NEWSLETTER
You might as well call me a wind-turbine, because I’m here to clear the air (I’m so sorry for that opening line).
As many of you have already seen, Jim Boylen sat down for an interview yesterday during the broadcast of the Bulls vs. Hornets Summer League game.
Everything was going just fine (and boring) until he said one line that sparked a flurry of speculation. Instead of sitting here and paraphrasing for you, I’m going to link the video and also type out the entire quote for context:
Caron Butler: “So for a lot of people that haven’t been watching Chicago basketball, who are the Chicago Bulls?”
Jim Boylen: “Well, what we are is a young, developing team. We had an interesting summer, we had, we have Dunn, LaVine, Porter, Markkanen, and Carter, we kind of have our first five set, so what we wanted to do was add quality draft picks, which we did two great kids, and I think they’re going to be real good pros. And then we wanted to build depth behind those first five guys, and that’s what we’ve done. Veteran depth…”
Needless to say, there’s been some confusion out there, and it’s understandable. I also think it’s been mostly wrong. The way I see it, Boylen simply dropped the ball on how he organized his dialogue. I totally understand how this could sound like he has decided on his starting rotation with Dunn included (despite the trade rumors), but I don’t think that’s what he said. And when you actually listen to his quote and take in the full context of the interview, he just decided to take a very strange approach to telling us a story.
For example, you know when you’re trying to tell your friends a cool story about a fight you were in once? “So, I have my fist right up in the air ready to go at him, right…” That kind of thing.
Boylen went ahead and took all of us to the end of last season where, for all intents and purposes, the Bulls thought they did have their starting five set with Dunn, LaVine, Porter, Markkanen and Carter Jr. Then, he goes ahead and walks us through their plan for the offseason and what they were looking to add. When you take into account the use of the word “had” before he decides to opt for this bad storytelling with “have,” it becomes even clearer.
I know the whole part about adding depth makes it even more confusing, but I truly think he is just outlining what the thought process was at the end of last year to emphasize the Bulls are a “developing” team.
Also, it just makes little sense for us to believe that the team would name a starting five right now without even letting White or Satoransky compete for the starting job. The whole thing makes no sense when Paxson has also mentioned previously that there will be competition for the starting point guard role … which was the whole point in pursuing a PG this offseason.
Fortunately, we are not the only ones that saw things this way.
i kinda think people are making too big a deal about Boylen's comments yesterday. pretty sure he was being diplomatic and simply not throwing Dunn under the bus, which is fine!
— Jason Patt (@Bulls_Jay) July 11, 2019
Yup you nailed it. Context is everything
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) July 11, 2019
If you still don’t believe me, I think we agree to take the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson’s word for it.
The starting PG isn’t set. I’d guess it will be Satoransky. I’d also guess Dunn is elsewhere. Takes 2 teams to trade tho.
No more questions. Already posted mailbag today. LOL.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) July 11, 2019
