👋 Good morning!
We are one week from night one of the NFL Draft in Green Bay!
We’ve already seen what we can assume is Ben Johnson’s impact on Ryan Poles in less than three months.
Is Joe Thuney a Chicago Bear without Johnson? Grady Jarrett? Jonah Jackson? Dayo Odeyingbo? Drew Dalman?
Maybe, but Chicago’s barrage of trench acquisitions since onboarding Johnson is an undeniably strong pivot from the mindset and vision over the last few years.
Thanks to this, the Bears have the surprising luxury rarely awarded to a 5-12 team of drafting the best player available at No. 10 next Thursday.
Oof.
So much for sweeping the season series. The Bulls’ season is over after an embarrassing thumping in the Play-In tournament for a third straight season at the hands of the Miami Heat.
Here’s what went wrong for Chicago at the United Center last night:
Shot-making: Tough to win when shooting 39.8% from the field and a putrid 27.0% from three. Coby White attempted the most three-pointers for either team last night (12) but only made three. White was 5/20 from the field.
Turnovers: White actually had more turnovers (7) than field goals. As a team, Chicago turned the ball over a whopping 17 times. Miami scored 26 points off turnovers. Jalen Smith (played one minute), Julian Phillips (four minutes), and Patrick Williams (15 minutes) were the only Bulls to get into the action and not turn it over.
The Erik Spoelstra Difference: Miami’s head coach has had Chicago’s number in the postseason since taking the job in 2008. In 13 postseason games against the Bulls (10 playoff games, 3 Play-In games), Spoelstra’s teams are 11-2 and outscoring Chicago by 128 points.
Let’s look at a few more numbers…
24: That’s how many seconds Wednesday night’s game was tied. Tyler Herro put the Heat up 2-0 with 11:36 to go in the first quarter, and Miami never looked back.
$90,000,000: That’s the worth of Patrick Williams’ five-year extension, which the Bulls offered and signed the former No. 4 overall pick to last offseason.
0: That’s how many points Williams scored in 15 minutes of playing time last night.
1.2%: Those are the Bulls’ odds of landing the No. 1 overall pick via the NBA Draft Lottery.
Outclassed. Good riddance. Welcome to the offseason. I couldn’t help but chuckle when EVP Arturas Karnisovas repeated his “next 30 games” mantra several times during his post-deadline presser. I thought, “No way. They’re destined for a top pick.”
Only the Bulls. Only the Bulls could so severely misplay their opportunity to tank. But this was the team’s goal, right? Congratulations on hitting that goal, I suppose.
Let’s just hope none of that mediocrity rubbed off on Bears QB Caleb Williams, who witnessed last night’s disaster courtside.
Quick Hits
Valuable Experience: Defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov are heading back to Rockford to participate in the AHL playoffs. Korchinski, 20, played 16 games with the Blackhawks, including seven after being elevated following the trade deadline. Levshunov, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, played the final 18 games of Chicago’s regular season, tallying six assists.
Search Smoke: ESPN’s John Buccigross became the latest big-name reporter to link University of Denver head coach David Carle to the Blackhawks’ coaching search:
“I would think Chicago is the favorite for David Carle, and they will make a big offer. I'm sure 5 years. Loaded with prospects and he has plenty of runway.”
On CHSN, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli said:
“The Blackhawks have had about five months to put their list together, and there’s one name at the very top that’s been circled that has separated himself from the rest of the pack. That is David Carle from Denver University. The Blackhawks are going to want to get after him, but they’re not going to be alone.”
Don’t Let The Door Hit You: The White Sox have DFA’d RHP Mike Clevinger and selected the contract of RHP Steven Wilson from Triple-A Charlotte. In Clevinger’s most recent stint on the south side, he appeared in eight games, collecting a 7.94 ERA in 5.2 IP.
On The Way…Up: White Sox catching prospect Edgar Quero will be recalled from Triple-A Charlotte today, per manager Will Venable. Quero, 22, ranks No. 9 among catching prospects in baseball, No. 6 overall in the White Sox’s system, and No. 62 in all of baseball.
Quero was acquired from the Angels in 2023 as part of the return for RHP Lucas Giolito and RHP Reynaldo Lopez.
Extension Earned: Lake Villa native T.J. Edwards is sticking around. Per Ian Rapoport, Edwards and the Bears agreed to a two-year extension worth $20 million that’ll keep the linebacker in Chicago through 2027. Edwards has been an integral piece of Chicago’s defense since signing with his hometown club in 2023.
Starting every game over the last two seasons, the former Wisconsin Badger has compiled 284 total tackles (170 solo), 14 QB hits, 10 passes defended, 6.5 sacks, and four interceptions.
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