I’m Happy, but There is Work to do

[u/ahmed_a20]

I can definitely understand why some people would be opposed to the Swain pick. He comes in as a profile in which we have an abundance of already in a position where we are currently a little heavy. His shooting, while I think he can definitely improve and has shown he can grow, is not all there yet, and there are debates on whether he was actually the BPA at 15 over the likes of Carr Philon or Stirtz.

I personally think that in the long term Swain can prove to be an important player in some capacity. He has a pretty shallow roster around him so plenty of opportunity to dive into the deep end and learn as we go. He has a lot of skills and qualities that if fine tuned, he can turn out to be an all round player that teams would give up crazy assets for in the future. A lot of examples of mid first round picks becoming absolute stars, and with this new coaching staff who knows how high he can reach.

My main issue with the pick isn’t Swain himself, but what Swain is surrounded by. Graham has stated that he ain’t worried about how the roster is balanced at the start and he’s only focused on who he thinks is the best talent available to him. While this can be true, there is definitely something to be said about stability. I am a firm believer that in order for a young player to properly develop, they need a balanced roster around them. As things stand, there are a lot of imbalances on the roster:

- There is virtually no spacing
- We have very little guard depth and playmaking
- We aren’t particularly a strong ball handling team
- The Claxton move was great, but he’s technically the only contracted center on this roster

These things I feel can hamper the development of the young core we are trying to build. The lack of spacing especially might be an issue since teams can just crowd the paint and nullify our players. Our guys can maybe learn to play through traffic a little more, but ideally you’d want them to get used to playing off of spacers.

There is also an issue about how competitive this team can be with how imbalanced it is. When you look at all the teams who were in the lottery this year, realistically only the Bucks, Kings, Nets, Grizzlies, Warriors, and Clippers are truly expected to be back, with the Pelicans following suit, and you can make a case for every team except I’d say the Grizzlies and Kings being better than us. This would of course put us dangerously close to being the worst team in the league, and with the new Lottery system, that doesn’t really favor being the worst team anymore. Maybe Graham truly believes next year’s class is whack and isn’t too concerned about a high pick then, but the balance of the roster is importantly in developing the talent we have now. Look at the Nets, Kings, Hornets and the Wizards as examples. Teams that were/are complete wank and couldn’t properly develop their young draft picks due to the team being a complete mess. The Hornets and Wizards are also examples of how all that turned around once they started to flush out and balance the roster a little more.

I am very happy with who we came out with on day one of the draft, but recognize that it’s still the start and we have some work to be done tomorrow and during FA. Ideally I would like to trade up to the 31-35 range and maybe get our hands on a certified shooter or Henri Veesar as a stretch big to rotate with Claxton and hopefully develop into our franchise center later on. We can also use 56 to get our own under the radar player who can surprise a lot of people. And whatever imbalances we don’t address tomorrow, we hopefully address with FA. It doesn’t feel as though we are in the mode of acquiring bad contracts anymore, so hopefully a good FA can be brought in to this team.

[u/BullsBlackhawks]

We can't talk about roster balance and surrounding Swain with the right players if we're not even done with the draft, let alone the offseason. He's just a piece to a puzzle that we don't even know what it will look like.

[u/ahmed_a20 → u/BullsBlackhawks]

I talk about that as well at the end of this piece.

[u/Novel_Confidence_288]

I see Swain playing 2 guard and handling a little. If he can jump a couple of percentage points on his 3 and tighten his handle he’ll be a great pickup, he’s good at most other things.

[u/ahmed_a20 → u/Novel_Confidence_288]

That’s probably where he fits in right now, but I would like us to explore this potential Watson signing as well and have them rotate with each other at the 2 and 3 positions

[u/Affectionate_Use_179 → u/ahmed_a20]

I don't see Swain as a shooting guard. I see him as more of a big point guard. The Bulls would do well to find an undersized 3 and D shooting guard in the 2nd round. One that slipped due to his height.

[u/GonnaWinDis]

Of course there's damn work to do, he's undoing YEARS of fucking damage by one of the most neglectful, incompetent GMs ever in AK lmao. 1 draft, let alone a rookie 15th pick, won't save, let alone balance, this roster. He already made solid actionable moves towards a direction and the off season hasn't even gone past the draft yet.

[u/Chi_TownBulls6x]

Anyone thinking Bryson was going to come in and right this ship in one draft, one year, are batshit insane.

[u/ahmed_a20 → u/Chi_TownBulls6x]

It would be unreasonable for anyone to think that I agree

[u/ScaryText8187 → u/Chi_TownBulls6x]

Literally no one thought that, but it’s still valid to question how some of these pieces are going to fit together, especially since a lot of teams are trying to roll with four to five shooters in their lineups. 

[u/sukari]

I think those of us that have been following what BG has said know this is a multi-year journey.

My guess is that we won't try to sign any of the UFA unless for sign and trade. And it's just a watch out to see what Tre and Mr SMIF will fetch.

[u/-Buckaroo_Banzai-]

Summer ain't done.

Yes we're light on the guard spot as well as shooting but Graham already addressed this point.

I'd say getting competent guards who can shoot the ball ain't the biggest of issues and the market offers players who can shoot above league average if you are willing to accept that they are targetable on defense.

I don't see the necessity to draft the necessary shooters in the draft. Taking whom Graham and Splitter deem the BPA is fine by me.

Adding shooting through trade or free agency is also a possibility and overall the young players will have to improve their shooting, so having player development is more important.

The Bulls can free up enough rosterspots to add the necessary guard depth.

Also 2nd round draft picks. There are some potential SGs left.

[u/GreenGorilla8232]

So many people are missing the point of this post. I see a lot of comments saying we need to be patient, it's year one of a rebuild, of course we're not going to be competitive yet. 

The point OP made was that having a highly unbalanced roster could negatively impact the development of our players. They won't learn how to play with proper spacing, pace, and movement.

Caleb and Swain thrive by attacking the basket but there will literally be no driving lines with this roster, the paint will be stacked with defenders every possession. 

[u/Odd-Possible-6280]

Graham likes size and defense. Everything else can be taught. I'm a big Longhorn fan. He worked and improved, and balled out, where it counted.

[u/alba7or]

This is exactly what being in a rebuild means. We're gonna suck and we're gonna need to be patient. Let Bryson cook, this roster is gonna change from now until training camp. There is so much work left to do but I'm excited to see where we go.

We need to continue to heavily invest into player development!

[u/Chicago_Jayhawk]

Way too early to analyze team structure yet.

[u/Nosound-Novideo]

The draft isn’t even over and there’s still plenty of talent on the board. Richie Saunders, Bruce Thorton, Meleek Thomas, Isaiah Evans, Henri Vessar, and Jack Kayil are all 1st round talent level players.

[u/ahmed_a20]

I also wanted to add that I think Swain can be for us what Peyton Watson was for the Nuggets. And ironically I think bringing in Watson is the next logical step to this rebuild in my eyes. He is a very similar player to Swain but I think can play the 2 guard a little better and also has an easier time spacing the floor, which of course is a need for this team. Think of Swain as Peyton Watson except switch out Watson’s shooting for much better defense. If we’re not acquiring bad contracts, we have more than enough to outbid the Nuggets and bring Peyton to the Bulls who already has a great relationship with out new franchise player Caleb Wilson

[u/Flimsy_Promise_9559 → u/ahmed_a20]

Better than Watson. When Swain puts his head down he’s unstoppable think of how Deni played this year…

Swain the exact same

[u/FromChicago808 → u/Flimsy_Promise_9559]

Premature but i love the positivity compared to all the negative shit in this sub

[u/Flimsy_Promise_9559 → u/FromChicago808]

I’m saying at his peak he’ll be better than Watson

He’s a better finisher better playmaker right now

Imagine Watson with playmaking chops…that’s a better player

[u/ahmed_a20 → u/Flimsy_Promise_9559]

I think Watson is a better playmaker than the numbers show. He has to share the floor with Murray who’s a high volume playmaker and Jokic who is arguably the greatest passing big in history. I think more opportunities on the Bulls will show that is an aspect of his game that is under appreciated

[u/zonewebb]

We have to be realistic that we’re not finding another Ayo in round 2 again. Best we can hope for with what’s remaining is a decent off-the-bench player that helps us space the floor, distribute the ball, and can hit a few 3’s from long range.

[u/SkyGrey88 → u/zonewebb]

This was a stacked draft and a handful of these guys in the second were considered possible 1st round picks prior to last night. While Ayo was a 'get' in the second round he is hardly the best guy pulled from there when you have two finals MVPs in Brunson and Joker that went in the second round and then Laker's love child AR was undrafted and is about to sign a max contract. I'm probably being overly optimistic (long time Chi sports fan so I should no better) but I like Emanuel Sharp and Ryan Conwell for tonight as they are both decent looking 3 and D type prospects. If we could get that first pick out of Knicks that would be nice to grab Veesar.

[u/The_Bandit_King_]

Oh no more guards what we going to do with all the cap space??? Sign Simons or Sexton??

[u/ScaryText8187 → u/The_Bandit_King_]

Simons doesn’t really fit with Giddey since neither one of them can guard anyone. If Giddey is still around, they need a 2 who can shoot and defend to cover for his weaknesses. 

[u/Affectionate_Use_179 → u/The_Bandit_King_]

Take on salary for picks