Trying to understand the Chicago Bulls’ lack of trades | The Athletic NBA Show
Well one one of your other stand Pat teams was the Bulls who are one of the most talked about teams in the runup to the deadline they end up doing nothing and outside of a small deal for a second round pick they have not made a trade to a chiry player since August
2021 in your opinion how much of their inaction was due to the lack of quality offers at the deadline versus their own lack of a plan great context Alex as a brief light-hearted aside I always love the Between Two Ferns Vibe you have going behind you that shout out to the
Uh the is it Zack galanakis show that yes indeed indeed also Alex I know I’m just I’m now I’m just pumping you up you have the best voice on the athletic NBA show pod I’m just gonna put that out there love it love it honor um but yeah
The context is great as far I honestly hadn’t like slowed down when it comes to the Bulls to to realize that they hadn’t made a move since 2021 um I mean that’s wild you know and really what it speaks to is you know arturus cares Vis takes over
That front office and I wish I had the date in front of me you guys might be able to cheat and help me out as far as exactly when he was hired away from Denver uh but obviously they he came in there like Gang Busters and made a bunch
Of moves they were competitive right away they were the number one seed in January in that first year and we thought they were going to have a long Runway Lonzo ball was going to be part of the future and things were bright right and and now it’s like man they you
Know I had a crack in my story about them that you know and this is a very dated dated reference but you know there an old song back in 1973 called Stuck In The Middle With You that uh that came to mind because it’s like that’s all these
Teams and the Bulls are one of them that they’re stuck in the middle um and I I probably should have credited if I’m being honest in the column U the legendary Michael wilbon so he was on ESPN yesterday talking about Jerry Ryan dorf and and I’m always in Andrew you
Know this like I love unpacking the the human element of of the league and why certain things happen so wilbon pointed out that reinsdorf is 87 years old which the only reason that is kind of worth mentioning is that you led the franchise to won six championships you know the
History they still play the music in the building um Bulls fans are still coming out pulling their checkbooks out you know filling the the the arena and by and large even when you have a team that is stuck in the middle you’re still not only making money but having a decent
Time you know half the time and and and when you when the owner is at this stage in life you know the observation that wilbon made was maybe that’s just enough maybe it’s just that is the desire to not bottom out and to rebuild like I think most Executives would think they
Should that the the motivation of the driving force might in fact be the guy who runs the shop and that I don’t know what else to point to because Demar D rozan is going to be a free agent now listen I I was told told yesterday from
Dear’s Camp that he is very he likes it there like he he could resign if the number is right but he’s going to be pushing for a a big number he’s still a very productive player um so that is by no means a certainty that he could be
Back and and then you could have the debate about whether they should want a back based on their timeline and what they’re trying to do because once you get past Kobe white who is is obviously just having an incredible year you know Patrick Williams in the last year of his
Deal um l with the just incredibly unfortunate knee problems that have got him out I think he supposed to be starting to to run in January but he’s missing two seasons um they I mean Andrew on our pod we we give the Warriors a hard time a lot about having
Two tracks young and old like the Bulls are taking this thing you know to a to a different level and not obviously having had any of the success that a team like the Warriors have
The Athletic NBA Show discuss the Chicago Bulls’ trade deadline.
