Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Brian Geltzeiler's plea to Bulls: 'Pick a friggin' direction'
30 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody, middays 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 670. Wiggins with the spin. Wiggins threw it away. Intercepted by Kobe. Kobe on the runway. Kobe to Vooch. Vooch gives it up. Herter, right corner aisle. 4-3. Yes!
Yes, but no. Yes, but no. As we welcome you back to Rahimi Harrison. The Bulls lost the game last night to the Miami Heat, 116-113. The Bulls go down. They have lost three straight games. Highlights courtesy of the Chicago Bulls radio network. Heard right here on 670, the score, Chuck Swirsky with a great call as well. along with Bill Wennington.
Yeah, the Bulls trailed by 13 in the fourth quarter. They made a nice comeback, but they fall short in the end. Let's keep the Bulls talk hot. The NBA talk hot as well. Nobody better to do it. Really, I just like listening to this guy. He is Brian Geltziler.
Chapter 2: What challenges are the Chicago Bulls facing this season?
He is of Sirius XM NBA Radio. He is a host there, and we are lucky that he is joining us right now on the Circa Sports Illinois Hotline. Download the Circa Sports app today. Brian, real pleasure to have you on today. How are you doing, and what do you think about those Chicago Bulls?
I'm doing great, first of all. I hope you guys are good. The Chicago Bulls, I feel for Bulls fans. I kind of feel like it's been a lot of years of just straddling this play-in line and no real move in either direction. And I kind of feel like the Bulls fans are great fans. And I truly believe that they would be incredibly supportive of a rebuild done in earnest with the right kinds of pieces.
And I think there's a fear of this ownership group about breaking it down too much and maybe taking a financial hit over it. And a little bit of a fear of the front office and breaking it down too much and not being able to keep their jobs.
So I think you have kind of a bunch of different things factoring in that has left the Bulls with permanent residence in NBA purgatory, which you're not bad enough to get a high draft pick, and you're not good enough to be able to have a chance to win a playoff series. And that's where the Bulls have been stuck for a while now.
I feel like this is the perfect time because of what you just said for the Bulls to make a flurry of moves to at least get draft capital because what I've seen from them so far is they just don't value draft capital the same way that everybody else in the association values draft capital with the number of players that they have, seven of them coming in. to the end of their current contracts.
Now is the time to go ahead, see what you can get for who, and then understand that Billy Donovan's a great coach. You're probably not going to ever be able to tank as long as he's your head coach.
No, and listen, I mean, this tanking is never a coaching strategy. It's always a management strategy. And so you could certainly break this thing down to the studs a little bit with the thought of who my building blocks are going to be. And if you want it to be Gideon Bezelis, it's Gideon Bezelis. That's fine.
You know, you've got to make the biggest financial decision at the end of the season is going to be on Colby White. And what do you do there? And that's really a financial decision that technically should be made between now and Thursday's three o'clock trade deadline. Because if you are going not going to resign him, you have to move him for value because at his current contract.
He's relatively easy to trade, and there's teams out there that he would be a tremendous help for. So you could really fish something decent for him if you're willing to put him out there. But if you want to make him a building block, well, that's fine. But then maybe go the other way and look to add another veteran or two to be better next year. And again, would I want to do that?
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Chapter 3: What are Brian Geltzeiler's thoughts on the Bulls' current direction?
He's a Chicago guy. He's a valuable piece. Even after you re-sign him, you'd still be able to move him in maybe a future deal to get a superstar. I think they've gone the way of not being flexible enough so that when a star ā like Giannis Antetokounmpo, becomes available, they don't have what it takes to land a guy like that.
What do you think about getting rid of both Kobe, Vooch, whoever else you can on the fringes, and kind of what you're saying in that you keep going forward with Giddy, Bouzellas, and maybe Io Dosumu and still have a whole lot more flexibility than what they've had in years past?
I agree with your theory on Dosumu because I think, listen, that's a player that you're going to get signed to a relatively reasonable deal And he's a guy that you could see being a rotation player on a title contender. Really. I mean, he's extremely versatile. He guards well. He plays with a whole lot of confidence. He's unselfish. Like, I just, I like the player. And I would agree there.
I think, you know, you do want to bring him back. Kobe White's the big decision. Because Kobe White's going to cost you, you know, in excess of $35 million a year. And if you don't necessarily think that... He's a big part of your future. You don't pay him that money. The other thing is this that they have to be conscious of.
We're coming out of an era where if you didn't get what the value you thought you should get for a guy in a trade that teams were looking at as a rental, you would hold him, sign him, and then flip him.
with the thought that you know now that he's signed he'll retain some value the problem is is higher price players in this day and age no matter how good they are are really hard to move teams are not are very careful about the kinds of numbers they're taking on their books because once you get to that second apron you're handcuffed from doing anything And everybody wants to stay out of it.
It's functioning as a hard cap. And for the one team in the league that's in it right now, Cleveland, they probably need to do something here at this deadline they can't do because they're locked up. So my point being is that you have to be careful with White. If he's not a building block, you've got to decide this week and get whatever you can from him.
Listen, I know for a long time that at one point the Bulls wanted two firsts for Vuj, and then they're holding out for one. At this point, I think a young player in a couple of seconds. I would just say, you know what, let's turn the page. It's okay to get bad enough to get a good pick in this draft. And this is an incredible draft to be bad for.
Because even if you don't get one of these top four picks, you know, you have ā
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Chapter 4: How does the Bulls' ownership impact their decision-making?
And one of the reasons I think the Bucks leaked through Sham Sharani of ESPN earlier this week that we're willing to take aggressive offers right now between now and the trade deadline is because I think they've realized that if they could wait through the summer, and you're not going to get Houston and San Antonio in this summer either.
They're not going to part with the players that you want them to part with. Now, you could make the case maybe Houston should be willing to part with Alper and Shangoon in a deal like that. They're not as of right now. So I think Milwaukee looked at this and said, geez, Giannis is going to come back. It's a calf injury.
Next year, he's got one more year left on his field and a player option that he's absolutely opting out of. What if he gets hurt when he comes back this year? Where are we then? Then he doesn't play next year. He opts out and we get nothing for him. And they can't get nothing for him. They don't have anything else. They have no draft capital.
They have, outside of Ryan Rollins, they have no good young players anybody's interested in. They have nothing. So for them, this is everything, this deal. And I think they've realized that there's risk of the packages getting worse. So you throw it out right now for teams like Miami and Golden State, who can be desperate to want to compete right now.
Chapter 5: What strategies should the Bulls consider before the trade deadline?
Atlanta is kind of on the margins here, but they don't want to give Jalen Johnson, which probably disqualifies them. A team like Toronto, who's having a great season, and if they can pull it off without having to sacrifice Scottie Barnes... You know, Miami, Pat Riley, clock's ticking on Pat Riley running this thing.
If he can get Giannis right now, he'll get whatever he has to give to get Giannis right now. So, I think Milwaukee kind of looked at this in that way. I did look at Golden State. They're willing to give Butler, Kaminga, Pajemski, and everything. Now, is that enough? I don't know that that's going to be enough for Milwaukee. We have to see. I mean, but teams don't have draft capital. Forget it.
Teams like Minnesota and the Knicks, I don't think they have a chance. In the end, gun to my head, if I had to give you a team that I think he's going to end up on, I think it's probably going to be the Miami Heat.
Because in the end, the best young asset type of player that's going to be available to Milwaukee to be able to put on a marquee is going to be Khalil Ware, who's played really well this year and shown that he can be a really good rim-protecting center and be a stretch five that shoots threes. And although he's had some inconsistent moments this year, you could see the potential there.
And I think for them and getting a bunch of Miami's other young player assets, they have all their draft capital. I think you could take a package like that and spin it to your fans to keep people coming. And I think understand that for Milwaukee, that's a big goal here. That entire downtown area and that five-star forum has been built around Giannis. They can't just take draft picks.
They have to get a meaningful player back, which is, again, why they want Dylan Harper from San Antonio, why they'd want Shanguna Ramon Thompson from Houston, why they would want Jalen Johnson from Atlanta. They want that kind of lead piece. And in the absence of one of those guys, Khalil Ware is actually a pretty decent option.
No, I agree with you. We just saw him last night. We'll see him tomorrow. We'll see him Sunday. As you know, the Bulls and the Heat playing in a three-game play-in series. At least that's what I'm calling it in season. And before we let you go, real quick, I just want to point something out. The Bulls had a chance, according to Joe Dumars, to get that unprotected.
New Orleans Pelicans pick, which would come in real handy if this does go past the trade deadline with Giannis. Do you think the Bulls could make enough trades before this deadline to have enough capital and maybe a young player or two to be in on the Giannis sweepstakes? Because, as you mentioned, the desperation.
Listen, I don't think so.
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Chapter 6: Why is Kobe White's future with the Bulls a crucial decision?
Enough, yes, the Bulls do have enough. But keep this in mind about Giannis. Wherever Giannis gets traded, there's got to be enough there to Contract expires. Oh, man.
We missed your last sentence, Brian. We missed you, but I think we have you back.
Well, I said the important thing here is that wherever he goes, he's got to want to stay there and sign a contract extension. He can opt out after next year. So the thing for the Bulls to be able to get him, well, sure, you could send Giddy Bezelis and Kobe White and all your draft capital and, you know what I mean, like something like that.
But then who's Giannis actually going to come to Chicago and play with? And that becomes a big problem. So, I mean, if you make a Giannis trade and take him from the frying pan into the fire, you get what you deserve. And that's the thing. And I think for the Bulls here, there's just not enough under the hood to make a Giannis pursuit all that worthwhile.
Yeah, at least not at this deadline. I think they could probably recruit something and do something in the offseason, if it comes to that. But we'll see.
Brian, great stuff as always. Thanks for taking the time. We appreciate you.
Thank you, Brian. Absolutely my pleasure. We'll talk to you guys soon.
Take care. I'd love that. That's Brian Geltziler, Sirius XM NBA radio host.
Brian and I are aligned.
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