Stacey King

And their fan base is rabid. I'm like, listen, it's on the verge of annoying when you look at their fans, you know? I mean, they haven't even won the championship yet. And they've got rap songs. They got all kind of things going on. And I like to see a fan base like that.

But they're so quick, you know, when the Knicks lose, they're just the opposite. You know, like you can't be a rabid fan base and support your team, but then when they lose, you want to trade everybody. You want to kick everybody out of New York. Well, they haven't won a championship in 53 years, so it's been a long time. Well, I tell you what, you know, they got a good, a legit shot to win it this year. I didn't think it was possible. I thought they would get tripped up if Boston was healthy. You know, I thought Boston was a really tough matchup for them, but they didn't have to see Boston.

And, you know, Jalen, I mean, Jason Tatum was not hurt. Jalen Brown was, you know, not where he wanted to be. And I think that bringing, you know, Jason Tatum back to Boston, which you would think would be an addition and help them out, I thought it really took them out of their rhythm that they had during the regular season. And it showed.

Back here in Chicago, our buddy Casey Johnson reporting that the Bulls are casting a wide net in their search for a new head coach to replace Billy Donovan. New executive vice president of basketball operations, Bryson Graham, has interviewed a number of candidates, but we're told that they're still in the early stages of that process. They've looked at guys that have had a lot of experience in the NBA. voice-verified

Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn is one of the names mentioned. Sean Sweeney, the defensive coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs, will probably be interviewed once they are done with the playoffs. And then we heard that Johnny Bryant, who was a 13-year assistant in the NBA, associate head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers, he'll be interviewed as well. Well, I mean, there's some good candidates. You know, me, I mean, just going by, unless they have someone they're not talking about, voice-verified

I mean, my preference, because I just believe in, you know, in the culture that they've established in Miami. You know, I think Quinn, to me, is number one on that list. You know, he's been with Spolstra. Just like Spolstra stayed with Pat Riley and learned under Pat Riley, Quinn has learned the same things that Spolstra learned. He played in Notre Dame. He's a very highly intelligent coach. And, listen, he's been instrumental in developing all. You go look at Miami's roster.

It's not like, you know, he's developing superstars like Dwayne Wade. He developed, you know, Jimmy Butler. He's taking guys like Duncan Robinson, you know, Tyler Hero. You know, he's been instrumental in all these younger players. You know, look at all the players that have been there. There hasn't been any of those guys you go, oh, these are all-star caliber players. But they always have Miami in the hunt for being in the playoffs with these guys who are, we always say, oh, they were picked up off the scrap heap.

Miami always has been a place where they develop talent. They develop guys to be, you know, the players that they are. So he's instrumental in that. And to me, I think he's got to be the favorite, especially in the timeline the Bulls have with this younger team that they're going to be having. And no telling what we're going to have in that pick. You know, you need a guy who has the experience. And I'm not saying Sweeney and these other guys don't. You know, Sweeney does have some experience. He does have some experience of being a guy that's worked with guys and

you know, work with younger players. But to me, I just think it's Quinn for me. And there's something to be said for Bryson Graham, first time heading up an NBA front office, a chance to interview people from different organizations. He can learn a lot just from talking to these guys as well. Yeah, I mean, this is a new situation for himself, you know. So he gets a chance. And even something long-term down the road is that someone made an impression on him in this interview but didn't get the job for whatever reason. Maybe the guy pulled out.

Something comes along, you know, in the future. You remember that guy. You remember how impressive you were with him in his interview. And that's a guy now you like, you know what? OK, he's been a head coach now. He's got some some years there. Let's bring him in.

Well, one of the young guys the Bulls hope to build around is Rob Dillingham, acquired in the Iowa to Sumo trade with Minnesota at the deadline. Rob is out in Los Angeles right now as he continues to recover from wrist surgery, but he will be ready to go when training camp starts in September. We're going to visit with Rob next on Give Me the Hot Sauce. voice-verified

It is now our pleasure to be joined by Bulls guard Rob Dillingham, who is traveling the streets of Los Angeles. We got him to pull over the car to visit with us for a little bit. Rob, thanks for joining the show. What's your initial impressions of Chicago playing a half season with the Bulls? voice-verified

Talk a little bit about what it was like when you found out that you were traded. You probably knew, your agent probably said there was a possibility that you might get traded, get moved somewhere. But when it finally happened, you know, what was your reaction? And then knowing that you're coming to Chicago and the opportunity to play would be more than what you were doing in Minnesota. It was crazy, honestly, because I just, like, didn't really expect that. And, yeah, agency-wise, like, they were telling me it was a chance, but it wasn't like.

You were in a situation in Minnesota where you're playing behind a lot of talented guards, and then you get traded to Chicago, but your head must have been spinning because in a span of a few hours, they traded for you, they traded for Anthony Simons and Colin Sexton and Jaden Ivey, and you're probably thinking, man, I'm walking into a situation that's worse than what I'm in. Man, no, it was definitely a crazy situation. I didn't know what to think. NBA is crazy. You got to compete, go against a bunch of guards. voice-verified

That's kind of the things we've talked about on the side is when we talked about you being in the game, just do you. Just play you. Whether you're going to play five minutes or whether you're going to play 25 minutes, the mindset has to be I'm going to play my game and implement it into what the team is trying to do to help them win the best way I can.

That's one of the things that I talk about with young players coming to an established team. You know, you come on a team that went to the Western Conference Finals. You've got guys that are all-star, perennial all-star caliber players. And you've got a veteran point guard, Mike Conley. There's guys in front of you that both you and Terrence Shannon, you know, with all the accolades that you had coming from high school and college,

you had to try to find a place to fit. You were a piece of a puzzle to that team. And it's very difficult to crack that kind of lineup and get into the rotation when that team is pretty much set before you even got there.

You drafted eighth overall, and I'm sure there were some expectations that you'd get some minutes right away. But Minnesota being one of the talented teams in the West, they wanted to go with their veteran players. What was it like for you and Terrence Shannon? We know Terrence pretty well from playing at the University of Illinois. What was it like for you guys away from the court talking about, man, when are we ever going to get a chance to play out here? voice-verified

That's my dog, for sure. One of the things that you have an advantage of, even though you might not have gotten to play as many minutes as you would like in that situation, you got to be in the presence of veteran players to show you how to be a pro, to teach you things, how to study film. I'm sure Mike Conley took you under his wing because you probably reminded him of himself coming when he came in from Ohio State. How was it like being there with those veteran players? Did you try to soak up information, sponge all as much information as you can?

You've obviously been through a lot of change in the last couple of years, and now the front office that traded for you is no longer there. Bryson Graham is the new general manager. Have you had a chance to talk to Bryson and how he envisions your career really blossoming in Chicago? I hit him up for sure when he first got there, and then when I went last week, I hit him up. We were supposed to get there to talk and stuff, but they had a draft combine and everything, so we haven't really got to speak on, like, voice-verified

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