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00:02 New York Knicks, as The Athletic is reporting,
00:05 contacted the Chicago Bulls about Levine this summer.
00:08 But the asking price was quote, giant, a source told Fred Katz.
00:14 They never even got close, J.Y., to making a deal.
00:17 As we focus on Chicago, a team that seems content to run it back with Levine,
00:23 Demar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, we look at their win total for 2023-24.
00:29 Those now available on the FanDuel Sportsbook, 36.5 is that number for
00:35 the Bulls, 65 to 1 though, J.Y., to make any noise in an Eastern Conference title
00:41 race, what do you believe is the direction of this Chicago franchise?
00:45 >> [LAUGH] Beep, beep, beep, beep, back the truck up,
00:51 cuz y'all ain't going forward, you're going in reverse.
00:54 And let's be honest, Big Ten Ben, ever since Lonzo Ball got hurt about a year and
00:59 a half ago, maybe two years ago, I don't even know how long it was, it's been so
01:02 long, that team has spiraled downward.
01:05 But there were hints that the Chicago was a little bit overrated.
01:09 If you remember two years ago, Ben, they didn't play particularly well versus
01:13 top teams in the Eastern and Western Conference.
01:16 So now they've lost Lonzo.
01:18 They've run it back with Vucevic, given him three years, $60 million.
01:22 The DeRozan-Levine pairing that I thought was kinda shaky
01:28 has reared its ugly head, and you look at a division in the Central, and
01:33 let's be honest, Milwaukee's better than them, Cleveland's better than them.
01:38 And then you start looking at the teams behind them,
01:40 who are upstart teams in both Indiana and Detroit.
01:45 I think there's a better chance, ready folks,
01:47 that Chicago comes in last place than makes the playoffs.
01:53 And that is something where in the NBA, Ben, you know it as well as anybody,
01:57 either you're winning or you're rebuilding.
02:00 They're stuck in the middle, and that's not a good spot to be.
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