According to ESPN reporters Jamal Collier and Ramon Shelburne, Bulls guard Lonzo Ball is expected to miss training camp and is doubtful for the start of the 2022-23 NBA season because of pain and discomfort following meniscus surgery last January on his left knee.
One source in the past said Ball’s knee is structurally sound after he underwent arthroscopic surgery on January 28th. Ball, set to be 25 on October 27th, Ball’s rehabbing efforts have featured starts and stops because he was feeling discomfort in his left knee. During the Summer League, in an NBA TV interview, Artūras Karnišovas said about the status of Ball, “He’s getting better, probably not at the speed that we would like.” Once the injury occurred, the Bulls said, Lonzo Ball was expected to miss only 6-8 weeks, but now it has been seven months and will likely end up being a year.
Lonzo will travel to Chicago next week to undergo further evaluation by the Bulls. The former UCLA guard has been rehabbing in Los Angeles with his camp. The last time Ball played in a game was against the Golden State Warriors on January 14th. Before Ball got injured, Chicago had a 27-13 record. Ball was a significant factor in that good record, averaging 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. But after January 14th, Chicago finished the season with a 19-23 record without Ball.
It sounds like Lonzo Ball has fully recovered from the left knee injury. But the bone bruise has been the recent issue. The best way to recover from a bone bruise injury is by resting, and Ball will probably not play in the first couple of weeks or months. Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn had a similar injury, and it took him a whole year to recover. Expect Lonzo Ball to be ready to play in January.
(Photo by Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bulls finally got the chance to check out the new addition of veteran Goran Dragic and second-year center Marko Simonovic on the opening day of the 2022 EuroBasket. Due to COVID-19 and the 2020 Summer Olympics got pushed to the summer of 2021. The 2022 Eurobasket got delayed by one year. But now the one-year wait is over, and fans are excited to see their favorite players play and watch their country compete for the championship.
Yesterday officially started the group stage of EuroBasket. Each country will play every one in their group. The top four teams from each group (A, B, C, D) will advance to the round of 16. With day one in the books of 2022 EuroBasket, let’s take a closer look at the performances of guard Goran Dragic and big man Marko Simonovic.
Goran Dragic (Slovenia)
Slovenia (Group B) entered the group stage as the second-best team according to FIBA rankings and is led by Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic and Bulls guard Goran Dragic. But Slovenia faced the fourth-best squad according to the FIBA rankings, Lithuania. Lithuania is led by NBA players Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas.
The contest went back and forth through the first three quarters. But halfway through the fourth quarter, Lithuania found themselves up by five, 78-73. Luka Doncic led his home country of Slovenia with a 19-7 run to close the game to get their first win in the group stage. Doncic struggled shooting in the game, going 4-for-14 from the field but got ten assists. The late fourth quarter run included a Dragic three to extend Slovenia’s lead to four, 85-81. That Dragic three came with two and a half minutes left in the game.
After playing 21 games during the 2021-22 season with Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets, you might think Goran Dragic might be done playing at 36 years old. But nope, he is not done yet with his basketball career. Dragic finished the game with 19 points and three assists. Another positive note with Dragic was his defense; he defended well and got two steals to add to his stat sheet.
Marko Simonovic (Montenegro)
Montenegro (Group A) got a tough opponent of Turkey for their first game. Turkey is known as a sleeper team in the tournament and entered this game with a 75 chance % of winning. Some players on the Turkey roster include current and former NBA players of Cedi Osman, Furkan Korkmaz, and Shane Larkin.
This game was highlighted by a couple of significant runs made by Turkey. Turkey finished the first half with a 10-0 run to take a 10-point lead into halftime, 41-31. The Montenegrins slowly got back in the game and outscored Turkey 20-12 to cut the lead down to 53-51. Montenegro held the lead for most of the fourth quarter, but Turkey got their second important run of the game, which was an 11-2 to close the game. Simonovic had the chance to put Montenegro ahead late. But, with four seconds left, Simonovic got an offensive foul after catching a defender with his elbow while attempting to put back a missed jumper.
Simonovic was a key contributor and will have a significant role in the other group-stage games. Simonovic drained 2 out of 3 three-point attempts and shot 80% from the field. He dropped 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. His defense has gotten questioned in the past, but it’s good to see some improvements with two steals.
Up Next
Slovenia plays Saturday at 1:30 PM CT against Hungary.
Montenegro plays Saturday at 6:30 AM CT against Belgium.
(Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/NBAE via Getty Images)
After failing to reach their second postseason in their team history last season, Windy City Bulls fans can finally look forward to the 2022-23 season.
The Windy City Bulls will start the 2022-23 season on the road against on the road against the Wisconsin Herd in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on November 4th. One night later both teams will meet again, but travel to Hoffman Estates to play again at NOW Arena for Windy City’s home opener at 7 p.m. The Bulls home opener will be the first of 13 games to happen on a Saturday.
For the second straight season, the schedule will be split into two parts. The first part will be 16 games that are apart of the Showcase Cup. On December 29th, the Windy City Bulls will start their 32 game regular season schedule at Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Windy City Bulls will play their final game of 2022 at Motor City Cruise on New Years Eve. The Bulls will host its first ever Education Day at 11 Am, on Thursday, Feb. 9. Windy City will play 10 games against teams in the Western Conference. This comes after last season, teams only played against opponents in their own conference.
Six-Game Championship Membership Package Promotional Themes and Giveaways
Saturday, Nov. 5: Hispanic Heritage Night, presented by BMO, featuring Dia de los Muertos Bobblehead Giveaway
Saturday, Nov. 26: Marvel Super HeroTM Night, presented by BMO, featuring a WCB Custom Marvel Comic Book Giveaway
Saturday, Jan. 7: Space Jam Night, featuring a Space Jam-themed Bobblehead Giveaway
Saturday, Jan. 14: Dynasty Night, presented by NOW Foods, featuring a John Paxson 30th Anniversary Bobblehead Giveaway
Sunday, Feb. 26: Celebrate HER: Tip-Off to Women’s History Month, presented by AT&T, featuring Chicago’s Own & Chicago Sky Star Allie Quigley Bobblehead Giveaway
Sunday, March 19: CaruShow 2.0!, featuring an Alex Caruso & Goat Bobblehead Giveaway
Other Highlights of Windy City Bulls Schedule
The Bulls have 10 back-to-back scenarios on the schedule
First time playing against Mexico City Capitanes (February 12th)
Winter Showcase Games occur from December 19-22
The Bulls’s full promotional schedule will be released in the coming weeks.
The NBA 2022-23 Season will start in less than two months, which seems far away, but Bulls fans got some good news a couple of weeks ago with the release of the 2022-23 Schedule. Chicago will look to get back to the Postseason for the second consecutive season with the stars of DeMar DeRozan and Zach Lavine. Not every fan will be able to watch all 82 games, but these eight games should be marked on your calendar if you are a Chicago Bulls fan.
October 19th at Miami Heat
The first 2022-23 Chicago Bulls game will take place on the road against the Miami Heat. Bulls fans will get to see former Bull, Jimmy Butler. Best friends of Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan and Heat guard Kyle Lowry will face off. DeRozan and Lowry spend seasons together in Toronto. Another matchup will be at the big man position, Nikola Vucevic vs. Bam Adebayo. Adebayo will look to start the season on a good note after struggling during the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics last season. While Bulls center Nikola Vucevic will look to have more offensive production in his second entire season in Chicago.
Chicago will get a chance to prove early in the season that they can compete against the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Last season, Miami won all four matchups. Miami won three of those matchups by double-digits. The bad news for Chicago is they have won once in Miami since 2019, and Lonzo Ball might not be ready to return for opening night.
October 24th vs Boston Celtics
After the Bulls have their home opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 22nd, Chicago will face their first Championship contender at the United Center, the 2022 Eastern Conference Champions, Boston Celtics, on October 24th. With the new addition of Malcolm Brogdon, Boston will look to compete with the Milwaukee Bucks for the top record in the Eastern Conference. Former Bulls’ free agent target Danilo Gallinari also joined the stack Celtics. But how well will Chicago do against an NBA title contender?
Chicago won the first and only matchup last season, outscoring Boston 39-11 in the fourth quarter to win 128-114 in the Garden. But Boston got the last laugh by winning the final two matchups of the season. These teams will face each other twice within 11 days. The second matchup will be on November 4th, on ESPN at 6:30 CT.
December 2nd at Golden State Warriors
Anytime your team faces the most recent NBA Champions, you must have that game circled on your calendar. Chicago will play their second to last game of their six-game road trip in San Francisco against the 2021-22 NBA Champions, Golden State Warriors. The six six-game road trip will include tough matchups against the Milwaukee Bucks (November 23rd) and Phoenix Suns (November 30th). Chicago will be tested early, but beating the Warriors at home will be difficult.
The last time Chicago won on the road against the Warriors was in 2015 when Derrick Rose hit the step-back game-winner in OT. Since that OT win, the Warriors have won 13 out of the last 14 games. Last season, Chicago lost both games by at least 20 points. Chicago has not succeeded in San Francisco since 1971.
January 19th at Detroit Pistons (Global Game)
Bulls vs. Pistons will be the first game held in Paris, France, for the first time since January 2020. Chicago will play a regular season in Europe for the first time. Also, their first game outside the United States since 2018 was in Mexico. The Magic beat the Bulls 97-91 in Mexico City. This game will feature one of the oldest rivalries in the NBA of Chicago and Detroit. Detroit will be led by their young duo of rookie Jaden Ivy and Cade Cunningham.
Chicago is currently on an 11-game win streak against Detroit. The Bulls will end their 82-game schedule at home on April 9th against the Pistons. The last time Detroit won was in 2019 when Bulls center Andre Drummond played for the Pistons.
January 26th at Charlotte Hornets
When every NBA team released their schedules, by surprise, the NBA announced “Rivals Week,” which will occur in late January. This “Rival Week” is an attempt by the NBA to make the regular season enjoyable. Between January 24-28, the NBA has scheduled 11 nationally televised games featuring teams with historic rivalries. One of those 11 nationally televised will be the battle of the Ball brothers, Bulls vs. Hornets, on January 26th, on TNT, 6:30 CT.
Chicago won 5 out of the last six games against Charlotte. But the Hornets won the most recent matchup, 133-117, at the United Center last April. The Ball Brothers battle in late January will be another matchup to mark on your calendar.
February 16th vs Milwaukee Bucks
The Bulls will get their current biggest rival, the Milwaukee Bucks, for the first time at the United Center for the first time since the first round of the 2022 Postseason. This matchup will be interesting in Chicago because Chicago and Milwaukee are 90 minutes apart, and Grayson Allen is hated in Chicago. Last January, Grayson Allen became hated by Bulls fans because of his dirty foul on Alex Caruso. Just when Caruso got healthy, that messy play resulted in Caruso missing 4-6 weeks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo enters the season with an active 13-game regular season win streak against Chicago, with his last loss being in 2017. Chicago did beat Giannis and the Bucks once during the postseason. But the Bulls didn’t show after that significant win. If you can only attend one game at the United Center, I think most Bulls fans will choose this game.
The Bulls will get their first look at hopefully a healthy Lakers team led by Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. Atlanta will hopefully return to their winning ways after losing in the first round against first-seed Miami Heat last season. Atlanta and Chicago will be two competing to have a top 6 seed in the playoffs, so they don’t play in the play-in tournament. One night later, the Bulls will play their rival, the Milwaukee Bucks on ESPN, 6:30 CT.
Last season, Chicago won three out of the four matchups. One matchup to look out for will be Ayo Dosunmu vs. Trae Young. Though, Dosunmu will probably not get the start. But his assignment on defense will be to defend Young. Last season, Dosunmu held Young to shoot 3-for-17 from the field in a Bulls 112-108 win over the Hawks. But Young got the last laugh and went off for 39 points in a 130-124 win for the Hawks. Dejounte Murray will play his first game as a Hawk at the United Center on January 23rd.
Jeremy Pargo (Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/NBAE via Getty Images)
Basketball fans earlier this month got some fun and exciting news with the 2022-23 NBA schedule being announced to the world. But what about the NBA G League schedule and the draft? The Windy City Bulls were a little busy this off-season with their new addition of Hassani Gravett and first-round pick but traded away guard Devon Dotson. After a disappointing 2021-22 season, Windy City will look to make their first playoff appearance since 2019. Here are the expected important dates for the 2022-23 G League season. Note that the dates have not been officially released from the NBA G League but are accurate based on last season.
August 27- October 2: NBA G League Local Try-Outs
The Windy City Bulls will host their local tryout on September 10th at Chicago Hope Academy. After the tryouts, the Bulls can invite up to four participants to training camp. A couple of players that made it from a G League tryout to the NBA are David Nwaba and Jonathon Simmons.
October 22: 2022-23 G League Draft
The G League draft will happen at 1 PM ET on October 22, 2022. Unclear if the draft will be televised. But after the draft, I will give updates on who is selected. There will be three rounds. The draft order has not been released.
October 24-November 3: G League Training Camps
All rosters must be set by November 3rd, 5 PM ET.
November 4: G League Showcase Cup Begins
The G League Showcase cup starts the 2022-23 G League season. But not officially until January 4th. But the Windy City Bulls will begin their quest to the G League Winter Showcase at the NOW area on November 5th. The Showcase Cup will include the league’s 29 teams and NBA G League Ignite, which will be separated into four regional pods. Windy City Bulls will be in the center pod along with Wisconsin, Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Fort Wayne, Iowa, Sioux Falls, and Motor City.
The teams with the best winning percentage in each regional pod and the next four teams across the league with the best win percentages will advance to compete for the Showcase Cup in a single-elimination tournament during the NBA G League Winter Showcase.
December 18-21: G League Winter Showcase
The G League Winter Showcase is the NBA G League’s annual in-season scouting event when all teams converge in one city to play in front of NBA general managers and player personnel executives from all 30 NBA teams. Also, the G League Winter Showcase will be featuring 30 games over four days spread across two courts. The last 12 teams compete for the Showcase Cup during the Winter Showcase. The remaining teams will each play two games outside the Showcase Cup Tournament during the event.
January 4: G League 36-Game Regular Season Begins
After the Showcase cup, the G League 36-game regular season will begin. Windy City Bulls will play 18 games at home in the NOW area in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The 36-game schedule will come out next month. Five dates later, on January 9th, 10-day contracts may be signed.
February 19: G League Next Gem Game
The Next Gem Game is designed to pay tribute to the NBA season by highlighting the development league’s top next-generation talent. Last season, In the inaugural NBA G League Next Gem Game, at the Wolstein Center on Sunday, Feb. 20, the Cleveland Charge came out on top 96-92 against the Ignite.
February 23: G League Trade Deadline
April 1: G League Reason Season Ends
April 4: G League Playoffs Begin
The six top teams from the Eastern Conference and the six top teams from the Western Conference will compete for the 2022-23 G League Championship. The playoffs will begin with three single-elimination rounds before the NBA G League Finals will be a best out of 3, which will be played in a one-on-one format. The top two teams from each conference will receive a bye into the second round.
Bulls Priority Dates
Last May, the Windy City Bulls announced the team’s home priority dates at the NOW area. The opponents for these games will be announced in August with the complete regular season schedule. Game dates and times are below.
One of the main goals for the Bulls in the upcoming season is to keep Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball 100% healthy throughout the next season, especially during the 2023 Postseason. Ball and Caruso are two of the best defenders on the Bulls squad. But that comes at a cost. Both combined to miss 88 games, and those injuries came at the wrong time, with the Bulls facing stricter competition in January. Here are some reasons why fewer minutes from Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball will help next season.
Less Minutes=less risk of Injury
About a decade ago, the Bulls starters played above 40 minutes every night. Whose idea was it to play their starters almost every minute during the game? Tom Thibodeau. At first, the strategy worked, which led to the top record in the NBA and first seed in the 2012 Postseason. But Chicago lost their leader and star Derrick Rose during game one in the first round with a torn ACL. Rose got hurt with about a minute left in the game, with the Bulls up 99-87. Three games later, Chicago lost Joakim Noah with an ankle injury. Luol Deng played with torn ligaments in his left wrist. The Thibodeau strategy never worked and led to the downfall of the Bulls.
The Thibodeau strategy was one reason teams started sitting their starters for some games and playing them less than 40 or even 30 minutes every game until the postseason began. One of the first teams to notice was the San Antonio Spurs, and those nights of rest and fewer minutes for the starters helped the Spurs win the 2014 Championship. Many other contenders followed, including the most recent Champions of the Golden State Warriors. You don’t know always need to be the first seed to win the title. In the last 20 years, just six number One overall seeds have gone on to win it all.
Chicago will give Caruso and Ball fewer minutes, especially when Ball returns from his injury. Last season, Alex Caruso played ten games with less than 25 minutes. When Caruso was healthy and playing, he averaged 27.5 minutes in games the Bulls won and 28.6 minutes in those games they lost. Last season, Lonzo Ball also played only six games with less than 32 minutes.
Full Roster
Once the Bulls season ended in Milwaukee during the postseason. Over the summer, Chicago was expected to make significant changes to the roster, but instead, the front office decided to sign veterans of Andre Drummond and Goran Dragic. They brought back star Zach Lavine and forward Derrick Jones jr. Instead of trading away their first-round pick and Coby White, Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley drafted guard Dalen Terry.
With the new additions, Chicago has a full roster with 15 players and can go with a small ball lineup or big man lineup. The Bulls roster includes seven guards, four forwards, and four centers. Every player on the Bulls except for Marko Simonovic and rookie Dalen Terry has started at least five games in their NBA career. Dalen Terry, a high-energy player like Caruso, will take some minutes away from Caruso to give him more rest. With the signing of Goran Dragic, Dragic will play and maybe start until Lonzo Ball is fully recovered. When Ball comes back in the starting lineup, Dragic will still take some minutes away from Ball so Ball can rest and not play above 35+ minutes per game. No one from this Bulls roster should play above 40 minutes unless your name is DeMar DeRozan or Zach Lavine.
The Bulls are tied for the most back-to-back games with 15. Only four other teams will have 15 back-to-back games. Going off my last reason with the Bulls’ full roster, the Bulls shouldn’t play Caruso and Ball in those 15 back-to-back games. The Bulls coaching staff must manage Ball and Caruso’s minutes for these 15 back-to-back games. Last season, the Bulls were wise to sit out Lavine while he was playing through a left knee injury. Caruso and Ball will hate to sit out during the regular season, but both of them and Bulls fans would rather have them play in the postseason and be healthy instead of watching the postseason from the bench.
The Chicago Bulls will not play their first preseason game until October 4th, but Marko Simonovic representing Montenegro, and Goran Dragic representing Slovenia, will be in action during the 2022 EuroBasket tournament starting next month. EuroBasket 2022 will include superstars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Nikola Jokic. Dragic and Simonovic have recently played in World Cup European Qualifiers and preparation games. Bulls center Nikola Vucevic will not play for his home country of Montenegro.
FIBA EuroBasket Information
Formally known as the European Basketball Championship, FIBA EuroBasket 2022 will start with the group stage on September 1st. The Championship game will be on September 18th. Host countries include the Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, and Italy. How can you watch these games? Games will be available on FIBA’s official streaming site, livebasketball.tv.
Goran Dragic (Slovenia)
The most recent Bulls free agent signing, Goran Dragic will join Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic on the court, presenting their home country of Slovenia. According to DraftKings sports, Slovenia is tied with France for the third-best odds to win the EuroBasket 2022 Championship at +400. Slovenia will start the group stage games on September 1st with a matchup against Lithuania at 10:15 CT. Lithuania and France will be their most formidable opponents in Group A. Slovenia have looked good throughout August, including their 97-92 OT win on August 17th against Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
Dragic with team Slovenia during EuroBasket 2025 qualification games has played well, averaging 14.5 points, 2.3 assists, and 2.0 rebounds in four preparation games. In the Word Cup Qualifier game, Dragic got 19 points and six assists in a 104-83 win over Estonia last Thursday. But his best performance this summer was in a 104-103 win against Turkey when he got 28 points and five rebounds, shooting 9-for-15 from the field. Since suffering a non-serious knee injury against Serbia on August 17th, Dragic has averaged 17 minutes per game but scored double-digit points and shot above 70% from the field in both games. Slovenia will play one more World Cup Qualifier game on Sunday before starting the EuroBasket tournament on September 1st.
Unfortunately, Nikola Vucevic won’t play alongside Marko Simonovic, but at least there’s another Bulls player to watch. Simonovic has been busy summer with the Summer League last month and now with FIBA EuroBasket. Montenegro is in the middle of the pack, but don’t expect them to win the tournament. Currently, Montenegro has +5000 odds on DraftKings to win the Championship. Montenegro will participate in Group C, and their toughest opponent during group play will be Spain. In their preparation games, they were 1-2 with their only win against the Netherlands, 76-67, on August 5th. The losses came against the favorites of Slovenia (70-52) and Serbia (82-73). Simonovic didn’t play in the preparation games.
Simonovic joined Montenegro when they played in a World Cup Qualifier game last Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The big man had 6 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes in a 88-69 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Montenegro will play their last World Cup Qualifier game today (August 27th) before EuroBasket starts against Rudy Gobert and France. Simonovic will most likely come off the bench during EuroBasket. Montenegro will play their first 2022 EuroBasket game on September 1st against Turkey.
The Windy City Bulls have officially traded for the returning player rights to Hassani Gravett from Lakeland Magic and a 2022 first-round pick from Capital City Go-Go. Capital City Go-Go will receive the returning player rights to Devon Dotson and a 2023 second-round pick from Lakeland Magic. Lakeland Magic will get the returning player rights to Joel Ayayi from Capital City Go-Go and a second-round selection from Capital City Go-Go.
Who is Hassani Gravett?
Hassani Gravett, a point guard at 6’2, has spent two seasons in the G League before entering the 2019 draft. He helped South Carolina University in his sophomore season reach the Final Four. As a senior, Gravett averaged 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game, while shooting 39.9 percent from three and led the Gamecocks with 65 three-pointers. He went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft. But Gravett got signed by the Orlando Magic on August 13, 2019.
On October 26, 2019, Gravett got sent down to play with the Lakeland Magic. In his first G League season with the Magic, he averaged 11.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals in 42 games. On January 7, Gravett had his first double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to the College Park Skyhawks. After the 2019-20 season, he played for MZT Skopje Aerodrom and averaged 12.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Gravett helped lead the MZT Skopje to win the Macedonian League championship and the 2021 Macedonian Basketball Cup.
On October 28, 2021, Gravett returned to the Lakeland Magic and played better in his second season with the Lakeland Magic. He averaged 13.9 points, 6.2 assists, and 4.6 rebounds in 32 games. A couple of months later, Gravett signed a 10-day contract with the Orlando Magic. In his NBA debut, he got 6 points and three assists in 24 minutes of action in a 115-105 loss to the Miami Heat. His last game of the season with the Magic was against the Chicago Bulls, and he scored 5 points in 13 minutes; Chicago won 102-98.
Don’t forget the Windy City Bulls will receive a 2022 first-round as well in the 3-team trade. The good news is the Windy City Bulls get a first-round pick and a solid point guard. But Chicago traded Devon Dotson, who struggled at the NBA level but played well at the G League level. Gravett will most likely be the starting point for the Windy City Bulls next season.
According to Christos Tsaktas, the Chicago Bulls are interested in signing big man Kostas Antetokounmpo. Kostas Antetokounmpo, also known for being the younger brother of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo will be a free agent after one season at ASVEL. Bulls General Manager Arturas Karnisovas has already expressed his interest in signing him.
Last season at ASVEL, he averaged 4.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 11.0 minutes per game. Antetokounmpo played in 21 games, and the team had a 14-7 record. Currently, Kostas Antetokounmpo is playing with the Greece international team, and in his most recent game, he got 19 points and 13 rebounds in an 89-80 win against Turkey. Antetokounmpo is expected to play in the EuroBasket tournament starting in September for his home country of Greece and with his brother Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The last time Kostas Antetokounmpo played in the NBA was when he played with the Los Angeles Lakers. He never had a significant role on the Lakers team, but he was a great teammate. Although he didn’t have a considerable part during the finals, Antetokounmpo won his first championship after the Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in six games. He became the first Antetokounmpo to win a championship and the first Greek-born player to win an NBA championship. During his two seasons in Los Angeles, he averaged 1.1 rebounds, 1.0 points, and 0.2 blocks in 20 games. But with the South Bay Lakers during the 2019-2020 season, he averaged 14.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 38 games.
Bulls guard Zach Lavine announced birth of his child, Saint Thomas
Chicago Bulls All-Star guard Zach Lavine is now officially a father. On an Instagram post, Zach and his wife, Hunter, presented the birth of their new child, Saint Thomas Lavine. “Best Feeling I’ve had is now being a father,” Lavine said on his Instagram. Also, note that Saint Thomas Lavine is born on Mamba day, 8/24.
(Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
After the upcoming season, Nikola Vucevic will enter the last year of his four-year/$100 Million contract and become a free agent. But Chicago has recently come out and is exploring the option of giving an extension offer to Nikola Vucevic. The Bulls and Nikola Vucevic must get a deal done before June 30, 2023, or else Vucevic will be a free agent. There are positives and negatives of Vucevic, but most fans are done with Vucevic after his first entire season in the Windy City. Last season, Vucevic averaged a double-double of 17.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 73 games. Here are the pros and cons of giving Nikola Vucevic a contract extension.
Pros
Available and not injury prone
Let’s start with the positives; first, you can count on Vucevic to play and be available and not be injury prone. The last time Vucevic got a significant injury was a fractured second metacarpal on his left hand that cost him 23 games during the 2017-18 season while he was playing for the Orlando Magic. During Vucevic’s Magic career, he was healthy for 84.4% of the 700 games. Last season, he missed six games due to being in the COVID Protocols, one game (Ankle), and another game because of knee soreness.
Any other good centers available in the market?
So far in Vucevic’s Bulls career, he has averaged a double-double of 18.7 points and 11.2 rebounds in 99 games. But how many centers will give a double-double every night? Not a lot of centers. Only 12 centers last season averaged a double-double. Vucevic is a reliable center, but can Chicago get an upgrade at the starting center position? They could, but If the Bulls want to improve their record each season, Vucevic must be on the team or a top 10 center in the NBA.
There aren’t many stars centers that will be free agents after the upcoming season. But the few players that will be free agents include Myles Turner, Al Horford, and Steven Adams. Though, these players might get an extension contract like Vucevic. Horford and Adams are veterans who know their job during the regular and, most importantly, during the postseason. Horford was a significant factor in the Celtics’ run to the 2022 NBA Finals but lost to the Golden State Warriors.
Cons
Offensive Rebounds and Defense
Every player will have positives but will also have negatives. Let’s see how Vucevic had many defensive breakdowns and didn’t have as many offensive rebounds as he hoped. Vucevic averaged 1.9 offensive rebounds per game, the third lowest in his NBA career. That didn’t, with Chicago averaging 11.1-second chance points per game, the third worst in the NBA behind the Dallas Mavericks (11.0) and the Los Angeles Clippers (10.9).
Once the Bulls got out to a hot start last season, many teams started noticing the biggest weakness of the Bulls, which was their pick-and-roll defense. Of course, you can’t point the fingers at certain players, but the most significant factor of their weakness was Vucevic. Early in the season, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso fought around the screens, but the problem became apparent once both of those guys went out with injuries. When Vucevic didn’t step up on the pick-and-roll, typically, that allowed open shots or an easy layup for the opponent. When Vucevic was playing well, he would play excellent pick-and-roll defense. That was one of the reasons for Bulls fans started to question whether or not Vucevic should not receive the extension.
Three point shooting against contenders
Nikola Vucevic in 21 against the top 4 teams in each conference; he shot below 26% from three in those 14 games. When Vucevic got hot from three, Chicago won many games, which includes their only win in the 2022 postseason in the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks. In game 2, Vucevic shot 4-for-8 from three, which resulted in 24 points to help Chicago tie up the series at 1-1. But Vucevic won’t be able to shoot above 33% from three for the rest of the series, and Chicago lost the next three games.
After going over the positives and negatives of Vucevic, I believe Chicago should extend his contract for one more year after the 2022-23 season. Vucevic will most likely still earn $20-25M per season in his new contract. But he has not deserved a $30M per season type of contract. After the 2023-24 season, the Bulls front office will know who will be on the next good Bulls team and who they will move on. Note, after the 2023-24 season, a couple of players will become free agents, including star DeMar DeRozan.
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