Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Joel Lorenzi discusses Jaden Ivey's turbulent exit from Bulls (Hour 2)
02 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What improvements does Caleb Williams need to make as a quarterback?
Approaching the five-minute mark, second down and eight. Williams rolling, throwing, open, making the grab, touchdown. Cole Comet into the end zone. 28 yards over the top of Blankenship. Kaylee talked about the defense is ready to come downhill and ready to stop this run, and I said that's... That's when you've got to be careful. When the safeties start coming down, they start cheating down.
Now you create some one-on-one opportunities, whether it's a receiver or a tight end. Cole Komet sneaks out, picked up late there by the defense, Cooper Dejean, but it's too late. Great play call, good job play action, working the clock down, getting the eyes in the backfield, and then slipping a tight end downfield for that touchdown.
That was a great play. So nice they decided to run it twice. That's courtesy of Amazon Prime. This is Rahimi Harrison-Brody on 104.3 The Score. And a lot of news, as we know, coming out of the NFL owners meetings this week. And one of them was a really compelling article that was written by our friend Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
And the headline says, GM Ryan Poles eyes long-term future with quarterback Caleb Williams, but Bears need a green light first. And I was like, but wait, what? What?
It's like the childhood game. Red light.
Green light. Yes. Green light. I'm like, did the fourth and eight to row mean nothing to you? Did the swing the back hole combat where he ran 26 yards behind the line of scrimmage mean nothing to you?
You can't get seduced by, I want to say a handful.
Did the explosive plays mean nothing to you?
I would argue there weren't enough of them.
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Chapter 2: How did Jaden Ivey's comments lead to his exit from the Bulls?
They keep that extension in mind. The Bears do. But when he talked about it, he said there was still more to do. That he wasn't as soul as everybody else based on two years of work. And he echoed that here when he talks about this. Consistency is what they talk about. That makes the most sense. And I think they have every right to say that. I feel that way as a football fan.
I'm just surprised to see the GM who moved heaven and earth to get him say the same thing. I thought that he would be a little more... I don't know what the word is. Not supportive. He's been supportive. I thought he would be a little more open with praising him in a way that would make all of this make sense. What I think this is is Ben Johnson's influence.
I don't know that it's Ben Johnson's influence simply because I don't think Ryan Pulse said anything that was that shocking or surprising or even... that I would disagree with everything that he said, especially when you start with the completion percentage.
And we heard from Ben Johnson, his comments on the completion percentage, anyone who watched the bears last year and did not watch highlights of the bears, but watch like the actual games quarters, one, two, and three. understands just how much of a difference his fourth quarter spectacular performance has made.
And you take into account, even though he had the comeback, seven of them in total last year in the fourth quarter, he still only completed 56.4% of his passes in the fourth quarter.
Yeah, and it marries what we saw for the rest of his game with a 59 percentage. So that I understand. And Ben Johnson acknowledged this week he knows he threw out the 70% completion percentage comp. I think that that's fine to have as a goal. I don't see any need to walk it back.
It's just interesting that a guy who I think had a reason to take a victory lap on his quarterback didn't do it, and I feel like it's because Ben Johnson did up the standard and the game, and he wants his quarterback to do certain things, and Ryan Poles hasn't seen it enough yet.
Do you think Ben Johnson has upped the standard or the game, though? I don't see it as that, unless you're just talking about Ben Johnson coming in as a head coach. I'm not sure if you're talking about that or if you're talking about from year one to year two.
I think Ben Johnson upped the standard of the game on both. I think Ben Johnson required more out of his quarterback in every system he's had as an offensive coordinator, whether it was in Detroit or whether it was here. And I think that when you guys talk about, for example, you're one of the people who says, well, Ben's influence on the draft, I think you think it's more significant than I do.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of Jaden Ivey's anti-LGBTQ comments?
And, you know, we don't shy away from that. I think when you look at it for us to get to 65% completion, even cut that in half and We need to find 40 more completions over the course of the season. Well, let me tell you something. When you watch the self-scout, there's 80, 90, 100 completions we left out on the table. And I'm not just talking about passes dropped.
I know that's the first thing that probably comes to mind. But every team's going to have some passes that are dropped on the ground by their route runners and catchers. So... That's going to happen. But there's a number of things when you watch this tape that we're going to continue to get the timing down, our footwork down, our ball location down.
I put a lot of stress on our coaching staff, myself, at the forefront of that, of where we can coach this stuff better. Not just to get the primary receiver open more, but to where our route detail is more defined. When Caleb creates on his own, we have the proper reaction on the back, and we come alive on the back end and use it as an opportunity to get a big play down the field.
We didn't feel like that happened nearly enough, and so I think there's more than enough opportunities on the tape, and when the guys get back in the building, that's something that we're going to really stress to them.
Like when you factor in, say, throwaways or a scramble, some of those could be positive plays. But when you look at the self-scout, like there's potentially a completion there, and that's something that needs to be discussed with the camp.
Yeah, and I'll be honest with you. The throwaways aren't even something that I'm really ā to me, that's part of the ā when you talk about 70%, that's part of the 30%.
percent is is the throwaways i think that's going to happen as well so you want to get to 70 with all that factored in the expected drops that you're always going to have oh yeah plus the throwaways all that if you want to be elite in this league you're going to have your top five to three quarterbacks in the league completing that at that clip at this point and so That's where we want to be.
That's where he wants to be. He wants to be one of the best ever. So why are we shying away from that goal? And when you watch the tape, there's that to be had too. So we're all in it together, and we're going to find a way to make a significant jump here this season.
I think he wanted to cuss there, and he said shoot instead. But Ben Johnson made it sound like it's a whole apparatus issue. Quarterback, yes. Receivers, yes. Everyone figure it out.
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Chapter 4: How has Jaden Ivey's career trajectory changed since being drafted?
I'm a big drumline fan. Have you seen the movie?
One band, one sound.
Hey, you went right to it. I love that. I love when I say it and then you come up with the exact part I was thinking about.
Oh, I just always say that for drumline.
Well, but Ben Johnson, I'm sorry, I call him Dr. Johnson, like Dr. Lee, Dr. Johnson. Dr. Johnson is out here telling you in the off season, one band, one sound.
Nick Cannon was a different dude back then.
You know what? Caleb Williams is a different dude. But much like Nick Cannon in that movie, in his portrayal, Caleb Williams now, after some tutelage from Dr. Johnson, he's bringing his, you know, not quite narrow, rigid stance on how the drums should be played, but you still got to be able to do the basics.
Well, he didn't know how to read music. That was the big issue.
I don't know if you've been reading articles about Caleb Williams.
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Chapter 5: What reactions have fans and analysts had to Ivey's situation?
That's the biggest setback to your EPA. So he did that. He did the thing that we needed him to do. Don't get sacked 68 times. Sounds easier than it actually is, as we saw it unfold in the early parts of the season. So this is the next step. And I feel like for Ryan Poles to say he's not there yet, and I know he's got that extension in mind, that's a good thing.
I think when everybody shows you their standards are higher, it's overall a very positive thing.
Is Nick Cannon too old to play Caleb Williams in a movie? That's my next question. Naturally.
He also has aged well. I don't know. I think nobody would believe it because of Nick Cannon's life activities.
I just feel like the Caleb Williams, Devin Miles comparison, there's something there. There's something there. So Nick Cannon's character, Devin Miles in Drumline, and Caleb Williams in real life right now. Look, look, look. Whether it's the individual, you know, what he did at USC as a Heisman winner, now trying to trademark Iceman.
There's so many things that are going that are not necessarily team-oriented. But he's a business, comma, man. That's what Caleb Williams is.
He is. He is a business and he is a man. That he is. 815 with the 20 million billion plus infinity question.
What's that?
Has anyone thought to ask Ben Johnson if he would have taken the job a year earlier, knowing Caleb was going to be here, and then if he would have, maybe Caleb would be even farther along by now? I feel like we can all just assume yes. But for whatever reason, Ben Johnson did not leave.
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Chapter 6: How does team culture affect player behavior and accountability?
And it's going to cost you if it will. But here's the rest of it. The Falcons will pay Cousins $8.7 million this season. The Raiders another $1.3 million. And Las Vegas also agreed to pay its new quarterback a fully guaranteed $10 million roster bonus on the third day of the 2027 new league year.
And maybe most notably, it also sets another new mark that it's the 11th straight year where Cousins' contract will be fully guaranteed.
So it could be just a one-year contract and they don't have to pay that roster bonus if they make that decision.
And then he just gets $10 million for breathing.
Well, yeah. Didn't the Falcons owe him $10 million to sit on the couch anyway? So this is, hey, I'm not going to just play to play. You're going to have to sweeten the pot a little bit.
Man, congratulations, Kirk Cousins. Big shopping spree at Kohl's coming up for that man. I still like Kohl's.
I'm not mad at it. Kohl's cash.
There it is. Coming up next here on Rahimi Harrison Grody, we also want to let you know about our giveaway. This snuck up on me. Let's do it. Callers 6 and 7 to the score contest line 312-540-0670 will win a pair of tickets to a special edition of Take the North Live. with Dan Wiederer and Mark Grody on Thursday, April 16th from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Performance Studio.
Next on Rahimi Harris and Grody, we're going to talk to Joelle Lorenzi, staff writer for The Athletic who covers the NBA and has been a part of the developing story surrounding Jaden Ivey and the Bulls. We'll do that next.
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Chapter 7: What due diligence should teams conduct before acquiring players?
There's been a lot of words, a lot of controversial words at that. And it's unlike anything I've ever covered. I mean, my first month on the job was... My first month on the job at OKC, I should say, was... when the giddy stuff happened. And to me, that was pretty unprecedented. And now, I mean, this is easily the... the most bizarre thing I could cover for lack of a better word.
It's unlike anything I've ever covered.
I'm curious, Joel, as far as talking to Jaden Ivey himself before all of this took place, because there's reports of him, you know, trying to push his religious beliefs on others. And that extends beyond the team to even beat reporters. Has he ever had these types of conversations that have been described with you before?
Not me personally, no, but I can confirm that he's used language like fornicate and things about premarital sex with other reporters. I know firsthand accounts, for sure, dating back to when he was in Detroit. And so we can talk about a timeline. I imagine we're going to get into due diligence on the Bulls end.
I don't want to like accuse them of like being completely oblivious, but like some of the writing was on the wall. I just think like obviously the two teams I spent the most time around are the Thunder and the Bulls. And we know basketball wise they operate in completely different spaces. But I know that something I've been thinking about is, you know, if Sam Presti.
got wind of, I mean, I'm sure you guys have seen this, maybe not, but we documented it in the story you referenced. Ten days after he broke his leg in Detroit in January of 2025, he goes on a podcast and his testimony includes talking about, in his words, being abusive, which I don't think he details physical abuse, but he calls himself an abuser. He mentions a pornography addiction.
He goes down this sort of road where Um, if you are like, I am, I don't want to speak like I'm a judge of character, but if you're a team and you're filtering what kind of guys you want to bring in a building and what you want to be part of, um, I imagine that's like a red flag for you. Um, and that stuff was, that stuff was public. That was out there.
And I, I don't know what the Bulls had access to, but I can confirm like Detroit media did happen to deal with, um, talking to him and the word fornicate being used with him and things of that nature.
I mean, it just puts people in a really tough spot. It puts people in an awkward spot. You want to have a candid relationship that's professional as reporters with somebody you're trying to interview. And as we understand, Joel, some of this is also... He couldn't answer questions about basketball without bringing some of this stuff up first.
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Chapter 8: What lessons can be learned from the Bulls' handling of Jaden Ivey?
Like, there was going to be some fallout from that, and that was the idea of what we were covering. We had no idea that it was going to spiral into Ivy. I mean, ten of those minutes, six of them, six or seven of them were probably spent with Ivy, you know, professing his... love for Jesus. And we're just asking him about, you know, did you practice with the team this week?
Why did they give you an idea of why you might not have played tonight? That sort of stuff. So I think that was when we first got an idea of what he was sort of like.
And Joel, we're up against it here, but I really am curious. How much blowback do you think, if any, Arturis Karnaschovas and the front office are going to get? You pair this and what happened, and you talk about due diligence, with information that was out there before they made the trade about... what this man was talking about, Jaden Ivey.
And then you look at a performance like the one Usman Jang puts together last night. I feel like you can look at the trade deadline and say it has been highly unsuccessful in terms of taking flyers on guys and trying to find guys who pair up with this quote-unquote timeline of Matas Bouzelis and Josh Giddey going forward.
Yeah, I will say on an Usman Jain front, because that's obviously a guy I watched in OKC2, the jury's still out on him, right? But I think generally it does speak to bad process. I know people will say, well, hey, it shows that they don't have a plan. I think the plan's been pretty clear. The plan has been one of discord.
You know, obviously, Billy, if you are trying to reset, Billy makes that harder because he is so wired to win. But that move specifically in a vacuum is like, hey, you you got off a guy who, like you said, fits the timeline, maybe has some untapped potential as a guy who was buried on the Thunder's bench in favor of.
Nick Richards, who I don't know what the future holds for Nick Richards, but they clearly did it to, like, fill the front court because the front court ā the cupboard is bare in the front court, which is, like, bad process in general to me. Agreed. On the Ivy front, though, I don't want to ā I don't want to defend the move here. The sense I get is, like, that he ā
coincidentally, kind of like radicalized. I mean, he's gone through this insane, devastating injury history in the last few years. It does seem like he's radicalized over the past few months. I don't know that that started the day he got to Chicago. Maybe Detroit did some of this well. Maybe the move and the trade sort of amplified what was inside of him.
But going back to what I said earlier, like some of this was available. I don't know... what due diligence the Bulls did, to what extent, what was accessible. I imagine, I mean, in talking to some teams, I mean, obviously teams are going to defend their information gathering, but like... It seems like a mistake that not many teams would have made.
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