Category: Bulls

Bulls legend Scottie Pippen doesn’t think he’ll ever talk to Michael Jordan again

During a recent podcast appearance, Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen said he doesn’t think he’ll ever talk to Michael Jordan again.

In the 1990s, the Chicago Bulls were on top of the world. Led by Michael Jordan, they took home six NBA Championships, going undefeated in NBA Finals appearances. However, Jordan didn’t do it alone. Scottie Pippen was right by his side for every title run.

However, fast forward to the present day, and the two players aren’t very fond of one another. At least, Pippen isn’t fond of Jordan. During a recent appearance on Stacey King’s podcast, “Gimme the Hot Sauce,” Pippen had some very negative things to say about his former teammate, even going as far as saying he doesn’t think they’ll speak again.

When King asked Pippen if he thinks he’ll ever talk to Jordan again, the Bulls legend simply replied, “No, I don’t.” In addition, Pippen stated that Jordan was a “horrible player” before he joined the team and the dynasty was formed.

“I’ll leave that up for debate, because I don’t believe there’s a great player because our game’s a team game, and one player can’t do it,” said Pippen. “I saw Jordan play before I came to play with the Bulls. You guys saw him play. He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. He was all one-on-one, he’s shooting bad shots, and all of a sudden we become a team and we start winning and everybody forgot who he was.”

Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest player in the history of the NBA, but clearly, Pippen doesn’t think so. And with all the things he had to say about Jordan, his prediction of them never talking again is probably spot on.

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Chicago Bulls privately believe Lonzo Ball won’t ‘ever play again’

As Lonzo Ball continues to navigate his current injury woes, the Chicago Bulls privately believe he won’t ever play again.

It’s been a tumultuous two seasons for the Chicago Bulls since they made moves to push for the playoffs. In 2021, they shifted forward, trading for Nikola Vucevic and signing DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso. They made the postseason that year, but this past season, they were eliminated in the Play-In Tournament.

Chicago got off to a hot start in 2021, but ever since Ball went down with a knee injury, they’ve struggled. The injury held him out the entire season half of the 2021-22 season, as well as all of the 2022-23 season. Now, it’s looking like he could miss all of next year, too, and according to Dan Bernstein of 670 The Score, the Bulls believe he may never play again.

During a recent edition of the Organizations Win Championships podcast, Bernstein revealed that Chicago privately believes Ball won’t ever step foot on an NBA court again, as relayed by Daniel Greenberg.

“The Chicago Bulls privately don’t think that it’s likely Lonzo Ball will ever play again, per @dan_bernstein on Organizations Win Championship Podcast,” Greenberg tweeted.

Ball appeared in 35 games for the Bulls in the 2021-22 season before going down with an injury. He has yet to appear in a game since then, and Chicago’s point guard position has been a revolving door ever since.

The Bulls desperately need a point guard to lead their offense, and Ball is the perfect player to do so. Unfortunately, he has gotten hit with some of the worst injury luck in the league.

All Ball can do now is hope for the best.

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Chicago Bulls ‘risk of downside’ outweighs ‘potential to improve’

After a disappointing 2022-23 season, the Chicago Bulls’ future looks bleak.

The Chicago Bulls are in an awful spot. In an NBA where championships reign supreme, the Bulls haven’t been a title contender since the Derrick Rose years, and even then, they only made it past the first round three times, including one Eastern Conference finals appearance. Needless to say, the Bulls have had a rough go of things since Michael Jordan left at the turn of the century.

Two years ago, Chicago made an attempt to push forward, trading for Nikola Vucevic and signing DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso. Unfortunately, their current core isn’t a championship-caliber team. During a recent article for CHGO, Will Gotleib provided a bleak outlook for the Bulls.

According to Gottlieb, the Bulls would be lucky to make the Play-In Tournament next season, as the rest of the league around them is either staying competitive or improving.

“I’d put it at 50/50…. to make the Play-In.

“Barring major changes (and there may be major changes), the Celtics, Bucks and 76ers remain significantly better,” Gottlieb wrote. “The Cavs, Knicks, Heat and Hawks too. Depending on what happens with the Nets and Raptors, the Bulls are effectively in the same spot they were last year. The difference is, they have very few avenues to improve, while the rest of those teams still have upside.”

In addition, he noted that Chicago is more likely to regress than improve.

“In other words, their risk of downside exceeds their potential to improve,” Gottlieb wrote. “There is no Victor Wembanyama in next year’s draft — teams won’t be racing towards the bottom. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bulls miss the Play-In Tournament if they keep things as is while the rest of the league improves around them.”

As the Bulls push forward, the future looks grim.

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Arturas Karnisovas chasing ‘fool’s gold’ with Chicago Bulls

With how patient other teams have been around the league, Arturas Karnisovas could be chasing “fool’s gold” with the Chicago Bulls.

Two years ago, the Chicago Bulls made a massive shift in their overall philosophy. They were done rebuilding. It was time to compete for the playoffs. Chicago traded for Nikola Vucevic at the 2021 trade deadline and signed DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso that following summer.

Since then, they have made the playoffs in one of two seasons, but this past year, they were eliminated in the Play-In Tournament. And while the current core doesn’t seem to be a championship-caliber group, Arturas Karnisovas intends to keep them together. However, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Karnisovas and the Bulls may be chasing “fool’s gold.”

Cowley wrote about Karnisovas’ former team, the Denver Nuggets, and how they have utilized patience with their young core, and it’s led them to an NBA Finals appearance. However, that’s not a plan that works for everybody.

“Any wonder why Karnisovas still is holding out hope that guard Lonzo Ball can make an improbable return from three surgeries on his left knee since January 2022?’ Cowley wrote. “Or why he might want to re-sign guards Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu?

“Loyalty has been huge for the Nuggets, and now Karnisovas’ former organization finally is reaping the benefits of it.

“Then there’s the run the Heat have been on in reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. This is a team the Bulls beat in all three regular-season games and was leading with less than three minutes left in the final play-in game.

“So would Karnisovas be chasing fool’s gold by keeping the Bulls’ core intact?”

The Bulls don’t have any players who could grow into a two-time MVP or the depth pieces to put around him. They aren’t the Nuggets, and no matter how long Karnisovas waits, they never will be.

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Chicago Bulls ‘publicly and privately’ hoping to re-sign Coby White

Coby White will be a restricted free agent this summer, but the Chicago Bulls want to bring him back.

As the offseason gets underway for the Chicago Bulls, they will need to make some tough offseason decisions. Nikola Vucevic is a free agent, so they will need to decide whether or not to bring him back. The same goes for guys like Patrick Beverley, Javonte Green, and others. But perhaps the most intriguing free-agency choice they will make involves Coby White.

The 23-year-old guard has struggled to improve upon his play since his sophomore season. Part of that was due to the signing of Lonzo Ball and the increased emphasis on winning in Chicago, but he looked great toward the end of this past season. And now, according to KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, the Bulls want to bring him back.

In a recent article, Johnson noted that the Bulls have “publicly and privately” stated their desire to re-sign White this summer.

“The Bulls, both publicly and privately, have expressed their desire to re-sign White, who showed strong improvement in multiple areas of his game last season even as his scoring dropped,” Johnson wrote.

The young guard will be a restricted free agent this summer, meaning other teams may offer him contracts, but the Bulls have the right to match any deal that comes his way.

With Ball sidelined for what could be all of next season, Chicago needs to put an emphasis on the point guard position. Bringing back Beverley will be important, and the continued development of Ayo Dosunmu will as well.

But if Chicago truly loves what they saw from White toward the end of last year, he could have a real opportunity to secure the starting gig throughout the course of next season.

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Bulls guard Patrick Beverley rents out California home for $23k/month

According to a recent report, Chicago Bulls guard Patrick Beverley has rented out his California home for $23k/month.

The Chicago Bulls have an offseason full of decisions in front of them. Arturas Karnisovas has made it clear that he wants to compete for a playoff spot with the current iteration of the roster, and if that’s the case, they will need to improve the roster around the edges. That may involve adding players from the outside, but it also means retaining the important players who are free agents this summer.

One of those guys is Patrick Beverley, who Chicago acquired at the deadline. He immediately made an impact. Beverley started in all 22 games he played for the Bulls, and they went 13-9. Now, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent, but some recent news indicates that, at the very least, he’s likely not planning on returning to Los Angeles.

According to Realtor.com, Beverley just recently rented out his home in California for $23,000 a month. The listing appears to have been snatched up already.

Beverley spent the first portion of this past season with the Los Angeles Lakers before being moved at the trade deadline in a deal with the Orlando Magic for Mo Bamba. He was then bought out by the Magic and subsequently signed with Chicago.

With Lonzo Ball sidelined, the Bulls need as much help at the point guard position as they can get. Beverley isn’t necessarily a traditional one, but his defense and three-point shooting make him a valuable asset.

Add in the fact that he’s a tremendous veteran leader and vocal presence on the floor, and the Bulls should absolutely look to bring him back this offseason.

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3 Zach LaVine trades to reshape the Chicago Bulls around DeMar DeRozan

As the Chicago Bulls begin a crucial offseason, here are three Zach LaVine trades that could help reshape the roster around DeMar DeRozan.

The Chicago Bulls aren’t a championship-caliber team. They have made the playoffs in one of two seasons with their current core, and this past season, they took a huge step backward. Arturas Karnisovas seems intent on competing with the current iteration of the roster, but that may not be a feasible option.

So where do they go from here? Well, KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reported that league executives are “skeptical about the long-term marriage between Zach LaVine and the Bulls.” And Sam Smith of NBA.com noted that DeMar DeRozan has the “most support internally” of the Big Three members. So, maybe the best path forward is to build a new team with DeRozan at the helm.

Chicago just inked LaVine to a massive contract extension this past summer, but trading him could be the best way for them to improve significantly. With that in mind, here are three potential LaVine trades the Bulls could pull off to reshape the roster around DeRozan.

Bulls’ Scottie Pippen slams Michael Jordan: ‘He was a horrible player’

According to Scottie Pippen, before the Chicago Bulls became a true team, Michael Jordan was “a horrible player.”

The 1990s were a beautiful time for the Chicago Bulls. They were on top of the world. Led by Michael Jordan, they won six championships and never lost in the NBA Finals. They dominated for nearly an entire decade. From 1990 to 1998, the only two years they didn’t win the title were when Jordan left the NBA to pursue a baseball career.

Jordan didn’t do it alone, though. He had Scottie Pippen by his side for every title, and the duo towered over the league. However, there is evidently no love lost between the two players. On Stacey King’s “Gimme The Hot Sauce” podcast, Pippen slammed his long-time teammate.

Pippen had some high praise for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, calling him the best statistical player ever.

“LeBron will be the greatest statistical guy to ever play the game of basketball,” Pippen said. “And there’s no comparison to him. None. So does that make him the greatest player to ever play the game?”

He then went on to call Jordan a “horrible player.”

“I’ll leave that up for debate, because I don’t believe there’s a great player because our game’s a team game, and one player can’t do it,” said Pippen. “I saw Jordan play before I came to play with the Bulls. You guys saw him play. He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. He was all one-on-one, he’s shooting bad shots, and all of a sudden we become a team and we start winning and everybody forgot who he was.”

Jordan is widely regarded as the best player in the history of basketball, but according to Pippen, he was nothing before the Bulls became an effective team.

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Coby White should be on Chicago Bulls ‘free-agent big board’

Coby White will be a restricted free agent this summer, and the Chicago Bulls need to look to re-sign him.

The Chicago Bulls only have six players fully under contract heading into next season. They have two more on options and another two on non-guaranteed contracts. However, there are five players who were in their regular-season rotation last season who will be free agents this summer, whether restricted or unrestricted.

Arturas Karnisovas has made it clear that he does not intend to rebuild the roster. He wants to compete with the current core. And if that’s the case, Chicago will need to bring back their rotational guys. One of those guys, who emerged as an important piece toward the end of this past season, is Coby White.

The 23-year-old point guard played very well down the stretch of the year, and now, according to Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report, White needs to be toward the top of their “free-agent big board.”

“Flip from the stat sheet to the film, though, and you’ll see the strides he made as a distributor and defender,” Buckley wrote. “This was the clearest indication yet he could become more than a spark-plug scorer off the bench. With his career trajectory suddenly pointing straight up, this would be the wrong time for the Bulls to let him go.

“And they don’t have to. He’s a restricted free agent, meaning they’ll have the right of refusal on any offer sheet he signs. That means they can search around for backcourt upgrades while White’s market materializes and then match anything he lands within reason.”

With Lonzo Ball’s injury, the Bulls need as much point guard depth as possible, so re-signing White should be a top priority.

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Nikola Vucevic could ask for raise from Chicago Bulls this offseason

After a full 82-game season, there’s a good chance Nikola Vucevic asks the Chicago Bulls for a raise this summer.

Despite getting eliminated in the first round, the 2021-22 season was a massive success for the Chicago Bulls. They snapped a four-year playoff drought thanks to the solid play of their new-look core. Unfortunately, they took a step back this past year, getting bounced in the Play-In Tournament.

Now, they will have some tough decisions to make this summer. Blowing up the roster could be a solid option, but Arturas Karnisovas has made it clear that he does not intend to start a rebuild. In turn, Chicago must decide what to do with their current core. And one of the players, big man Nikola Vucevic, could be asking for a raise this offseason.

Vucevic is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and at 32 years old, his next deal will take him into his mid-30s. However, KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago believes that the big man could ask for a raise, as he just played a full 82-game season.

“This may be better answered by posing my own question: Do you think a player who just played all 82 games and finished third in the NBA in double-doubles is going to ask for a raise? Because I do,” Johnson wrote when asked about what fair value could be in a Vucevic deal.

Johnson thinks Chicago should look to hand him a short-term contract.

“Now, in a market where most teams projected to have significant salary cap space are rebuilding, can Vucevic get more than the $22 million he made last season on the open market?” Johnson wrote. “He and Brook Lopez are the biggest available names at center.

“I think a good solution might be to do a short-term deal at slightly above his 2022-23 salary. Say, two years and $48-50 million or three years at $66-72 million. Remember: Letting Vucevic walk for nothing after what the Bulls gave up to acquire him would be a bad look. And for all the focus on Vucevic’s shortcomings, he remains a durable, double-double machine who has the skill level and IQ to fit with various personnel.”

Vucevic is a solid player, but the Bulls have to look in the mirror and figure out how much they are willing to pay him.

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