The Chicago Bulls front office is harder to read than my girlfriend. Seriously, like, is she mad at me or just hungry? Is she actually fine watching the third football game of the day or will she smother me with a pillow later? After 5+ years, this woman still keeps me on my toes (aka terrified) … but I digress.
• Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, have kept a relatively low profile since both took over their respective Bulls duties this offseason. Behind the scenes, they have been plenty busy revamping the organization’s infrastructure and coaching staff. Roster moves, however, are the juiciest changes to make, and things have been rather limited on that front. And that’s exactly why the rumors surrounding a draft-night trade with the Golden State Warriors for Wendell Carter Jr. gained so much traction.
• For the most part, if anything, that trade always felt like something stirred up by Golden State to create some potential hype around their No. 2 pick. Anyone who followed this draft class closely knew that giving away two top-7 picks (Carter Jr. and No. 4) to move up just two spots was a silly idea (*shivers thinking about Bears trading for Mitchell Trubisky*). Arturas Karnisovas said as much in his post-draft press conference, telling reporters that the organization never considered trading up. Numerous sources around the league said they expected the Bulls to think otherwise; again, demonstrating the lack of real feel for this new front office. In fact, the only folks who may have an actual sense for Karnisovas and Co. might be the current players.
• Carter Jr. met with media on Thursday, and when asked about the legitimacy of the Warriors trade talks, he was blunt:
What was your reaction to your name floating in trade rumors on draft day?
Wendell Carter Jr.: "I knew it was BS … I knew I was going to be a Bull."
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) December 3, 2020
• Now, while that trade was BS, I don’t necessarily think the belief that the Bulls could be one of the more active teams over the next season is. I truly believe it’s only a matter of time before we see players on the move and big decisions made. The one thing we seem to know about Karnisovas is that he is a creature of habit. What’s one of his biggest habits? Strict evaluation. He will finally get an in-person look at these players under his own terms, which will then allow him to feel confident about shaking up the roster. Anyway, you can learn more about what Carter Jr. had to say on Thursday below.
Wendell Carter Is Clearly Excited About His New Offensive Role … And Head Coach … and Front Officehttps://t.co/Wd8hSEd2H3
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) December 3, 2020
• The one rare change the new front office has made to the roster … Patrick Williams! The 19-year-old rookie also had his media availability on Thursday, where he made it that much harder not to like him. The rookie sounded ready to learn and ready to contribute. The Bulls have made sure to live stream all the interviews, so give a watch and get hyped with me.
• One of my favorite quotes from Williams had to do with the fact that he’ll enter this season as the youngest NCAA prospect. Widely considered a project piece with high upside, expectations seem to be relatively low for Williams as he enters his first full season. However, that’s not how the versatile forward wants to be perceived: “I don’t want to play like the youngest. I don’t want to talk or act like I’m the youngest because then you’re like a liability. I just want to fit in with the guys whether they’re 25 or 26 or 20 or 21. I just want to fit in. I don’t want to be, ‘Oh, he’s the young guy, so we gotta cut him some slack.’ I just want to come in from day one and be part of the group. I don’t want to be an outlier just because I’m young.” Love that mentality.
• Also, can Bulls media training start to include a lesson about not referencing Chicago’s winter? I want players to stop being scared of the cold! Instead, let’s have rookies and free agents come in and say, “psssh, the weather is great! My face never feels like it’s going to fall off, the wind is minimal, the snow is just beautiful, and the winter really doesn’t last that long!”
Patrick Williams said he had never been to Chicago before being drafted by the Bulls and had to buy some winter coats.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 3, 2020
• LOL
Billy Donovan: pic.twitter.com/rGQux927e4
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) December 4, 2020
• The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry has some interesting results from his latest Bulls fan survey! I recommend you check it out, especially if you participated.
• The fact they let LaVar Ball even score 3 points is bogus.
It’s finally here: MJ vs. LaVar 😂 pic.twitter.com/pObtbXnudu
— B/R Gaming (@BRGaming) December 3, 2020