NEWSLETTER
Mission “Get Swole Before My Wedding” starts this week.
To be clear, I have a lot of time. The plan isn’t for the fiancee and me to tie the knot for a little over a year. But I still have to start sooner or later with this whole adding muscle thing! It’s a process!
Also, it’s not like I feel as if I have to drastically change my body or anything. I’ve just always been a rather lanky man at six-foot-three. So the goal is to tone things up a bit and look a little extra snacky for the future wife, ya know? If you have any good tips for how to add a little extra muscle mass, feel free to drop in the comments!
Maybe I’ll even reach out to the Bulls training staff! Er, wait, I don’t want knee problems for the wedding.
- A couple of decisions will be out of the Chicago Bulls’ hands this summer. Both Andre Drummond and Derrick Jones Jr. have a player option for the 2023-24 season. The two would each earn $3.4 million if they decided to opt into the contract. While the price tag isn’t all that high, we are still talking about a team with pretty limited flexibility. Not to mention, every single roster spot counts, particularly in a league with so much parity.
- Jones Jr. has already suggested that he plans to pick up his option and spend at least one more season with the Bulls. While he may not offer the kind of shooting this team desperately needs, he has proven to be a nice plug-and-play forward who can switch on defense and rack up hustle plays. In many ways, he’s shown a similar skillset to Javonte Green, which is probably why the expectation should be for Green to find a new home if Jones Jr. does truly stick around. As for Drummond, we have yet to get any indication of what he might do in the coming months.
- All things considered, Drummond’s role ended up a bit smaller than anticipated during Year 1 with the Bulls. Not only did he find himself in and out of the rotation at times, but he only averaged about 12.7 minutes per game during his 67 appearances. That made for by far the fewest minutes he’s averaged with a team during his career. With that said, it’s not hard to picture him thinking about a new team, especially when we consider he still dominated the boards when on the floor and shot a solid 60.6 percent from the field.
- I doubt anyone would pay Drummond to take on their starting spot. However, I’m confident there would be a team out there willing to give him a slightly bigger role and offer some more long-term security (even if it’s just another two-year deal). I guess we’ll just have to see how free agency pans out. If he does end up deciding to stay with Chicago, though, I certainly wouldn’t mind it. Drummond – for all of his flaws – should still be considered one of the better backup bigs in the NBA. As an elite rebounder, solid screener, and someone who isn’t afraid to get physical, the Bulls should be happy to have him as an option off the bench.
- SBNation’s Ricky O’Donnell just had to remind us of that night …
- We’ve talked endlessly about the Jimmy Butler trade in recent weeks, so I’ll hold off going down that rabbit hole again. Instead, can we just complain real quick about that Cristiano Felicio contract? I know it’s off the books and a thing of the past, but that’s got to be one of the dumbest deals we’ve seen any team give any player over the past decade.
- Chicago inked him to a four-year, $32 million deal. I know that doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but it sure felt like it back in 2017. Even more troubling, they handed him that deal after he averaged just 4.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 2016-17! Felicio averaged just 4.3 points and 3.9 rebounds over his SIX seasons with the Bulls. He also averaged just 14.1 minutes over his 252 games played, appearing in just 40 total games over his final two years with the team. Felicio didn’t play for another NBA team after hitting free agency in 2021 and is now back overseas.
- I know the money isn’t nearly as bad, but it’s hard for me not to talk about this and think about Marko Simonovic. Arturas Karnisovas gave the big man a three-year, $4.3 million deal. In other words, he will take up another full-time roster spot next season despite appearing in just 16 games so far in his NBA career (unless the Bulls finally decide to waive him before July 7th, as his contract is non-guaranteed for this season). Let me also remind you that the Bulls’ front office gave Simonovic a three-year deal in the same offseason they opted to give Ayo Dosunmu just a two-year deal. Now, they’re stuck having to give Dosunmu a new contract this summer.
- The NBA coaching carousel continues. We learned at the end of last week that the Milwaukee Bucks have entered their final phase of interviews, and it looks like the Suns have joined them, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Nick Nurse belongs on both organizations’ final lists.
- I feel like Nurse’s creativity might make more sense in Milwaukee than in Phoenix, but it’s hard to say. Both teams are led by superstar talent that is going to do what they’re going to do. A lot of the job will be managing personalities and ensuring the right in-game adjustments are made. There is no question, though, that Nurse should be considered the best available head coach candidate. I look forward to seeing who gets him.
- If you want to feel depressed …
- Matt Mervis stacking RBIs >>>>>>
- OTAs have started!
