so what I find interesting about this offseason regardless of the Caruso trades that they passed up at the deadline regardless of whether or not they trade him now is they are basically in a situation where they’re having to decide between staying competitive and making the playoffs or going in the luxury tax but you can’t have it both ways so that is where the rubber meets the road I think that is where um to me it’s like that’s like the most challenging thing that AK has to manage now when you consider ownership’s wants and constraints and when you consider how you actually want to be competitive like I imagine our tus probably held on to his assets too long and you know and let some guys bleed in value I think he probably waited too long before he realized that he probably needed to make some changes but I can’t imagine that he still after in the playoffs twice in a row after seeing like Kobe get better Demar play as great as he did last year Caruso play a career high in games played and you still miss the playoffs like I can’t imagine he genuinely thinks that sticking it sticking with it is still the way to go even if you get Lonzo back even if you get Zack back it’s I can’t imagine that that is really the way he wants to go but with the constraints of ownership maybe he feels forced to go that way and and to me that’s that’s the scary part when you have a GM who is who has those kind of limitations and is making moves for his job that is a scary situation to be in and I do think that at a certain point it’s going to come to head I personally feel like it’s this summer although there are ways that they can kick the can down the road but I also thought it was last summer and I thought it was a trade deadline before that so okay do I think he’s handcuffed yes even when you bring up guys like Drummond and making a trade for him I see the logic of why you wouldn’t do it like you said the don’t have a backup center you want to make a run you’re going to need a Andre backup center would I trade him absolutely but your your next option was soogo fine I get it Demar de rozan your best player immediately hurts your chances from moving forward and doing anything in the playoffs would I trade him yes I’m different but I get it that makes sense I can’t see that logic when talking about Caruso I see it where he hurts the defense again yes the anchor on the defensive end all of that all of that of how amazing of a basketball player he is but the two players I mentioned were not getting these offers no you still for me if you still are the team you want to be which is a team that’s a playing Team even without Alex Caruso out there on the floor with you you steal that you might move to 10 that’s it you’re G to move to 10 all right fine you’re you’re you’re a 10c in the playin but you’re still that you’re still competing and you’re still playing those players cuz you’ve got a log Jam at that position at guard anyway you put them dudes out there and let them play against and throw it against the wall see how it works and how it sticks that’s where the logic leaves for me is when it comes talking about this because I can’t fathom it logically why you would pass on that when it’s not just just going to be damning to your playoff run like that damning to I said damning like destroying and taking it like you’re out of the running you’re out of the running if you lose thear de rozan you’re out you’re done I suppose if the Bulls trade away Caruso their their defensive rating that finished 21st in the NBA this season could have plummeted even further and maybe you win a few uh a bit few of those close games with one or two fewer defensive stops provided by Alex guso but yeah I mean that’s that’s just a simple quick Devil’s Advocate but I think for the most part I do think like and again I’m playing devil’s advocate here but like let’s say so let’s say that the Bulls obviously agree with you that cruso is super impactful right let’s say that they really do view it as though they would be removing the same caliber of impact as if they had removed jar okay fair let’s do that go ahead so the Bulls I believe I’m just um recalling a stat that Ricky O’Donnell had uh couple weeks ago which was that before Patrick Williams got hurt the Bulls were 14th in defense and after they were like 26 they finished 21 M so around the trade deadline they were top half in defense so they couldn’t have known when these trade offers were coming in at the trade deadline that the defense would have fallen off the way that it did so let’s say that at the trade deadline where they Kobe is playing much better they’re playing better without Zack LaVine I think they did have a winning record after between Zack lavine’s first injury and when the trade deadline happened just trying to think about it from their perspective here if you have if you take Caruso out of that situation and you feel like that’s going to tank your defense from 14 down to 30th or 25th and um the whatever you get back in return for him is not going to help replace some of that then I do see why they would be hesitant and reluctant to do that one of the things I heard was that immediately after trading Caruso they felt like they were going to have to start searching for his replacement and like I wrote it would have been fine if that was a rebuild and they had time to be able to do that but they didn’t they had to make the playoffs that year and so to me again I like I do consider this when I think of ak’s possible options and I just I agree with you that that would have been the best place to go I agree with you that ownership should not have made that mandate but given the fact that those things were true I understand why it was difficult to pull the trigger would I’ve done it anyway yes would I’ve figured out other ways to come back from the defense you know Patrick Williams at that time I don’t think had been ruled out for the year there was there was still uncertainty and I think they still felt like they could make the playoffs obviously we disagreed with that obviously we were right to disagree with that but from their perspective at that time and that’s really what I was trying to accomplish by putting those like declin trades in here really what I am more concerned about is like I said before the upcoming extension and not trading cruso and letting this turn into a Demar dzen situation after letting that turn into V situation after that letting turn into a Zack LaVine situation where now you’ve overpaid for all of your guys and for what uh we are just about out of time real quick shout out to our guy Derrick an who dropped us a $5 Super Chat thank you Derek thank you D saying the whole ass purpose to hiring a new front office was full autonomy this is the antithesis that and also further compounds ak’s mistakes invalidates any quote unquote progress okay I would push back on that a little bit I think the purpose of the new front office being full autonomy to run the basketball Ops how they wanted to was what was sold publicly orator to the fans I think the real whole ass purpose of getting rid of John and gar and bringing a new front office was twofold John Paxon job for life if he wants one came to Jerry and said hey I’m getting kind of tired of failing and I’m maybe maybe I’m done failing at trying to run this team in a successful way and Jerry looked around and said said well you know what John actually now that you bring that up maybe we can make a pivot here because the stadium is actually finally starting to empty out and we are hosting all-star weekend for the first time in damn near 20 years 30 years and we are the laughing stock of the NBA this is true the the stadium was finally emptying at the tail end of that 1920 season and at the same time the Bulls are embarrassed as the hosts team for Allstar Weekend that and Pax and firing himself was the whole ass purpose of a new front office it wasn’t to actually give that new front office full autonomy to run the team regardless of how the rhin dorfs see the best ways fit to run their team I think that’s a bit misguided of a take uh appreciate everybody for chiming into the conversation today we uh can continue this conversation in whatever facet that y’all want to tomorrow or maybe let’s all go take a break and drown each other in the river that’s fair thank you go wonderful reporting from the goat go read it if you haven’t yet there’s plenty more into that we didn’t even get to in this conversation willor Godly breed stuff allo.com that column is up right now Big D at B bwl Sports our P producer on the controls Joyce BS at Joyce BS on bulls corek we are CH joore Bulls back tomorrow same time same place 400 p.m. central Time hit the like on your way out if you didn’t do it yet we really appreciate it make sure you also subscribe cribe to Cho Sports YouTube channel see R be good sell the damn team stop being dumb the damn stop being dumb freaking bye we allting like the mayor

The CHGO Bulls crew break down new reporting from Will Gottlieb that the Bulls turned down multiple high-value offers for Alex Caruso. The two-time All Defensive Team star is widely sought after, and the Bulls received several calls about him leading up to the trade deadline. Sources indicate that more than one offer included multiple first round picks, and even a top-10 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. But according to the source, “there was a mandate from the Reinsdorfs to fight for the Playoffs.” So Arturas Karnisovas held onto Caruso past the deadline. Matt, Big Dave and Will analyze this report, and what it means for the Bulls, Caruso, and the future of the organization.

An ALLCITY Network Production

BECOME A DIEHARD! https://www.allchgo.com/diehard

BUY OUR NEW CHICAGO COLLECTION! https://chgolocker.com/collections/the-chicago-collection

PARTY WITH US: https://bit.ly/3SRS03z

SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/CHGOSports

ALL THINGS CHGO: https://linktr.ee/chgosports

WEBSITE:
http://allCHGO.com/

BUY MERCH:
http://CHGOLocker.com

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL:
Twitter: @CHGO_Sports
Instagram: @CHGO_Sports

GET OUR FREE NEWSLETTER:
http://www.allchgo.com/newsletter

WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS: https://www.fubotv.com/chgo

Sunyside Cannabis Dispensary: Head to https://sunnyside.shop and use code ‘HICHGO’ at checkout for 35% off favorite brands like Cresco, Good News, & more to elevate your first purchase! Sunnyside* Cannabis Dispensary -Bright buys, every day. Only for 21+ or IL medical card holders

Head to https://salernospizza.com or call 312-666-3444 for more information – Mention CHGO and get half off your pizza!

Let’s level up your nicotine routine with Lucy. Go to https://Lucy.co/CHGOBULLS and use promo code (CHGOBULLS) to get 20% off your first order. Lucy offers FREE SHIPPING and has a 30-day refund policy if you change your mind. That’s LUCY.CO and use code (CHGOBULLS) to get 20% off and always FREE shipping. And here comes the fine print: Lucy products are ONLY for adults of legal age, and every order is age-verified. WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

MANSCAPED: Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with code BULLS at Manscaped.com. That’s 20% off and free shipping with code BULLS at Manscaped.com.

Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door with Instacart by going to https://coorslight.com/CHGOBasketball. Celebrate Responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado.

Head to https://factormeals.com/chgobulls50 and use code chgobulls50 to get 50% off. That’s code chgobulls50 at https://factormeals.com/chgobulls50 to get 50% off!

Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CHGO for $20 off your first purchase.

Check out FOCO for merch and collectibles here https://foco.vegb.net/CHGO and use promo code “CHGO10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items.

AG1 is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. Just visit https://drinkAG1.com/CHGOBulls

When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions.

Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

#Bulls #ChicagoBulls #BullsNation