NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Tribune’s Jamal Collier summed how I feel about this weekend’s game times quite well.
NBA announces start times for the final two Bulls games this weekend:
Noon CT Saturday at Brooklyn: 👍🏾
8pm CT Sunday vs Bucks: 👎🏾— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) May 13, 2021
An 8:00 p.m. CT start time for a game that probably won’t matter? Why. Just why.
• For those unaware, the NBA had previously listed tip-off times for the final two games of the regular season as TBD. The goal was likely to wait and see which games would hold significant playoff/play-in seed implications, so those games could then be given the best possible time slots. Chicago gets to help jumpstart this weekend’s 21 games as one of three matchups to air at 12:00 p.m. CT on Saturday. The Bulls will take on the Brooklyn Nets for the second time this week, and while this game could mean something for Chicago, there is a higher likelihood that it means something for Brooklyn. Kevin Durant and Co. sit only 1.5 games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. With matchups against the Bulls and Cavaliers to finish out the season, they have a good shot to finish in this spot. However, if the Nets drop even one game and the Bucks win out (Pacers, Heat, Bulls), the two teams would be tied. Milwaukee would then move in front of Brooklyn since they hold this season’s head-to-head advantage.
• The Bulls play-in dreams remained alive last night after the Wizards lost their second-consecutive game to the Atlanta Hawks. However, while it’s very possible the Bulls win tonight against the tanking Toronto Raptors, they would still need to beat the Nets and Bucks this weekend while the Wizards lose to the Cavaliers and Hornets over their next two games. The chances of that happening? 0.3 percent.
#Bulls' slim playoff hopes — which were 0.3% entering the day — stay alive until at least Thursday after Wizards fall to Hawks.
To sneak into play-in round, Bulls need to win their final 3 games and have Wizards lose their last 2.
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) May 13, 2021
• The Bulls season might not end with a good record, but at least it will end with good vibes!
Last season, Young added, players felt they weren’t being listened to.
— Rob Schaefer (@rob_schaef) May 13, 2021
• This kind of feels like your crush saying, “you’re like a brother to me!” Do you think your brother is hot, Sarah!? Because otherwise, we’re on different pages. Wins are sexy. Off the court camaraderie is … not. But, hey, that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. The first step in building a winning team is building a winning foundation. The franchise did that last offseason with all of the internal changes. Now, with the perception around the organization trending in a more positive direction (just look at what Kevin Durant said the other day), it could be easier to construct the winning roster this city desperately deserves.
• ICYMI: Young also peeled back the curtain on last season’s chaos under Jim Boylen in an awesome episode of the Bulls Talk Podcast earlier this season. Give the podcast a listen here if you have already. I also wrote out some of my thoughts on the whole thing here.
• Building a healthier front office can also lead to things like this …
REPORT: Zach LaVine Might Take a Discount to Help the Bulls Build a Winnerhttps://t.co/pEiwm4Kx8o pic.twitter.com/gsn4lIVcDF
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) May 13, 2021
• To be clear, I would be pretty surprised if LaVine took a discount. The All-Star will turn 27-years-old shortly before he enters unrestricted free agency, so it would make total sense for him to seek a long-term, max contract. The only way I see him truly taking less money is if Arturas Karnisovas follows it up with a significant, superstar-level acquisition. LaVine would have to be confident that the money he is leaving on the table will be put to GREAT use.
• A man like this deserves to get paid.
Yesterday was Zach LaVine's 14th 40-point game, passing Bob Love for second most in @chicagobulls history
He's still got a little way to go to catch number one pic.twitter.com/yy88zG3Yf5
— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) May 12, 2021
• Speaking of acquiring talent, Lonzo Ball could be slipping out of the Bulls’ reach.
Recent (and Future?) Bulls Target Lonzo Ball Continues to be Linked to the Knickshttps://t.co/ac7dDf0A4d pic.twitter.com/nY4yAgMCOt
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) May 12, 2021
• Daniel Gafford is currently living his best life in D.C.
“Dunking for me, it's therapeutic… I'll always want to try to tear down everything. Everybody's like, ‘Oh, if you dunk too hard, you're gonna hurt yourself.’ I'm used to it because I've been doing it all my life. The harder I dunked, the better I felt." https://t.co/ni5LQFlr0J
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) May 13, 2021
• I want these. Now.
Wow. Blake Griffin has “McLovin” 35s on tonight — with his own Hawaii ID info. pic.twitter.com/ghrgjaSjfR
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) May 13, 2021
