PaulieG’s NBA Index

@JCowleyHoops Cowley, I’m gonna convince you to be an anti-tanker if it takes me my whole life

Bulls guard Tre Jones has no plans to upset the basketball gods, and that means absolutely no tanking ... Read it ... chicago.suntimes.com/bulls/2026/03/…

@GooseOnBulls I love Ayo, but it’s probably a bit early to judge the trade, given none of the draft picks have been made yet. That said, they definitely lost the Coby trade

Wolves won the trade, Rob has started to find some confidence with opportunities but is still raw and sloppy. Lenny is competitive and his competition on this roster is Patrick Williams. Happy for Ayo though he deserves to be competing like this on a real team.

@WfromDeBall @lockandfound I like Dilly, but he’s like 30 lbs smaller than Flemings

Telling me this not just Rob Dilligham?

@KlayForTrey Thankfully no one cares what ESPN’s NBA team thinks anymore

This was ESPN’s standings prediction btw aged terribly 😭💔

Don’t tell this to soft-ass Bulls fans, who wanna give every minute to young’ins in order to prioritize their development over winning games. Let’s not make the guys earn their minutes. Let’s give everyone playing time, and trophies too, while we’re at it. Because it’s impossible for players to develop any other way, apparently.

I previously said CHI may end up with three of the top 34 picks in a deep draft. With NOP’s recent resurgence, I was overly ambitious, as their 2nd will likely be in the mid to late 30s. Regardless, I’m excited for this offseason Not at all a contender, but they’ll be better next year than this year, & still one of the youngest teams Starting Giddey, (hopefully healthy) Ivey, Okoro, Matas & Smith. With Tre, Dilly, Miller, Noa & PWill off the bench. Add rookie talent, perhaps a winning RFA bid…. I like the potential. AKME gotta nail these picks. And Noa, Giddey, Matas, Ivey, Dilly & Miller need to take a step. Wouldn’t be totally shocked to see Okoro and/or Smith get moved by Feb ‘27.

@BN_Bulls Healthy Jaden Ivey would like a word

Leonard Miller is now, easily, the most exciting Bulls trade addition.

@J_Talks_Hoops You’re missing out, homie

I don’t smoke I don’t drink I don’t do drugs My 3 vices are basketball, comic books, and old school hip hop

@bballbreakdown Coach Nick, I don’t know if it’s the “best.” But it certainly ain’t the worst. Tie goes to the Hall of Fame coach, right?

It's always a good idea for the coach to have a goal with every interaction they have with their players. Whatever Pitino wants from his player, do you think this is the **best** way to get him to change the way he's playing?

"I loved playing for Rick Pitino…IDK if you guys understand: He started this 3pt shooting…way before everyone else…My DePaul jersey got retired this year vs St John's…coach calls: 'we'll fly you there'…says it all…He's the Don Dada of coaching basketball" – Rod Strickland

I hear ya. Make-up is super important. Totally agree. At the same time, I think of Kessler more as AN ingredient. Not The Missing ingredient. Regardless, I doubt we’re getting either one, honestly. Can’t imagine DET or UTA allowing either to walk for nothing. Do you? I reckon they may look at “2nd draft” guys, or guys on apron teams who can’t afford to re-sign them, ya know?

@TheNBAIndex @TheSixthBanner That's where I'm sneaky going with this argument. I agree that Duren is a superstar. But sometimes the makeup of a team supersedes that superstar factor. Look at the Kyrie/Harden/KD debacle, you feel me? Kessler is the missing ingredient, to me, that we need the most.

Curious about something. Which player would improve the #ChicagoBulls more next season, if they could theoretically pry them away in Restricted Free Agency? I know that both are unlikely, especially one. This is a test of the #BullsNation basketball IQ 👀 #SeeRed

@PhilipCharlesIV @TheSixthBanner No argument there. Kessler the better rim protector.

But they both have particular strengths that the other doesn't have. Duren may be superior but he isn't even close to being the level of paint protector that Kessler is. I think this question is key... just because someone might be superior doesn't mean that they're the right choice to round out what the Bulls need

Everyone who had a problem with my Matas/Giddey praise post from earlier today made me think of this truth bomb.

@theblockspot Pitino

You need 1 March Madness win. • Tom Izzo • Coach K • Coach Cal • Rick Pitino Which Head Coach would you take?

Why I like Billy

@mkhoops2 Mark, man, it’s like we’re speaking different languages. You might wanna sit this one out.

@TheNBAIndex They are not. They are very rational. Go back and read your own stuff in this thread. You're contradicting your own self. But sure!

The Billy Donovan conversation about his time in Chicago is entirely a ‘process vs results’ discussion and it’s very *illuminating* to see which side (process/result) people fall on

@Moochaveli @Will_Gottlieb I hear that. You’re right. Who knows how they’d turn out in another situation. No one knew SGA would be this good. Certainly not the clips, who drafted him. But that’s kinda my point. Getting elite talent is just one aspect of building a contender. Lots has to go right.

@TheNBAIndex @Will_Gottlieb The argument to that is, for this team in particular, do you trust this team to pull off the rare feat to find a SGA or even a Jdub in the draft? Matas unexpectedly fell into our lap and all other draft picks by this regime been at the very least unspectacular

There’s no integrity in taking the path that prevents actual high level competition allchgo.com/its-not-billy-…

@PhilipCharlesIV Mark is pure All or Nothing now. Used to be able to converse in a reasonable manner. Not sure what happened to him.

Insane take that Matas Buzelis isn't allowed to shoot midrange jumpers? Or insane take that he could be the MVP? I see zero reason to limit his capability. His talent is incredible. Anyone can see it. Did anyone think Shai was MVP caliber in his 2nd season?

@mkhoops2 Fair enough. Your theories are just unfounded. That’s all. No big deal. This All or Nothing mindset is for the birds.

@TheNBAIndex I’m not engaging but I don’t want to waste my own bandwidth on it when in your initial assessment of it, there’s already many holes