Step 1 of a rebuild is to fire AKME

[coldfish]

If you agreed with the moves or not, I think just about everyone agrees that the entire concept here didn't work. You can pick on Donovan, Lavine, Derozan, Williams, Vucevic or whomever but whoever you point the finger at, AKME put them there. I personally don't think the team is a Lonzo Ball away from being a top 4 type.

IMO, here is the real sin though: Last year at the trade deadline you knew that Ball was possibly gone forever. The team wasn't good and there was no reason to think that they were going to get good. The Bulls could have started shedding players for a rebuild then. Instead, they doubled down on the same group that now looks like a play in long shot. That was just catastrophically dumb. By pushing off the rebuild, not only did you delay the next point where things start to look up but you degrade the assets you have to do it.

At this point, I don't trust AKME's judgment. Too many mistakes in hindsight. No way do I hand them the keys and trust them to make trades and try to build the next version of the team. Find someone else. Probably now. That person can then start to clean up the wreckage.

[JimmyButler21]

Step 1 of a rebuild is to force Reinsdorf to sell. Because nothing is changing as long as the Bulls are owned by that family.

[TheGOATRises007]

AKME should be fired.

They've completely failed in building a playoff-level team. I don't trust them in building a contending team ever.

[RagingBull316]

It doesn't matter who the GM is, they are going to be handcuffed by ownership on making the move that puts them over the top. They will never go into the luxury tax. They will keep telling you they will, but they will do everything to make sure they don't have too.

This organization and Jerry Reinsdorf doesn't care about winning a Championship. They only want to be a playoff team.

Once you accept this, and you stop caring. It makes it a lot easier.

[GoBlue72391]

If you agreed with the moves or not, I think just about everyone agrees that the entire concept here didn't work. You can pick on Donovan, Lavine, Derozan, Williams, Vucevic or whomever but whoever you point the finger at, AKME put them there. I personally don't think the team is a Lonzo Ball away from being a top 4 type.

IMO, here is the real sin though: Last year at the trade deadline you knew that Ball was possibly gone forever. The team wasn't good and there was no reason to think that they were going to get good. The Bulls could have started shedding players for a rebuild then. Instead, they doubled down on the same group that now looks like a play in long shot. That was just catastrophically dumb. By pushing off the rebuild, not only did you delay the next point where things start to look up but you degrade the assets you have to do it.

At this point, I don't trust AKME's judgment. Too many mistakes in hindsight. No way do I hand them the keys and trust them to make trades and try to build the next version of the team. Find someone else. Probably now. That person can then start to clean up the wreckage.

I agree with everything you said, but this team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf.

AKME is here for the long haul. They have a 10 year minimum buffer before any change happens and we're only at the start of year 4.

[kulaz3000]

If you agreed with the moves or not, I think just about everyone agrees that the entire concept here didn't work. You can pick on Donovan, Lavine, Derozan, Williams, Vucevic or whomever but whoever you point the finger at, AKME put them there. I personally don't think the team is a Lonzo Ball away from being a top 4 type.

IMO, here is the real sin though: Last year at the trade deadline you knew that Ball was possibly gone forever. The team wasn't good and there was no reason to think that they were going to get good. The Bulls could have started shedding players for a rebuild then. Instead, they doubled down on the same group that now looks like a play in long shot. That was just catastrophically dumb. By pushing off the rebuild, not only did you delay the next point where things start to look up but you degrade the assets you have to do it.

At this point, I don't trust AKME's judgment. Too many mistakes in hindsight. No way do I hand them the keys and trust them to make trades and try to build the next version of the team. Find someone else. Probably now. That person can then start to clean up the wreckage.

I agree with everything said here. Instead of having the intelligence to start pivoting last season, they foolishly double downed. Now potential positive assets, may likely be less so now. It's almost like the front offices is intentionally trying to rob this franchise of any hope.

The harsh reality is that the easiest scapegoat is going to be firing Billy, and the front office will likely stick around for much longer than they deserve, much like many Chicago Bulls personnel. And we're going to have to witness a rebuilding by these buffoons, which I can already foresee, terrible trades, even worse draft picks.

This isn't going to be a pretty couple of years for Bulls fans.

[fleet]

MR will do it right this time.

[coldfish]

It doesn't matter who the GM is, they are going to be handcuffed by ownership on making the move that puts them over the top. They will never go into the luxury tax. They will keep telling you they will, but they will do everything to make sure they don't have too.

This organization and Jerry Reinsdorf doesn't care about winning a Championship. They only want to be a playoff team.

Once you accept this, and you stop caring. It makes it a lot easier.

Here is the thing: They want to be a playoff team getting sellouts most nights with good TV ratings.

This is going to get ugly to the point where it hurts their bottom line. Come January, the UC is going to be empty and the TV ads are going to look like 3AM QVC commercials. I certainly agree that Reinsdorf is going to make going for a title difficult under today's salary rules but this team is WELL below what they are looking for.

[TheGOATRises007]

It doesn't matter who the GM is, they are going to be handcuffed by ownership on making the move that puts them over the top. They will never go into the luxury tax. They will keep telling you they will, but they will do everything to make sure they don't have too.

This organization and Jerry Reinsdorf doesn't care about winning a Championship. They only want to be a playoff team.

Once you accept this, and you stop caring. It makes it a lot easier.

Here is the thing: They want to be a playoff team getting sellouts most nights with good TV ratings.

This is going to get ugly to the point where it hurts their bottom line. Come January, the UC is going to be empty and the TV ads are going to look like 3AM QVC commercials. I certainly agree that Reinsdorf is going to make going for a title difficult under today's salary rules but this team is WELL below what they are looking for.

I agree with most of that, but I'm not sure the UC will ever be empty.

[Wingy]

Damn it, fish.

I was gonna make a fire AKME thread and collect lots of +1s.

You know I agree with all those bashing the ownership.

AK brought in this mismatched, poor fit of a roster and made all sorts of mistake small and colossal.

Yet ultimately, the ownership hired this nincompoop, and they let GarPax roll on well past their expiration date. Not only are they cheap relative to a big market team, they have no idea how to hire strong organizational leadership.

We need this thing burned down from the very top. As my sig has said for a few years now, the real answer is…

[HearshotKDS]

It shouldnt even be a question, with hindsight we can see the big picture that AKME traded a ton of draft capital and cap flexibility to acquire the pieces to a 31-41, 46-36, 40-42, and whatever this year ends up being seasons. They hitched their wagon to these horses and these horses failed. You dont get to gamble the future, lose, and then stick around to gamble the next future off - see you never AKME.

[Repeat 3-peat]

I'm still not sure what Mark Eversley did to get a GM job. I understand why AK was hired.

[Jcool0]

I'm still not sure what Mark Eversley did to get a GM job. I understand why AK was hired.

https://andscape.com/features/black-executives-around-nba-frustrated-by-bulls-front-office-search/

[Repeat 3-peat]

I'm still not sure what Mark Eversley did to get a GM job. I understand why AK was hired.

https://andscape.com/features/black-executives-around-nba-frustrated-by-bulls-front-office-search/

Oh I forgot about that

Embarrassing.

[KirkHinrich12]

Not only was it idiotic to not dump everyone last deadline while their values were much higher, they could’ve (should’ve) properly tanked for a potential generational talent in Wembanyana. Brandon Miller, Scott, Thompson bros etc. All would’ve been great pieces to get rolling with as well. Just a disaster

[Bandit King]

Good luck with that!!

White Sox still look like clowns even after shaking things up.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

The regional TV rights contract for the Bulls expires in October 2024.

I suspect that we’ll be stuck with some version of this treadmill team and the FO that built it until the next deal closes.

The one ray of hope is last season’s ratings dip. They didn’t see that coming. It’s possible the TV rights market considers the status quo as unpalatable as a full rebuild from a ratings standpoint.

[BigUps]

They need to fire them before they resign DDR.

[MGB8]

Imagine if they just hadn’t done that trade for Vuc, and if they just hadn’t tried to be the anti Pax or smarter than everyone else.

Donovan, while mediocre / over-rated, was still a step up from the prior clown show. He was even the one who experimented with Lauri at the 3.

But they needed rebounding… and could have gotten an expiring Drummond for Otto and a 2nd rounder, to start ahead of WCJr, as he learned (even if he was more middling than cornerstone). And that would have left a place for Lauri.

They needed a 3&D wing to go with LaVine, and so if they weren’t gonna go with Halli because of Coby (which is dumb, cuz Coby had proven nothing), Vassell was an obvious choice.

And when Coby failed to quickly grow as a pg (where he still hasn’t proven he is a starting level PG rather than a reserve combo), they could have gone out and gotten one.

Instead, it’s been big names and doubling down on failure…, with little adjustment, even when the issues are obvious (Vuc being meh, rim defense, and the need for strong PG play and leadership to keep meh personalities in line)….

[RSP83]

I'm fine with this. He had so many chances to do something about it. But he just kept sticking with a failing plan.