The 45 Most Important Players to the Chicago Bulls Dynasty - #6 Toni Kukoc

Toni Kukoc
Toni Kukoc, aka The Croatian Sensation, aka The Waiter, aka Euro-Magic, aka The Pink Panther, aka Spider of Split, aka Kuki, aka Alien (these are all nicknames listed of his basketball reference page), was drafted in the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He was the obsession of Jerry Krause as Krause was positive that he would change the game. As much as Krause tried to bring him on board, they could not come to contract terms for the 1990-91 season. They also couldn't come to terms for 1991-92.

But in 1992, things did get interesting as the Olympics were held in Barcelona, Spain that year. The United States would bring professional players since they were unable to win the gold with amateurs in 1988. Hence, The Dream Team was born. Kukoc would represent Croatia, along with Drazen Petrovic and Dino Radja. But future teammates, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, were a tad tired of hearing about how great Kukoc was, so they made it their mission to destroy him. In pool play, Team USA would play Croatia, and they would hold Kukoc to just four points while he committed seven turnovers in the game. Jordan and Pippen would combine for 13 steals in the game. Seriously, watch this video that highlights Kukoc. The whole thing is good, but they get to the Dream Team Stuff around 3:55 of the video, and it is amazing.

They set out to destroy him, and destroy him they did. Kukoc would fare better in the second game with 16 points and nine assists, but Team USA still won by a comfortable 32-point margin.

Kukoc would finally join the team after the Bulls had won their third straight title in 1993. He would be counted on to replace a chunk of the production left behind when Michael Jordan retired. That rookie year, he came off the bench in all but eight games, but he still made an impact. Although he didn't light it up scoring, he was an offensive guru as he could grab rebounds or dish out assists. At 6'10", he was a rare find in the NBA back in those days. Of course, what will most be remembered from that season was his game winning shot of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks.

Although it was a huge shot, what will always be remembered more is that Scottie Pippen sat out the final play since he was not going to be taking that final shot.

During the championship years, the Bulls were at their best when he was coming off the bench as he was the ideal sixth man, winning that award in 1995-96. Considering the time that he was forced to play with bench units, there was no better opportunity for him to display his wide array of skills. He not only provided scoring but helped the frontcourt with rebounding and especially the backcourt with his ball handling and assists. With that, you're not going to find many box scores that jump out at you, but you are going to see a whole lot of 15 point, 7 rebound, five assist games sprinkled in throughout the playoffs. With Jordan and Pippen on the team, it was never going to be his job to take over. He was the ultimate puzzle piece, filling in wherever needed at excelling in any role.

After the championship years, Kukoc stayed on the Bulls for a short time after the rebuild before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. He would also go on to play for the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks before retiring after the 2006 season.

Toni Kukoc is one of the most fascinating players in NBA history. He was a unicorn before anyone knew unicorns existed. He did it all on a basketball court and helped change the game in that tall guys must play on the inside. His versatility ensured that he could have played in any era, and it's pretty clear that guys like Giannis and Ben Simmons are the evolution of Toni Kukoc. The numbers Kukoc put up in a box score could never add up to the impact he had on the game of basketball.

Previous Entries:

#45 - Jack Haley

#44 - Rory Sparrow

#43 - Chuck Nevitt

#42 - David Vaughn

#41 - Jo Jo English

#40 - Ricky Blanton

#39 - Matt Steigenga

#38 - Joe Courtney

#37 - Keith Booth

#36 - Mark Randall

#35 - Ed Nealy

#34 - Rusty LaRue

#33 - Corey Williams

#32 - Joe Kleine

#31 - John Salley

#30 - James Edwards

#29 - Robert Parish

#28 - Darrell Walker

#27 - Rodney McCray

#26 - Dennis Hopson

#25 - Trent Tucker

#24 - Dickey Simpkins

#23 - Bobby Hansen

#22 - Scott Burrell

#21 - Bison Dele

#20 - Craig Hodges

#19 - Jud Buechler

#18 - Randy Brown

#17 - Cliff Levingston

#16 - Stacey King

#15 - Jason Caffey

#14 - Bill Wennington

#13 - Will Perdue

#12 - Scott Williams

#11 - Steve Kerr

#10 - BJ Armstrong

#9 - Luc Longley

#8 - John Paxson 

#7 - Bill Cartwright

Reviewing My Fantasy Basketball Draft - Part 3

My annual fantasy basketball draft was held this past Tuesday, and as opposed to a free-for-all with everyone having a chance to take home a title, this is more a ceremony, almost a coronation, if you will, as I have yet again acquired a ton of basketball assets to put myself in prime position to take home another fantasy basketball championship. Since we can trade between leagues, I had an extra first and fourth round pick as well as a couple prime keepers. But, just for fun, we'll take a look at the draft, and see who has the best chance of coming in second place this year. You can find part one here and part two here. Today, we conclude the series with the final rounds and summary.

ROUND 11

121 Mo Williams, Cle PG The Kid From Thunder Struck

122 Myles Turner, Ind PF   The Outsiders

123 Harrison Barnes, GS SF Flint Tropics

124 Josh Smith, LAC SF oladipOOOOYEA YOURHOT!!!!!!

125 Avery Bradley, Bos SG Team Autoprick

126 Jared Sullinger, Bos PF For the love of the game

127 Noah Vonleh, Por PF Wilson Chandler Bing

128 Alec Burks, Uta SG Kissing Cousins

129 Louis Williams, LAL PG Butt Stuff

130 Bojan Bogdanovic, Bkn SG Duncan's Donuts

131 Marcus Smart, Bos PG Unleash the Dragic

132 Darren Collison, Sac PG Wennington Baseline

Best Pick: Louis Williams

I love Lou Williams. Now, full disclosure here: Lou and I did not get off to a good start. Somewhere between 5-7 years ago, I was playing an NBA video game against my brother, and he was the 76ers. I don’t even remember who I was at this point, but I will never forget how Lou Williams torched me, and I thought to myself, “Who the fuck is Lou Williams?” It turns out Lou Williams is a super fun basketball player who will be one of the top scoring bench players in the league. I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t finish in the top-75 of ESPN’s Player Rater at the end of the year.

Worst Pick: Josh Smith

Blake Griffin and Josh Smith cannot play Center. Blake Griffin and Josh Smith should not play Small Forward. That means you really don’t want those guys out on the court at the same time. In this scenario, I am going to go out on a limb and say Blake Griffin gets the edge in minutes over Josh Smith. So you’ve got Josh Smith in limited minutes where he’s only occasionally good. That does not sound like a recipe for success.

My Pick: Myles Turner

Toot toot! That’s the sound of the Myles Turner hype train coming through. I may not be the conductor, but I do have a first class seat. All he’s got to do is beat out Jordan Hill for minutes, and he’ll be able to show what he can do. Jordan Hill is the definition of a guy you want beaten out for minutes. Also, there’s a dirty little secret that Myles Turner was about as good as Okafor and Towns, but he was coached by Rick Barnes who will always get the least out of the most talent. In the words of Mojo Rawley, “I don’t get hyped; I stay hyped.”

ROUND 12

133 Justise Winslow, Mia SG Wennington Baseline

134 Ersan Ilyasova, Det PF Unleash the Dragic

135 Raul Neto, Uta PG Duncan's Donuts

136 Brandon Jennings*, Det PG Butt Stuff

137 Jerian Grant, NY PG Kissing Cousins

138 Doug McDermott, Chi SF Wilson Chandler Bing

139 Bismack Biyombo, Tor C For the love of the game

140 Evan Turner, Bos SG Team Autoprick

141 Luol Deng, Mia SF oladipOOOOYEA YOURHOT!!!!!!

142 Al-Farouq Aminu, Por SF Butt Stuff

143 Mario Hezonja, Orl SF   The Outsiders

144 Zaza Pachulia, Dal C The Kid From Thunder Struck

Best Pick: Brandon Jennings

I thought about going Jennings with my pick before this, but if the Pistons were willing to trade for and pay Reggie Jackson, clearly, they aren’t huge Brandon Jennings fans. Still, he should get a decent amount of playing time alongside Jackson that he makes for a good addition when he gets back to 100%.

Worst Pick: Bismack Biyombo

Seriously? People are still drafting Bismack Biyombo? I know he has a fun name, but he can’t really play basketball. That’s an issue when you are competing in a fantasy basketball league. But it is the 12^th round of a fantasy basketball league, why am I still writing this?

My Pick: Mario Hezonja

Oh, yeah, to get to this guy. For my last pick, I took my Croatian brother, Mario Hezonja. I could wax poetically about how awesome he is going to be, but I’ll let fellow Croatian, Zach Lowe, take the honors:

“You think he cares that he’s battling for minutes under coach Vic Mackey, who tolerates no such nonsense from uppity international rookies? Hell no. He drilled a run-up-the-score 3 during the closing seconds of a Eurobasket blowout, and dapped up the opposing coach. The best part? The coach dapped him back! He once said he has never respected any opponent. When a reporter suggested he watch Lionel Messi in person, Hezonja responded that Messi should come watch him.”

On top of all of that, I happened to be there in person for his bounce pass alley oop to Aaron Gordon. So, yeah, I’m a little excited about Mario Hezonja. So excited I’ll even review the last round despite me not having a selection in it.

ROUND 13

145 Jordan Hill, Ind PF The Kid From Thunder Struck

146 Anthony Morrow, OKC SG oladipOOOOYEA YOURHOT!!!!!!

147 Jeff Green, Mem SF oladipOOOOYEA YOURHOT!!!!!!

148 Willie Cauley-Stein, Sac C oladipOOOOYEA YOURHOT!!!!!!

149 Kevin Martin, Min SG Team Autoprick

150 Ed Davis, Por PF Duncan's Donuts

151 Aaron Gordon, Orl PF Wilson Chandler Bing

152 Joe Johnson, Bkn SG Kissing Cousins

153 Jamal Crawford, LAC SG Butt Stuff

154 Frank Kaminsky III, Cha C Duncan's Donuts

155 David West, SA PF Unleash the Dragic

156 Gerald Henderson*, Por SG Wennington Baseline

Best Pick: Jamal Crawford

Doesn’t he win Sixth Man of the Year award like every year? That’s got to translate into decent fantasy stats. I mean, he’ll score and not much else, but that’s a pretty nice addition in the final round of the draft, so good for Jamal Crawford on being selected.

Worst Pick: Anthony Morrow

He can shoot threes pretty good. He does nothing else. He probably won’t see the ball too often. I’m trying to build up some outrage towards this pick, but it’s the final round, so it really doesn’t matter. Let’s get to the predictions.

So who's going to win this league? Well, me, obviously. But let's see who will take second place to my team of pure dominance. I'll add some insight into each team and rank accordingly. With my simple method of adding a point for bests, keepers (except Julius Randle, who, let's be honest, was no great value), and strong trades, while subtracting points for worsts, the standings should look something like this.

1. The Outsiders - ∞ 

It's pretty clear that this was a perfect draft. I got the guys who were 1-2 last year in fantasy value with the second and fourth picks. I'm going to dominate 3 pointers, free throw percentage, assists, and steals, while competing in field goal percentage. Oh, and points? Yeah, with Curry, Harden, Bosh, Thomas, and George, yeah, I don't see many people outscoring me. I guess if a team has a great week, they'll only lose 5-3. That's BEST case scenario for my opponents.

2. Wennington Baseline 4-1

Bill Wennington is known for his tremendous fundamentals, and this team is no different. He has a lot of guys that do many things well like Draymond Green and Nerlens Noel, but I question the depth of his team as there are a lot of very replaceable pieces.

3. The Kid From Thunderstruck 2-0

The Kid From Thunderstruck was a flash in the pan, but I think this team has staying power. It's loaded with athletes like Wiggins, Drummond, and obviously, Anthony Davis, and he's got some solid late pick point guards with Jrue Holiday and Deron Williams that could far exceed their draft status. Definitely a threat for the silver medal.

4. Kissing Cousins 2-0

Now you might be thinking that this guy got the team name Kissing Cousins from drafting DeMarcus Cousins, but I can assure you that this is not just a single year team name, this is a lifestyle. He took Derrick Rose, who I love, but who I would not trust to stay healthy in a ping pong match.

5. For the Love of the Game 4-3

Like me, they had an extra first round pick and a couple keepers, but I'm not concerned. Having Wall and Westbrook is a nice start, but his roster is fairly uninspired outside of that. That still just makes him a poor man's version of my team which probably makes him the favorite for second place, but I go by the numbers, and the numbers are unimpressed with his drafting acumen. 

6. Butt Stuff 3-2

Butt Stuff had an absolutely painful performance through most of this draft. But it seems like after getting worked through the draft for a while, it finally seemed like he could loosen up and enjoy the experience. It took a while for him to lube up his drafting prowess, but he got the bests in the last three rounds. So congratulations to him on being a willful receiver (of new players) and getting comfortable with a new and challenging experience.

7. Flint Tropics 1-0

Honestly, had I had the chance to name this team, I would have called them Jail Bait, because after the fourth round, he took one guy with more than three years of experience in the NBA. He likes 'em young, but needs to realize that, "She said she was 18" is no defense in this league.

8. Wilson Chandler Bing 1-1

That Serge Ibaka pick in the first round really put him behind everybody else, but I liked a lot of what he did outside of that. Since I live in Florida and don't like the Heat, I am putting my secondary support behind the Magic, so I probably like Aaron Gordon more than most. There's a lot that is above average but little that stands out.

9. Unleash the Dragic 1-1

Outside of that Melo pick, there is just nothing that excites me about this team. He's depending on the health of Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, which doesn't seem like a great long-term plan for success.

10. Duncan's Donuts 0-0

This team managed to not have a single best or worst which is kind of amazing. The guy he has that I like more than most is D'Angelo Russell. Mudiay's getting a lot more publicity since he tore up the Summer League, but I'd rather look at what Russell did during his entire season at Ohio State than a couple weeks of exhibition games. 

11. Team Autoprick 1-2

This garbage person didn't even show up for the draft. He doesn't deserve to be ranked. Hell, he barely deserves to live (I take fantasy sports VERY seriously).

12. oladipOOOOYEA YOURHOT!!!!!! 1-3

This roster actually made me laugh out loud, because it was like he intentionally took the worst shooters in the league. If you described the weakness of every player on his roster (not counting Anthony Morrow), their biggest weakness would all be shooting. It's truly amazing how bad this team shoots, so hopefully that's not important in basketball.

But let's be real here. The title is mine to lose. None of these other teams matter.

7 Guys I Love In The 2014 NBA Draft

So I am not going to go nearly as in-depth as I did with my NFL Draft coverage, and I will freely admit that my ability to scout basketball pales in comparison to my football analysis. Still, I watch enough college basketball to find guys that I really like. I will admit that my list skews horribly towards the Big Ten, but that's who I watch the most, so I have the most confidence in what I have seen from those players. Still, there are a couple guys outside the B1G as well as an international prospect, because I've got to represent for Hrvatska.

Zach LaVine - If there is a star to have after the first ten picks, this is the guy (although he is right on the border of being in the first 10 picks). Ridiculous athleticism and range for days. He's raw, and with that comes inconsistency, but the tools are there for him to be great. The chances he reaches his full potential may not be great, but they're not bad either. The only reason he isn't guaranteed to go in the Top-8 is that he was underutilized and misused at times at UCLA (their coach has a history of doing things like that, and I'm one of his defenders). Because of that, there is uncertainty with his game, but even if he is a terrible NBA player, he'll still be super fun to watch, and isn't that what's most important?

Roy Devyn Marble - Homer pick? Maybe, but I don't see how he can't be better than Tony Snell. He has range, he can handle the ball fairly well, and he was the only guy on the Hawkeyes who could create his own shot. He's a guy who you can probably get away with at three different positions who will keep you in things for 20 minutes a game. Considering I have only seen him projected at the middle to end of the second round, that is really good value.

Mitch McGary - He's an athletic guy with size. He has back problems, which is terrifying, but I'd take a chance on him. I don't think he's an All-Star, but I do think he could be a competent starting center who can run the floor which is something just about any team could use.

Adreian Payne - Payne is a guy who is going to get downgraded, because he is a senior, but once you get outside the first five picks, upside starts meaning a whole lot less. Payne will never be an All-Star, but getting big man who can play defense and shoot well from the outside is an incredibly valuable piece to have. And here's the best part: He already is that player. Sure, consistency is an issue for any rookie, but he is going to flash that immediately and just get more and more consistent with it as time goes on. I have a hard time seeing a team not being happy with Payne.

Dario Saric - I have never seen him play, but he is from Croatia. Since my surname comes from the same land, I cheer for all Croats with all my heart. If he falls to the Bulls, he could become the new Toni Kukoc and set the world on fire. It will be totally awesome.

Nik Stauskas - I understand that Stauskas is pretty awful on defense, but he's pretty ridiculous on offense. He can do damage on or off the ball which means he can fit in anywhere. He's got decent enough handles and knows how to set up teammates, but the shooting is where he is going to make his money. I understand his defense is bad, but he's so much better on offense that I do not see how people could value Gary Harris over him. On top of all of that, Stauskas went from an awful body to a bad body in one year, so he might still get in better shape and improve his quickness.

TJ Warren - His game is ugly, but it works. There is a lot of herky jerky motion, but he uses it to keep defenders off balance and he seems to always make it to where he wants on the floor. It's partially because he is comfortable in awkward spots, but the guy scores. It may not be pretty, but if you can score, they can find a spot for you in the league.