2024 Bulls Draft Media Availability | Chicago Bulls

2024 Bulls Draft Media Availability | Chicago Bulls

did not plan on that yeah right oh yeah actually you could believe you was there hello all right it’s uh good to see everyone uh thank you for being here uh obviously it didn’t plan on this night um just came out that way uh when I last uh saw you guys I told you that uh we needed to make changes and uh we have started um that process while I cannot speak to all of the potential changes as uh it’s it’s hard to predict uh what we might look like in a week or two uh what can I talk about is draft selection and the trade we made recently so we have been uh very diligent this offseason assessing every aspect of the Steam and made the initial changes to staff um that were very difficult yet uh necessary so the highlights uh we added uh West selt Dan Craig to our coaching staff we moved John Bryan to front office uh front office front of the bench we brought uh Henry domercant uh as an assistant now from Wendy City and uh Billy D III uh will will take over as a head coach of Wendy City we also added uh Eric Waters as director of uh health and performance uh so a lot of still staff stuff is still in progress I’m giving you a lot of information because you’re obviously happy to see me I uh do not give you enough time uh but here I am um a lot of information uh I’m OB VI ly happy about the trade um um happy that we were able to get this deal done and bring Josh to Chicago uh bringing uh a very talented guard that is an elite playmaker and rebounder with Elite size his game is predicated on making everyone better around him uh those guys are hard to find and they are not available uh we were fortunate to get him and he comes at the high price which was a um I wanted to thank Alex for amazing three years uh he was great for the city of Chicago and uh Bulls um organization and we wish him all the best in OKC and uh the last obviously to touch on uh on a pick today it’s exciting day another Chicago kid uh you know uh one caveat that he’s also you know Lithuanian uh I did not plan for this today it just worked out that way um but we’re very excited to add him uh to our young group uh very versatile uh Wing swing uh that play for ignite we watched them all year um and uh very happy to add him um uh I take my role of uh reshaping this team very seriously uh and tonight was an important step in that direction um as I’ve said everything is on a table I want fans to know that we are committed and the process of building a team for a long-term success so uh We’ve made some initial changes at this offseason and uh now our Focus shifts uh on Friday to free agency um well we can’t predict exactly what’s going to happen uh we determined to strengthen our roster um with that I’ll open it up for questions our turet hey now you say obviously you can’t predict what you’re going to look like in a week or two um but it’s hard not to look at the Caruso foridi trade and now obviously adding a 19-year-old and not look at it overall as the start of a pivot from competitiveness fighting for playin or the eight seed maybe more of a youth movement is that where you guys are headed I think directional stuff we’re going to be able ble to uh more establish in a week or two so we’re going to wait I’m going to let let the free agency process work it out and uh we’re going to have more information I can comment that later Joe kie sometimes hi Joe hi um one of the things before we get to that is with with Josh one of the things he brought up was his role changed as the team got better the opposite of that is as the team got better his role diminished what did you see his season play out to be and are you concerned that yes I mean he comes with a lot of promise but on a team that was preparing for a championship run he kind of faded lost playing time in that Dallas series and then lost a starting job eventually well I think he’s still 21 uh his production uh was really good last three years um he has room for growth and I think you know come coming here to Chicago he’s going to be able to demonstrate more playmaking and he’ll make everyone else better you know um probably one of the areas that he’s going to get better uh actually you know most of the players that come to our league they become a better Shooters so I think once he becomes a better shooter he’s going to be a threat and then he’s going to be able to uh playmake much better so but like I said you know I didn’t you know I was close to him and he was you know 68 four guard you know great size and I always like the fact that he rebounded which we also need uh help with so hi uh good the uh want to go to the cruso part of it and the trade for him um it’s been reported that just at different times uh it’s been different offers of teams Maybe you draft picks and draft capital for Caruso and you decided to take a player trade instead I’m just kind of curious if you can explain your philosophy with that and why maybe you value this trade over a pick that or a trade that may have brought back draft Capital instead well I think that’s a trade that you know we prefer over picks because you know it’s it’s it’s hard to acquire players this young this productive that early in their careers especially when he already has like 11 triple doubles in his career so yeah so we were just excited and we thought that that was the you know the price price to pay for Josh yeah tus Matas just talked about your relationship with his father what can you tell us about the extent of that relationship how far back it goes and just how close are you with him no I mean I I know his his his dad he was I think he was PT for Lithuanian national team and um I’ve met him a couple times we had conversations and you know and uh I met him when you know he worked with uh uh yonos Swan chunes also another Lithuanian uh player that plays in our league so yeah I knew their family it’s it’s a good family but he grew up in Chicago and um we had another Chicago Kid to the roster he your tus just kind of piggybacking off Jamal’s question um I think one of the criticisms of that deal was that you didn’t get one of Oklahoma City’s picks in it with with giddy can you just speak to why that went down that way and what were your thoughts on that I think I mean I I I feel that this this deal was fair uh both sides got what they wanted you know what OKC accomplished they got you know the guard that guards and um you know more of a vet and you know we went with Josh who’s still 21 years old and he been very productive and we look into the future so um that was the rationale behind it I think it was a good deal for both Urus you’ve got the uh pick going to the Spurs next year top 10 protected um and then top eight top eight the following years I’m curious how that fact s into your plans for next year in terms of you know is that something that you’re going to aim to try to keep and not convey um is that going to be like a shorter term thing uh or are you not at all focused on that I don’t I don’t think you know our plans for next year going to imp be impacted by our pick so I think uh what’s going to be available in free agency which which we still don’t know um I think directional stuff will be next two weeks so we’ll have more information and we’ll be able to see what we look like as a team Ur you’ve said publicly many times you hope to resign dear de Rosen um there’s been quite a bit of speculation about his future obviously he can be uh make his own choice starting Sunday are you still confident in resigning him and is that something the organization still wants to do as as I said also before we’re going to look at everything you know everything is on a table and you know it’s still an option quick following up um you said also you wouldn’t answer kind of overall philosophy of Direction but you’ll talk to us after free agency if memory serves you don’t talk after free agency next time you talk well I’m going to see you hopefully in summer league and we can you know chat you know I’ll I’ll tell you all about it so about that I’m GNA hold you to that okay here we go so I think I think yeah it’s it’s it’s important time you know you know we still have to you know tomorrow uh second day of the draft and then free agency starts and uh uh you know like I said you know week and two weeks away from now we’re going to able to uh to comment on that um H how do you see um Giddy and Matas Mattis playing together um uh what the rookie the guy just picked what what position is he in the NBA what’s his position and how does that impact with Patrick Williams so I’m very qualified to say his name you know mat buis um yeah his versatility it’s it’s very you know evident you know in terms of his position our league is moving towards you know like multi-positional wings you know and just size and athleticism and versatility you can put it on the floor uh and then switchability right you know he averaged more than two blocks per game so you know I don’t know exactly what to expect uh you know next year but I know that those guys going to be on the floor and they very versatile so um and then you know we’ll once we know after a couple weeks what we look like uh we can you know obviously talk or organizational and obviously with the Billy how we’re going to play Lonzo uh expressed some Lonzo ball express some optimism that he’d be ready for the start of the this next season me too will that be here do you expect you know is that something you guys are expecting that he can be ready to to play and do you expect to you know have him on the roster yes it’s moving along you know we don’t know what what he’s going to look like in you know in a month or two so we’re just going to take one step at a time and you know hopefully he’s going to be ready for training camp contact with him since the season has ended about yeah so we have contact you know he’s continues you know working he comes here to work out and then he go he continues his work in LA uh we’re going to touch base next week and I think he’s going to be around the team also in summer league so yeah the work is you know continued to work and we’ll see what we’re going to look like in two months our ter is following up on that is Lonzo still on schedule to start five on five full scrimmages in August I think was talked about yes he’s clear to do pretty much everything on the floor so we continue to strengthen him and you know and like I said you know next two months we’ll see uh what he’s going to look like and then follow up to that with going back to Josh obviously you guys have to make a contract decision on him possibly after after this next season is this kind of a dress rehearsal for him or in your mind when you acquired him this is for long term I mean you are looking to lock him up well when you make deals I think you always hope for a long time right so but for him is now you know he he went back to Australia he’s going to play for national team and he’s going to go to Olympics and then he’s going to come back and you know for the first time is going to be able to uh see his teammates and we’ll take it from there our J you’ve got two other guys uh Beyond Lonzo coming off surgeries Zach told us in February in Los Angeles that he was ahead of schedule and that he kind of expected a normal offseason what is his status and what is Patrick Williams status in terms of coming off his surgery I think that well Zach is fully cleared uh to do everything and uh and Patrick is still on his way uh to recovery but you know they you know like I said you know they should should be should be ready uh this summer so I think so we got to look at his schedule but I think he’s he was planning to to be ready for a training camp yeah yeah all ter can you talk about how much uh did you guys even spend much time discussing uh buellis before the draft since he was expected to go well we did you know you you spend weeks and weeks on you know studying those guys uh you know you expect certain guys to go earlier before you and you know certain guys you know drop um but but again we were patient you know at 11 pick that’s you know that’s how we had uh picked the highest and uh we made a selection and we’re really happy to see him there can’t can’t you tell I’m very happy it’s been a long day so sorry um what what do you think Matas got or gained by going the G League route versus the college R and what do you see is the pros and cons in in a situation like that well he played against men right so you know the one thing that you know that ignite team just got beat up and a lot of those guys came from winning programs but you know uh this year they didn’t win that many games but they competed against uh you know grown men so I think physicality and you know as close as you can get to NBA game that’s what they experience in G league so hopefully that translates uh uh into NBA for him faster but he has a lot of things to work on and I think he’s looking forward to it Urus you said you you know you’re going to let us know the direction once free agency goes how much time have you guys spent kind of looking at different directions you can go in I mean obviously there’s the one competing for a playoff spot and then there’s the rebuild and then there’s kind of a middle ground like have you guys you know kind of carve these out what you think it could look like well you prepare yourself we just don’t know who’s going to be available in free agency so uh once we know that we’re going to able to tell tell more about free agency first have you been informed by uh Tory Craig or his representative if he’s picking up his player option no not yet do you expect him to pick up his player option I don’t know we’ll wait you got two more days yeah thanks thanks Casey anybody else thank you thanks everyone

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