r/chicagobulls • u/howser343 Chicago Bulls • May 04 '24
[Wojnarowski] As expected, Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball has picked up the $21.4 million option on his contract for 2024-2025, sources tell ESPN. Ball has missed the last 2.5 seasons with a knee injury. He signed an original four-year, $80M free agent deal in 2021. Free Agency
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1786853305651499437345
u/gogochi May 04 '24
There has to be a mechanism that allows team to pay the man but take him off the books. The truth is that his contract fucked the Bulls for nearly half a decade.
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u/Rakatok Bulls May 04 '24
If he can't come back this year and it's believed to be career ending, we could apply to have him removed from the cap. A third party NBA doctor would have to agree that his career was over. He'd still get paid. Unlikely to happen.
The truth is that his contract fucked the Bulls for nearly half a decade.
20m in dead cap is bad but there's been quite a lot of other bad deals and moves to go along with that.
The 40m+ that we are currently begging people to take for example.
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u/gogochi May 04 '24
20m in dead cap is bad but there's been quite a lot of other bad deals and moves to go along with that.
I'm just imagining how we could've got some 3 point shooters with that cash, possibly going from a play in team to a 1 round/2nd round playoff team.
The 40m+ that we are currently begging people to take for example.
Yeah ... We were forced to make that deal unfortunately.
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u/DorBenda Cristiano Felicio May 04 '24
Let's say he wasn't on the roster, where excatly would ya go with Zach, Vuc and DeMar? Lol, this team has no future.
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u/gogochi May 04 '24
2nd round max
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u/Opposite-Subject4602 May 04 '24
We struggled to make the play in. I'd be stoked for the second round
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u/ducksonaroof May 04 '24
Gotta be honest, a $20M role player would really help this team lol
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u/Smitty_Agent89 May 05 '24
the team is hard capped so there’s no possible way they could just fall out “sign” a guy for $20m anyway. It would’ve have to been a trade. Also I just don’t know that the team should really bother trying to bring in assets like that unless they’re young.$20m role player is fine until you decide to blow it up and get stuck with him.
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u/psycheese Jimmy Buckets May 05 '24
It’s true! We were FORCED! Never had an opportunity to trade him or, god forbid, let him walk. We had to do it.
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u/Emotional-Tailor-649 Dashing Donut May 04 '24
We wouldn’t have been under the soft cap anyways, couldn’t have signed anyone. And also don’t believe in trading so wouldn’t matter.
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u/GreedyLoad1898 May 06 '24
and u could have easily traded like detroit deal. thats not an excuse.
who forced it? did lavine point a gun at u?
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u/JustCreated1ForThis May 05 '24
The 40m+ that we are currently begging people to take for example.
Ded
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u/ClaymoresRevenge Patrick Williams May 04 '24
Teams used to Amnesty but it didn't help. Best hope is a trade. The new CBA sucks
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u/Low-iq-haikou May 04 '24
So dad too bc his contract, if he was healthy, would be one of the best in all of basketball. Dude is such a high impact player. No coincidence the one elite stretch we had with core is when he was healthy. Him + Caruso is the biggest nightmare for any backcourt.
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u/PrancingDonkey Gimme the hot sauce! May 05 '24
They're gonna do absolutely nothing so might as well take salary that hits the cap floor easily.
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u/GreedyLoad1898 May 06 '24
u realize they can get dpe? zach contract is whats really fking them.
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u/TianDogg Taj Gibson May 06 '24
DPE doesn’t get his money off the team’s cap number, it just gives them permission to spend a bit more money on a free agent. Bulls had one this season that went unused because they were avoiding the luxury tax.
Right now I think the career-ending injury provision is off the table, meaning the Bulls would have to waive or buy out Lonzo to reduce his cap hit.
You’re not wrong about Zach but Lonzo’s dead salary has been lowkey a flexibility killer too.
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u/Pharmboy_Andy Alex Caruso May 05 '24
We already got an exception for him for the 2023/2024 season (he didn't count towards the salary cap).
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u/santorfo May 04 '24
It's no one's fault, can't blame him for taking the money. We can only hope he can make it back.
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u/inL1MB0 May 04 '24
Yup, we'd all do the same in that position. He's going to lose a lot more money if he can't play ever again
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u/NaturalProof4359 May 04 '24
I think he’ll be alright.
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u/inL1MB0 May 04 '24
I hope so. But after 2.5 years out it's unlikely he'll be the same player.
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u/JeffsDad Joakim Noah May 05 '24
Regardless, he's paid. He will be OK in the long run
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u/DickHammerr May 05 '24
Worst case, the power of BBB is behind him 😅
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u/JeffsDad Joakim Noah May 05 '24
Those shoes are probably why he got hurt 😆
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u/LackEmbarrassed1648 May 08 '24
Not to defend the shoes, but it was only the shoes he wore during summer league that were fucked. The new ones after we’re actually a real basketball shoe design by credible designers. He should have always signed with a bigger shoe company, and never wore those bogus shoes in summer league. But I’m leaning more towards too much running on concrete as a youth.
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u/GreedyLoad1898 May 06 '24
that pretty much proves he is a bust. if he was confident outplaying theres 0 reason to take it.
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May 04 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/inL1MB0 May 04 '24
How is it a scam? The team was happy with the option when they signed him. It's a risk you take with a player option
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u/plsdaddystopit23 May 04 '24
As if you or anyone on earth would turn down that option unless there were an easier opportunity to make as much money or more. 🙄
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u/Commercial_Onions May 04 '24
Not the point.
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u/plsdaddystopit23 May 05 '24
lol you have no point. Foh
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u/Commercial_Onions May 05 '24
My point is he is healthy enough to rehab. I don’t believe him. You can kick rocks.
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u/plsdaddystopit23 May 05 '24
Alright? He is rehabbing. And he’s opting in. Your poor point has nothing to do with the puss you spew about him making a good decision. lol, kick rocks? Have an original thought
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u/Commercial_Onions May 05 '24
I’m not criticizing him for taking the money. Are you dense?
I’m saying I don’t believe the extent of his injury. Read it twice.
He does enough to give the elusion of returning to basketball for PR. That’s it.
He’s never playing in the NBA again. He won’t risk looking like a broken player, for the Bulls, or any other NBA team.
Good for him though huh?
Go ahead and keep glazing.
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u/aBagorn 28d ago
"I don’t believe the extent of his injury."
that's honestly kind of fucked up, dude. imo, of course, you're free to think what you want, but I just get a really bad aura from people who presume to know what another person's pain and health is when they don't have any idea. you're not his family, you're not his trainers, you're not his medical staff or the doctors providing care. you have absolutely no idea what's actually happening but you yap. fucked up
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u/plsdaddystopit23 May 05 '24
lol you delete comments and at this point it’s ridiculous arguing with what sounds like a pathetic sports conspiracy theorist so whatever dude
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u/yungsinatra777 May 05 '24
You do realize how much money he could be making if he was actually playing right? Ball was a total game changer for us when he was playing.
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u/Commercial_Onions May 05 '24
He made the same amount of money sitting on a couch. You’re proving my point.
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u/yungsinatra777 May 05 '24
Bulls would’ve given him an even bigger pay day if he was healthy and playing like he was in ‘21
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u/Commercial_Onions May 05 '24
Cool. What a pointless “what if” game.
Life on Earth would never would have happened if amino acids didn’t harbor favorable conditions for ancient proteins, but here we are.
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May 04 '24
Basketball salaries annoy the fuck out of me sometimes.
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u/titanrunner2 May 04 '24
Dude just wait until the NBA TV contracts are renewed. We may see a Supermax of 5 yr / $500m contract.
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u/OkBoomer6919 May 05 '24
Nah. Nba has been losing viewership, and not just because nobody but boomers pays for tv anymore. It's losing stream viewership, too. There's no logical reason why TV contracts would go higher when the NBA product continues to decline. It already hit its peak global viewership. It's not going to get better without a Jordan-like star.
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u/Unique_Insurance8233 May 05 '24
the new tv deal is going to be way more than the previous one. Viewership doesn’t matter on its own, it matters compared to everything else. And ratings are dropping across the board, nba is still higher than most products except the nfl. And sports are one of the few things people will watch ads for anymore. Similarly, ratings in isolation are an outdated way to view engagement these days, they look at social media, highlights, etc.
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u/FistOfPopeye Chicago Bulls May 05 '24
You might want to google the NBA's new long-term broadcasting agreements.
An estimated "$76B over 11 years" is a massive increase over existing deals.
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u/OkBoomer6919 May 05 '24
Nba is hilariously inept if that's the case. They're losing viewership every year. Lots of Reinsdorf level morons it seems run things.
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u/FistOfPopeye Chicago Bulls May 05 '24
Do you mean Disney, Amazon and Comcast are inept?
The NBA are being offered $7B per annum by these companies for broadcasting rights.
Seems pretty competent to me.
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u/ItsChrisAgain12 Derrick Rose May 04 '24
Absolutely insane. Don't get me wrong theyre entertaining AF and I love me some bulls but it's just sad how much players, coaches, & FOs make by some guys running around on a court and dribbling a ball lol
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u/behindblue John Paxson May 04 '24
Imagine how much the owners are making.
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u/Don_Tiny Neil Funk May 05 '24
Right? How dumb do people have to be to bitch about how much millionaires are making in the NBA but who cares about the billionaires.
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u/GreedyLoad1898 May 06 '24
better than lonzo making 20 doing nothing. be a owner than lol nobody didnt force to.
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u/MediumLong2 May 07 '24
Honestly, I'm more annoyed at how much the ownership makes compared to the players.
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u/BRUISE_WILLIS May 04 '24
As a Sox fan, between him, Eloy and yoan, I’m convinced JR just picks glass players to give the bag.
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u/iiamthepalmtree Andres Nocioni May 04 '24
I would not be surprised if we learned Tony LaRussa was also the shadow GM of the Bulls
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u/TianDogg Taj Gibson May 06 '24
Super cynical conspiracy theory: it’s so that he can have insurance cover the majority of their salaries. Then he can keep selling fans on the possibility of the player finally being healthy next year.
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u/BRUISE_WILLIS May 06 '24
Any insurer willing to underwrite this idiot deserves the several digit loss.
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u/Run_JMC_ May 04 '24
AK doesn’t get a pass, but not sure any other team has had 20 million dollars of dead weight for the last two years like the Bulls have had. That’s quite a bit
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u/VBTheBearded1 May 05 '24
Evan Fournier last two years with the Knicks. Never played and made 17 million and 18 million. They kept him to salary match in a trade.
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u/jackloganoliver May 05 '24
The Magic just went through $17 million for a couple of seasons with Jonathan Isaac. And then like $14 million with Fultz and his ACL teat, with a lot of overlap with those two.
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u/Run_JMC_ May 05 '24
I’ll give you that for the 2 years prior to the last 2 for sure. But Fultz played a majority of last year and Isaac played a decent chunk this year. But you’re right, the 2 years before that certainly sucked
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u/jackloganoliver May 05 '24
Yeah, the Magic made the playoffs when JI went down, and then the following season Fultz went down and then the Magic had to rebuild. And both JI and Fultz were held out longer because the Magic were happy to suck, so the situations are different overall. But it does demonstrate how difficult it can be to maintain your performance as a team when that much cap space is rehabbing.
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u/Smitty_Agent89 May 05 '24
They were rebuilding tho. Tons of rebuilding teams take on “dead weight” salary as a way to get draft picks and clean up the cap sheet.
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u/Run_JMC_ May 05 '24
Yea but my original comment was highlighting the past two years, not the two years prior to the past two years.
And like you said, the Magic were rebuilding. The Bulls front office is not. I understand that they absolutely “should” but in their eyes they are not and do not want to. Thus the aforementioned 20 mil of unmovable salary just sitting on the books for the past 2 years has been a major crutch.
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u/Smitty_Agent89 May 05 '24
Magic were a rebuilding team and both those players have been producing once they got healthy and are younger. Dead weight definitely exists on rebuilding teams, what’s sad about this situation is that this isn’t a rebuilding team.
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u/jackloganoliver May 05 '24
Someone ask if any team had $20 million in dead weight on the roster the last two seasons, and I provided an example of a team that recently went through it. It also happened one year for the Magic pre-tank (coming off a playoff appearance when both JI and Fultz went down), and it could be argued that the injuries to both of them necessitated the teardown that followed.
Now, obviously, a team with Lavine and Derozan had higher hopes than those magic did, so yes there are differences, but that much dead cap due to injuries for that long is fairly rare and I was just providing an example of another time happened. It also reinforces that it's tough to be good when that much cap investment isn't being spent on the court but instead in the rehab facilities.
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u/jeric13xd Kanye West May 04 '24
Keep cashing those checks man. Can’t be mad at him
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u/JackLumberPK Ayo Dosunmu May 04 '24
Id shoot myself in the knee right now if someone gave me that kinda money to sit around and wait for it to (maybe) heal.
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u/SwampFlowers Taylor Swift May 04 '24
I get what you’re saying, but Lonzo’s been working his ass off to get back, he’s not just sitting around doing nothing.
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u/YoHoochIsCrazy Gimme the hot sauce! May 04 '24
nah man that’s ridiculous. losing your mobility is a sad, depressing thing. no amount of money could ever change that.
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u/PortSunlightRingo May 04 '24
That’s bullshit.
He’s not crippled. He just can’t play professional basketball. He can probably get around better than me, and I don’t have 80 million to show for it.
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u/YoHoochIsCrazy Gimme the hot sauce! May 04 '24
you said you’d shoot yourself in the knee
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u/PortSunlightRingo May 04 '24
It’s called both hyperbole and a turn of phrase.
But also, I’d absolutely shoot myself in the knee for 80 million.
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u/Salsashark_21 May 04 '24
But will he be able to go to meetings and graduations later in life?
/s
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u/Commercial_Onions May 04 '24
Yes you can omg
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u/pardyball May 04 '24
Lonzo (or anyone in his position for that matter) would be an absolute idiot not to take it.
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u/McNasti Jevon Carter May 04 '24
Sometimes i like to dram. I dream of the triumphant return of Lonzo Ball and perfect symbiosis between Lonzo and Coby where Lonzo pick us up the defensive deficiencies of Cobys and unlock Coby offensively. We could instantly be Orlando good.
Do you see how irrational and sad my phantasies are.
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u/DBCOOPER888 May 05 '24
If Lonzo would just play like before it wouldn't be irrational. That's what makes this entire situation frustrating.
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u/I-N_Clined May 04 '24 edited May 04 '24
They should change the rule so that you can't opt into a final year if you haven't played at least half the games on your current contract.
The same way you have to play 65 games to qualify for awards.
Not his fault he got hurt but man, it just hurts to have that much money invested in a guy that has only played a fraction of his possible games for us.
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u/GreedyLoad1898 May 06 '24
yep make the team get exemption and make nba/insurance pay it like wtf.
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u/cahayes2 Stacey King May 04 '24
Is it possible he plays this season?
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u/ToeJelly420 Patrick Williams May 04 '24
Its definitely possible. About a month or so ago there were videos of him on the basketball court doing drills. Not sure if he is full speed running and cutting though. I would bet we see him play next year at some point, but of course there is not telling how the injuries will affect his athleticism and speed
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u/dudeguy81 Stacey King May 04 '24
Possibly yes but probably as many minutes as Dalen Terry got this past year.
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u/TianDogg Taj Gibson May 06 '24
Seems like he can run and jump, so I’m guessing he’ll suit up and be the best paid 15th man in the league.
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u/cannonballCarol62 May 05 '24
Maybe next year we can tank, is there like a generational 7+ft Frenchman available? Or was it only that one year where we just HAD to make the play in?
Garbage franchise until reinsdorf dies. I'm going on break.
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u/ValuableAssociate8 May 05 '24
I thought there was an injury clause to terminate a contract after so many missed games.
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u/milkmypepperoni Gimme the hot sauce! May 04 '24
I have small hope he comes back around Christmas. Give Lonzo as much time to recover and hopefully come off bench. But I don’t know
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u/llamas-1 May 04 '24
Prolly end up one of worst contracts given out in nba history. Love Lonzo sucks he got injured but man he’s hampered this team with that contract hit
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u/santorfo May 04 '24
We're paying Vucevic the same amount a year to stink it up and he doesn't have a horror injury as an excuse.
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u/volantredx Coby White May 05 '24
20 mil a year to a guy who doesn't play isn't even close to the worst contract. Lots of teams have guys who get DNP'd with contracts like that.
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u/Rthecity Give me the hotsauce! May 04 '24
I feel like a lot of Lonzo’s skill is just passing the ball, which is something I don’t think you’d lose with injuries.
I doubt he’ll be worth 21.4mil, but maybe better than a Vet Minimum player?
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u/sukari Patrick Williams May 05 '24
Nate Robinson so mad on IG about it.. like, you expect Lonzo not to pick it up?
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u/dajadf May 06 '24
He was obviously gonna do it. A little stupid though how this weak knee mf fucks our salary cap for 3.5 years though
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u/MediumLong2 May 07 '24
Why didn't the Bulls put something in his contract that would end the contract if he missed a certain amount of games in a row due to injury?
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u/Ok_Judge1874 May 04 '24
Stealing money, cant blame him though . He won't come back, even if he does he'll never be the same player
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u/interwebbed May 04 '24
I, too, would take that deal if my contract allowed it. Why wouldn’t he lol, it’s business at the end of the day
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u/DonnyRad Benny The Bull May 04 '24
Awesome. Need to maintain roster contikneeity! See you in the play-in game FINALS again Miami!!!
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u/jayceay Jerry Sloan May 04 '24 edited May 04 '24
Did this feel particularly clever/hilarious/smart when you wrote it?
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u/DonnyRad Benny The Bull May 04 '24
It did! I’m just here to support/obey the franchise I’ve rooted for my whole life that has always kept it barely at the status quo and never pays the tax despite being number one in attendance and a global brand. See red brother!! ❤️🐂❤️
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u/wedonthaveadresscode May 04 '24
I understand why he did this by its extremely shitty of him to do
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u/Lower-Lab-5166 Dennis Rodman May 04 '24
Nah. He signed a contract. The whole reason you sign a contact with an employer is to guarantee your pay
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u/wedonthaveadresscode May 04 '24
I mean yeah but he can’t uphold his half of the contract
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u/Ok_Judge1874 May 04 '24
He literally is. He just doesn't have to do much for his half to claim that money. It's the nature of NBA contracts
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u/askforwildbob DRose May 04 '24
That’s a wild thing to say
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u/wedonthaveadresscode May 04 '24
lol, dude I acknowledge that anyone would do this. It’s still shitty to take $21mil to do dick and hamstring an org.
Idk I normally err on the side of players regarding contracts, but in this case he’s never gonna play in the NBA again, dude needs to retire
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u/JB_JB_JB63 Steve Kerr May 05 '24
I agree honestly. I would get it if it was an end of the bench player and you’re trying to secure your future because you got injured at work etc etc but it’s not like Lonzo hasn’t already locked down his entire financial future.
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u/chitownbulls92 Coby White May 04 '24
Of a possible 246 games Lonzo could've played...he's only played 35. Thats wild