KGMZ-FM / 95.7 THE GAME
  • last month
Transcript
00:00Our guest on the River Islands guest line, the voice of the Bulls, Adam Amin, who is
00:03also here in town for a different game.
00:07This one starts in a couple hours over at Chase Center.
00:09You'll hear it here on 95.7 The Game.
00:12Hey, Adam, what's going on?
00:13What's going on, gentlemen?
00:14Good to talk to you.
00:16It's great to talk to you.
00:17How many days until those dudes in Bulls uniforms trade them for Warriors uniforms?
00:21Come on, give them up.
00:22Oh, man.
00:23Let's go.
00:24Let's set the over.
00:25Let's set the over-under on two weeks, huh?
00:28How about that?
00:29We're less than, officially, less than two weeks away from the trade deadline now.
00:34So I will be fascinated to see, and of course, my producer, Mark Brady, did a great job with
00:39us on Chicago Sports Network.
00:41He texted me today and said, oh, guess who the Bulls play immediately after the trade
00:45deadline?
00:46That's when the Warriors come in to Chicago to take on the Bulls.
00:49So the running joke among some of the folks that cover the team has been, let's get that
00:54tribute video for Vucinic ready now, so that when he comes right back to Chicago on February
01:00the 8th, we'll be able to play that in honor of his contributions over the last four years.
01:05I mean, let's be real, Adam, do you think this is a match?
01:08I kind of do.
01:10I do think it's a match based on what he's doing, what he's good at, and what the Warriors
01:16seemingly—I don't want to assume need, as a guy who's coming in who sees the Warriors
01:21twice a year from an opposing team—but seem like they could use.
01:25And that is a stretch five, a guy who operates well within an offense, who is a willing passer.
01:31I'm not calling him Draymond Green, but I feel like he can play a role that Draymond
01:37plays in this offense in terms of facilitating, setting screens, being a good dive man.
01:42I think he's got a very high basketball IQ that would fit other high IQ players.
01:47And certainly the Warriors, I think, are very well coached and certainly have had the
01:51track record of players that have very high IQs in terms of how to operate on the offensive
01:55end.
01:56Is he a defensive stalwart?
01:57No.
01:58I think he's better when he's with really good perimeter defenders.
02:04I think he's been good when he's been with good perimeter defenders.
02:07For all intents and purposes, the Warriors are a top half of the league defensive team,
02:11so I feel like he would, at the very least, not hurt you on the defensive end.
02:15But his shooting ability this year to stretch the floor at the five position and to still
02:19be one of, I think, the more skilled low post players in the league, I think he is a great
02:24fit for what Golden State wants or needs or could use.
02:29And where are the Bulls in their arc of, you know, kind of at the bottom of the play-in?
02:34Is it a full rebuild?
02:36Are they kind of half in, half out for fans and for the Bulls as an organization?
02:41What's their endgame on, you know, getting rid of a good player, an older player, but
02:46what are the Bulls looking to do here in the short term?
02:51You know, I wish I could tell you.
02:53And I think that's where some of the frustration with the organization lies.
02:56And I should say, it's not for reasons that I think you have to change if you're the front
03:01office, okay?
03:02I've come in, I came in officially full-time in 2020.
03:06I came in at the same time as Arturo Skarnisovic and Mark Eversley, that's the front office
03:10for the Bulls now.
03:11And I came in at the same time as Billy Donovan.
03:13And kind of watching and tracking how they operate, they're very close to the best.
03:19Arturo Skarnisovic, Mark Eversley, they're very close to the best.
03:21They don't reveal a whole lot in terms of, well, we're clearly planning on this.
03:25We're clearly planning on this.
03:27And I'm fine with that.
03:29I actually respect that.
03:30To be close to the best as a front office member in the NBA is probably a hard thing
03:33to do.
03:34But I also know that it breeds some frustration from fans, even though you're probably doing
03:39the right thing in your eyes, it breeds some frustration.
03:43And I think that's where fans are saying, well, what's the direction of the team?
03:46The way I've gathered it, based on tracker record, based on the trying to read between
03:51the lines as much as possible, it feels like they wanted to showcase the big pieces in
03:58the first 30 to 45 games.
04:00And that's Zach LaVine, that's Nikola Vucevic, perhaps Lonzo Ball to see how healthy he is.
04:05I think they've done that.
04:06I think Vucevic has played at an all-star caliber level.
04:09I think Zach LaVine is playing some of the best ball of his career.
04:12They have been properly showcased.
04:14And I think once you get to two weeks from now, if one or both of those players are gone,
04:19now you start to lean in more to some of the younger players on this team.
04:23And ideally, they probably would not give up that top 10 protected pick to San Antonio.
04:30I don't know where the balance is of keeping that pick versus trying to get into the play
04:36in tournament and get some of the younger guys some more bigger game experience.
04:40I'm not sure where this organization is, and I think that's where some of the frustration
04:44for fans has been.
04:45Interesting stuff.
04:46Adam, I mean, the voice of the Bulls is with us here on Willard & Dibs, 95.7 The Game.
04:51Adam, it was a NBA insider was on with us just a few weeks ago, described the Bulls,
04:56I think the best way to say it is, as very unpredictable coming up to the deadline.
05:01Like, you just don't know exactly what they're thinking or what they want to do.
05:05How would you describe it?
05:07I think that's fair.
05:08I think unpredictable is a nice way to say it.
05:11I think the harshest way to say it, and I don't know if this is necessarily fair.
05:16That's why I precluded by saying this, you know, or I proceeded by saying this is this
05:21might be unfair.
05:23It seems like there's no direction.
05:25And I think that's the harshest way to talk about it.
05:27But then again, I also want to give credence to the front office who is trying its best
05:31to not reveal too much.
05:33And that probably feeds into the unpredictability of it.
05:36So is that a fair assessment?
05:39I think so.
05:40I think unpredictable is a very accurate way to say it because I'm not sure what they want
05:44to do.
05:45And much like the Warriors starting a six-game homestand tonight and in this stretch of nine
05:49games where you're home most of the time, you're really looking to evaluate these next
05:53two weeks.
05:54It's probably a season-defining, perhaps organization-defining stretch of basketball.
05:59I would say that's the same thing for the Bulls right now.
06:02And Warrior fans are dying for a bucket getter.
06:05But every time the name Zach Levine comes up, you have to duck because people cringe.
06:10So Adam, you see him on the regular.
06:13What's the rose and the thorn, so to speak, of Zach Levine and his game?
06:17What do you love about it and what about his game should Warrior fans maybe be cautious
06:22about?
06:23Sure.
06:24I think game-wise, he is one of the elite, elite hard shot makers in this league.
06:31There are very few guys in this league, and I'm talking about the elite, like the Kevin
06:36Durants of the world and the Devin Bookers of the world and guys who create impressive
06:43shots made on their own without necessarily needing help.
06:47I'm not necessarily saying he's Kevin Durant.
06:49I'm saying that when you think of elite-level shot makers, he can make similar shots, perhaps
06:55not as consistently, but on a very high frequency.
06:59He's shooting as well as he has in a long time from the three-point line.
07:02He's shooting very well from the field.
07:04His mid-range game is as good as it's been in his career.
07:07I think he's doing a lot of other things really well, and that has been a concerted effort
07:13from him.
07:14He's trying to be a better passer.
07:15He's trying to be more engaged on the defensive end, and he has been those things.
07:18I think he's been a really good rebounder when he needs to be.
07:21I think he has much better feel.
07:23I think he's been way more unselfish this year than he has been in years past.
07:27I think he's not a great defender, but he has the ability to be a great defender because
07:31he's really, really athletic.
07:33You go back to Tokyo and the Olympics four summers ago, the only way he was getting on
07:38the floor was by playing defense, similar to the Devin Booker role this past year in
07:42Paris.
07:43I'll play the defense just to get on the floor, and he was.
07:45He was a good defender because he's such a good athlete.
07:49I don't think he needs to be the number one player on a championship team.
07:56If he's the number three option for a really good team, that's a scary offensive team.
08:01I think LeBean would make a good offensive team significantly better in a pretty efficient
08:08manner.
08:09I know the contract scares people.
08:11I understand that.
08:12I also don't think it's that much less reasonable than some of the other deals that you guys
08:17might see in the next two years around the NBA, especially for high-scoring players.
08:24Time always seems to blunt some of the contract issues that we see around the NBA, even in
08:29the NFL, so I would say that there are a lot more positives than negatives with Zach LeBean
08:34right now.
08:35You're listening to 95.7 The Game, KGMZ FM in HD1 San Francisco and Odyssey Sports Station,
08:41always live on the free Odyssey app, Twitch, and YouTube, powered by First NorCal Credit
08:44Union.
08:45For a low-rate auto loan, apply online, or just ask for First NorCal Financing at the
08:48dealer.
08:49We're talking to Adam Amin, voice of the Bulls, in town obviously, tip-off just a couple hours
08:53away right here on 95.7 The Game.
08:56I guess maybe we should back up and kind of do with Vucevic what you just did with LeBean.
09:02Like for Warrior fans who've never seen him and have only heard the talk, how would you
09:08describe Nikola Vucevic and how he's playing this year?
09:13This is as good as he's played in his career, and he's got the highest field goal percentage
09:17of his career, he has the highest three-point percentage of his career, it's his best scoring
09:21season in four years.
09:23I think he had just been in a very anomaly-like year last year.
09:30He shot 29% from three, his footwork was a little bit off, he's always been much better
09:36than that in his career, and this year he's taken an even bigger step.
09:39He's a great locker room guy to have, he is a very easy guy to get along with.
09:46I think he has played as consistently as the best bigs in the league.
09:51I'm not saying he's Jokic, if you want to go as far as to say he's a poor man's Jokic,
09:55I guess you could say that.
09:57He's a very willing passer, I would never put him at the level of Nikola Jokic, that's
10:00a multiple-time MVP award winner.
10:02But I think the game, the style, is very similar, and that's why I think he'd be a great fit
10:08for what Golden State is doing.
10:11But there's a significant amount of positive, and like I said, the contracts always look
10:16a little rough at first glance, especially with the season that he had, a poor season
10:20last year.
10:21If you look at his numbers this year, he's outplaying his $20 million a year price tag,
10:26even though I understand he's a little bit older, getting into his mid-30s, but he's
10:29a veteran guy that has played in playoff games with multiple teams now, and I think he would
10:35be a great asset if he ends up leaving Chicago, whatever team ends up getting him, I think
10:39he'd be a great asset.
10:40And you look at the way the Warriors play with a lot of ball movement and player movement,
10:45could he be somebody who would fit into this offense?
10:47Because the Warriors, rather, acquired Dennis Schroeder earlier this year, and he hasn't
10:53really fit as well as many people would like.
10:56If Vucevic did come here in this crazy hypothetical, of course, would his offensive style fit with
11:02what the Warriors do?
11:04I think so.
11:05I think, again, he's great around the elbow.
11:07I think part of the appeal of him is he's been a multiple-assist-per-game guy for most
11:13of his career.
11:14He's had a couple triple-doubles.
11:17He's a consistent double-double machine, but he can produce outside and he can produce
11:21inside.
11:22He's a really good screensetter.
11:23I think he's got a high level of intelligence.
11:25He's a good pick-and-pop guy when you work him on baseline or on the angles from the
11:30mid-range.
11:31He's got a solid jump shot.
11:32So all the spaces that Curry does not take, the space that Steph takes up on the floor,
11:41he does so much on the perimeter and with cuts, I think Vucevic, and again, the Warriors
11:45are a very high-screen team as it is.
11:48That's what they've always done.
11:49Certainly since I've been watching them these last seven, eight, nine years now, they've
11:53always been a high-movement, high-screen team.
11:54I think Vucevic fits very well into an offense like that.
11:57Adam, I'm looking at the Bulls, and we do this because when you're on one coast and
12:04then there's the other coast, let's not act like I've watched a ton of Bulls games.
12:0819 and 25, they're in the 10 seed right now.
12:13The spread on this game tonight is razor-thin.
12:16I'm trying to figure out, who are the Bulls?
12:18Are they good?
12:19Who are they right now?
12:23The word identity has been used very often to try to figure out how to identify the nature
12:29of this team, and it's been really hard to do this year, admittedly.
12:32I think part of that is because of what we talked about, just the organizational philosophy
12:37that they seemingly have adopted, which is, hey, we have to figure out what we have, and
12:41we have to showcase who we want to potentially throw out there for draft capital.
12:46I think talent-wise, they are really good.
12:50I think it makes it a very frustrating watch on a lot of nights, because I think they try
12:55to win on sheer talent, and I think there are times where they can.
12:59The fact that they have 19 wins past the halfway point of the year, I almost think is impressive
13:06just based on sheer talent.
13:08If this were a team that had a little bit more identity in terms of what they wanted
13:11to be on the defensive end, if they had a little bit more consistency on the offensive
13:17end in terms of what they run, and maybe a little bit better feel.
13:21I think this is an offense that lacks feel at times.
13:23They're so good.
13:24Vucevic is so talented.
13:25Josh Giddey's a talented offensive player.
13:28Lonzo Ball looks healthy.
13:29Zach LaVine is incredibly talented.
13:31They have really good young guards, and Kobe White, and Io Dosumu, and Patrick Williams
13:35has really struggled at times this year, but as much of a project as he is, he has
13:40a lot of ability.
13:41I think they've won a lot of games on talent alone, and I think they have lost more games
13:46than they should based off lack of feel and lack of situational awareness at times, and
13:52frankly, just a lack of detail focus.
13:55They show up nights, they see a Portland team that had won 12, 13 games, and they just blow
14:01a game to them.
14:02They see a Charlotte team that have won seven or eight games to that point, they blow a
14:05game to them.
14:06They show up in Washington on New Year's Day, perhaps after a fun night the night before,
14:10and lose to a five-win Wizards team.
14:12They are very frustrating at times.
14:14They are incredibly fun to watch.
14:16I don't think they have a real identity on either end of the floor, and I think until
14:20this trade deadline passes and they know what they have, remember the Bulls haven't made
14:23a trade deadline move in the last three seasons, they're the only team not to make a move at
14:29the deadline in the last three years.
14:31Until that deadline passes, I'm not really sure what the direction of this team is going
14:34to be going forward.
14:35And you mentioned Lonzo Ball, and I want to dig a little deeper on just what you've seen
14:39this year after him missing two full seasons plus due to injury.
14:45Is he back to the Lonzo Ball that we remember early in his career, and what kind of a player
14:50has he been for you guys this year?
14:53He has been incredible for this group.
14:55He is the smartest player on the floor.
14:57I think he is one of the smartest players in the NBA.
15:00I think his ability to see ahead, to understand angles, which is so crucial, especially on
15:07the defensive end of the floor, he has such a great understanding of angles.
15:11He has such a great understanding of team sets.
15:14I think he scouts really, really well, even on his own, even without the coaching staff.
15:19I think he just has a great feel for what other teams do.
15:22He has great anticipation skills.
15:24And the fact is he looks healthy.
15:26He's dunked a couple times, which is something he hadn't done in an NBA game in three years.
15:31He's been able to play more minutes than maybe expected.
15:34He hasn't played back-to-back this year, but I've been very impressed with the glue that
15:39he has been.
15:40That was the case three years ago when he got hurt.
15:43It was against the Warriors in Chicago in mid-January, three seasons ago, when Ball
15:47had the initial knee injury that led to a two-and-a-half-year absence.
15:53He was the glue that held the number one seed together for the first half of the season.
15:58And then when he got hurt, things started to fall apart for that group, and they ended
16:01up being the sixth seed that year.
16:02So the fact that he's made this comeback is an incredible NBA story.
16:05It's an incredible medical story.
16:07It speaks very highly about him and his upbringing and how he's kind of absorbed the information
16:15in this league.
16:16And I only wish the best for the guy.
16:17I think he is a tremendously talented person and a really, really smart NBA player.
16:23Adam, this is wonderful stuff, man.
16:25And have a great call tonight.
16:27You're right.
16:28The Bulls and Warriors see each other again soon, and something tells me there's a high-level
16:33chance that we get to talk to you again soon.
16:36Absolutely.
16:37Anytime, guys.