Chicago Bears: Ideal trade partners for 2020 NFL Drafton April 10, 2020 at 11:00 am

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As Ryan Pace and the Chicago Bears prepare for the 2020 NFL Draft, which teams could become an ideal trade partner to acquire more picks?

It has been a rollercoaster of an offseason for Chicago Bears fans, and that’s not even taking into consideration the COVID-19 crisis. The Bears have, for the most part, taken their fans’ emotions for quite the ride thus far in 2020.

When NFL free agency kicked off in mid-March, general manager Ryan Pace agreed with his first signee, all while sending fans into a frenzy. It was veteran tight end Jimmy Graham. Both Pace and head coach Matt Nagy said they saw things on film which other teams may not have seen, making it apparent they had to give Graham his shot.

After that 2-year, $16 million deal was done, the Bears inked edge rusher Robert Quinn, which came as a surprise — a pleasant one, for people such as myself. That 5-year, $70 million deal is essentially just a 2-year guarantee, and the defense became even scarier with Quinn opposite Khalil Mack.

A few other minor signings happened here and there, but the big story in Chicago (as always) was at the quarterback position. The Bears traded their fourth-round compensatory pick for Nick Foles, who will now come in and compete for the starting job with Mitchell Trubisky.

Making that trade caused a variety of emotions within fans, but the clear-cut takeaway is that the Bears are now even more strapped for draft capital. With two picks in the second round and then not selecting again until the fifth round, the Bears are going to have to get creative.

Many people believe the Bears will trade back and acquire more picks in this draft, but something tells me I also wouldn’t be surprised if Pace launched the Bears into the first round somehow. Whatever he decides to do, he’ll have some great options for trade partners. There are three teams in particular I could see as strong partners for Pace, so let’s talk about them.

Next: Team No. 1

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Chicago Bulls: What to know about Arturas Karnisovason April 10, 2020 at 12:00 pm

Chicago Bulls (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bulls have finally made a seismic change to the front office. In comes Arturas Karnisovas, formerly known as the general manager of the Denver Nuggets.

With Paxson’s role in the team shrinking considerably, it’s not quite the full measure of #FireGarPax that many Chicago Bulls fans wanted. But Wednesday night’s Woj Bomb was enough to satisfy the hunger of the Chicago Bulls faithful for the time being. Without question, it is a slam dunk hire (no pun intended). Karnisovas is a well-respected executive around the league and has the history and resume to back it up.

The plan is that he’ll bring in his own guys: a new general manager to go with a revamped and cutting edge basketball ops, scouting, and (knocking on wood as hard as he possibly could) analytics departments. Modernizing the front office will be the first major step towards fixing this organization and team, as long overdue as it is.

That means Gar Forman will be thanked for his earlier contributions as general manager, but be shown the door. Doug Collins, Jim Paxson and everyone else will be following suit.

Lastly, Jimbo Boylen will almost certainly be removed as head coach as he proved over a 123 game sample size that he was the most overmatched coach in the NBA and should have no part in the new direction the organization will be going in. He may love how his players battled night in and night out, but it was as clear as day that they had zero respect for him or his shenanigans.

All that said, who is Arturas Karnisovas?

The Lithuanian started his North American basketball career with four years as a small forward of the Seton Hall basketball program (1990-1994). All four years he was under the tutelage of P.J. Carlesimo, he was the very first player from the USSR (remember when that was a thing?) to play at an American university. He started all four years, helping lead the team to two Big East Tournament championships and four NCAA tournament bids.

(Photo by PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP via Getty Images)

From 1987 to 2002, he put together a polished professional career overseas before taking up a job within the NBA’s league office from 2003 to 2008. The Houston Rockets eventually hired him as a scout from 2008 to 2013, which should by no means be glossed over in any way. He began cutting his teeth under current GM Daryl Morey, one of the most forward-thinking, analytically-faced front office executives in the NBA:

Rockets GM Daryl Morey, who hired Arturas Karnisovas as international scout, told @tomhaberstroh this: “Arturas is one of the best executives in the NBA. I’m so happy he is getting this opportunity. He was instrumental in our success. I’m also thrilled he’s in the East now!”

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 9, 2020

In 2013, the Denver Nuggets hired him to be their assistant general manager. After the beginning of Denver’s turnaround, he was twice passed over for general manager positions with the Brooklyn Nets in 2016 and the Milwaukee Bucks in 2017. However soon after the Bucks went a different direction, Karnisovas was promoted to general manager. He and President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly oversaw the Nuggets grow into a true Western Conference playoff contender in only a few years.

So what now (or later)?

There is an awful lot that Artie has to take care of, top to bottom. While his first focus will be to rebuild the front office, he has a serious task involving the roster. With the COVID-19 pandemic leaving plenty of unknowns in the world of sports, it’s hard to say what the gameplan is. How is he going to go about evaluating the players? Will he try to see the whole team operate together in 2021 when everyone is (hopefully) 100% healthy? Is everyone on the trade block? What about the wild free agency class in 2021? How will that affect his strategy? Is this simply a restructuring or is this another rebuild?

Next: Chicago Cubs: Rizzo Regression?

There are plenty of unknowns within the Chicago Bulls organization, but Arturas Karnisovas is a beacon of light. A light that we have been begging for for years.

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Chicago Bulls: 5 moves to make following Arturas Karnisovas hireon April 10, 2020 at 1:00 pm

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Now that the Chicago Bulls have a new executive in charge, what moves do Arturas Karnisovas and the team need to make for a successful offseason?

It is about time, isn’t it? For almost two decades, the Chicago Bulls have had to put up with John Paxson. Now, after 17 years, he will no longer be calling the shots, and Gar Forman is out of the main picture as well.

The Bulls announced a little over 48 hours ago that they had hired former Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas as their new head of basketball operations, and a fresh era in Chicago is about to begin.

Karnisovas comes to the Bulls as a savvy general manager who has made plenty of intelligent moves in the past. He had a hand in the Nuggets finding Nikola Jokic, drafting Will Barton in the second round and a few other transactions.

The impressive part, overall, is that when most wouldn’t have thought the Nuggets would become a competitive franchise again, Karnisovas made it happen. He also has a knack for international scouting, which drastically helps in today’s NBA.

After the hire, the Bulls still have plenty of work to do. Karnisovas is going to build his front office from the ground on up, it appears. I think most fans are of the mentality that he can do whatever he chooses, and there is no way it’s going to come close to what Paxson and Forman put together — and that’s a good thing.

So, now what? Will the 2019-2020 season ever resume? We don’t know. But, looking ahead, there are some big-time moves Karnisovas could help make happen. What moves? Let’s look at five things he and the Bulls could do to put the Bulls back on the map immediately.

Next: Move No. 1

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Chicago Blackhawks: Remembering Antti Niemi’s heroicson April 10, 2020 at 2:00 pm

CHICAGO – MAY 31: Goaltender Antti Niemi #31 of the Chicago Blackhawks looks to make a save while taking on the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Two of the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the United Center on May 31, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks had some heroes step up in 2010 and none were more important than that of Antti Niemi in the goal crease.

The most important season in the modern history of the Chicago Blackhawks was in 2010. They took all of their great players that they drafted from 2003-2007 and built around them and won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years. It was an incredible championship drought broken for them as they finally got it done. One major factor in that was the play of goaltender Antti Niemi. He was a hero by the end of the playoffs and Stanley Cup Final.

Niemi signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008 as an undrafted free agent. He was assigned to the Rockford Ice Hogs where he spent the 2008-09 season splitting starts with Corey Crawford. By the time the 2009-10 season started, he was splitting time with Cristobal Huet at the NHL level. He beat out Huet for the starting goalie spot in those 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Well, Niemi really took off and led Chicago all the way to their first Stanley Cup championship in 49 years. He was brilliant all playoffs long. Niemi went 16-6 in the playoffs to lead them to that championship. He became the first Finnish goalie to ever win the Stanley Cup. A lot of his saves seemed to be of the high danger variety which earned him the reputation of a clutch goaltender. Things weren’t perfect for him in his Blackhawks career but he got the job done when it mattered most.

Well, after winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, Niemi filed for arbitration. The arbitrator awarded him 2.75 million and the Chicago Blackhawks ultimately walked away. Now after a few years with the team, he moved on to the San Jose Sharks. Niemi was one of the league’s top goalies with the Sharks for five seasons. He was even the third-place finisher in the Vezina Trophy race for his stellar play in the 2013 season.

After his time with San Jose, things started to fall off for Niemi. He was a member of the Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, and Montreal Canadiens in different roles after that. He was okay at times but ultimately not as good as his years in Chicago and San Jose. After Niemi’s departure in Chicago, Corey Crawford stepped in and was even better but nobody will ever forget how good Niemi was in that run to the Stanley Cup.

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Chicago Cubs: Why Kyle Hendricks’ curveball is most important pitchon April 10, 2020 at 3:00 pm

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – APRIL 26: Kyle Hendricks #28 of the Chicago Cubs delivers a first inning pitch against of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 26, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Kyle Hendricks made a name for himself with the Chicago Cubs based on his changeup, but his curveball is going to lead to longevity.

Kyle Hendricks has been outstanding to watch since he was acquired from the Texas Rangers in 2012. He was instrumental in helping the Chicago Cubs win the World Series in 2016, prefaced by an NL-leading 2.13 ERA in the regular season. Pitchers of Hendricks’ caliber are truly masters of pitching because they cannot get their outs with overwhelming power.

Instead, Hendricks uses offspeed pitches and deception, and he’s been pretty darn good in doing so. MLB recognized the Cubs’ pitcher with its recent list of pitchers with the nastiest changeups.

Diving into the numbers, Hendrick’s utilized the changeup 28 percent of the time last season. It was, statistically, his worst year in terms of production off his changeup as batters were able to hit .265. Seven of the 19 home runs he allowed last year came off this pitch.

Still, he yielded the best exit velocity (82.3 MPH) and got batters to whiff 24.5 percent of the time.

Hendricks’ saw the most improvement in his curveball last year. He experienced a marginal uptick in curveball usage, going from 7.6 percent in 2018 to 9.9 percent last year. But the results were enormous as batters experienced a dramatic decrease in production.

In 2018, the opposition hit .483 and slugged .759 off his curveball, dropping to .213 batting average and .234 slugging percentage last year. At approximately the same spin rate between the two seasons, Hendricks saw his curveball become his second-best pitch, producing an average exit velocity of 84.7 MPH.

WIth Hendricks’ signing a four-year contract extension that will keep him in Chicago through 2024 – should the front office pick up his club option in 2024 – it’s encouraging to see him rebound. What do I mean by that? In 2017 and 2018, his curveball was statistically his worst pitch, producing a .688 and .759 slugging percentage, respectively.

Next: Reason to believe Anthony Rizzo regression is coming

And with Yu Darvish rounding back into form during the second half of last season, the Cubs’ rotation will be anchored by the duo for the foreseeable future.

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CSO takes a coronavirus cuton April 10, 2020 at 12:15 am

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association announced today that its musicians, chorus, board, and staff have agreed to institute organization-wide salary cuts to mitigate the financial impact of coronavirus-related cancellations.

“The CSOA is anticipating significant financial losses for the 2019/20 season based on the cancellation to date of 58 paid, ticketed concerts, as well as facility rental events for the period between March 12 to May 10, 2020 when large public gatherings have been restricted in the State of Illinois as part of the community-wide effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” the CSOA said in a statement.

Music director Riccardo Muti and CSOA president Jeff Alexander will each take a voluntary 25 percent salary reduction, while members of the orchestra and chorus will take 20 percent reductions, starting April 27, but will retain health care coverage and other benefits. (Muti’s total compensation according to the most recent publicly available tax record exceeds $3 million; Alexander’s is over $500,000.)

Members of the Civic Orchestra will take a 20 percent cut to their stipends; stagehands will also see a 20 percent reduction in pay. Administrative pay will be reduced on a sliding scale, from 20 percent for vice presidents to as little as 5 percent, depending on salary.

And how long will the cuts be in place? Indefinitely: “We are prepared to keep these arrangements in place while closely monitoring this rapidly changing situation. The goal is to take care of our people and take care of the organization and to be ready to come back for our community. But, as the situation changes, we may have to reevaluate what’s possible and make adjustments,” Alexander said, in a written response to a query.

According to the announcement: “Musicians also agreed to relax scheduling restrictions to allow for flexibility with postponed or rescheduled programs, and it is anticipated that restrictions pertaining to the Orchestra’s significant archive of audio and video assets will be adjusted to make digital content available more broadly during the pandemic.”

“We are grateful for the tremendous spirit of collaboration among the entire CSOA family who have worked together to develop ideas and make sacrifices that will allow us to balance taking care of our employees while mitigating a portion of the significant financial losses created by the difficult circumstances we are facing,” said Alexander.

“The musicians of the Orchestra are committed to working with the Board of the CSOA and its leadership to address this crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is essential to protect the Orchestra and this Institution so that we can continue to prosper and again make music for our audiences,” said James Smelser, chair of the members’ committee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

“We are also moved by the messages of support and generosity from our patrons, whom we look forward to welcoming back to concerts as soon as we can all be together again. We are wishing everyone continued safety and good health.”

Ticket holders are encouraged to donate the value of their tickets for canceled concerts, or to exchange for tickets to future concerts. v

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