The Chicago Bulls “pulled out” of a trade for Andre Drummond with the Philadelphia 76ers prior to the trade deadline, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. He mentioned that “league sources said the Bulls wanted three second-round picks for Drummond.”” In the end, the Bulls failed to get the big man back for the price they desired.
This season, Drummond has been putting up good statistics for the Bulls. He was especially strong when he started in place of Nikola Vuecvic. Drummond is shooting 55.7% from the floor and averaging 8.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.1 steals so far this season. This is the 30-year-old center’s eleventh NBA season.
Although Drummond’s contract is coming to an end, Chicago wanted to maintain their demand for the whole amount. This summer, he will be a free agent without restrictions, thus the Bulls might lose him for nothing.
Chicago ought to have been prepared to accept the finest offer if it had been made before the deadline for two second-round picks, or even just one.Despite victories over elite teams, McNair finds the Kings’ poor losses “frustrating.” first broadcast on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Kings are currently 31-23 and ranked eighth in the Western Conference going into the 2024 NBA All-Star break.
Despite Sacramento’s incredible victories throughout the 2023–24 NBA season—including its most recent victory over the reigning champion Denver Nuggets on Wednesday at Ball Arena—the Kings have sadly lost a lot of games that they should have won.
During his Friday appearance on “The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross” on SacTown Sports, general manager of the Kings Monte McNair discussed how the team’s significant victories in Sacramento make the painful losses all the more upsetting.
“With the West the way it is, all those victories—every single game will be extremely important,” McNair stated. “It is almost as if proving that we can hit such peaks increases the frustration of the [winnable losses].
“In some pretty difficult circumstances, we have defeated some really strong teams. It is therefore disappointing to demonstrate our ability to do that while being unable to complete some of the others. We are undoubtedly frustrated. In our group, though, I believe it only indicates potential. You can accomplish a lot of things if you can defeat Denver on the road.
In their 102-98 victory over the Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back and in their third game in five nights, the Kings overcame a 16-point hole in the second half, demonstrating Sacramento’s resilience under challenging circumstances.
But the Kings have lost far too many games to inferior teams like the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Detroit Pistons. A month ago, they also let the Phoenix Suns win by 22 points in the fourth quarter.
However, McNair is giving the Kings room to grow rather than moping over the past, hopefully transforming those humiliating defeats into NBA playoff-caliber wins.
“We don’t just say, ‘Oh, some good, some bad,'” McNair stressed. “We must get down to business. We have conversations between [Mike Brown], our staff, and our coaches. “What actions are available to us?” What problems exist? Which problems are fixable? That, in my opinion, will play a significant role in this [2024 NBA All-Star break]. It’s time to take a break and take a closer look at some of those items.
“This year has undoubtedly been up and down. It gives insight into what this team accomplished the previous season, when we, I believe, lost no more than two games in a row after the first two weeks of play. And our boys showed such remarkable resilience. In the NBA of today, this is a little bit more typical. Every night, you have to bring it. On the evenings that we haven’t, we’ve been bitten several times. We’ll suffer from that in the end.
Sacramento ended its 16-year postseason drought, which dated back to 2002, during the 2022–2023 NBA season, finishing with a 48–34 record.
The Kings are presently battling for a berth in the NBA Play-In Tournament, which is not the best position, but they are displaying hints of last year’s squad.
Nonetheless, McNair is confident in the Kings’ ability to finish the season because he understands that they have more potential than what has been demonstrated thus far.
“There’s still time to position ourselves well for April and May as we approach the finish line,” McNair said. “We can’t allow any more of those things to happen, even though it’s not too late.”
