Bulls Fan Vote Reveals MVP, Future Stars and the Team's Most Chaotic Personalities
We asked, you answered, and now, we can officially reveal the results for the Chicago Bulls' batch of year-end awards!
Shout-out to everyone who participated. You played a pivotal role in helping us dole out invaluable hardware. From the Bulls' MVP and most underrated player to their best trash-talker and zombie apocalypse savior, you covered all the most important bases.
So, who won each category? Let's get to the big reveals.
Stats accurate as of Sunday, April 12. Contract data via Spotrac.
Who Is the Most Valuable Player?
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Winner: Josh Giddey
Chicago's trade-deadline overhaul changed the complexion of our options. Either Josh Giddey (nightly triple-double threat) and Matas Buzelis (lone blue-chip prospect) were the only reasonable choices.
Giddey getting the nod with 59 percent of the vote makes sense. His impact can be overstated when factoring in his defensive issues and limitations as a scorer. But nightly triple-double threats who, for all their faults and foibles, are shooting an above-average clip from three do not grow on trees.
Full Voting Results
Who Is Most Underrated?
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Winner: Tre Jones
Tre Jones "only" getting 50 percent of the vote feels low. He is so much craftier on offense than anyone who can't reliably shoot threes has any right to be.
How many outside Chicago understand he is no worse than the second-most valuable offensive player on this team? That's his case right there.
Matas Buzelis (22 percent) could be considered too high-profile for the runner-up honor, but there's a difference between being a default cornerstone and properly valued. Generally speaking, not enough attention is paid to his defensive playmaking, particularly around the rim, or a deeper-than-expected scoring arsenal that features more three-point volume and self-starting than advertised.
Kudos to the 13 percent of voters who recognize that Leonard Miller might be a potential wing-forward-mabob worth keeping around.
Who Is the Best Athlete?
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Winner: Matas Buzelis
Between some poster dunks and highlight stops at the rim, Matas Buzelis had this on lock. And in case you weren't sure, he at one point turned in a jam-of-the-season entry on Jalen Suggs.
With this in mind, it's fair to wonder whether three-time Slam Dunk Champion Mac McClung would have received more consideration (18 percent) if the bulk of his sample didn't come on the Windy City Bulls. His aerial exploits might've secured the ultimate stamp of approval.
Who Is Most Likely To Be a 1st-Time All-Star In the Next 5 Years?
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Winner: Matas Buzelis
Matas Buzelis (58 percent) finishing ahead of Josh Giddey (40 percent) is the consummate vote of confidence. Sure, Buzelis is younger. But triple-double-esque lines still tend to capture more attention.
Just so we're clear: Bulls fans got this one right. Matas Buzelis' final form is All-Stardom-bound: an athletic combo forward who can create for himself going downhill, drill threes, guard on the perimeter and come up with stops at the rim. Whether he reaches that peak is a matter of course.
Who Has the Best Contract?
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Winner: Matas Buzelis
It turns out 61 percent of Bulls fans love a good rookie contract. As they should. A possible blue-chip youngster earning 3.4 percent and 4.4 percent of the salary cap over the next two years is beyond team-friendly.
Tre Jones (33 percent) is the more conventional selection. He's on a veteran deal and making no more than 4.8 percent of the salary cap in each of the next two seasons. That is what we call highway robbery, folks.
Who Has the Worst Contract?
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Winner: Patrick Williams
To the (shockingly high) 12 percent of you who didn't have Patrick Williams' remaining three years and $54 million on their ballots, I have a question: Who are you, and how'd you get the exact details of the extension that the recently fired Artūras Karnišovas signed this past summer?
Deals for Josh Giddey (three years, $75 million) and Rob Dillingham (two years, $14.7 million) earned light disdain as well. The length and cost of Williams' contract, though, is what we call unifying cap-sheet constipation.
Who Is the Best Trash-Talker?
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Winner: Matas Buzelis
Was there ever any doubt Matas Buzelis would secure almost 75 percent of the vote. He was brave enough, as a sophomore, to chirp at Luka Dončić.
Rob Dillingham (12 percent) and Leonard Miller (3 percent) spent their entire careers prior to the trade deadline alongside Anthony Edwards. I refuse to believe they didn't pick up a trash-talk go-to or 90. And if Tre Jones (7 percent) didn't traffic in mid-game warbling before spending time alongside Chris Paul in San Antonio, we can only assume he does now.
Who Is Most Likely To Have a Burner Account?
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Winner: Artūras Karnišovas
Even if this ballot was conducted before Artūras Karnišovas (55 percent) was fired, he still deserved to win it. If he doesn't have multiple burners defending his tenure in Chicago, then who will?
Similarly, I'll be disappointed if Patrick Williams (19 percent) doesn't have an "@PWillMuse" that exists solely to point out other players in the league with worse contracts.
Who Are You Taking With You Into the Zombie Apocalypse?
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Winner: Guerschon Yabusele
With 61 percent of the vote, this has to be the highest approval rating of Guerschon Yabusele's career life. He has the strength and girth to carry us out of harm's way as he bowling-balls through gaggles of the undead.
Isaac Okoro came in at second place with 15 percent of the vote and is an excellent sleeper...because I assume his on-ball defense will come in handy against zombies.
Who Is Most Likely To Be Playing Overseas In 2 Seasons?
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Winner: Yuki Kawamura
Yuki Kawamura wouldn't have gotten 36 percent of the vote if he was listed at 5'9" rather than 5'7". That'll teach him for not following dating-app profile protocols with his NBA measurements (i.e. add three to four inches to your actual height).
Lachlan Olbrich (25 percent) finishing second is a bummer, largely because his name is incredibly fun to say.
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