Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Are we any closer to understanding the Bulls’ direction? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris opened their show by wondering what the Bulls' direction is amid their flurry of activity on the trade market. Later, they opened up the phone lines for Score listeners to sound off on the aimless Bulls.

The views and opinions of Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grody may change at any time. It's just sports. Gay, thanks. Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody.

10 to 2 on 104 3 The Score. Danny, how are you? I just taped an interview with Cooper DeGine, the Philadelphia Eagles. I just enjoy that his podcast is called Exciting Mike. And it's him and Reed Blankenship off of the Exciting Whites meme. Or dubbed the Exciting Whites of Philadelphia Eagles, if you would like to report that. That is their name. Okay, there you go.

What did I say their names are? The Exciting Whites. You know, I asked if you saw himself as an inspirational figure to young white people who want to grow up and be cornerbacks. If you give us one black coach, just one, we're going to give y'all two white cornerbacks. That is a great meme. The wine store meme. It's the greatest. I prefer the exotic whites over the exciting whites, but I hear you.

I'm Joe Exotic. Otherwise, no, is a Tiger King. The Gun Cain Redneck with a moor. Cooper Flagg with a dunk, exciting whites. Like, it is... Mac McMogg. I could have done 10 minutes with Cooper just on excited. Like, why hasn't Riley Moss been on your podcast?

Like, is Jason Seahorn a mentor? I was about to say, shout out to Jason Seahorn and Merrill Hodge. He's the first white defense. back to have a sack in the NFL since Jason Seahorn. I have a research department. They looked that up. It's been over 20 years since a white corner got a sack. New white people. You can't scare these white people. I try. Roll up on a boom. The hell is wrong with you.

Layla Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043. The score. three the score it is. This is Rahimi Harris and Grody and we are trying to make sense of not just Super Bowl week but the trade deadline which is today in the NBA.

Layla Rahimi and Marshall Harris are with you Tyler Beaterball producing the fabulous open Ray Diaz, Brandon Friar producer and helping us out as well and before we get to the Jason Seahorn reference there was a Mac McClung reference in there

that I mentioned and guess who's Probably playing tonight for the Bulls. Is it called up? Mac McClough? Is it MacKlegg? That's Mr. Dunk Contest to you. Three-time reigning dunk champion, not defending, I guess,

because he won't be defending his dunk championship this year. He's already said, I'm opting out. Which is ridiculous, by the way. I want to focus on real basketball. If you're in the G League and there's even a question that you can compete in the dunk contest, then you should be forced to compete in the dunk contest.

You're too good, Mac, we need your dunks. Have you seen the the skepticism and criticism we've gotten each and every year since, you know, all the dunker-dunkers said they don't want to do it anymore? Yeah. How bad is it when the dude in the G-leaks opting out? And that's not disrespect to Mack. That's just letting you know what the priorities are.

Yeah, Mag needed that money. Let's be honest. He's good at it, too. He's very good at it. I wonder, like, at what age do you stop being as good of a dunker? Maybe he's just like, man, that's a lot of wear and tear on my knees. I think it's when Zach Levine probably stopped dunker. as much in the game, which was, he was even dunking a lot in his last season with the Bulls,

you know, last year. After he got over the knee problem, he's like, look, I'm healthy. Watch this. Yeah, he was an above the rim player. Good old day, Zach Levine and a glutton of super talented, bright future, early 20s guys, and now everybody's gone. Everybody's gone. So that's it, is that let's use that Zach Levine trade as the example, because I feel like

that actually is the beginning of this arc. Okay. That's the beginning of the transition for the Bulls. And essentially, we asked this question in our pre-show meeting because they're still continuing to make deals. We're trying to figure out whether or not Dail and Terry being moved is going to be official. And that's where a guy who we think might be the Bull's center once he gets here if he is going to happen, Gershon Yabusele. So he's from New York. And that's one deal that we're trying to figure out whether.

or not it's going to happen. You heard the update from David Haw that that might still be up in the air. We know that Dio, not Dio Degro, Ayur Dissumu, let's fire up the football brain instead of the basketball brain.

We know that Iro Dissue gets traded this morning, according to reports, alongside Julian Phillips to the Timberwolves for two players and four second round picks. It sure seems like the Timberwolves are making some moves, by the way. Is that any closer of an indicator that they might trade for Janus, knowing that they freed up the salary of Mike Conley,

and the Bulls help them with that as well. Conley gets flipped yesterday in the Kobe White trade, going to the Carolina team. Here's what I know. Mike Connolly's probably going to end up back on the Timberwolves because now that he's been traded twice, he can go back to that team after a buyout. You can't do it if you just get traded once.

You can't just go to a team through trade, get bought out, and go. The Yonis thing is interesting, because I think that is the linchpin of whatever we see happen today is going to be Janus and then teams maybe trying to get in on that deal and then we couldn't get Janus so maybe we do other stuff instead. Safe to say it would be a three-team deal at least to balance for Janus. At least. Yeah, so that's what makes us compelling.

And when you know the Bulls are still doing business with them. Now, I also brought up the question, is this the Bulls trying to acquire a ton of second round draft capital in some sort of package to try to trade for Demontas Sabonis. as we try to figure out who is the five on this team where they don't have a guy over six foot nine right now. But all of this is temporary until we figure out what they really want to do. If this is them standing pat,

if they feel like they got rid of the expiring deals that they needed to get rid of, sending Kobe White to Charlotte, helping flip Mike Conley, helping flipping Iodosumu now, which I think is a huge deal because he was actually drafted and developed by the organization, alongside Julian Phillips.

They pick up an expiring deal, as we know with Jane and Ivy. They pick up an expiring deal with Anthony Simons. And Anthony Simons is a little bit older than what we think the Bulls' timeline is going to be. They also now have Colin Sexton on the books. So if the Bulls even let those deals expire, and Ivy, I don't think they will. But say it's two, do you think, Marshall, that this is a tank? Do you think that this is closer to the Bulls trying to, as I've said before, not rip the Band-Aid off immediately, but maybe slowly let the air deflate out of the balloon?

Like the helium from like two weeks ago is still up in the balloon and you're like, well, how long is it going to take? Well, I think the biggest question here is, is it a tank? Straight up. Are they trying to tank? I would argue that the answer is no because they haven't shown me. me evidence ever that they were interested in tanking. And so it may just be a matter of, hey, we've got these extra guards. Let's see what we can get for these guards as far as adding to that stockpile of, what, nine second rounders they have gained in the last, what, five days?

It's kind of amazing the number of deals they've done, and yet they haven't been able to get a first round pick. Here's what I'll say about the Bull's approach to this. Unfortunately, they are several days late, and they are several first round draft picks short of what they should have been doing if they were ready to say we're going to turn this thing around and do a rebuild. Understand this. They've lost four of their top eight scores in a matter of days.

They've lost over half their active roster in a matter of days. It's not just I.O. and Kobe and Vouch. It's not just those guys. We're talking about Javon Carter got waived to start this whole thing off. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Emmanuel Miller's two-way deal gone.

And then you look around and see who's left on this team. Understand Kevin Heter, who is their seventh leading score, is gone. Also, you look up and down and say, oh, Julian Phillips and Daly and Terry are gone. Those are two picks from two consecutive drafts that you've basically just given up on and said, we didn't do a good enough job in getting players that we could develop or players that we thought could be good. However you want to look at that. This, I don't want just because now they're acting like a normal front office by trading expiring contracts for Archerich, Karnasovas, and company to be absolved of the sins of the past. And there are many.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, The Score. I know a lot of people have tuned in asking about 1043 jams. Go to B96. The playlist will be a lot of what you're familiar with. In the meantime, we're here now 104. Laila Rahimi and Marshall Harris with you. We're still on 670 as well. And as we try to break down this very active, Bulls trade deadline,

the most active in the time that Arturis Karnashevus and Mark Eversley have been with this team. You know, you brought up a good point that needs to be reiterated here. It's one thing to draft and then understand that the player didn't hit the way you wanted. But it's another to actually move on from them. And that's why the Daly and Terry trade, if it goes through, is significant. Daly and Terry was the 18th overall pick in the 2022 draft just outside of the lottery pick.

It's okay to say, you know, we had hope or we had scouts that thought that this was the dude. They clearly have a scouting process that is different from convention. So when these guys aren't hitting, you know, it's okay to say we need to flip somebody for someone else. The issue is, how much did this? time that you invested trying to see if this guy was going to be somebody. How much did that time hurt you? And I think when we talk about not having Nikola Vucovich get you a first round draft pick,

not having Alex Caruso, who we know that the Oklahoma City Thunder was thought to be absolutely crucial to their title win last year, not in trading away Zach Levine only to regain your first pick or your first round pick from the Demard de Rosen deal to get the protection action back. So that was a reestablishment of your own pick to trade all of them and not get a first rounder out of any of it. I understand why there's angst there. But I think it's just the price that the bulls paid in waiting so long to move some of these

players. For what? The play-in game where they just got absolutely whooped by Miami. And then Miami reminds you that they will absolutely whoop up on the bulls again in what was one of the historic losses of record that the team had earlier this week. Is it bad, Leila, that I came away from that three-game series with Miami the way it happened to work out with the condensation, the postponement, and then now you're playing three straight games against the same team?

Is it bad that I said, I think Arturz Karas Chávez is seeing the reality that the heat aren't a great team, and yet they mopped the floor with you, and that's why he's decided to go to these lengths. finally. At some point, you've got to say, I don't necessarily know if it's saying you were wrong because every GM does this. Every regime in the league says,

yeah, this player isn't working for us and they just flip them. But usually it's quicker. It's the barge versus the banana boat. I think our church, Connor Chos, all of a sudden, turned in his barge for a banana boat. But the thing about doing that quick...

Like being able to pivot and make a change and change your course. Because, because even, let's go back to the premise, right? As stated by the front office, we're looking to build 9, 10 really good players that fit on the timeline of Modis Buzellis and Josh Giddy. Here's what I want to make sure

he understands going into this. And that was the statement he made a year ago at this time. That's what he said a year ago. Here's what I want people to understand about this. Even him saying that statement, you can plan for that, but if all of a sudden a player better and with a higher ceiling

than Modis Buzellis and Josh Giddy becomes available, you have to alter that thinking too and be like, okay, we can actually do the same thing but around this player instead. And then modest and giddy themselves should become expendable. You've got to always be looking at a chance to level up. And you can't say, what you cannot say anymore about the Bulls, if you thought it, was that they don't value draft picks. They're showing you that they will flip players that they care about, like Iyo Dissumu, for example, for draft picks. It is, however, a shame that none of them are in the first round because we know that is the most valuable asset of all in the NBA right now.

I'm going to go further. More valuable than a lot of players in the league. And they value players and they value young players who have experience who have maybe been iced out of other teams because of the talent level or what happens. Jane Divey, Josh Giddy fall into that category. Amphorny Simons falls into that category. But you had to acquire more draft picks if you wanted to do anything. in this league. If you want to take a big swing, if you want to add a star to your players, or if you want to add who you think makes this all work, you absolutely had to get more draft

picks in your stable in order to be able to use those for a deal to be made. Like the league tells you that every day. All that being said, I've been adamant that if there was a player they were going to hold on to, it would be and should be Iyo dosumu unless you get a first round pickback to go over your point. I don't like this last deal. It's my least favorite of all the deals because you're giving up a player in I-O that, as you said, they drafted, they developed after he fell to the second round.

He fits what you're talking about. And even if he doesn't fit necessarily the very specific timeline you stated, I liked the idea of having his bird rights and being able to keep him and have him on a new deal. And if you want to move him after that, it's fine. But that's a valuable piece that is. I think valued around the league more than the other pieces that you've gotten rid of to this point. And I think they sold short on him by just taking all the four second round picks.

Well, and Jalen Phillips, who had a lot of value on this team. Yeah, there's that part of it too. Julian Phillips, like, Julian Phillips had a lot of value on this team. I'm not as high on Julian Phillips, so he can be moved. But that together could get you a first rounder. And I'm not saying a first rounder like in this draft. I'm saying a first round, you know, like what about a 2029 first rounder? What about a 2030 first rounder?

So the premise here, and I agree with that, right, what you just said, not this year. Because the premise is if you're trading Iodosumu, you don't even need protections because that's a team obviously going to the playoffs. That's why they're trading for Iodosumu. But if you can get one in the future, I like that idea. I don't like what they did with Iodosumu. That's just my initial, I mean, this happened less than what an hour ago? that's just my initial reaction to this.

This is not of the same ilk as some of the other moves that were made. Well, again, it just comes back to the same question. Is your value system and your valuation based on what the rest of the league thinks, are those aligned? Because I know for a fact that the Bulls could have gotten a first round pick for Alex Caruso. Yeah. I know that. So how do you value your players based on how the league values your players?

And some of whom I think they're willing to move a little bit more than than be able to part with something that are they selling low with some of their guys? Like are they more willing to part with them for a cheaper price because they value another guy more like, say Josh Giddy. Well, we're about to find out because if any of these players that they have traded away flourish at a level, especially the younger ones, right? Like the guys we just talked about,

Julian Phillips and Daly and Terry. If they flourish elsewhere and you didn't get adequate compensation, you're going to come out with egg on your face. The ultimate question is, back to the original question, are they trying to tank right now?

If they don't make another move, guess what? As good as Billy Donovan is is getting the best out of people, other teams should be able to just pound them into the ground. And it might be a tank. The problem is it's a tank too late,

If that makes sense, they're so far ahead of the pack. They're not going to lose enough games to catch up to the bottom six or seven teams. And that's the issue too, you know, in all of this is when you take a look at the standings, but that's it. Every single time when we've talked about the decisions that this team has made, it's come down to what? Timing. Charlotte Hornets are 23 and 28.

Bucks are 20 and 29. Nets 13 and 36. Wizards 13 and 36. Pacer's 13 and 13. and 38. Kings are 12 and 40. They've got the lowest win percentage in the association. Pelicans, 13 and 40. There's still reports that the Bulls might be interested in Zion. Utah Jazz, 16 and 35, Mavericks, 19 and 31, and the Memphis Grizzlies are 20 and 29. We expect them to not win many games after they traded Jaron Jackson Jr. All of that said, there's a big group that's fighting to get to the bottom of this thing. I'm looking at the tankathon right now. If the season ended today, the Bulls would be lined up, and this obviously could change depending on how the playing tournament goes,

because the Bulls, as right now, are in the playing tournament. I don't think they're going to stay in there with Charlotte surging the way they are. Yeah, and trading for good players, yeah. They added Kobe White. They've won seven in a row. They've got a big game against Houston tonight, so they could be winners of eight in a row, and they could also be in a position to pass the Chicago Bulls,

because the Bulls will probably lose tonight, Toronto. We'll get to that in the next segment. Oh, yeah. Toronto's right now sixth in the east. Yes. And so the thing is, do you think you can lose enough games to say catch the Dallas Mavericks? They're five games. Make that four and a half games back of the Mavericks who have the seventh best tank odds right now. I don't know. Well, the Mavericks are in the West, too. That's what makes this even worse is that the Mavs are more likely to lose games simply because they're in the Western Conference. That's fair. That's fair.

I mean, the bucks who just beat you down, by the way, it'll be interesting to see if they tank harder now that Janus is out for a amount of time and who knows if they'll even be a buck at the end of the day. Are you keeping it a buck? I feel like you are. Listen, somebody needs to because I think people understand the frustration of going through this process

and still not understanding what is the plan. And we'll find out today at 3.30 when Archer steps up to the mic and there could be more deals done between now and that time. So coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison and Brody on 670 to the score, we've got a bunch of calls, actually. So we should take your calls. 3-1-2-644-67-67. Did I say 6-70 the score?

You guys are supposed to tase me or something every time I say it. 104-3 the score. Thank you. Old habits. We're going to play the game of who he play for, except it's who's playing tonight, because Marshall and I got to figure this out. Also, to the person who sent me something that took me back to a place I had tried to avoid on Twitter,

I think we should revisit another trade deadline deal that put together a pretty epic lineup. Because when I reminded Marshall of this deal, he was shocked to hear it himself. So another Bulls deal we'll discuss that is from a long time ago. I feel like that's worth mentioning. In the meantime, we broadcast live from the Scores Hyundai Studios, brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. When we have guests, they join us via the Circus Sports Illinois hotline. Download the Circus Sports app today.

Ray Diaz is our producer, Tyler Beaterbaugh. Our producer, as well, you heard his excellent open. Brandon Fryer helps us out. You can join us on Twitch, twitch.tv slash the score Chicago, our Twitch mob is up and chatting away. Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, and Max Curtis are our video team. I believe the YouTube address changed too. that the score Chicago on YouTube too, so you can find us there. And as I mentioned, our number 312, 644, 67,

are the Bulls are any closer to the direction you think they might be going in? What is that direction? Who's playing tonight? Let's discuss it next. Layla Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harrison Grody on 1043, the score. I think the hard part, and I understand that those guys are, you know, invest in a lot of time on the phone right now,

and it's, I'm sure, very, very hectic. You know, we have shoot around, then you're coming back and shoot around, and you're talking to them on the phone. It's brief conversations, you know, about, you know, individual players. So I think there'll be a time, to be honest, if he has some of this stuff settles down, that we'll be able to sit down and talk more in depth than that. That's Billy Donovan.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grady on 104-3, The Score. Trying to figure out the trade deadline, and we are going to take your calls. 312, 64, 64, 64, 67, 67 remains our number because we were asking the question, are we any closer to understanding who this Bulls team wants

to be? The shift in direction, the shift in getting rid of expiring contracts, the shift in acquiring so many second round draft picks, as we've said before, you didn't get the first rounders trading away Caruso, DeMarre Derozen,

Zach Levine, like Nicola Vuccivic. So given that, are you okay with it? And then we've got to figure out, say the Dal and Terry for Gershawin-Jal-A deal goes through. Yabu-Saila-Lay is a center. He'd been playing for the Knicks. He hadn't played very many minutes because that's just what happens with a lot of these guys. So I assume he's probably going to be the center. He's still not going to play tonight for this team. Like the Bulls have a game tonight. We don't necessarily know who's going to even be on the court. They're in Toronto. So that's the other thing. You've got to go to a whole other country for this game.

Get your passport out, which they all have because these are NBA players. And it's interesting because I just want to let people understand. I want people to have an understanding of who should be available tonight for the Bulls. So it's not it's not who he play for. It's who is playing. Let's start with the most guys that you're used to seeing. There's Isaac of There's Patrick Williams. There's Yuki Kawamura. That's who we're used to seeing. Well, I mean, it goes in descending order.

Did you guys like the Yuki graphic? Where the Bulls put out? The graphic for the game against the box? It was just Yuki with a fate of him in the background, like the Olin Mills pictures. Very 1970s. Now, when I look at the injury report, the latest injury report for the Bulls, it has Jaden Ivy listed as questionable. The reason? Trade pending.

Although the Bulls have already announced the trade on their website. I mean, the Daly and Terry trade got announced, not by the Bulls, but by the rest of the league. We're still trying to figure out if that's going to happen. But, but yeah, you've got to wait to see the actual team announce it, right? Trey Jones, by the way, who's missed several games, is now questionable as he returns from a left handstring. So he could be available. Right. Then you've got Mack McClung, who we have told the Bulls have signed.

G-League King. And wasn't that the available two-way contract? They had one two-way contract spot. Yes, because it got rid of Emmanuel Miller. Correct. So I guess MacMac-McClung may take this spot. MacMachlan's going to play tonight. I'm here to tell you he's already in Toronto.

He's going to play tonight. Colin Sexton and Usman Jing are also part of a deal that has gone through. But they can't play tonight, right? They can't play tonight. if they're there. I don't know if they're there. We're going to find out at what time when we talk to Julia Poe.

Julia Poe is coming on our show at 1225. And so she's actually at shoot-around, so she'll let us know they're an hour ahead of us because they're in the Eastern Time Zone. But I've just given you everybody, the Anthony Simon's news I'm not sure about because they were waiting to see if another team got in on that deal

so that deal hasn't become official yet. But out of those guys I said, who are the starting five? Who are your starting five, Leila? All right. I got you. You keep running the point. for the love of the game.

I got the 5-8 dude running the point. Even if Trey Jones is available? Even if Trey Jones is available, Trey Jones will be at the two. Okay, actually, that actually could work. I'm going in order of ascending height here, guys. Oh, man. That is how I'm putting this light up together.

A short order, literally. All right, so Yuki's at the one. I got Trey Joseph, but he's healthy at the two. Lachlan Oldbrick is the default center, correct? He would seem to be. All right, so Lachlan's by five. is Mac MacLong by three? No, Isaac's going to play the three.

I don't know. I don't know in this world. Are they tanking or not? I want MacMaclung on the court. So you want the hard tank, not a soft tank. You want the hard tank. I do. I do indeed.

So I got MacMaclug is three. And what's great about this, whether it's P. Will or Acorro at the four. Well, I say, whether you're a hard tanking or soft tanking, just put Pee Will in. It'll figure itself out. Patrick Williams is starting. That was the first thing I said to you was Patrick Williams is starting. Patrick Williams is at the four.

You mean the franchise, Patrick Williams? Because that's really what he is right now. He's the longest tenured bull. I want you to wrap your head around that. Patrick Williams is the longest tenured bull. What about Modis? What about him? Oh, yeah, he's in my starting line.

I was letting you do yours. I was letting you do yours. This is a very hard take. Yeah, Modis is starting. All right, so that changed. I really want Mack McClung in this game. Maybe I just give him a lot of minutes off the end. He can come off the bench.

So here's my starting five tonight. Fine. Modis can be the three. I've got Trey Jones starting at the one. I've got Colin Sexton starting at the two. I've got Modis at the three. You've got Sexton playing? Excuse me.

I'm sorry. I've got Isaac O'Corphe at the three. Hold on. You've got Sexton playing and available. Okay, see, I don't have them available or playing. I'm just going off the fact that the deal went through. The Bulls announced yesterday. that the team has acquired Colin Sexton, Usman Jang,

and three second round picks in exchange for Kobe White and Mike Connolly Jr. He is with the Bulls. Now whether he's with them physically, we'll find out at 1225. I just assumed like Sexton and Jang were not going to be available tonight. So I think the Bulls, here's the problem with the idea that the Bulls are tanking. That lineup with the players I just said, Trey Jones, Colin Sexton, Akoro, Modus, and P. Will, that lineup can still do damage. It can't you

You will at the 5 Pea will at the 5 How many points do you think Toronto's scoring tonight? I have a question The last time P.Wil was at the 5 Did they win or lose the game

when he started at the 5? Oh wait They won that game Against Miami The only game they've won In the last what Five games? You can't have Pee Will at the 5

The entire season, can you? Listen, you tell me I mean if a Koro is at the 4 maybe No, Modis is at the 4 A coro's at the 3 Yeah, but I'm saying like I'm trying to do that. You know how I'm doing this.

I'm doing this in like basicest order of height, like who I know can play the most defense is getting the front core position. All I know is... So therefore, for me, that's probably a Coro of Ford and modest of the three. All I know is, if they have Anthony Simons,

they are not tanking. If they move Anthony Simons, I'm more inclined to think that they are doing at least a soft tank because Anthony Simons will be the best player on offense, the Bulls have had on their roster this season. I did not stutter. Your ears did not flap.

Really? So even with Kobe, when he's healthy, how he makes the Bulls go. Bucket. Walking Bucket. Anthony Simons can create. Remember who watches the League Pass? Remember who watches the Portland Trailblazers late at night the last three seasons before he got moved to the Boston Celtics? That was me.

Fair enough. Yeah. He's a guy who can give you. Last month, he scored 39 points off the bench in a game for the Celtics. He put up 40 points in, I think, last, each of his last two seasons at least once. He's older than Kobe. Kobe turns 26 this month.

He's not that much older than Kobe. He's less than a year older. And he is 26. Yeah, that's the same age. I was getting there. So he's slightly older than Kobe, but we all believe that Kobe is not, because of age is not part of the timeline that they want. Jaden Ivy, I believe, is part of the timeline because he's 23.

I think that. To modest and too giddy. I think it's not as simple as saying a part of the timeline when you're talking about the bulls and all these moves that they have made in the last five days. I don't think it's fair to just say because they're not within two years of each other, they can't be part of the timeline. Because I think part of this is signing guys to deals, having them outplay their deals and then moving them timely in a timely fashion and getting first round picks or having them be a part of a bigger deal for a superstar. is how you do it if you're the bulls. No, I feel you. I just think there's a big part of me that wonders

if all of these second round picks and these assets and guys like Simons are being put together for a package for not Janus, but Domontas a bonus. I hope not. But what's your

likelihood? Well, in theory, I like that idea. Because the center position is open, as we just discussed. In theory, I like your idea because it shows a willingness to pivot and not make it about modest and Josh Giddy, who are still largely unproven guys. Neither one of those guys is an all-star or a star. And DeMontas-a-Sabonis is much better than those guys. And now you're reorganizing your timeline. He's over 6-9. Listen, he's just the wrong guy to do it around. That's my point.

He's also 29. Like, based on what we just talked about, that's the part of it for me that probably is, the biggest it's the biggest outlier. Is he over the age of 30 in his mid-30s? Like Vooch? No. But how does he make this make sense if that's the case? It only makes sense in that they feel like he's a good enough player to pivot, again,

more banana boat style than barge style, which I'm with. But here's the problem. If they do that, it confirms one thing for me, Leila. It confirms that they can. can't evaluate talent in the modern NBA and understand who to prioritize and building around. Well, I mean, that's it. Yeah, this is a referendum. Whether or not they want to admit it, trading away guys like Dale and Terry, which is the right thing to do. Yes. You know, trading away players like that, you're saying our evaluation of talent was not where we

wanted it to be. Or we've changed the price. And both are a good idea because it lets you know what their value is relative to the rest of the league. and every GM has misses whether it's via trade or whether it's via draft. The problem is, do you have more misses than hits? And when you do have a miss, can you reconcile that and pivot quickly? They have shown an inability. There's no evidence that they know how to pivot once they make a mistake. I want to bring this up because it took me to a dark place.

Tell me. Lee Corwin tweeted at us, remember, it could be worse, but still not great. And then send me the graphic of a starting lineup that I am familiar. familiar with. Cameron Payne, Justin Holiday, Denzel Valentine, Paul Zipser, and Chris Felicio. Never forget. Never forget what they gave up to get Doug McDermott.

And the fact that in 2017, the Bulls traded Doug McDermott. And Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson for campaign, Joffrey Laverne and Anthony Morrow. This text is not good. I need you to sit there and remember that trade. And the fact that the Bulls traded up to get Doug McDermott to begin with. That's the kind of lab they should have had at the beginning of the season

if they wanted to get a superstar in this year's NBA draft. Meanwhile, 6-1-4. I believe the end-game is Sabonis and Miles Turner end up on the Bulls by the end of the deadline. Sabonis and Miles Turner? Basically, he's saying I believe that the core of the Indiana Pacers from four years ago, you know, when these guys were still 24 and 25 years old, but now they're 29. and 30, that's the problem.

That's the problem. I know what Sabonis looks like. I know what you can and cannot build around him. The only reason Sabonis has been part of a team that was viable, the Sacramento Kings in the West, when they snapped that 17-game playoff drought, is because guess what? He was playing with guys like Deerne Fox and Tyrese Halliburton. That's, that's, or sorry, he was traded for Tyrese Halliburton. But he was playing with Deeran Fox.

Deer and Fox, who's one of the better scorers in the league. my goodness. So there's that. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotty on 670 the score. We've had some people waiting on our phone lines. So let's take your calls next because do you think the bulls are any closer to the direction you think they're in? What is the direction you think they're in? 312-644-67. We are 104-3-627. We are 104. And we thank you for hanging with us today. We'll be right back. Rahimi Harrison Grody. The great Kevin Harlan. I just pulled through the Taco Bell drive-through. and I've got a couple of big, nasty supreme burritos right here waiting to beat.

You know, the first thing they ask you now, are you using the app? No, I just want my burrito. I don't want to use an app. Bring a lot of mild sauce because I'm going to escort it all over the place. Put some hot sauce off on my burrito, baby. Rahimi Harris and Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on the score. You will hear Kevin Harlan with us today at 1 o'clock, so we'll get Taco Bell updates, E. Moss, and more.

right here on 104-3, The Score. This is Rahimi Harris and Grody. And we're going to go to the phones because the Bulls are making deals. But have you figured out a direction yet? 312-644-67-67. We start with Anthony in Plainfield. Anthony, you're on Rahimi-Harris and Grotie. Good morning, guys.

Thanks for taking my call. So a couple things. And I should start with saying, I have not been a fan of AK upper-brose. board management for years. What they have done has been brutal. They obviously waited too long to get things going here. With all of that said, these last two weeks or this last week or so, we've collected nine second round picks, and I get we've gotten a few players for a bunch of players that have no future on our roster. All I've heard is we didn't get first rounders for Iowa.

We didn't get first rounders for Kobe. But if you look back at all of these drafts and you're on draft night, and you're seeing these teams in the mid-late 20s, all they tend to do is trade out of those slots. And those second-round picks we're acquiring for guys like AO, those are going to be future first-round late-20s picks if the Bulls decide they want to go that route. So they have plenty of options now that they have all the picks. I don't look at this as we didn't get a first round for AO. As a matter of fact, I think we got maybe too late first-round picks for Iowa if the Bulls, again,

decide to do it that way. Okay, I think you're putting a lot of blind faith in AK because he's not proven he can do anything, really? I would ask you this, why not keep I.O. sign him to a deal and have him as a future asset while also helping your team. That's the issue I have with it. You had his bird rights. You could have kept him, and he was fine.

I don't understand why you get rid of him in this manner. You're so much right. I understand. Iyo is a really good player, and keeping him on your roster is, is, you know, is keeping you in the middle of the pack, right? Like, they are picking a lane to get bad. And, like, again, going back to the whole thing with what you're talking about with AK, I agree with you, do we trust them to make decisions?

But also, if you keep Iyo and you resign them and you look to trade him in the future, do you really think he's going to trade him at the right time for the right capital then? So you don't trade. Well, here's part of my issue, Anthony, and I appreciate you calling, is that you're assuming the bulls are going to flip guys. like perhaps Colin Sexton or Anthony Simons, who are quality players. And they are the ones on expiring deals. Ios having a career year, but because of how he came up, like you mentioned the bird rights,

he's going to be a more flexible contract. Now, Iyo's older than, quote, the timeline, end quote, if you look at 26. But as we've just mentioned, Anthony Simons, Colin Sexton is 26. Colin Sexton is that same age. So, you know, I don't necessarily know. that you think that they're going to get bad enough, but Colin Sexton and Anthony Simons and Jaden Ivy can play. Like, Jaden Ivy is a shot creator.

I don't know that you're going to get as bad as you want to get, keeping those guys here unless you're talking about next year tanking. And I don't see that being the case in this. There's no evidence that they're willing to tank, first of all. And we'll see by 2 o'clock today if they're more willing to tank. We're going to hear from Arturis Karas Charnasovas at 3.30. And that's when I think we get a lot more answers. And so because of what Anthony said, I think, you know, two things can be true.

One, AK made a move. There's just no reason to trust him at this point. There's not, you can't point to something. Look what AK did and say, that makes me think, one, he's a good evaluator of talent. Look at the drafts. And two, that he's going to be in a position where he's going to get better players. You have I.O. You had him.

He was right there, re-sign him. And then if you want to move him later, as part of a deal for, a superstar, he's the type of player team will take back in a deal for I don't know, a Zion Williamson, a John Moran, you can go down the list. Whatever disgruntled superstar pops up next because there's always one or two.

My thing is, I was a good enough two-way player, not as good as Caruso, you know, on either on the defensive side. Better than Caruso on the office. Yes, but my point is, you know, Caruso theoretically would have fetched you a first round pick. So, Iyo, coming off of the year, he had

had if you re-sign him because you have the room. Next year could have probably fetched you a first-round pick. Let's keep it going on the phones. 3-1-2-644-67. This is Rahimi-Harrison-Grody. Let's go to Donnie on the south side. Hi, Donnie.

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. You know, there's no current old player on this roster that's going to go for a first-round pick. I don't trust AK at all to even make a decision to get a first-round pick. We couldn't get anything out of Caruso, Levine, De Rosen, Vooch, Kobe White, I.O.

You know, we got a million trillion second round picks. Fifteen percent of them turn into rotational players and less than two percent turned into all-star players. I really don't know the point here. I'll tell you the starting five tonight, too, it's going to be Moli Ha, Rahimi, Spiegel and Holmes. I mean, this is blasphemy what they got going. I mean, you know, I'm from 33rd in Hall said, you know, I'm a big bulls fan all my life.

I haven't been to a game in a 10-plus year. since D. Rose. I mean, they just don't put a good product out there, and I just, this is, I got my blood pressure up. I just can't do it with this team. The decision makers, I mean, they're the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NBA. They love the play-in. That's what they look for, the play-in.

That's what's on their bulletin board today. Play-in. We're going to play for the play-in. It's just a joke. Look how fast the Pistons turned it around. I mean, they were horrible for years, and then they get one guy. And there's no plan either. They're, they're they tanking, are they not?

They just want to stay relevant. I mean, if I see Mack McCleck-Bacon out there in a starting lineup, oh, my goodness, this team, I'm sweating. You might see Mack McClung. And you know what's funny about the Pistons is they had that horrible, atrocious losing streak, but we all knew that they had had more talent than what was showing up on the court. They had pieces.

They drafted well. Like, they had Kate Cunningham at that time. You know, they had drafted well, and they had made some savvy trays. hired some first round picks. And I think you and I were both of the mindset that Detroit wasn't as bad as they had looked. And I think J.B. Biggerstaff is a great coach. So I'm not surprised to see them doing what they're doing. Donnie, great call.

And I'm surprised you went with me instead of Marshall because the height advantage is definitely in favor of Mars. I don't want to get dunked on tonight. I'm fine. Dude, you're basically the average height of the Bulls tonight. You realize that, right? I'm only 6'2, guys. Don't listen to her. I'm only 6'2.

I'm only 6'2. Is he over six feet tall? I'm over six feet tall. Positional size, baby. Let's keep it going on the phones. 312, 64, 64, 67, and to Stephen and Elkroyv Village. Hey, guys, first thing I want to start off with saying is AK should be fired. Mark Eversley should be fired.

As much, I don't blame Billy Donovan for the current state because he's just working with what he's got. But I don't trust any of these guys to lead this organization. they've shown they can't be trusted with picks. They can't be trusted with talent. We waited three, four years too long now to start a rebuild. When national media, when Charles Barkley on inside the NBA, in 2022 or 2023 is going up there and saying the bulls need to tear it down, and we still don't do anything.

We just stand pet because we're happy being in the middle. As long as ownership is making money, this is all they care about. They don't care about fans. They don't care about anything. get a couple hometown guys to keep the fans involved, and then they just want money. And then to trade away all these guys that we had, and we don't get a single first round pick,

except for the one pick that we traded away, we got that one pick back. And then for all these guys, we don't get a single second round pick. It's just an atrocity. It's spitting in the face of these fans, and something needs to change with this organization. I appreciate it.

I don't argue with anything that you just said because again, if there was evidence to be like, I can point to this or point to that, I can't point to anything since the lack of a pivot after Lanzo ball got hurt, and that was years ago. Well, and the thing is, even with what we're going to hear today, Arturis Karasjovis has come off of,

and the actions that the team has taken, I think they've come off of the nine or ten good players concept because of the expiring deals. and that's the part that I need him to fill in the gaps on what changed from last year at this time to this year. You say that, but if he keeps some of these guys and he thinks they're one of the nine or ten good players, then that means he doesn't think anything has changed.

Well, at least we'll get some understanding. Thanks for everybody for calling in. Thanks for the text. Thanks for the tweet that sent me back to a very, very interesting place with campaign. We have more coming up here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104, the score. Olin Kruits. Our friend is coming up next. Talk a little bears. Talk about the,

I think I've got to ask him about a drill he was coaching yesterday too for his O-line kids. So we'll do that next.