With the Bulls’ season set to tip off on Thursday against the Toronto Raptors, Bulls beat writer Darnell Mayberry and analyst Stephen Noh chatted about the state of the team, the effects of Bobby Portis’ suspension, and what they’re looking forward to this year.
Darnell Mayberry: So I walked into some season, huh?
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Stephen Noh: Heck of a first week for you.
Mayberry: Everyone keeps telling me this is exactly what I should expect from the franchise. But I have this strange feeling of optimism. Is it silly of me to trust the process?
Noh: I don’t know if there’s even a process in place to trust. The Bulls seem to be winging it with their decisions lately. I guess the “losing a lot of games” strategy is looking pretty good.
Optimism is a good thing though. You will soon find that this can at times be one of the most negative fanbases in the NBA, and it’s good to have other points of view to balance that out.
Mayberry: The most frequent question I got when it was announced I would be covering the Bulls is who’s their best player. I didn’t have an answer. Who is it?
Noh: On opening night, it will be Justin Holiday. That’s a little scary given that Holiday wasn’t even a consistent starter on a 31-win Knicks team last year, but he’s been legitimately good in the preseason and he’s improved his shooting every year he’s been in the league.
Justin Holiday is back with the Bulls after averaging 7.7 points and 20 minutes per game with the Knicks last season. (Mike Dinovo/USA TODAY Sports)Mayberry: What about the offense? Sounds like Fred Hoiberg’s pace and space system yielded some solid results in preseason play. Think it will carry over and is it the best style for them this season?
Noh: It’s probably a stretch to call the preseason results solid. The Bulls were competitive and did win three games, but their offense was 24th out of NBA teams in the preseason and even worse than Melbourne United, an Australian team that played the Thunder a few weeks ago. Hoiberg’s system will be fun to watch at times and it is as good a system as any for this group, but talent is king in the NBA and the Bulls will struggle to score on most nights.
Mayberry: Well, there I go looking at the glass as half full again.
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Hoiberg was praising the team’s preseason assists numbers earlier this week. Can I at least expect the ball to pop? There’s probably nothing I love more than excellent ball movement.
Noh: They will absolutely move the ball a ton. One of the strengths of this team is their unselfishness, and they should end the year in the top 10 in assists, if not better.
Speaking of strengths and weaknesses, we had heard that the chemistry of this team was at its strongest point throughout the offseason. Obviously, the fight at Tuesday’s practice between Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis cast some doubt on that narrative. What did you think of the way the Bulls addressed that situation?
Mayberry: I may be in the minority here (don’t @ me), but I applaud the way the Bulls handled it. They put out a statement the night it happened. They announced the suspension before media availability Wednesday. They made John Paxson available, as well as Hoiberg and RoLo (Robin Lopez) a day later. And as far as I could tell everyone seemed forthright on the details. I have no complaints.
My biggest question about the whole situation is why they allowed the altercation to reach that point. Yes, jawing happens. And, yes, sometimes guys even get in each other’s face. But this all seems like it was easily preventable.
Noh: It’s tough to know without being there, I’ll give them that. I know it will never happen, but I’d love to see them release the video of the incident.
The biggest problem I had with the way it was handled was that the suspension seemed far too lenient. Portis was looking like the odd man out in the rotation and Mirotic had already been named the opening-day starter. As pointed out by Nate Duncan in his “Dunc’d On” podcast, as well as others, Portis now stands to benefit from punching Mirotic. Portis will be back from his suspension well before Mirotic is fully recovered, and he will be the beneficiary of those minutes. If I were Mirotic, I’d be pretty furious with this outcome.
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Mayberry: I did think the punishment would be slightly more severe. Probably 10 to 15 games. But Portis’ lost salary during the suspension is $84,000. That’s a relatively hefty penalty compared to fines the league levies. Also, if the punch just blackened an eye instead of broke Mirotic’s face, we’re not talking about this. In no way am I trying to excuse Portis’ actions. I say that only to say Portis was merely unlucky in that his punch caused such significant damage.
Noh: It’s unfortunate for the Bulls too, and I appreciate that they didn’t try to sugarcoat what happened.
Nikola Mirotic is expected to miss four to six weeks with broken bones in his face, but Bobby Portis will be eligible to return by early November. (AP Photo Kamil Krzaczynski/Tony Gutierrez)The one silver lining here is that we will see more of Lauri Markkanen, who will start in the team’s opener against the Raptors on Thursday. I’m excited to see what he looks like, and I’ll be writing about him a lot.
Anything you’re looking forward to in particular this season?
Mayberry: Unfortunately, almost everyone I’m looking forward to watching is injured. Eventually, I want to see how good Zach LaVine is and can be. I want to see if Kris Dunn can make the jump. I want to see Cameron Payne get healthy and get an opportunity to salvage his NBA career. I have an irrational intrigue for Paul Zipser because I had never heard of him before watching him string together a modest but attention-grabbing 7, 5 and 2 night in OKC last year. And I want to see RoLo get into it with many, many mascots.
It’s weird because Markkanen doesn’t crack the top five on my list. Long before I had any idea I’d be covering him, I remember watching the draft and hearing Jay Bilas call him a pick and pop terror and Jalen Rose compare him to Channing Frye. And I’m sitting there thinking, “They took a pick and pop terror with the seventh overall pick?” Maybe the kid will impress.
Noh: As a New Orleans resident, I hope Lopez takes out the Pelicans’ King Cake Baby mascot. Easily the creepiest mascot in the league and looks exactly like the killer from the movie Happy Death Day. Be careful when you’re down here, I don’t trust that thing.
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Mayberry: Wow. Good call on the doppelgänger. But the last thing these Bulls need is for RoLo to go pissing off the voodoo people. Go in peace, RoLo. Go in peace!!
Noh: This probably isn’t going to be a great year winning-wise, but I’m an addict. I can’t help but be a little bit excited for opening day, even despite my natural pessimism for this team. I’m confident that we will have the best stories at The Athletic, at the very least. Any closing thoughts?
Mayberry: I have only one. Trust the process!
(Top photo: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
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