Kap & J. Hood
7/9 9 AM: Where Do the Bulls Go From Here?
Live from State Street in the heart of Chicago. You are listening to the new home of the Chicago Bears. ESPN Chicago. And this is Captain Jay Hood. W-M-V-P-W-T-B-C. HD2 Chicago. A good Carmen Brand's radio station. [MUSIC] Good morning, Chicago, and welcome into the Captain Jay Good morning show on ESPN 1000. And we're streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. With David Kaplan, Jonathan Hood with you. We've got Kevin, we have got Jack, and we've got you here on this Tuesday morning. Thanks so much for being with us. Full lines over for you. 3-1-2, 3-3-2, ESPN, 3-3-3-2, 3-7-7. Six is our telephone number. There's been some movement, finally, with the Chicago Bulls here in the off season. Tamar DeRozan is now a Sacramento King. We're going to dig into that and talk about the future of the Chicago Bulls. But first, we've got to go to the Hotline cap. That would be the CarX tire. And on a hotline. [MUSIC] There's only one source when it comes to Chicago Bulls news and information. We go to the Chicago Sun Times. The great Joe Cowley is with us here on Captain Jay Hood Joe. Thanks for joining us. How are you? Good. How you guys doing? We're doing awesome, man. Getting ready for that 14-win bull season. 14, a couple more, baby, but not much. I want you to talk to us about DeMar DeRozan and what he meant to the Chicago Bulls. He's now with Sacramento now, but when you look back now, what did DeRozan mean for this era for the Bulls? I mean, he was the good for them. I mean, he was the leader. He was the locker room guy, the true leader. They've had a lot of false leaders there. Guys that thought they knew how to lead. But, I mean, just with I/O and with Dailin and just taking guys under his wing and inviting him to work out with him in Los Angeles and going to DeRozan's boot camp every morning at 4 AM and going to Jersey retirement ceremonies for I/O down at Champagne. So, no, I mean, he was unbelievable off the court. And then on the court, I think we all saw how important he was come winning time. And the thing I'll say about him is he tried getting other guys to have that Batman moment early on. I think he led Zach, have some opportunities and came up short. And this year, he gave Kobe that opportunity and Kobe delivered a couple of times. So, he also knew that he was the best option. So, yeah, just a winner or just, you know, I can't say enough about him. One of my favorite guys to cover, very introspective, very self-aware. We had a conversation one time, we were just BSing 'cause he's got a lot of tattoos. And I noticed he's got a couple of DC guys. He's got the Joker and Why So Serious underneath it. And so, I was asking about it. You know, I grew up reading comics. I think a lot of guys did. And he was just like, you know, when you're in content, you have to believe that you're something different. You have to believe that you have some kind of power that no one knows about. Otherwise, you're gonna be dead. And so, he was just talking about how important that was for him reading comics and thinking he was something special and had some kind of power that he was eventually gonna find out about. So, just a really neat dude. Just, it's gonna be a big loss. I mean, not only for the Bulls, but for the media, 'cause he was kind of our go-to guy. I was always willing to talk and throw out cliche. So, yeah, it's, you know, it's gonna be tough seeing him go. - So, I have nicknamed the front office of the Bulls, the settlers, and they go almost three years, would have been three years in August, where they did not literally trade a human body for anything. But when then I look back and I love your stuff and I read where they could have had picks, second round picks for Andre Drummond and management, upper management, Jerry and Michael, didn't wanna do that. So, now he goes to Philly for nothing. They run this, like, the standard blueprint of how not to run a franchise. God bless 'em, they sell a lot of tickets, but they don't trade Caruso and then they end up with Josh Giddy. We'll see what he turns it to. They don't trade Drummond. Now they have to move to Rosa when they should have moved him a year ago. Is this an incompetent front office or are their hands tied more than we realize? - Well, I'd say both. I think the front office really bought some things. You know, you've been around long enough to know that they're on a full scholarship. Jerry Reinsdorf front offices have tons and tons of leeway to hang themselves over and over again before finally they're exited out the door and it takes a long time. So, the hope that you have to have with the front offices, they've learned not to fall in love with their own product. I mean, don't smoke your own weed. I mean, and that's what they've been doing and it wasn't very good weed either. So, you know, you have to know when to move on from stuff. You have to be a cap company and understand the product you just put out is not a good one. Pull it off the shelves, reinvest and move on. And the thing is, they have the attendance to do that. You know, they act like if they were gonna re-try rebuilding this two years ago or even a year ago, the fans wouldn't show up. I mean, the bull's fans are sheep. They will show up no matter what. I mean, you throw some hay in the United Center and bang hand, they're all gonna be there. So, you can go ahead and blow this thing up and this fan base, I think Chicago overall has been really, and it's sad, but the entire sports fan base of Chicago has been very accustomed and willing for rebuilds. And for a major city to be so accommodating for teams to botch their own product and botch over and over again and have to rebuild and fans applaud it and get all excited about the minor league guys or the G league guys or the prospects in the college draft over and over again. I mean, the blueprints there, you could have done this last year. So, yeah, and then the other part is when your bosses tell you we need a playoff push and you can't trade Alex Drew, so you can't trade drum and that kind of cuffs your hands a little bit, but you should have never been in that situation anyway. You should have moved off those guys. I mean, I love the initial boot trade. Shouldn't have resigned the, should have moved off the boot to try trading him when it went before his pre-aging year. We all know how I felt about the VAC would be max contract. And it was nothing personal against VAC. It just, that's not a guy you max. It's never worked in the history of the NBA to max a one-dimensional two-guard, never, ever, ever, ever has it worked. So, you know, I mean, you know, shame on them for the mistakes they made, but you know, also being handcuffed didn't help. - Joe Colli from the Chicago Sun Times, we talk Bulls on the Captain J. Hood Morning Show on the ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. Joe, what's the likelihood that Zach Levine will be a Bull this upcoming season? - You know, they're doing everything they can. And I think this pick or this three-way trade helped them a little bit to get a couple more picks and possibly throw in there because there are teams that do value second round picks. You know, I always say second round picks are kind of like Bitcoin. They're kind of the eye of the beholder. Do you value Bitcoin or do you not? The Bulls do not value second round picks like some organizations do, otherwise they would have moved drummed at the trade deadline and gotten a couple of second rounders. So I think they're doing everything they can because to bring him back at this point is kind of a disaster. I mean, your guard room's full already and that's not even including Lanzo Ball. He's not gonna be happy. His agency and his representation is not happy. There's a total mistrust. They still feel, and they'll never admit it, but trust me, I've talked to enough people, they still feel like you could have rehabbed a little longer, you didn't have to opt for that surgery at that point. You did that to kind of say, "Oh, I'm a Detroit rumor." And I'm not even saying that Detroit trade was close, but the fact that it was being talked about and that was a possibility and you thumb your nose at it and say, "Oh, we're opting for surgery right now." That pissed them off. And so, you know, and on that side of it, you know, ever since he's come here, he's been a trade rumor. So you either invest in me and believe in me or you don't. So I get both sides of it, but it's just a bad, bad relationship. And anything they say, if they can't get a trade done and they bring them back, they'll bolt through the song and dance that, "Yeah, you know, this is what we want." They don't want Zach Levine anywhere in that building. Trust me, and Zach knows it. - In terms of attaching a first round pick to get him out of here, I think that would be Asinine. You, no, no, no, you can't put a first round pick on it, but if you could put some, a group of seconds in there. - Yeah, okay. I'll give you seconds. - Pass anything. - But yeah. - But I need more talent here. So in terms of the giddy trade, there's some of us have said, "How could you not get some of their draft capital?" Two, our tourist said, "I'm happy with the return." What do you think of that deal? - Yeah, I mean, I think Stan Pressy took him to the cleaners. I think, you know, not getting a pick from a team that has a surplus of picks and can't use them all. And I'm talking about first rounders is Asin. It's Asin, it's a cardinal sin as far as an executive. I'm hoping that being put in the corner and being pummeled and getting eight count after eight count will teach him, teach our tourists some lessons. 'Cause I think he came thinking he was the smartest guy in the room and he's starting to find out he's not. And there's other GMs that kind of have it on him. But the nice thing is I've seen executives grow on the job and smarting up and actually improve at what they're doing. So I'm hoping that he does. And so we'll see. I do know this for sure. And this has come straight from the top of the organization. They did wave talent out there since last year to acquire a 25 draft pick and nobody was trading them. Nobody was. And I think we all saw yesterday, if you watch highlights, team USAvers, team select, and what Cooper Flag was doing to grown ass men at the age of 17, you are understanding what is coming to the NBA and how important it is. And you know, maybe he busts out, but I will take my chances with that kid any day that ends with why. And so what he did yesterday, I think, is just a little glimpse of what we'll see from him at Duke and what I think we'll see from him at the NBA, which is star power, immediate star power. - Yeah, he would be the bull's version of Caleb Williams, the Blackhawks version of Connor Badard. Like, that is what, that is the shot of adrenaline that the franchise needs. They got to get lucky. - Yeah, it'd be a total game. You're talking to organizational seismic game changer, if you can get lucky and hit on Cooper Flag. And, you know, I think they're building a team to make sure that they keep that pick. You know, that's why I like the giddy thing. Here's how I thought about the giddy trade. They were trading Alex Caruso, who is such a plus minus positive winning guy. What they did is they traded giddy and for Caruso, but they also got their 25 pick back from the Spurs. That's how I looked at it. And because that's what, that's really what they were doing with that trade. And then obviously moving to Rosen even helps that cause, but they had to get that top 10 protected pick back just to be in that lottery and have that ticket. - Joe, I always say that when you're in the middle, when you're in basketball hell, it's the worst place to be. And I would say that it seems like Detroit, Toronto, San Antonio, even Memphis, those are teams I think that with the arrows pointing up, but not necessarily going down. So where the Bulls are right now, where are they? Would you say that teams like the Pistons or the Spurs or the Grizzlies have more upside than the Bulls at this point in time? Cause I feel like that they're stuck. - Yeah, no, I think Memphis is definitely going to climb up with a healthy jaw. I think they're a definite play in team. San Antonio is kinda in that same area code as the Bulls, but they're going up with Wendy and what they've done adding Chris Paul and adding Harrison Barnes with some veteran guys, you know, they're definitely going up. You have your teams that are definitely still in the cellar that you're going to be fighting with, your Charlotte. Who knows what Atlanta is doing? You know, obviously Portland, you know, teams like that. But the teams that just missed the playoffs, Houston, San Antonio, those teams are definitely going up. I don't think it's going to be hard for the Bulls to be a bottom 10 team. I know there's some people that are arguing that. There's definitely five teams worse than them, but there's no doubt that they could finish six, seven, eight easily. And that's with Zach Levine. I don't think Zach spells winning. He never has. I mean, fine. You want Zach? That, okay, then bumps you up one or two more wins? Keep it. So, you know, if you have no destination for him and you're hoping to maybe then move him by the trade deadline, you know, I don't think he results in 10 wins by then. So, I definitely think they could finish in that six to eight area. - You know, the cap is so crazy. The R-Taurus, Connor Shovis press conference, where he had this epiphany after the season, like, oh, we have to make change. We have to make change. And it's like, we all saw this coming, like it's almost. And the thing I don't know, Joe, is, is that a green light from Michael Reinsdorf? Or is that R-Taurus saying, I've seen enough. We continue to just hit our head against the wall. I don't know how the light just turned off from automatically when we all saw it every, you know, last few seasons. - I think you kind of hit the nail on your head. I think ownership wanted that push during the season to try making the playoffs, saw again, that it wasn't working and said, all right, go ahead and do what you need to do. But at the same time, if you are an executive that believes in yourself, believes that you could do it, you go to ownership last year at the deadline and say, look, this isn't working. I don't believe that Londo's gonna come back healthy. You know, Zach is not even a robin. Forget Batman and we paid him like, you know, a guy to save Gotham and he can't. We have to move these things. And you brought me here to have that freedom to do that. And I want to do that. I mean, and I think that's what he could have and should have done and put his feet in the ground and said, this is what we're doing. Unfortunately, when you don't act quick enough, this is what it looks like. You are basically, you know, penny, you're getting pennies back on dimes. And so, and I get it, it's not such a bad thing if you can, you know, and it's not just Cooper Flag in that 25 draft class, you know, Ace Bailey. I mean, there's to me, there's six, seven guys that are like, yeah, I'll take him. So you definitely want to make sure that your foot's in that door in that lottery class. So, but yeah, it's a shame that it's taken this long and we've all had to watch the same crappy product for two and a half seasons. - By the way, if there was no pandemic, would Sam Presti have been the head of basketball operations in Chicago? 'Cause I know for a fact they talked to him. - Yeah, you know what though, you know what? He strikes me as kind of a Billy Bean type person where he likes being the big fish in the little pond. - Maybe. - And there were opportune, but there's been opportunities for him to go to a much bigger market. And much like Billy Bean, I just don't know if they're wired like that. I think they like being the guy that engineers the little engine that could and the smartest guy in the room, but nobody challenging him. Very light media. You know, it's just, I don't know if he's wired like that, but you know, we'll see. I mean, his career is far from over. I mean, he's got something brewing again in OKC and we'll see if they could, you know, kind of sweep the leg and finish that thing. - Yeah, then you know what, Sam would have been perfect in Chicago. This is run like a small market team. - Yeah. - You mean, you can-- - Boy, yeah. It is a mom and pop store, so I will do that. - So I mean, it's what it is. - Hey man, have a great day. We appreciate your time. Keep up the great work, man, 'cause you're awesome. - Thank you, Joe. - All right, boy, you guys take care. - You too. - All right, Joe Colli from the Chicago Sun Times on the Hotline. - The Car X tire. - And I don't have that. ♪ Rattle, rattle, thunder, batter, boom, boom, boom ♪ ♪ Don't worry, call the Car X name ♪ - Yeah, so let's talk a little bit about the Bulls and Demar DeRosen. Where are the Bulls missing? Now that DeRosen's gone, we'll explain that next on Cap and J-Hut. - Cap and J-Hut, I'm back. - Oh, Cap, J-Hut, big fan, man. ♪ Cap and J-Hut, he wrote it ♪ ♪ Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop ♪ Watch out, fellas. - All Chicago's home for sports. - ESPN Chicago. (upbeat music) - It's a Cap and J-Hut morning show on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. With you, it's 10 o'clock and my green bar comes in. - Yeah, you, my friend, have upset some of the Amazon drivers out there. - Stand in line. - John Noh, who listens every day, I delivered for Amazon. Drivers are told not to ring the bell unless the customer specifically asks you to in the instructions. You can also ask them to leave your packages at the back door. If you're worried about them getting stolen from the front and they will do that. Elle Germs says, as a mailman, the reason we don't ring the doorbell for every parcel is so that when we have a parcel that requires your signature, people will actually come to the door. If we ring the doorbell all the time in every package, people would ignore the doorbell. - I don't think that's not for everybody. Everybody would ignore the doorbell, that's nonsense. All I'm saying is, is that a little for me as a customer, I say a little rap at the door is fine. I have no problem with that, a little knock knock cap. Hello, a little ring of the doorbell, just so I'm notified that it's there. I don't want to be out there for hours and not know. That's all I'm saying. And by the way, if you're in the doorbell, you're fired. What they call it, I got a package in that man rang my doorbell. Do they complain, the customers? If that's the case, they should get a life. - Yeah, in this world, I'm sure there would be a complaint. - I'm sure, I'm talking-- - Yes, that young man who brought my food from DoorDash. - Ring my bell. - You rang the doorbell and woke the sleeping baby up. - Jack McGrath, you're fired. - I ate some of my fries. - Yeah, what's the more egregious thing there? - Kevin, ring of the doorbell are sampling the fries. - If that bag is showing up to my place and it's open and there's salt strewn about and greasy fingerprints. - What is the bad? I'm not saying strewn about or greasy. - Well, they're sealed when they get delivered, Cap. - The bag is sealed? - The bag is sealed to ensure your safety. - Depends. Depends where you go. Go to a greasy spoon. Sometimes they don't have the sticker to keep it. - It's kind of a seal. Just kind of open. - They roll it up like a bum. - Yeah. - You're giving them a 40 ounce? - Correct. - Kind of rolled up, but like I said, for me, I'd like a little, a little tap of the door for me. 'Cause who knows, Cap? I'm not at the front door all the time. That's all I'm saying. - That's it. - So, great conversation with Joe Cowley. - He's so good. Very tapped in and he tells the truth, man. - So, I asked you to take a look at Stephen Knows piece. - I did, I read it. - Stephen Knows. - Yeah, athletic. - He's in some place else now. - Yeah. - I didn't know what used to be at the athletic. I don't know if he's still there. But I asked you to, oh, you know, it's the sporting news. Wasn't it sportingnews.com? I think that's where I sent you for that piece. Stephen Knows. - That was correct. - And so, I asked you to take a look at his piece. Stephen Knows says that there's a lot of hype around Zach Levine. Unfair, hype, unfair thoughts about Zach Levine. He says that Zach Levine, 72 of his 101 teammates that he played with are out of the game. - Correct, that he has not had very good talent around him. - Okay, so, to me, the downside of trying to trade Zach Levine, if you're the Bulls, is here's someone that is a little bit down with a three-point shooting, and he's supposed to be one of the most tradable assets for the Chicago Bulls, but there's a couple of things that's against him. The injury situation has a late and a three-point shooting. As we said before, if Zach Levine was on a winning team, say, if it was the Celtics or Oklahoma City, someplace else, he'd been coming off the bench and could still score a ton cap. Don't get me wrong, the offense is there. The defense has gotten somewhat better, but the injury situation and the lack of three-point shooting, I think, stops people from saying, yeah, we're not gonna be all in on Zach. - Look, are they grossly overpaying Zach Levine? They are, but it would be disingenuous for me to say they should never have signed them to that extension. I said, you can't just let them walk out the door for nothing, and they didn't have any type of a trade-off reform, so they kind of had their hands tied. What they should have done was moved them well before that. This isn't gonna work, get 'em out. Instead, our tourists, you know, dug at that line in the sand. We are absolutely offering the max deal, and look how it worked out. In the end, they probably should've just let 'em walk out the door. I didn't have that opinion back then, but I was wrong. 100%. - Well, I guess Cap Hall. - And Stef no is, at Stef no, he's with the sporting news now. Senior NBA writer. - Yeah, and so he made a case for Zach Levine, saying that he's not a negative on a basketball team, that he's not a losing player. - And he's not a bad guy, and I can tell you the little bit that I have interacted with Zach, he's always been professional, nice, easy to deal with. - Yeah, that first part of his piece talking about the kind of person that he is, I already knew that. I didn't need that piece of the column. I already knew he was a good guy. I know he knew he was a good teammate. There was a push and pull as far as he and Demar de Rosen and how they could work together. You recall this offensively, it was just trying to figure out. But I think that that, for Zach Levine, is you just heard from Joe Cowley, and I've been saying this the last couple of weeks on the show, people are not trying to give Zach Levine on their team. Otherwise Zach would be gone by now. There are a number of teams that have closed the door on our tour saying, how much you want from him? What do you want from him? No, sorry, he doesn't fit our team. Or he's not gonna start. How will he take to coming off our bench? I don't think Zach would want that. - Right, management should have said February 23, not February 24, February 23, okay. We're not gonna have Lanzo Ballback. This team's not good enough to compete to win a top four playoff spot and could tend to what we're in it for to try and win a ring. All right, we're moving on. - That's what they should have done. - You cut your losses. - Correct. Now, in NBA terms, they got Patrick Williams relatively inexpensively for five years in NBA terms. Let him play and let's go. Let's find out, can he play or not? What is he, 22 years of age? - Mm-hmm, 22, 23. I'm just telling you now, Cap, if you can't move Zach Levine, this is not gonna work. Zach Levine on another bad team. - He'll turn 23 in August, August 26. He's 22 years of age. You gotta let him play. - I understand that. - What I'm telling you about Zach Levine in this mix is, is that if Zach Levine is still with this team and they don't move him, it'll be another year of Levine being the leader of a losing team. It's Zach and kids. How's that gonna work, Cap? - Not good. - So you have to be able to figure out what you wanna be as a franchise. If you're gonna get rid of DeRozin, maybe trying to find someone to take Vusovich, then Levine has to go to. - Levine on this team with young players is not going to, I don't, that's not gonna work. It's not a playoff team. - But as Joe said, there's nobody in the building that wants Zach Levine back there. They all want him gone. And I'm sure Zach would like to be gone. - You're asking someone to take on what $120 million? - Can't buy a dance partner. - Right, who would want him? Look at the league. - And they're saying, okay, you want me to take Zach? Okay, give me Zach. We'll take him, but you're taking these contracts back to make the trade work. And some of them have multiple years left. - No, I'll take one year deals. - I wanna make this clear. And people hear what they wanna hear, but you hear what I'm saying. The Bulls are 39 and 43. Zach Levine is at the reason why the Bulls are 39 and 43. He is not. Zach Levine is in the same trick bag as Reggie Theus and other great, you know, really good players, good offensive players, that you're the face of the losing because you score the most points or you're making the most money. Zach is not the reason why the Bulls were in nice place. He's part of the problem, but it's the others too, and the lack of imagination from that front office to make the team better. I'm not trying to push Zach Levine out the door. I'm just saying that what is the use of Zach Levine on a team in which you're trying to go younger? This is more Josh Giddy's team now than Zach if Zach's not here because they're thinking about the future. The Bulls cannot find a trade partner. They should've known at the time, sneaking into the play-in is not the playoffs. They thought that continuity would be the key. Continuity was not the key for the Chicago Bulls. It was not good enough, correct. Now Zach being hurt and Zach is expensive, and now teams are like, I don't have the money or where with all to put him on my roster. And if you're talented team, you're not putting him in your starting five. You're just not. So now you're just kind of in a way, Kevin, you're just kind of stuck. That's where you are right now. And so coming up, we'll talk more about Demar to Rosen 'cause I thought that Joe's had some interesting things to say about Demar. - What a great doing. - Oh yes. - No question. And your phone calls 312-332-ESP, as our phone number. Captain J. Hood, weekday morning seven to 10. - Captain J. Hood, our back. - I appreciate your show. I'm an Uber driver and for seven to 10 every day, I've got you locked in. - Chicago's home for sports. ESPN Chicago. - Hey, Captain J. Hood, brought to you by the Village of Bowling Brook. Home of the 2024 Live Golf Individual Championship to the awesome Bowling Brook Golf Club. - Captain J. Hood on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. Captain, don't forget our signature event is gonna take place at the Hard Rock Casino in northern Indiana pretty soon here. - That's right, football fest 2024. And everybody comes out, it's always an awesome time. We have everybody on the staff here at the station. All your favorites will be there. And Adam Schefter is coming in again and field Yates and they get you set for whether it's your gambling, your fantasy. You wanna learn about the bears and the packers and all these different teams, it's an awesome, awesome time. And so you can get your tickets, I believe right on our website at ESPNChicago.com. Football Fest is at the Hard Rock Casino in northern Indiana. You can play some cards after it. We just have a really good time. We have a lot of laughs and a lot of fun and always a great crowd. So with the football season coming up, get ready for football fest with us, August the 25th. I wanna talk to you, Cap, about Demar DeRosen. And we're gonna give you your phone calls. If you wanna hold you over on the air, 3-1-2-3-3-2, ESPN as our phone number. Talk about the Bulls. If you miss Jill Kyle, you can hear it on our podcast feed, the Cap and Jacob podcast feed, Joe was fantastic. Talking about the present and future for the Bulls. Demar DeRosen traded to the Sacramento Kings in a sign and trade deal. Demar DeRosen turns 35 in August. DeRosen, what you're losing is a steady, yet productive player. He finished his Bulls career second and points per game behind the great Michael Jordan. Jordan finished at 31.5 points a game. DeRosen at 25.5 points a game. When you have DeRosen walking with Jordan in that regard, Cap, that's pretty strong. The other thing too, that's a hidden gem about DeRosen and his play with the Bulls this past season is that DeRosen led the league in fourth quarter scoring. I know that means nothing to a bad team, but the point is though is that when we talk all the time, this guy's clutch, this guy's gotta be more clutch, this guy can't disappear. He never disappeared. - Never. - I know it's not sexy or aesthetically pleasing for people because it's not threes. But the point is though is that as far as consistency, he was there. Second on that list, by the way, the fourth quarter scoring is DeRosen Fox, where he's going to Sacramento to play with. So it's DeRosen and then Fox, fourth quarter scoring. So that's what he brought to the Bulls, Cap. - They will absolutely have unbelievable firepower on that Sacramento team with the Montes Sabonis and all these different guys that they can run at you. They got rid of Harrison Barnes, who was a really good late game, you know, three point threat. He's down in San Antonio now, but that Sacramento team, they're for real. They take another step with DeRosen. DeRosen's not the reason why he gets to the ceiling, but he gets you off the floor. - He does. - If you understand what I mean. He gives you an extra weapon offensively, and he's just gonna give you a solid effort. And so Sacramento still with a busy Denver, Oklahoma City in Minnesota, a busy West, but DeRosen and his veteran presence will help that team. He helped the Bulls as much as he could. When Levine was out, that was the go-to guy. And again, when I say he had the most fourth quarter scoring in the league last year, but he tried. When you had no one else, DeRosen was there. And so that's what I'll miss about him, the professionalism. And as Cap and I both know, in the community, great guy, and want to stay in Chicago for whatever reason. - He did, he loved it here. But once they made the decision, get rid of Crusoe, and we're gonna rebuild, he wanna learn them out. I'm not here for a rebuild. And so they accommodated him with the sign and trade. They get a couple of second round picks. They get Chris Duarte, and the next shoe to drop, I would imagine, will be either Vouch. I would think it'd be Vouch, 'cause it seems like he'd be easier to move. And then Zach Levine at some point. - Yeah, absolutely. So I just, it sucks when you're in the middle cap. Like I can go through all the teams in Chicago, from the sky, with the team, with the Angel Reese, who has made the All-Star team to where the Blackhawks are. You know that the arrows pointing up because they're coming from the basement. They're coming from nowhere. But with the Bulls, they're just stuck right now. Stuck. - It's sad. It really, really is pathetic. The state of sports in Chicago right now. Cups are in the last. Socks are epically bad. - I think the Bears are turning in the right direction. They better be. - Yeah. - The Blackhawks, I hope they get on Sawground, but they were picking second for a reason, 'cause they were dead last. And the Bulls are headed to the basement. So it's a bad, bad scene right now. By the way, one thing I wanted to update for you. - Brought to you by AKA law. - Three, one, two, six million for the great Howard Anken. - Some I will. - The ESPN Chicago football fest at Hard Rock Casino Northern, Indiana. If you go to the ESPN Chicago Facebook page or go to the Hard Rock Casino webpage, just Google the Hard Rock Casino Northern, Indiana, you can buy tickets right on the front page. - That's right there. - Right there. - Okay. - Okay. - Speaking of side bars, just real quick as we go back to the phone lines. And if you don't hold, you will be on the air. 312323276, we're talking about the Bulls, that NASCAR Chicago street race. Now, anytime you say NASCAR and Chicago, it rains. I don't know if you know that. - It's amazing. - Four million viewers, Cap. - How? - You tune in and out, you're just watching this. - Up down the city, watch the entire coverage. - Wow, with the rain and everything. - I did not. - Wow. - Four million. - I did not. So, God bless 'em. One more year on the contract and we'll see. - I just think it's funny that the same bumps I take on when I'm coming up Columbus, so do the NASCAR drivers. It's not like they smooth out the pavement. No, they didn't put the roads down. - No, they did not. You would think the whole thing would be black top and just smooth. It's the same bumps I went across. It's great. - Friends of mine who went, even with the rain, they had a good time, so. - Well, tailgate and food. - They had fun sitting there. So, Demarder Rosen also released a statement. Would you like to hear it? - Oh, yeah, okay. - He said, "And I say shy city, a thank you would be an understatement. The love, passion, joy you filled me with for three seasons was a dream. It gave me a drive every night to return the feeling. To the entire organization front office coaching staff and to everyone who worked in the United Center, I couldn't ask for better people. To my teammates, we created a bond that'll last forever. Memories, I'll never forget. I know the nightmare started already knowing you'll face me in another jersey, but it'll only be twice. Love and appreciation for everything. Chicago, Demarder. - Yeah, it's just a class guy all the way around. - All the way around, and we knew that when we did the Bronny James game at Wind Trust Arena, and he came to watch and he signed every autograph. He took every picture 'cause it was right in front of us. Never complained at all. He was amazing. - Lewis and Morton Grove on cap and J-hood. Hey, Lewis, come on. - Hey, Lewis, where you been, man? - Man, I've been injured, but, you know, I'm back cap. I miss you, man. Hey, look, cap, you started the both all wrong. Man, you're supposed to say, what do you always say? - Oh, I always said, looking good, Lewis. - Yeah, feeling good, cap. - There you go, man, what's that, man? - There you go. - Hey, I wanted to also state the fact that you guys are talking to Martha Rosen. Now, another thing that Sacramento is getting from the Martha Rosen, it's his leadership in that locker room. The way he helped Kobe White develop into the man he is right now, instead of player he is right now, the way he took I/O the sumo under his wing, you can tell the Martha Rosen is passionate about this game. He wants to win. I hate that he left Chicago, but I'm glad that he left Chicago because his organization is a joke at the moment. There's no, this organization is horrible. So I'm glad, I hate that he's gone, but I hope that he won the championship. I love the fact that what he did here, although he was in a bad team, he never gave up, and he still took that locker room, and he helped develop young men. He helped encourage them to be better. So that's another thing that Sacramento is also getting, which is most important. You guys have a great day, and I take care. - Lookie good, Lois. - Goodly good, Cap. - God bless you. - So we're talking about Caruso Drummond and DeRozin gone. Giddy, Smith, Guzzellis, and Duarte, part of the team. - Mm-hmm. - God. - Williams, Tori Craig. As far as we know, Vousa, which is still there, and then Smith got his shoots well from the outside, the backup center. - That's it? - That's it. - Okay. - Not good. That's what we have right now. Joey G. and Melrose Park on, Cap and Jamie. Hey, Joey. - Joey. - How are you, gentlemen? - Hello, Joey. - I got a special guest start today. - Do you do? - Yes, say hello to your mother, Jonathan. - Carol. - How you doing, son? - Good. - Wow. - Good, mom, how are you? - Hey, Cap. - I got a talk to you, buddy. - Yeah, what do you got, mom? - What I got is a bunch of C-plus players on the Cubs. I'm not gonna Brown be here because you're a friend and you're a diver, come back. - You're not gonna do, a lot of things, you're not gonna what beat 'em? - Brown beat 'em, bro. - Okay, it's brow, but either way. - In Italian, it's brown. (laughs) - Wow, it depends on what side of Italy, I believe. - No, go ahead, go ahead. - I'll get the cards. - For a bunch of C-plus players, did they have any consideration, did Council have any consideration when he signed that money contract and looked at even looked at what he had to come to? - He did. - I mean, to me, they got to blow it up. - In that first up. - A lot of times, and what's the bet? What's the bet, and I want the Oreo sleep in the Cubs? - You bet you have with Kevin Zipack. - Yeah, Kevin and I have a bet. It's, I get a 25-hour gift card to Starbucks, or he gets, what did you want? - A lovely bouquet of roses. - A bouquet of roses from Marianne and Anthony at the farmer's market. - Yes, from the street. - Yes. - Okay. So we'll see what happens. I think two out of three Oreos, I'm not sure about sweep, but we'll see. - I don't know, the owl's on the case. - The owl's always the owl is ready to go. He's three and one. - What's stronger, the owl's stronger than the Oreo? Is that what you're saying? - He is. - Okay. Carol and Joey, thanks so much for the phone call. Mom and Dad, checking in. - Appreciate it. - We have the Captain J. Hood Cut of the Day. That's next on Chicago's Home for Sports. - Captain J. Hood are back. - First time caller, huge fan of your guys show. - Chicago's Home for Sports. - ESPN Chicago. (upbeat music) - Now time for the Captain J. Hood Cut of the Day. - That be brought to you by the great David Flom and Matt Moore, the proprietors of the awesome Chicago Cut Steakhouse. Kevin. (upbeat music) - Yo. - Yes, it's boring, but it's a sport. - Oh! - Whatever. - It's not boring. - Okay, then you're boring. - All right. (upbeat music) - Well, for our sake, I'm glad you elected for the flowers and not the cheese. (laughing) They do have an awesome, awesome Habanero cheese. - Oh, that should have stood out there. But we'll put that in the studio. It would have smelled like how it normally smells. - That's it. - Like feet. - Like melon. - Would you leave melon on for God's sakes? - All right, hockey. (laughing) Whoever's back there. - And get you all. - The Captain J. Hood Cut of the Day. - Boy, rather brief. - Well. - Wow. - Kevin's right, get out of here. - Oh, yeah. - A little short on time here, Cap. - All right. - Geez. - I don't think a J-more to give you a class. - Uh, anyway. - Wow. (laughing) - Chicago Cut Steakhouse on the south, north side of the Chicago River. While it's summer time, please take advantage of their patio. Best view in the city. - He did the best he could with the time allotted. Don't you understand? - Don't tell me about how rocky the water is. Doctor freakin' boat. - I agree. - I agree. - Don't tell me about the labor pains. - Show me the baby. - Understood. I think Vicki would agree with that on ESPN one. - Hi Vicki. - Hi Vick. - Hey guys, good morning. - Good morning. - Well, the gentleman you guys had on a little while ago, the thing that really struck out to me about that conversation is that how he said that Chicago tolerates rebuilds better than any other city. I'm like, what are we then? A laughingstock in the nation in the sports world? - Yes. - I just think that that, I know we are. And it's just like that man articulated. And I'm kind of like, you know, I was like, oh my God, that's how we are being perceived right now. So I just thought that was a very interesting point. And that was like one of the big things I got from that interview. - No, appreciate that. - Yeah, have a great day guys. - You too Vick, yep. - Yeah, as Joe Cowley from the Sun Times was on with us, you can hear that interviews entirety on the ESPN Chicago app, just click cap and Jhood. - That's it. You can hear all about the Chicago Bulls as they start to head down the drain for the next year or two. Unfortunate, but true. - You're hoping that the Cubs are not down that drain as well. - I got the all on the case tonight, kid. We set our pitching up. I had the all get involved with Tommy Hottavy. Otis the all is on the case. He's three and one, hopefully. He wakes up, grabs a cup of coffee and finds a way to win a damn baseball game tonight. Let's go. - Now, what kind of flowers do you want, Kevin? Anything in particular? Any type of-- - Yeah, Red Roses. - Oh, Red Roses. - Yeah. - That's right. - It's romantic. - He's an old romantic. He likes the old Red Roses. - That's great. You're gonna get it to Kevin, right, if that happens. - If that happens, I'll pay off my wager. - You never mentioned-- - I don't think it's gonna happen. - Kevin, you never mentioned how many. Is it a dozen or? - A dozen, yeah, isn't it that standard amount of a dozen Red Roses. - Okay. - A beautiful bouquet. - Only reason why I asked is 'cause the cap's loaded, so you can go for 24 if you wanted to. - Nope, the bet was 12. - Okay. - 12 Roses or 25 hour gift card to Starbucks. (laughs) That's it. - That's gonna be something to watch tonight. A little cub, a little aureal, a little socks twin. - There you go. - That'll be tonight. - And then I have a movie for us to watch. - Oh, God. - This week, I'm gonna watch it Friday night, I think. - Okay. - The new Axel Foley movie, the new Beverly Hills cop. Abdallah said it's awesome. - We thank you for listening and calling in and being part of the program here on Captain J. Hood. - Sure, he knows what he's talking about, but. - Thank you, Kevin. Thank you, Jack. We'll talk to you tomorrow. - On a Waddle Wednesday. - Take that! - So long, everybody, from Chicago. - Every guy can bust.