If there's anything worse than the Bears, it's the Bulls.

November 17, 2017

I thought the Bears were bad. If there’s something worse, it is the Chicago Bulls. The highlight of the year is Bobby Portis punching out Nikola Mirotic. He wants to be traded which would be a good thing; the Bulls will get nothing in return. He did not receive many overtures as a restricted free agent. You have heard of addition by subtraction. With both guys sitting out, it let the Bulls start rookie Lauri Markkanen. He has been the only reason to watch this team. As a centerpiece of the rebuild he can shoot 3 pointers, rebound and continue to improve his defense. As good as he is now he should get better. Add to his game post up moves and he will be something special.

When the Bulls do home game introductions, the best player comes last. Butler, Rose, Jordan etc. Now, it’s Robin Lopez. What a comedown. He is a decent player and does an admirable job. However, I don’t think he figures into the rebuild process. In fact, most of the starters, with the exception of Markkanen, don’t figure in this process. Most are other team castoffs. Jerian Grant brings nothing to table. He is not a great assist man and can’t get open. He is proposed to be a good shooter who never gets up many shots.

Justin Holiday can play both guard and small forward, neither exceptionally well. My favorite thing about him is when said he couldn’t explain his 3 point shooting woes. He laughingly said they went in the preseason and shoot arounds. Here is a clue. They play defense in regular season NBA games.

From what I've seen the other starter is Zipser. A second round pick who does nothing extremely well. Occasionally his 3 pointer is going in and he plays some defense. What baffles me is how he starts ahead of first round draft choices Portis and Valentine.

Portis has played well in spots however he thinks he’s a number 2 guard launching long distance shots. In all the years he’s been on this team, it’s criminal he hasn’t been taught how to use his height and strength to be a low post threat. This combined with his outside shot could make him a much better player.

Here’s the rub. Evaluation and development is not the Bulls’ forte. They traded for lottery pick McDermott. One way or another it was bad evaluation, development or both. The pick of “no D.” Valentine looks like a bust. They traded for Dunn, a number 4 overall draft pick, and my confidence is low in him living up to his potential.

Coach Fred Hoiberg has a cushy job. Not being evaluated by wins and losses. He only needs to play hard and be competitive. The way they’re getting consistently blown away shows he can’t do that. He can now run his fast pace offense and spread the floor with 3 point shooters. Too bad you only have one that’s any good, and there’s no one that can drive the lane to kick the ball out to any open three point shooter. The fast pace only gives opponents more chances to score on the porous Bull defense.

The key to the Butler trade is supposed to be Zach LaVine. He is scheduled to be ready to play in December. Maybe with him and Dunn replacing Grant they can be better. Not! I can’t wait until next year’s draft, should be a high lottery pick.