Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - 5 On It & Elias Schuster talks Bulls (Hour 3)

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

In the third hour, Marshall Harris and Russ Dorsey discussed a variety of sports topics in the 5 On It segment. After that, Bulls on SI publisher Elias Schuster joined the show to discuss the Bulls’ direction and their outlook in the second half of the season. Later, Dorsey shared why he believes Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner will earn All-Star honors in 2026.

The score. This hour is brought to you by Minards. Save big money at Menards. I got five. It's time for five on it. Rahini Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104-3, the score.

Number one. It's a special edition of Five on it on 104-3, The Score, with Marshall Harris, and also in the house, friend of the show. Russell Dorsey, National MLB Insider, Yahoo Sports, Insider, and analyst at MLB Network and Friday night baseball on Apple TV. We love you, Russ.

Thanks for hanging out today, man. Of course. Here's question number one. What letter grade would you give the NBA's All-Star Weekend? What letter grade? So backstage I had a grade in mind. But now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to give it a flat C, average. Flat C.

Because even though the game itself was good, All-Star C, Saturday was not as good. And that average is out to be a C. And, you know, honestly, Friday was, you know what? C plus. C plus for the NBA for All-Star weekend. What gave it the plus for you? The plus is the fact that there were three days of action.

Only one was below average. And by the way, Damien Lillard. How is that man-winning three-point content? Like, you still need to use your legs and he's not 100% healed. It's standing still. But high-level athlete. And he's probably progressed in his recovery enough where he would be doing all these things anyway.

I guess so. You're not running up and down the floor and cutting and all that. Did you hear who's going to be in the three-point shooting contest next year? Yeah, I heard Big Wardell. Got his name called. Steph Curry back in action next year. And he was doing an interview with some of the guys on the broadcast, and they're like, oh, can you make it from here where they were stationed?

He missed the first three, and then he hit the fourth. And it was like, yeah, and it was close to the first three. Yeah, so C plus because I did enjoy yesterday, and that is the main attraction. Saturday is the drag. And I think they can figure out what to do with Saturdays in the dunk contest, specifically. Wemby ruined the skills competition last season. So they got some things that they can tweak and make it better, but C plus feels right to me. I was teetering between D plus and C minus.

because Saturday night was a real bummer. Like it really dragged the weekend down, empty seats, people weren't enthusiastic. And that's from people who I talked to who were in the arena. But the game Sunday saved it because you saw competitiveness, you saw good product, you saw people trying. And the players themselves looked like they were enjoying the experience on Sunday. And that wasn't something you were hearing about. prior to. I'm going to say C minus. I'll give it a C minus because I think the

game on Saturday was a winner. They found something in that. So if they can do that again, do you feel like this will be trending back up? But the game itself, I'm saying. Well, see, the game being as good as it was, in my opinion, last night, it was still a C minus. Like, you still have improvements to you got to do. But I think you have bought yourself time if you can continue on that trajectory with

World v. Timisa. Would you change anything about Sunday, though, specifically? I know Saturday's got revisions coming. Yeah, and I think this is a product of the Olympics, but yeah, the time is bad. Yeah, the Olympics. If you had to put that in prime time, I think you would have been very surprised with the viewership. But I don't know that the All-Star game itself was ever a nighttime thing. It was just more of a late evening.

It's like an early evening. thing. It can be seven o'clock, central, eight o'clock Eastern is probably the time it should always be. That's too late. That's too late. I have a quick follow-up question for you guys because Kauai Leonard said prior to the game yesterday, it may have been actually Saturday, but he said that he didn't understand

the format and he wants it just to go back to East versus West. Do you guys agree with Kauai or how did you feel? I heard that because LeBron voiced the same appearance. opinion of it should go back to East versus West. And I heard that from a couple of guys. The problem with that is the West is so stacked right now, it would be uncompetitive and you'd have the same problems. I don't agree with that statement necessarily.

I understand why you're saying that right in this moment. But like it used to be with when the East was loaded. But right now you have Yokit. You have Wimby. You have Luca. You have LeBron. You have Dames back over there. You have SGA.

You know what I mean? Well, Dane ain't playing in next year's All-Star game. I'm just saying of like stars who are... I got you. And Steph still on the out west. So, Devin Booker, we're on the east. What do you mean?

The East's got Josh Giddy. What are we talking about here? No, that's not the time for that. But like, even outside of, like, Janice, Joel Embed, all right, Maxie, cool. There's the big superstars are on the West right now. I think you got had a far more... Oh, Edwards is in the West.

You have a far more competitive game with what they did last night. And I think that has to be the goal. Is East versus West better than them picking teams? That's the option if you feel like the West is too stacked. I like the picking of teams. I think the picking of teams, I don't want a player picking teams. You want to coach picking teams? I don't want players doing it.

Okay. Well, they had broad. broadcasters doing it, aka former players. I like last night's version better than the recent. The problem is those old heads, they can't get their bodies back up that quick. They're going to be out of the league in two, three years anyway. Kauai's going to be out of the league in two or three years. I was thinking LeBron, Steph.

That's two guys. Those are the major ones. I guarantee you Kevin Durant will still be playing basketball in three years. I guarantee you that, and he's old. But guess what? He has an elite skill. So we'll see. Number two.

What's more likely the Cubs winning more than 95 games or the White Sox losing less than 95 games? So do the Cubs win 95 plus games or do the White Sox lose 95 or fewer games? Less than 94 or fewer. 94 or fewer? The Cubs won 92 games last year, right? And they added Bregman, they added pitching. I will say the Cubs because of their,

now because I'm thinking about the rest of the National League and the rest of the National League is still pretty. I'm going to say the White Sox lose fewer than 95 games. Okay. It's more likely because I think the Dodgers are still the Dodgers, the Padres are still pretty good, the Phillies are good, the Mets are going to be good. All these teams, if they're healthy.

going to be better. I just want to point out all the teams you just named. I also think the none of them play in the Central. I think the Pirates are going to be a better team. I think the Brewers are going to do what they do and just find a way to win 85 games. Reds are still talented.

Yeah. I think the National League is going to beat up on each other. Because the National League is that superior to the American League. I think the National League is just that good right now. To your point, I don't think the White Sox are losing 95 games. because I think the rest of the AL Central is questionable, and they just are going to have an easier schedule.

And the Cubs are going to have a real – I mean, they can get to 95 games, but that's going to mean they're a really good team. I don't want people to hear me and think, like, I don't believe in what the – I thought the Cubs had a really solid offseason, and I think the Cubs are a good team. I think the Cubs are one of the best five teams in the National League. I just think it says more about the growth that I thought the White Sox made from the end of last season in the beginning of this year, and the fact that their division is also not great beyond the Tigers.

They're going to play spoiler come September. Mark it down. He says they are the 2026 version of the 2025 Miami-Marles. 79 wins. We will see if that comes. Well, if they went 79 games, they're losing a whole lot less than 95. I'm just saying that should be their target, which would put us at less than 95. Okay.

Number three. This is five on it on 104. Three, the score with Marshall Harris and Russell Dorsey. See, here is question number three. Hey, the South Side added a slugger, which leads us to this question. What's more likely? A Cubs player leading the city in home runs or a White Sox player leading the city in home runs. Ooh, I love this question.

I like this one a lot. And so you start looking at the names, right? And you start thinking about it. And you're like, okay, Munei. I mean, I think he's going to hit 40 home runs, but is 40 even enough? That's crazy. And so I start to think about Colson Montgomery and what he did in limited time now obviously

Because like here's the thing with the Cubs Like they have really good hitters They don't have a guy that hit for like huge power But I could see Michael Bush being that guy He did hit for it He hit and he was platooning basically Yeah And so if he gets some more ABs against left-handed pitching

I guarantee you it's going to be a left-handed bat That finishes with the most home runs on either team It is definitely between Michael Bush and Colson Montgomery probably. So those are our two options. I'm going to say, I'm going to say it's a first time Japanese player. Oh my gosh, you're putting so much pressure on my man.

Wait, am I putting pressure on him? Yeah. 40 homer. It would be the most homers by a player in his first year coming from Japan. That would be more than Shohei, who's the best player. maybe we've ever seen. How do you get his first year? It was like 27.

I like Munataka Merakami to hit the most. And it might not even be 40, but like you said, there's not a whole bunch of guys who can hit 40 home runs on either of these two teams. So, my dark horse,

it's either, one way or another, it's going to be a Japanese player. It's either going to be Murakami. He hit 22 homers his first year. He didn't hit over 30 until 20, 21, when he hit 46.

How old is he? When he hit the 46? He was... What age year was that for him? 26. 26. You know what? All right.

You've convinced me. It's not Marikami. It's Sizuki. Interesting. So I thought about Seya because I was talking about it. We were talking about it earlier. He goes on those stretches. And as a right-headed hitter,

a lot easier to hit the ball out of the yard at a Wrigley. You know, you've played a lot of games in Milwaukee. If he plays in right field every day. So it was either for me is going to be Michael Bush, Seya, or Colson Montgomery. I think all of them hit more than 30. I think the winner is ultimately

Michael Bush. I think Michael Bush hits 35 home runs this year. Okay. I think more than one player in this city will hit 35 home runs this year. But you like that list of like Colson, Bush, and Seya all hitting over 30? I do. I don't like your disrespect to Merkami. me, but hey.

I'm trying to, I've watched, I've covered baseball for a long time and watched for, it's really hard to get 30 homers in the big leagues, especially in your first season when you've never seen big leagues starting pitching. You're right. You're absolutely right. And when your hole is bat to ball skills. Hey man, that bidet going to have everything flowing. All right.

Number four. Michael Jordan's racing team won the Daytona 500 when Tyler Reddick, took the checkered flag Sunday. I can't even believe it. Yeah, I mean, it was so gratifying. I mean, we had four guys that were really fighting, that was helping each other out. I mean, you never know how these races is going to end, right?

It's like you just try to survive. And, you know, I thought Riley did an unbelievable job by pushing at the end. You know, that shows you what teamwork can really, really do. I mean, he doesn't get enough credit. He won't get enough credit, but we feel the love. We understand exactly what he did. And, I mean, we just hung in there all day.

I mean, we're a great strategy by the team, and we gave ourselves a chance at the end. And look, I'm ecstatic. I mean, I don't even know what to say. It feels like I won a championship, but until I get my ring, I won't even know. It's the goat himself Michael Jordan on Fox Sports. What did you make of MJ's insights to championships? You know what was crazy about this? I was reading about it.

And I was like, oh, let me Google Daytona 500. the fact that a two-time Expandity Series champion, Tyler Reddick, who was actually behind the wheel, had to take a backseat to Michael Jordan, who's just the team owner, is crazy work. The Daytona 500, for those of you who are not in the know, who are not, maybe Gearyheads who maybe weren't raised within a couple of hours drive of Talladega,

like I was. The Daytona 500 is the Super Bowl of racing. I know it's funny, but racing starts with their biggest race first in the season. That's how they kick things off. And Michael Jordan won this as an owner, not as a driver, but who do you want to hear from first?

You want to hear from MJ. And congratulations to Tyler Reddick, by the way. But Michael Jordan letting you know, I wear a size 13 ring and I know my ring size because I got plenty. I got plenty of rings. I just think it's almost a moment in time

in that Michael Jordan's so excited as owner of a racing team in a way he never could be from the basketball team, the Charlotte Hornets, Bobcats, whatever you want to call him, that he used to own. And it went opposite

of the NBA All-Star game. So, listen, his name is Michael George. he is who he is so he's going to always get attention especially when his team ended up winning but I don't think this is necessarily the first time an owner of a racing team has gotten attention in this way either

Hall of Fame head coach Joe Gibbs Super Bowl champion and the legendary owner of Joe Gibbs Racing like it's it was all there was a point where kids were born who only knew Joe Gibbs

Gibbs from the NASCAR side, not the football side. That could never happen to Michael Jordan, by the way. No, but I'm just saying, like, Joe Gibbs is in the Football Hall of Fame and then had his career as a legendary owner in NASCAR. So, like, we've seen it before. I get your point about, like, the dude that drove didn't even get the same publicity, but, like, hey, man, is what it is. Those are the brakes.

No pun intended. Number five. So 104.3, the score. Last question here on five and how much attention are you paying to the Winter Olympics? Do I have to be honest about this? Oh, honesty, please, yes. I'll let Russell go first. So here's the thing.

In my youth, I was big on the Olympics, both summer and winter. This year, I haven't been as locked in. I will say I have always enjoyed speed skating. I think that's one of the coolest of the winter sports. Curling also pretty sick, which we have on here in the street. studio. Not a ton outside of those. The only thing I know about what's happened in the Winter Olympics are things that I have read,

and I saw the highlight of Lindsey Vaughn. I unfortunately saw that. The low light. The low light, yeah. Tough way to end to an Olympic run. No, no, I will start now paying attention to more Olympic stuff, I think. Like the ice hockey finals for both the men and women, I'll be into that. Anytime an American's getting a lot of pub on social media,

I'll try to tune in and see what's going on. I just, it's just, the way it works out right now, it's not a part of my day to day. Got to get ready for this radio show. I'm out here calling games. I'm over at the seven.

It's just not a part of my. So, like, I want to pay more attention to it. I just haven't been enthralled with it. Like, I have been in Olympics fast. Okay.

That's all. Yeah, I mean, we are in like, just Super Bowl hangover period right now still. So it's, it's, it's not on my radar either, honestly. And I need to, I do like curling. Curling's the one for me. So I got to get on it.

That's the one that's been on my TV the most is curling. Usually it's just become background on my TV at this point. And there was drama in curling, right? People were saying that people were lying about cheating or something like that. I don't know the details because, again, I haven't been paying as much attention. Oh, was it like, I forgot who, which country it was. but like, yeah, like what? They kind of had their finger touching the stone is what they call it.

Yes. And what it was like, was the part of the cheating is because like he used a little oomph to push it a little extra? Is that what they're calling it for? Yeah, so it's the Canada men's curling team. They got hit with a second cheating accusation. Sweden was on them. They were watching. They were like, I got footage of you.

No, I got footage of you. It's one of those crazy situations. But yeah, look, shout out to the Winter Olympics. And shout out to all the people who are world class. at their sport and get to that final stage where even if you don't win, right, you finish 20th. In the world? In the world? For the career?

Same vibes. In the career? Same vibes. Like, congratulations to all the Olympics, uh, in the Olympians, excuse me, all of their support staff because people don't get rich becoming Olympians. They just survive and get to race another day, as they say. So that's it. Okay, coming up next, let's shift gears.

Let's go to the Bulls and basketball in general. But really the Bulls, because I think I have a friend, an ally, if you will, in my take on the Chicago Bulls. Elias Schuster, publisher for Bulls on SI, joins us next. It's Russell Dorsey. I'm Marshall Harris. And this is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3, the score. Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's 2 on Chicago.

Chicago Sports Radio 12-4-3. Listen, it's an unprecedented situation. It's not going to be smooth sailing. I mean, true to his word, it has not been smooth sailing for Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls. And during the All-Star break, losers of six in a row, they are now down to 11th place in the Eastern Conference. And I say that like they're out of the play-in because they are technically, but they're only a game and a half out of the play-in. if, I don't know, Billy Donovan gets guys like Jalen Smith, Josh Giddy, Trey Jones, and Oh, Isaac or Coral also missed the last game back.

They may very well be back in the playing unless decisions are made from an organizational standpoint to talk about those decisions and more. We welcome in from Bulls on SI, a publisher for the site. Elias Schuster, you can follow him on the artist formerly known as Twitter at Schuster underscore Elias. He is on Zoom and he joins us on the Circa Resort and Casino Hotline, circa Las Vegas.com. Elias, how are you enjoying this All-Star break?

First off, thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here. Believe it or not, always ready to talk Bulls. And, you know, the All-Star break, I'm enjoying it. How could I not be? I think we all needed a break after what was a chaotic trade deadline and what has been another underwhelming season in a lot of ways. So I welcomed this All-Star break with Open Arms.

But I also, I love basketball. We need some more stuff to talk about. So I'm ready for the games to start up again. Okay, so you're ready for the games to start. Do you expect the Bulls to play their players? And when I say their players, those four guys I just mentioned, are they going to play or are they going to truly go for the tank? Yeah, I think it's.

Well, what's interesting, right, is that the NBA just decided to throw out that $500,000 warning to the Utah Jazz about how to handle things moving forward here. So I think that there's, you know, and I think the Bulls themselves, right, they've shown over these past few years, even though this trade deadline may suggest they're willing to take a big step back, this doesn't necessarily seem like the organization that will go as aggressively in the taking direction as a organization like Utah. So do I expect guys, you know, like a Josh Giddy, you know, even. And, you know, Trey Jones, Jalen Smith, do I expect these guys to play?

I do. And I think there's some importance, you know, there as well because Josh Giddy, especially, that's someone that you want to have on the floor next to some of these new pieces that you have welcomed in, especially Jade and Ivy, Rob Dillingham, guys that more so seem like they could be a part of what you're building, what they're building, we still don't know. But if they want to evaluate these young guys, they have to see how they fit with some of these other pieces that could be around. I mean, Jalen Smith's under contract next year,

so seeing how he might fit with some of these guys is important. So I expect him to be on the floor. Does that mean I expect him to win many games? That's a different question. Elizma, I look at this tanking situation in the NBA right now, and I say the system is designed for teams to do this, right? Like, if I'm one of these 10 worst teams in the NBA, and the Bulls are the 10th worst team in the NBA for everybody out there at this point,

it's probably worth it for me even with the fines to say you know if i have a chance at the big three we'll call them knowing college basketball that could be available in the draft it's probably worth it even if i get fined let's call it a million dollars between now in the draft yeah i i definitely understand that point i think especially in this draft right like you want to be up there i a lot of people have kind of already made the comment, if you were going to decide to go this tanking route, you know, which is a phrase they'll never throw out there, but go this rebuilding route, like, this should have been done before. That's the biggest problem is, is once again, whether it be waiting too long to trade

players, they've just waited too long to maybe start this, start this new era. So that's going to be, that's going to be something to watch moving forward is whether or not, I think where they go from here and what direction they set is going to be important for this off season because even going into next year, the draft's not as good. But can they at least set a standard like we're going to be pushing for that high draft pick or not? I mean, they still have a lot of explaining to do with what this process is going to be. But in terms of the approach that they should take, I think going for that high

traffic this year is important. I still don't see them necessarily sitting these players, let's say. But they might just lose the amount of games anyway. We've already seen these last handful of games haven't gone well. when you welcome this many new players into the picture, it can be really hard to pull off wins, especially in the fourth quarter where they've crumbled, you know, four of the last five games.

Yeah, because they didn't have Josh Giddy or Trey Jones or Isaac Acorro or Jalen Smith. This is Elias Schuster joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, the publisher for Bulls on S-I. Here's the problem, Elias. They're not catching the Hornets. The Hornets are a team that is taking big steps this season, but I could easily, easily see them passing the Atlanta Hawks who are a game and a half above them.

The Hawks, by the way, have lost three in a row. They've got Jalen Johnson, but not a lot of star power beyond that. And there's going to be games where if the Bulls get those guys back, I'm sorry, Billy Donovan doesn't coach to tank. If they don't sit them down, can you not see a situation where they fail at this stated goal of getting out of the middle this season? Oh, no, I can 100% see that situation. I think that's what's also scary about the way that they handle this deadline,

where you bring back someone like Anthony Simons and you bring back, you know, somebody like Colin Sexton. Like those are guys that a lot of people thought when those trades happened might be flipped at least one of them or maybe, you know, there's conversations, not to say there's conversations with the team, but just among fans among those online. Like, hey, is someone going to, is someone going to buy out? Are they going to buy out one of these guys? Like these are guys that are not only can help them win over these next handful of weeks, but are also going to steal potentially developmental minutes from a guy like Jane and Ivy. or from Rob Dillingham, who you need to evaluate. So can they fall flat on their face with this situation? Absolutely.

I still think they could end up in that play and mix. Now, the only thing that's working in their favor, you know, we can talk about getting a boost with Josh Giddy coming back and Trey Jones, but they're still going to be playing with a very different group of players. And it's very hard. We saw this when they first traded for Nicole Abusevic, even, and they were pushing for the play in that year or whatever it was in 2021, where they go get a guy like Vooch, they still weren't able to make the playoffs.

It's just like when you add in these new pieces, it's really hard to get on a winning track, especially when other teams are vying for seating in a way. So is it possible? They went too many games. Absolutely. It's the Bulls. Julie Donovan, you said it exactly right. He does not, he's not going to coach with just development in mind.

He's going to coach with winning in mind. But whether or not they could pull it off, I definitely have questions about that with this group. Elias, I'm sitting here. I'm listening to you. I'm thinking through all of these things. I'm looking at the Bulls roster right now. And I just keep coming back to what is the point of all of this? Because you're saying that the Bulls might win enough games to make the play-in after Artur's

Carnet's show says the play-in isn't the goal, but it's clearly been for them. And then you keep guys like Colin Sexton and Afrinay Simons who, look, look, when When Anfernay Simons got traded to the bulls, I'm like, this is like a bucket. Like, this is a guy that go get you 25 on a night. Like, why is he here? Well, I can see the Simons thing even, Elias, but the Sexton thing makes no sense. From a timetable standpoint, and he could be helping someone, I don't know, that's trying to make the playoffs. Right.

I think it was this, if you want to keep adding on to Gershont Yabuselli, going to get him from the next was a confusing move. Nick Richards, you flip, you know, Usmani Jane, who's now had multiple. of really strong games for the bucks. He's a 22-year-old forward that would make a ton of sense for this philosophy they've had of adding these former lottery picks who haven't had a chance. They flip him for Nick Richards because they needed, I mean, they needed center depth, I guess, but also why do you need the center depth if, you know, if your plan here is to go for draft picks, is to go for just development and rebuilding. So it's when, you know, the question, that's why I kind of brought it up earlier, right? There still needs to be a lot set in stone this

off season of like what is the plan here because did they change up the whole roster? Yes. Did they take a big step? Like did they take a step backward? I still think yes. They took a step backward and they added some second round picks, which I know a lot of people joke about, but I do think in today's league like we see them packaged in all these deals and stuff. So you can make something of second round picks. So in a way like they did take this small step back, but was it a big enough step back? Like we're going to find that out over the next handful of games. And we're also going to find that out in the off season when, hey, are they just going to start sending a message like, well, actually next season, though, we want to get back. We want to compete again. And, you know,

we're going to go and sign all these veterans with all this money that we have this off season. Or we'll continue to be this message of like development, trading for more draft picks, all this stuff. Like, that's why this felt like the beginning, or maybe the beginning of something, but it's a long process. Like, they need to, they have not earned the benefit of the doubt, right, with fans and people in the city about what the plan is for this team. There could be shades of a plan here, but there's so much more work

that would need to be done. Shades of a plan. You're cooking right now as we're listening to Elias Schuster Bulls on SI here on Rahimi Harrison Grody on the score. This is Russ Dorsey.

Elias, all right, let's do this. I'm going to put you in Artur's Carno Show v. The seat. You and Marshall mentioned something. about Billy Donovan is not going to coach to tank. I get all that.

And I respect Billy Donovan for that. But you're Arturis-Carnas Chavez. At what point do you take it out of Billy's hands? At what point do you say, Billy, we love and respect you. We're going to pull a plug on this thing. And we're going to try to get Camboozer. And Rob Dillingham is going to play 48 minutes a night. Which, yeah, I think if you're asking me, like not our,

are not Arturis, I think that that should be happening, right? Yeah. So, and if I am in Artur's shoes, that should be happening right now. I think just seeing when I saw Jade and Ivy taken out of that starting lineup in the game before the, the, uh, all-star break here, I was scratching my head because I think, you know, maybe, yeah, they just want to see how it looks like with, or looks with Dillingham in that second unit or see the two of those guys play together. But then why not do that in the starting lineup?

And, and they did at least end up with more minutes than the Sexton, uh, Simon's duo in that game, which ease some concerns. But the question is, you know, is that going to continue to happen? Is that just the first sign of, you know, Billy Donovan leaning on these veterans that they just acquired, who will be free agents in a couple of months anyway? So if I'm in his shoes, like, that's already the messaging for me. That should already be the messaging. Like, you know, I know we talk about, you know, the fines and the apparent tanking,

but there's also a difference between what the Utah Jazz are doing and what a team that's just looking to develop young guys. is doing, right? And so if you are the bulls, you can still not worry about what it looks like in the league eye and all this stuff. And I know you were saying, Russ, like, oh, just take the, you can still take the fine. Sure, even do that. But they don't even have to worry about the fines, in my opinion, if they wanted to just lean on these young guys, because they have enough of them and that's still an okay process. You're not saying like, oh, we're playing to lose. We're just playing around dealing him a bunch because we need to see what we have in him and if you can grow more. And so, you know, I think it's, if I'm in the shoes, that's already the messaging. And, I And I don't know if that, you know, maybe over the next few weeks, we see a little bit more of that. But we do know that that front office in Billy communicate a lot. They're very close. So, you know, they also obviously have a lot of trust in Billy Donovan. They've kept them around this long. He's what, the third longest tenured head coach in the league.

And so if he's pushing back on that, I don't know how if they push back again. It's hard to say. Elias Schuster joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Well, last one for you, Elias, if you're the Bulls and seeing where they're probably going to be landing in this hopefully lottery, who should they be targeting? What should they be going after? What do you see as a realistic target if they're not picking, let's say, in the top four? Yeah, I mean, I think that's like obviously the goal is to be picking in that top four. But I think something they've benefited from in recent years has been, you know, the guys falling. you know, kind of into their lap. That happened with Modis Grusselis. He was somebody who was expected, I mean, for a lot, a lot of time was talked about as a potential number one overall pick. He stumbles a little bit because it's three-point shooting in G-League Knight, ends up

at 12 spot. You know, Noah Sengay, like, he was somebody that was a little bit all over the board, and I know people have been frustrated this year by him not playing. But there's a case you can make that he was still available there when some people didn't expect him to be. And so I think this year, like you're hoping for that situation to potentially play out again if you're around that 10 spot. I know one guy that was obviously used to be seen very highly who's slipped a little is like made a met from from Tennessee. You know, he's somebody that is this talented shooter, potential talented score, big wing. They've targeted those players in the past. So I'm looking at like those guys that we see as the draft board forms in this March Madness time

that there's some guys that are going to slip that were previously viewed very highly. And I think the Bulls could be in a good position to grab one of them. And speaking to the, you know, we always get the debate every year of, okay, well, should we, do you draft for need? All this. That's not going to matter for the Bulls, right? You just want talent. So I don't care if they have, you know, both a Sengay and Bruegelis on the wing, both have this kind of scoring upside. If there's another player that you believe has extreme potential in that, in that area of the floor, like, you still have to take that chance.

You're not in a position to draft for need. You're in a position that you need as much star level potential talent as possible. And that's, I think that I do expect them to probably take that mindset going into this draft with how, how, you know, not set in stone this roster is moving forward. But yeah, where they're runned up, who will know? I think it's, you brought it up. It's going to be hard for them to move their lottery odds much higher here. So they're going to need some lottery luck. All right, Elias Schuster joining us, the publisher for Bulls on SI.

You can follow him over on the artist formerly known as Twitter, Schuster underscore Elias. Thanks for joining us today on Rahimi Harrison. Grotty, Elias. Thank you guys so much. And, you know, let's see what happens over these next couple. I mean, that said was such little confidence. You didn't even believe in. And I get it.

I get it. Understand this. The Bulls are 11th in the East. If they somehow pass the Atlanta Hawks, it will be such an atrocity because the Hawks don't even own their own pick. That means they're trying no matter what. So if you pass a team that's trying and you're a game and a half behind them with less than 30 games of play, that means you did it wrong if you're the Bulls, if your state it goes true.

I don't think it's going to happen. I thought I will just say at the end of the day, at least there's going to be a lot to talk about. Always a lot to talk about with these Bulls. Thanks so much, Elias. Coming up next, players that might surprise you, Russell Dorsey has a pick or two of White Sox Cubs players who he thinks can have a surprise, 2026. I don't know if it's in a good way or bad way, but we'll find out on the other side. It's Rahimi, Harris, and Grotty on 104-3, the score.

Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harris and Grotie on 104-3, the score. The 2-1 swinging a high-fly ball, deep right field, going back Freelick at the wall. That part is gone. Michael Bush has led off the series with a home run to right-setter. Cubs lead one to nothing and listen to the Cub fans. in attendance. Michael Bush doing damage. Pat Hughes on the call, the Hall of Famer. And I think it's safe to say Michael Bush had a bit of a sneaky 2025, a surprise, if you

will, because you probably didn't picture him hitting 34 bombs and being a cog, a key cog, with a 4.6 war in that Cubs lineup. Welcome back to Rahimi Harris and Grotie Russell Dorsey in. Alongside, I'm Marshall Harris. and we wanted to take this time because Russ is the baseball guy, the National MLB Insider for Yahoo Sports. That's what they say. To let him step up and let us in on what he feels are a couple of candidates for

surprise 2026s much in the way that Michael Bush burst onto the scene in his big 2025 year. Yeah. So surprise star. So this could be not necessarily like, Alex Breggman can't be your surprise star, right? But other guys are eligible for this. So I'm going to start the White Sox first, though. Okay.

My surprise star for the White Sox in 2026 is going to be catcher Kyle Teal. I saw Kyle Teal get to the big league last year and showed an ability to have bat to ball skills. There was some power in there and an ability to get on base. I see Kyle Teal as the type of guy that could hit. hit 275, 280 for the White Sox, 20 doubles, 15 to 20 homers, and be a really productive player in that catcher slash DH spot splitting time with Edgar Carroll. Like, I really like Kyle Seale as a player and I'm interested to see how he's able to produce as a guy who probably won't be a full-time catcher because they have the, they'll have

split that time with him and carroll and that might help him offensively because of that not being not getting as worn down as if he had to catch 120, 130 games a season. Is it bad that I don't think that's that big of a surprise considering

not only that he had the second highest war on the team besides Colson Montgomery obviously but he kind of was that guy last year although he only played 78 games but he he hit eight home runs He went 273, 375, 411.

So maybe you're just expecting that slug to take a jump? Yeah, I expect there to be more power in there. Okay. But I also think someone would say, oh, who's the breakout person? Many would say, oh, Colson Montgomery, obviously. But I think Kyle Teal, as a guy who's going to hit towards the top of that lineup, get on base at a really high clip. Like, you're going to see a lot out of him.

So that's why he's my surprise. and those were me explaining the surprises I expect to see. I got you. So the White Sox looking good. If Cal Till is a surprise and does better things than he did in his rookie season, that's going to be a big plus for the White Sox lineup. Again, I love that young group. Meanwhile, for the Cubs, who's, now I'm really intrigued on this one because it's hard

for me to even imagine. And I think here's the difference with the Cubs. You have more known commodities on the Cubs. So anybody I say is like, oh, I know who that guy is. Yes, but like to the point. that I'm going to say. I think the surprise star on this Cubs team. Star or starter?

Star, S-T-A-R. Okay. Is going to be Nico Horner. I think, listen to me, I think Nico Horner is going to be a first-time All-Star in 2026. I think I'm not a bold prediction guy. Here's my bold prediction for Nico Horner. First-time All-Star in 2026.

leads the National League in batting average and hits Nico Horner. I think Nico Horner is building into a crescendo of having his best season ever in 2026. And I think last year, you got to see a lot of the confidence.

You know defensively, he's, I'd make the case he's the best defensive second baseman in Major League Baseball. What him and Dan's B. Do on a nightly basis is amazing. But you're starting to see a build in confidence offensively from Nico, where it doesn't always appear sexy because he doesn't have power like other guys, right? It's going to be between five and ten homers a season. But if you go look at

this baseball reference page, it's consistently 160, 165, 170 hits, had a career high last year, hit 297 second in the National League behind Trey Turner's 304. I think we could see a guy. And It's something, it's in the similar vein with PCA of because the defense is so elite, it doesn't take much to turn what Nico already does into an All-Star caliber player. Right. Like maybe there's a tick up in power, right? Where if he hits 12 to 15 homers, now you're looking at it differently. But if Nico finished 2026 and hit 300, 305 with 195 to 200 hits,

which is possible with what he's able to do. And in this offense, right? Yeah, like, I think it's possible. Like, he had 176 hits last season. 178. 178? So that's not that far away from 190. You keep him in the leadoff spot?

No, I'm not. Hap? I like Michael Bush up there. I'm not going to lie. Okay, you like the high-on-base percentage. Yeah. And it'll be interesting to see whether or not his, his batting order position changes if there's a left ear righty on the mound i like the michael bush

against right handers nico against left handers okay that's what i was asking yeah yeah yeah i'm i'm cool with that okay so that is because he was highly successful he's one of those guys that swings it really well against left-handed pitching so yeah i think if it works man and it worked a lot last year if it ain't broke if it ain't broke don't fix and then leave ianapp in that three four five spot Driving runs. I'm cool with that. Okay. Gregman hitting in the two hole regardless. So there you have it.

Russell Dorsey telling you surprised players to watch for the White Sox. He gives you Kyle Till the catcher, the young catcher, and then a little bit older player in Nico Horner, but still just heading into his age 29 season. Old prediction. Got to add that in there. First time all-star, Nico Horner. First-time All-Star Nico Horner, who was in the discussion this past season, by the way, and he led the Cubs in war with 6.2. So those are things to keep an eye on.

Coming up next, Nick Baumgartner, the senior writer and NFL draft analyst for the athletic. I know you want to know what should the Bears be doing with the number 25 pick and beyond. We will have that discussion and more with more Rahimi Harris and Grody on 1043, the score.