Who is the BEST Among the New Bulls?

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All right, Bulls Nation. We are nearly a month removed now from that in-season trade deadline.

The Bulls made several trades brought in several players in those trades. Everybody trying to get

a grasp on who among any of them could be sticking around beyond the end of this season.

And who might be the most valuable?

So with that gentlemen, obviously everybody has talked a lot about Jaden Ivy, Rob Dillingham,

Colin Sexton, Anthony Simons, you know, three of them former lottery picks,

Simons proven score in Portland. Great role guy for the Celtics for the first half of this season.

I'm here to ask y'all a simple but perhaps somewhat surprising question.

Even knowing that he is one of the many, impending unrestricted free agents,

is the real prize right now for the Bulls. In everything they got back, in all of those trades,

actually Leonard Miller.

Well, let me say this, one I hate this question. It's not a fun one because what we're discussing.

And it's crazy. The fact that it's not an outlandish question.

Yeah, and the fact that it has merit is wild to me.

And I'm not saying this to be disrespectful to Leonard Miller, at all, because he has played well.

And we sat here and praised him and deservedly so about how he fills up the stat sheet. The way

he has looked out there on the floor. And this is again, after like just a couple games,

you know what I mean? Like it hasn't even been that many games.

You can argue that he is the prize because of the youth, because of the contract.

That the young man has more so than you can with Simon's or a sexton.

Because you expect them, at least you expect them to not be here, right? Part of the Bulls

future, whereas Leonard Miller has a great chance to be that guy that's part of the Chicago Bulls

future. Already he's looking like he's better than Patrick Williams. Like he already is looking

that way. We'll see about the consistency of it and how it moves on and how it continues on

and does like that. But already he's looking better than a guy who was basically six man for

the Bulls. And now I don't know what position. I mean, he still starts sometimes. You know,

he still plays the five. And already I'm like, I don't want to see him ever again. Show me more

Leonard Miller, please. I want to see this more all the time. So the fact that it has merit and

validity to it bothers me. But you can argue it. I think it's a argument for it to be had.

I'm curious as, as the where goat would go with this and I'll pass this over to him. But Leonard

Miller has been a breath of fresh air for the Chicago Bulls with the way that he has played.

And it's been very low key, but it's been impactful. And it's in a way where it's developing,

but it still looks good. So you know, Billy Donovan is going to continue to have him out there

on the basketball court. He's going to make mistakes. We understand that. But it's impactful to

winning. And you're watching how he connects with guys like Trey Jones and guys like Josh Gidey,

who are running the offense. He understands the cuts. He understands the baseline cuts.

He's bringing back what we saw Javante Green do really well, which was run those baseline cuts

all day long. We saw him do that for sure. I hadn't seen that in a while on this scene. So yeah,

he's a solid player. If I'm talking about him was the prize. Yeah. But it's an argument to be made

for it. He has played well. So I don't think he's the prize. I think the prize is the fact that

they picked a direction and that they're probably going to end up with a top 10 pick in a very

strong draft class. And that can set them up better for the future. As we talked about on

an earlier show, I've got some serious problems with their process over the last few weeks. And just

how they're kind of approaching this downswing, the stage that they're in. But I do like Leonard

Miller a lot. And he was just a good sweetener to me in that I would assume a deal. This was a guy

who played for the league league ignite to the same team that modest results played for. But he was

the year before with Scoot Henderson. And he averaged 18 and 11 on that team. I was very high on him

coming out of the draft. I projected him to go in the first round. We did our all city draft

coverage. But yeah, six, 10, 70 wingspan athlete knows how to play can dribble past shoot a little

bit like there's a lot to like here. And I think opportunity is really what he needs in order to

get himself kind of carve carve out a role for himself in this league. And with guys like Patrick

Williams and Jalen Smith out, he's gotten an opportunity. Now what happens is up to him. And so he's

going to have to continue to play well. He's going to have to earn trust from Billy Donovan. So

few things are as uplifting as the greatest moments in sports. And nothing brings us together

quite like team USA at the Olympic winter games from NBC Universal's iconic storytelling to the

innovative technology across Xfinity and peacock. Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America

sharing every moment with millions. When team USA steps onto the world stage, we're not just watching

we're cheering together. This winter, we're all on the same team. Comcast proud partner of team

USA. You're juggling a lot, but you can still squeeze in a financial plan. With the North

Western Mutual Financial Advisor as your partner, it's not only possible, it's personalized. So if

you're time the not, closing on a house, or welcoming a little one, you'll be ready for whatever

life tosses your way. It's the right time to feel less stressed and more certain. That's a better

way to money. Let's get started at nm.com. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He can carve out a role, but I think he's got some real tools. The size,

the athleticism, all that stuff is not teachable, but he has a good feel for the game. And he just

didn't get an opportunity in Minnesota, a team that had, you know, towns and go bear and not

breed and then Randall go bear and not like there's just not a lot of opportunity for him. He's in my

opinion, like a true power forward, not somebody that can really be a three just because of his

shaky jump shot, although that has looked better. To me, this was like a nice piece to get back in

the I would assume a deal, along with four second on picks, along with Rob Dillingham,

where there's just some upside there. And he is under contract next year. He's got the Bullseye

team option for him at 2.4 million. And then he can be a believer restricted for agent. He was

a second on pick. So I'm not exactly sure off the top. I had what the exception rules are there.

But can he just turn into a player? And then the fact that he is making so little,

that gives you so much more upside where now you can afford to spend in other areas because

you've got production at just two and a half million. So I really like Leonard Miller. I hope

he continues to get more opportunity. I think there is upside there. I think it's going to take time.

Clearly he's a raw player. Like there's a lot for him to get better at. But he's shown that he can

be productive at the G league level. He's shown that he can put up some numbers in a role at the

NBA level. Can he continue to do that as the role expands as more responsibilities placed on him?

I think that's where you can start to look at him as potentially one of the unsung rewards of

that trade if he continues to progress at that rate. I'm looking forward to seeing that trust aspect.

You just talked about with Billy Donovan because we're going to find out when Jaylen comes back,

when Patrick comes back, how he really feels about Leonard Miller. And if he's going to continue to

get minutes out there on the floor, invaluable minutes. Right. And if that trend continues,

even if and when Pat and Jaylen come back and Leonard continues to earn minutes from Billy,

then that two and a half middle club option that you were talking about go that is a young player

under team control who alongside Dillingham is the only other player in all these trades in all

these players that came back in these trades that you have more time to evaluate. And then even

like comparing that to you got to decide this summer. What's the deal with Jayden Ivy?

Does he still have an MBA career ahead of him given this entry and where we are right now with him?

Simons, it's a it's a risk fracture. I'm not as worried about Simons as far as the injury front,

but are you going to go contend with other teams who want his legitimate microwave score talents

in unrestricted free agency this summer? Because you believe that strongly that he's a part of your

team moving forward. Colin Sexton, bye. Like when you're talking about where the bull spend money

and where they're trying to add value. Go talk about adding value all the time in players and

contracts. Even beyond picking up the final club option of his second round pick rookie deal,

beyond that is he a player that you see being a useful part of your core moving forward. A rotation

guy moving forward on this team that is trending much younger. The fact that they have a chance to

take a real closer look at him and even another year before deciding do we want to keep him around?

Because even then I think you're talking about a negotiation that could lean towards

being a team-friendly contract for a guy who as we sit here in the first week of March,

spending three MBA seasons to begin his career has played a grand total of 55 games.

Unless he has some huge explosion in the 26-27 season, I think the bulls could still have

an upper hand in those negotiations on a player who's proven to be valuable on the floor.

And I think the one thing I would say with that is that because he has a club option for next year,

what the bulls can do is turn that down and say we will pay you more next year, but we're going to

ding ding. And you're going to go from two and a half million to four million maybe,

but then you're going to sign a four or five year contract that is also at four million dollars.

And now you've got potential value into the future. And so you're doing him a favor by giving

him more money and guaranteed money and hoping that he exceeds that for two or three more years

into the future. That's how they should play this thing. That's how a lot of teams like

the Blazers, for example, did a similar version of this with Tomani Kamara. He obviously got

much more money, but they turned down that team option, paid him a lot more, but it's still below

market value and they have him on a long-term deal. That's probably how the bulls should be because

they've got all these second-round picks now. They're going to be able to backfill the roster with

cheap players. Can they get some real value on long-term deals? I think this would be a great way

to do that. We'll see how these trends alter moving forward in the coming weeks. The bulls head out

west for a big challenging road trip, but you know, Leonard Miller has become a hot name among

bulls fans recently with his minutes and the fact that Simon's and Ivy are currently out with

injuries and Dillingham played five minutes in a game where he was fully healthy and available

the other day. So there's that. Thanks for tuning in to the mini pod. Make sure you're tuning

into our full episodes throughout each and every week here between now and the rest of the season

and beyond. Hit that like, bulls nation. Talk to you next time.

Two things are as uplifting as the greatest moments in sports, and nothing brings us together

quite like Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games. From NBC Universal's iconic storytelling to the

innovative technology across Exfinity and Peacock, Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America,

sharing every moment with millions. When Team USA steps onto the world stage, we're not just watching.

We're cheering together. This winter, we're all on the same team. Comcast, proud partner of Team USA.

You're juggling a lot, but you can still squeeze in a financial plan.

With the Northwestern Mutual Financial Advisor as your partner, it's not only possible,

it's personalized. So if you're tying the knot, closing on a house, or welcoming a little one,

you'll be ready for whatever life tosses your way. It's the right time to feel less stressed

and more certain. That's a better way to money. Let's get started at nm.com.

The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin.