Bulls Halt Their Selloff At The Trade Deadline

Good morning Chicago fans! I hope you enjoyed Super Bowl Sunday despite the lopsided game. At least we got to watch Vic Fangio dominate a Matt Nagy offense! Now time for bigger and better things…it’s baseball season!

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JUMP TO YOUR TEAM

• Blackhawks

• Bulls

• Bears

• Cubs

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

L - Oilers 4, Blackhawks 3 (OT)

Traded punches and matched speed for speed

• Blackhawks were barely outshot 38-32 and held their own against the elite skating of the Oilers

• 2 quick 3rd period goals by the Oilers seemed to steer this toward a blowout until the Hawks scored 2 of their own to send it to OT

• Slaggert-Bedard-Donato line was impressive against the Connor McDavid line

W - Blackhawks 6, Predators 2

Offensive explosion from the entire roster!

• 6 Blackhawks (Bedard, Donato, Nazar, Teuvo, Jones, Vlasic) had a multi-point game

• Ryan Donato had his first career 4 point game!!! (2g/2a)

L - Blues 6, Blackhawks 5 (SO)

Chaotic game ends with a 10-round shootout!

• Back-and-forth game had a 2-0 Hawks lead, 3-2 Blues lead, and 5 combined goals in the 3rd period to send it to OT

• Arvid Soderblom struggled during regulation but had a strong shootout performance (saved 8 of 10 shots) to redeem his rough 0/9 on shootout attempts in his career

Star of the Week ⭐ Ryan Donato

He’s on fire! 4 goals, 3 assists (7 points) with 14 shots on goal this week

Play of the Week 🎥 Ilya Mikheyev goal

Placed Louis Crevier on IR with a concussion, activated Craig Smith from IR, reassigned Colton Dach to the AHL

Artyom Levshunov was recalled from the AHL ONLY for NHL practice experience. He did not play in a game with the Hawks and was sent back down.

Jason Dickinson suffered a high ankle sprain against the Oilers and will miss a couple weeks after the upcoming 4 Nations tournament break. After the injury, Anders Sorensen decided to challenge Bedard and his top line to match up against the best offensive lines on opposing teams, and they have exceeded expectations!

Kevin Korchinski was named the AHL All Star Challenge MVP after 1 goal, 3 assists, and the shootout winner

Next game is on February 22nd after 4 Nations

CHICAGO BULLS

W - Bulls 133, Heat 124

Matas Buzelis statement game!

• Buzelis (24 points, 10/10 FG) is the 6th rookie in NBA history and 1st in Bulls franchise history to shoot 100% FG with at least 10 shots in a game

• 4 young Bulls scored 20+ points (Buzelis/Coby/Ayo/Giddey)

• Bulls pulled off a big 39-21 4th quarter to complete the comeback

L - Timberwolves 127, Bulls 108

Welcome to the Anthony Edwards show

• Edwards (49p/3a/9r) took over and lived at the free throw line all night (17/18 FT)

• Buzelis started his first career game and finished with 14 points

L - Warriors 132, Bulls 111

Streaky game ended in a Steph Curry highlight reel

• Curry scored 24 of the Warriors’ 42 3rd quarter points and finished with 34 on 8/16 3PT shooting

• The Bulls had an early 24-point lead, but the Warriors went on a 56-13 2nd half run to flip the game for their own 25-point lead

• Jimmy Butler (25p) made his Warriors debut while Kevin Huerter (4p/4r) and Tre Jones (0p/3a) made their Bulls debuts. Zach Collins may not get much playing time with Vucevic still on the roster and Jalen Smith playing well.

Star of the Week ⭐ Coby White

Big turnaround! 23p/5a per game, 14/22 (63.6%) from 3PT this week

Play of the Week 🎥 Matas Buzelis dunk

No more trades at the Trade Deadline…

I shouldn’t be surprised.

I thought the Zach LaVine trade was a sign that Arturas Karnisovas was finally letting go of the veterans on this team and willing to overhaul the roster. I was wrong. He was reportedly “active” and interested in potential trades before the deadline, but nothing was completed. Although it’s important that LaVine is now off the books for the next 2 seasons, standing pat with other players makes no sense.

Vooch doesn’t need to be on this team anymore. He impressively bounced back this season and should have garnered enough attention on the market. He makes $21M next year, plus the Bulls acquired a center in the LaVine trade, Zach Collins, who could fill in those minutes for the remainder of the year.

Lonzo Ball, Coby White, Patrick Williams, and anyone else on the roster who could have been traded should be out of town. Instead, AK sat at the podium after the deadline with his typical monotonous tone and said he was happy with their team. He said they don’t fully know the direction of the team, and a Play-In appearance at the end of the year would be evidence of player development.

An aimless front office confirmed again that they have no plan. The Bulls needed to bottom out 2 years ago, and this roster “reshaping” that started with the offseason trades of DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso may end up taking 10 years. It’s exhausting.

Re-signed Lonzo Ball to a 2-year, $20M contract extension

• 2nd year is a team option

• I preferred trading Lonzo for draft capital, but the deal is actually solid. It’s a cheap price for a legitimate point guard who could build back up to starter minutes in the future. Either he will outperform his contract OR he will be a valuable trade asset.

• Lonzo was an elite player in 2021-2022 before his injury and still provides tenacious defense, solid 3PT shooting, and high-level basketball IQ. He’s someone everyone should want on their team.

• Gambling on his knee holding up after 1,000+ days away from basketball is risky…

Waived Torrey Craig and Chris Duarte

• Never forget AK’s massive 2023 free agency haul of Craig and Jevon Carter…

• Torrey Craig signed with the Boston Celtics for the remainder of the season

Buzelis started the last 2 games and has now scored in double figures in 6 straight games

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

Virginia McCaskey passed away at 102

Heartbreaking news for the McCaskeys and Bears fans around the world. The owner and matriarch of the Bears was so beloved by her family and everyone who has ever been a part of the organization.

Everything I have ever heard about Mrs. McCaskey is full of endearment and appreciation for her faith, love for her family, and passion for the Bears. I encourage everyone to read or watch any of the tributes that were produced this week (see Hitting the Links below for a couple tributes).

The last game she ever saw was a Bears win at Lambeau Field 🙏

Assistant Coaches:

Hired Dan Roushar as Offensive Line Coach (previously the Tulane OL Coach, most known for his time as the Saints OL Coach)

Hired Richard Smith as Linebackers Coach (previously the Colts LB Coach)

Hired Jeremy Garrett as Defensive Line Coach (previously the Jaguars DL Coach)

Hired Cannon Matthews as Defensive Assistant and Nickels Coach (previously the Cowboys Safeties Coach)

Parted ways with Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Jim Arthur

Former Head Coach Dick Jauron passed away at 74

Welcome to the NFL Offseason…aka the Bears Super Bowl. It’s the only time we actually get excited, right? As Ben Johnson gets acclimated at Halas Hall, the NFL Combine is up next, beginning on February 27th.

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

Traded for RHP Ryan Brasier from the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later

• Brasier was previously DFA’d by the Dodgers

• ANOTHER promising bullpen addition and a cheaper one than expected (Cubs are only covering a portion of his $4.5M - the exact number is not yet known)

• Extremely impressive run with the Dodgers in 66.2 IP over the last 2 seasons: 1.89 ERA, 0.825 WHIP, 2.83 FIP, 8.5 K/9

• It SEEMS like this signals the end of the bullpen additions, and securing Brasier instead of a different free agent pitcher allows the Cubs to pursue Alex Bregman or another starting pitcher…we’ll see if they actually use that money

Pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training yesterday! We made it!

• The full Spring Training roster can be viewed here

• Baseball is back! It feels like summer is right around the corner

• Since the Cubs season begins in only 36 days in Tokyo, starting pitchers have been on a special program to make sure they’re prepared for the early Opening Day. The offseason is a bit different this year!

DFA’d LHP Rob Zastryzny

Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projections were released…and it was a shocker! They have the Cubs finishing 1st in the NL Central with 90.6 wins this season 😮 Last season, they were projected at 80 wins and wound up winning 83. So maybe they are fairly accurate?

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Zach LaVine

It would have been easy for LaVine to be upset with the Chicago Bulls.

His 8 years with the Bulls franchise were tumultuous to say the least. Incompetent coaches, major injuries, roster turnover, and never being on a contender can mess with a man who lived his age 22 to 30 years in Chicago while starting a family.

There were reports of conflicts with Billy Donovan. There were trade rumors every single season. Nothing about the situation was stable.

Now, in the middle of an impressive season where he was scoring 24.0 ppg, shooting lights out, and being a way more willing defender than ever before, the Bulls pulled the rug out and sent him to Sacramento.

Every sentiment from LaVine since the trade has been respectful. He has vocalized his gratefulness to the Bulls organization and his love for the city of Chicago. I appreciate his professionalism and hope he excels on the Kings! Watch his goodbye here:

MILD TAKE

The Cubs should not be favored to win the NL Central.

It sounds cynical. Even the dreaded PECOTA system believes in the Cubs.

I AM optimistic about this season, but I think dismissing the Brewers because of a lackluster offseason is malpractice. The ONLY thing we heard in September and October was that the Brewers were 10 games ahead of the Cubs, and the Cubs had to build a 90 win team.

The Brewers lost a very good shortstop in Willy Adames, and the Cubs added a superstar in Kyle Tucker. Even with a flurry of other moves by the Cubs, we can’t all say a 10 game gap has been put in the rearview mirror.

That terrible organization that plays at Wrigley North have been systemically ahead of the Cubs for years now. Counsell knows that personally. Whether it’s bullpen construction, player development, baserunning advantages, budget optimization, or just luck of the draw when drafting, they have succeeded with flying colors.

Obviously, the goal is to jump the entire division, and it’s very possible the Cubs win the division this season. But in this case, I need to see the Brewers fail for once to believe it.

HITTING THE LINKS

Courtney Cronin - Inside the Bears hiring of coach Ben Johnson (ESPN)

Dan Pompei - Chicago Bears matriarch Virginia McCaskey saw it all in her 102 years (The Athletic)

Joe Cowley - Action needed from the Bulls' Arturas Karnisovas after his words failed (Chicago Sun-Times)

Scott Powers - How Alec Martinez, Alex Vlasic bonded as Blackhawks (The Athletic)

Kevin Fishbain - Bears buzz at the Senior Bowl (The Athletic)

Chicago Bears - Remembering Virginia Halas McCaskey (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Have a great Monday even though it’s still not a national holiday!