I don’t know what I miss most: Sports, themselves, or the camaraderie that came with it. Quarantine has certainly made me realize how special of a feeling it is to just sit down at a bar and strike up a simple conversation about whomever’s leading off for the Cubs that day. Clearly, I’ve been taking that for granted. Ugh.
• I guess the NBA wants to make sure we don’t get our hopes up too soon:
While NBA’s Board of Governors meet with Adam Silver on Friday, there’s no current expectation for a decision on a finalized return-to-play plan to emerge from the session, sources tell ESPN. Talks on incorporating the three most serious plans remain ongoing with NBPA and teams.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 27, 2020
• The call isn’t set to take place for another two days, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is making it clear that a formal resumption plan will not necessarily be decided during this Friday’s Board of Governors meeting. While I didn’t necessarily expect an announcement, I can admit that I was anticipating another major step forward. Regardless, I feel like it’s impossible the league will walk out of this meeting without at least some kind of idea of how they plan to proceed. We know they’ve been surveying general managers on a return-to-play format, and with a rumored return time of mid-July, the goal would certainly be to start-up practices of some kind in June. A final decision may not be made during this meeting, but I think we’ll certainly have a better idea of how close we are to an actual return afterward.
• ICYMI: The NBA is considering a pretty wild group stage playoff format:
NBA Reportedly Considering World Cup-Style Tournament for Returnhttps://t.co/blnbOzBuGj
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) May 26, 2020
• All the currently seeded playoff teams know they’ll play if the NBA decides to start-up again … the 11th-place Bulls can’t say the same. Seated 24th in the league-standings, the Bulls would either see the court again in a massively extended playoff format or a semi-normal return to the regular season. As I’ve made very clear in the past, unless the team is involved in some weird playoff system, I’m not sure it’s worth playing another game this season. Tomas Satoransky seems to agree with me: “If we were actually able to play for something as a playoffs, then that kind of changes everything because it gives you some motivation,” Satoransky told Eurohoops during an Instagram Live interview. “It’s tough for a player, especially a player who has a family, to imagine being two months separated from your family to just play five or six games and be done with it.” By the way, we’ll have more from this Satoransky interview later today. The boy had some good nuggets.
• How effortless he makes this dunk look is insane.
Missing @ZachLaVine do @ZachLaVine things. pic.twitter.com/jEzhkaa3A8
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) May 26, 2020
• Bleacher Report ranked Derrick Rose the 8th-best No. 1-overall pick since 2000. Considering all the injury trouble, this feels about right. I will say though, I’m not sure Karl-Anthony Towns deserves to be one spot ahead of Rose. While he’s put up some bonkers numbers over the past several seasons, he hasn’t come close to Rose’s peak. Even if it was short-lived, I’d argue Rose turned out to be the better pick. Also, Blake Griffin sitting 4th is a bit suspect to me.
• Despite the fact that Rose should’ve been on this team, the 2012 Team USA roster was crazy. Kobe, LeBron, Durant, Paul, Harden, Westbrook, prime Melo and Love … yeesh.
2012 Team USA was a whole cheat code! pic.twitter.com/mlcgV9k6DF
— ThrowbackHoops (@ThrowbackHoops) May 26, 2020
• Never enough.
Do we tweet about Wendell enough? pic.twitter.com/5eOCz5ss3a
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) May 27, 2020
• Honest question: How do you all fell about Carter Jr.? I feel like everyone I talk to is either super hot or super cold on his potential. I’m personally all aboard the hype train, and I think he has a great NBA future ahead of him if he can stay healthy. He may be a tad undersized, but his skill set fits perfectly with the modern NBA. While I feel like we say this about everyone in the current young core, I seriously do feel like Carter Jr. could see the biggest benefit from a new head coach/system. The defensive chops are already there, but someone needs to get him more involved in the offense.
• I know you’re all interested in Denzel Valentine’s rap career, so here:
Will Denzel Valentine have a better rap career than former Bull Carlos Boozer? https://t.co/tqzZuVuTiz
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) May 27, 2020
• And what a beautiful day in history it was.
https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1265681672223195136?s=20