What is our "Core" for the future?

[HomoSapien]

nobody, including my favorite Bull Coby White. a savvy front office would sell high on Coby and Caruso. We need draft picks. and lots of them.

You enjoying watching this team play? I’d like this team to be something more than a perpetual 10th seed personally.

Am I the only one on this board who is enjoying this season (since Coby ascended)? I see so much doom and gloom around here, and I get it when discussing the future but this season has been fun lately. We're 17-11 during that stretch.

[nomorezorro]

i love caruso as much as anyone but he's about to turn 30, he plays in a way that doesn't necessarily portend well for his longevity, and he's only got 1.5 seasons left on his value contract. it would be absurd to consider himself part of the "future core" on a team whose only two worthwhile long-term pieces* are 24 and 23 years old, and also both play basically the same position as caruso. i think you have to bite the bullet and trade him soon and hope that ayo can give you like, 65% of what he brings to the table.

*who aren't currently demanding a trade

[SalmonsSuperfan]

You enjoying watching this team play? I’d like this team to be something more than a perpetual 10th seed personally.

Am I the only one on this board who is enjoying this season (since Coby ascended)? I see so much doom and gloom around here, and I get it when discussing the future but this season has been fun lately. We're 17-11 during that stretch.

the team mortgaged its future to produce a really bad team. I'm as disheartened about this team as I've ever been....I barely want to watch basketball. but Coby is a nice silver lining, very happy for him, but my general mood is closer to doom and gloom than to something resembling optimism. I'd feel better if they committed to starting over rather than treadmilling as a play-in team.

[PerkinsFor3]

Build around SANOGO!

[Ice Man]

There is no future core. We have 8 useful piecess who are good enough to play in a championship-quality rotation, but none are strong enough to make a meaningful difference to a team's future.

If you say that's unfair to Coby, not really. Coby is roughly equivalent to Tyler Herro -- that's a fair comparison -- and Tyler Herro is not core. The Heat are a meh regular season team when Tyler plays. It's not as if he's a third true star, who can turn the Butler/Bam duo into a strong regular season squad. And in the playoffs the Heat win without him. He didn't even make the court in last year's playoff, run, and he was trash in the 2022 playoffs when the Heat made the ECFs. He's just not that important.

[RSP83]

Coby. Maybe Pat.

[Ice Man]

Am I the only one on this board who is enjoying this season (since Coby ascended)? I see so much doom and gloom around here, and I get it when discussing the future but this season has been fun lately. We're 17-11 during that stretch.

A fair point. They have been playing pretty good ball. I enjoy watching them. But I think it's a bit deceptive to think of this year/'s Bulls as being a true 17-11 team, while discarding their previous results. Just as it would be wrong to think of them as a 5-14 team, then discarding the later results. The Bulls had the same players during both stretches, with the same coach. They are best decribed by looking at their entire record -- a roughly .500, play-in squad.

Which, as you know, would be exciting if the Bulls were 2 seasons removed from being a 20-win team, on their way up, and improving because they were led by their youngest players. But since that is not the case, yeah people are crabby.

[rosenthall]

IMO to be "core" you have to project as a starter on a competitive team in your current role.

By that metric arguably no one is core, but Coby, Caruso and Pat could project into a teams' death lineup. Drummond, Terry, Phillips and Ayo could play their role successfully from the bench on a contending team, but bench players are easy to find, so I don't think you should be able to include them.

[d boy gentleman]

nobody, including my favorite Bull Coby White. a savvy front office would sell high on Coby and Caruso. We need draft picks. and lots of them.

You enjoying watching this team play? I’d like this team to be something more than a perpetual 10th seed personally.

So, you want them to be a perpetual bottom feeder getting their teeth kicked in fiending for a top 3 pick? I want them to develop players and have a nice young core mixed in with veterans and not "sell high" a young player coming into his own for picks 21-30.

[drosestruts]

Right now I'd say nobody.

A core player to me is someone that we'd treat as nearly untouchable and would be the focal point of any additions we make to the roster. As an example, if we decided Coby was our centerpiece, any player we draft, sign, or trade for - the question would be "do they fit with and compliment Coby White".

We don't have that. The closest we have to that is Zach LaVine and it looks like he might be on his way out, and during his time we never fully commited to building around him. Some signings like Ball and Caruso look great with LaVine. Other moves like DeRozan and Vuc seemed to be adding talent for the sake of adding talent and not really done so with how it all fits. Which can sometimes work, but other times look like what we've seen for the past 2.5 years.

So I wouldn't say we have a core. Everyone is tradeable, with obviously different price tags.

I actually think that if one wanted to commit to a rebuild - the best assets we have to do so would be trading both Caruso and White.

A team like the Knicks with 7 1sts over the next three years could be a huge trading partner for a White, Caruso, Drummond package.

[Stratmaster]

Demar could be a core player. But he is older and his contract is expiring.

Vuc could be a fringe core player. But he wants a bigger role than his play justifies.

Billy is certainly not a going forward coach. I mean, he may be. But he shouldn't be.

Coby has improved. But he is still a streaky player, turns the ball over too much, and makes a lot of poor decisions. He is a less consistent Lavine.

PWill has shown no indication he can ever be a core player for anyone.

Ayo...flashes of very good. No consistency whatsoever.

Lavine should be a core player. But he and the head coach won't play nice in the sandbox together.

Caruso is a core player with a well-built team. But the Bulls aren't that.

So all of that to say, in my best Jim Mora voice, "Core? Don't talk about – core?! You kiddin' me? Core?! I just hope we can win a game!"

[Ice Man]

Right now I'd say nobody.

A core player to me is someone that we'd treat as nearly untouchable and would be the focal point of any additions we make to the roster. As an example, if we decided Coby was our centerpiece, any player we draft, sign, or trade for - the question would be "do they fit with and compliment Coby White".

You did right to define how you use "core," as there are varying beliefs as to what constitutes a core player. As you write, if the defintion of core player = young guy who is of starter quality, and maybe could get better, then Coby qualifies.

If, however, the definition of a core player is "a guy that a contending team will not let go," which is how I view the matter, then we don't have such a player. I mentioned Tyler Herro. Do the Heat want him? Sure. Of course. Would the Heat deal Herro as part of a deal to find what Pat Riley thinks is the essential 3rd piece to go with Butler and Bam? Yes it would. But Pat wouldn't trade either of those guys. So Tyler is not core.

[MGB8]

No one is a “core player.” A core player, to me, is a central player on a better than play in level team - a guy who wouldn’t be moved except for a star (generally an upgrade, a la TO trading DDR for Kawhi).

It may be sacrilege to some here, but I’m still not sure that Coby White is better than Jordan Clarkson was and has been. Maybe he develops into a Jamal Murray type player - which would be a core guy - but I’m not convinced yet. Needs more consistency at a very high level both in terms of scoring and distributing.

DDR is too old to be a core guy - but he is pretty darned consistent in terms of his scoring, rarely having a bad total output game, and mixing a majority of good to very good games with a few outstanding games - despite the negative impact of DeMar ISOball on other players.

Pat Williams could become a core player, too, assuming he stays healthy and gets more consistent playing at his higher level rather than his lower tier… but that hasn’t happened yet, either. Ayo could also become one, but he’s further than even Pat. And so on.

[dougthonus]

If Pat pulls a Coby White and hits all his development after signing a team friendly extension, and you keep Coby and Ayo, let DeMar walk and dump Zach/Vuc for expirings and get medical retirement for Lonzo, you could be looking at:

Coby, Ayo, Carter, Caruso, Pat and like 100M to spend on other players. Not saying you could get to contender with that, but you have some wiggle room.

[MissileMike]

If Pat pulls a Coby White and hits all his development after signing a team friendly extension, and you keep Coby and Ayo, let DeMar walk and dump Zach/Vuc for expirings and get medical retirement for Lonzo, you could be looking at:

Coby, Ayo, Carter, Caruso, Pat and like 100M to spend on other players. Not saying you could get to contender with that, but you have some wiggle room.

This has been my hope all along. From a team in a terrible position to a team in a relatively good position within a year.

[ChettheJet]

Guys that should be the rotation in 2 years; Coby, Patrick, Ayo, Phillips, the 2024 pick, maybe Terry if he develops his shot, Sanogo, Drell if they get on the floor next year.

In 2 years no DeRoazn, Caruso, Vuc, Carter, unlikely Drummond, Craig or Taylor, I think Lavine moves on before that. Wild prediction is that a healthy Lonzo signs for a year or 2 at a reduced figure because he rewards the loyalty the Bulls showed in not trading him while he couldn't play

[TheSuzerain]

Ideally, we re-sign PWill on a reasonable deal. Then we tank/rebuild for 1 season next year before ascending.

I feel like that's the best approach to 'renew' our core with minimal pain (tanking).

We're obviously not in a good position, but I think we could start being "one good break" away (e.g. random lucky star) with a thoughtful 12 months here.

[FriedRise]

I think it's just Coby. Ayo has been playing great, but him and Pat haven't really shown that they can be anything more than a 3&D role player.

I need to see it, much like I saw it last year with Coby when he was coming off the bench playing 18-20mpg. You can just tell that he was gonna have a break-out year.

If we're being honest, I wanted to see this year's Coby with Zach while DeMar and Vooch play a 3rd and 4th option role.

[Stratmaster]

If Pat pulls a Coby White and hits all his development after signing a team friendly extension, and you keep Coby and Ayo, let DeMar walk and dump Zach/Vuc for expirings and get medical retirement for Lonzo, you could be looking at:

Coby, Ayo, Carter, Caruso, Pat and like 100M to spend on other players. Not saying you could get to contender with that, but you have some wiggle room.

So you have maybe 1 starter quality player and 100m?

If that's how this ends up, it would be the worst GM performance in NBA history.

Ok... that's a little bit of hyperbole. I would have to research every horrible GM in history. But you get the idea.

Sent from my SM-S911U using RealGM mobile app

[Guru]

Coby/Ayo/____/____/_____
____/Caruso/____/PWill/Drummond

I really like how you have this set up. Mine differs a bit I will have 4 lanes
1-Starter
2-Maybe Starter
3-Rotational reserve
4-Fringe Rotational reserve

Coby/Caruso/________/_______/_________
____/______/________/PAW/_________
AYO/AYO/________/______/_________
____/______/Terry/Phillips/_________

Thats 6 pieces to an 11-12 team rotation with injuries what not
I am happy with Drummond and DDR taking up 2 of the other spots without question

In a sense it could look like this for the short term (Lets say they draft Filipowski)

Coby/Caruso/DDR/_______/Filipowski
____/______/________/PAW/_________
AYO/AYO/________/______/Drummond
____/______/Terry/Phillips/_________