Chicago Sports

James Harden, Bradley Beal, Ben Simmons, Damian Lillard … the cautionary tales are many.

One-dimensional guards that have been given max contracts, eventually plunging their organizations into mediocrity or bad decision after bad decision to crawl out of it.

The Bulls are about to step into that threshold, looking to change that history.

With the NBA’s free agency gate bursting open at 5 p.m. on Thursday, the worst kept secret the past 10 months was the Bulls looking to offer LaVine the five-year, roughly $215 million max offer to make him the face of the franchise.

A face that would cost the organization $55 million more than what any other franchise can offer the unrestricted free agent.

And the Bulls are unabashedly all in.

When asked about LaVine last week, general manager Marc Eversley reiterated the same message from the end-of-the-season interviews that the organization had “every intention to bring him back.”

When pressed if that meant giving LaVine a max contract, Eversley responded, “I think we’re prepared to do what it will take to bring Zach back in the fold and be a Chicago Bull.”

Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has also been very public about keeping LaVine in Chicago.

“We’ve been very open that we hope Zach is here for a long time, and nothing has changed,” Karnisovas said. “And June 30, 6 p.m. Eastern Time, that’s when the conversations start.”

Conversations that LaVine and his agent, Rich Paul, intend to be thorough and with multiple clubs. While sources told the Sun-Times that LaVine’s close Bulls teammates expect the two-time All-Star to re-sign, LaVine also made it clear that he wanted to go through the process of being wined and dined, exploring all of his options to the fullest.

“I plan to enjoy free agency with what it is as a whole,” LaVine said in his exit interview with the media at the end of April. “I think you’re going to have to experience A-Z without making any fast decisions. I think that’s something that me and Rich get to go through and experience.”

Posturing 101.

The reality for LaVine remained that unless there’s a sign-and-trade in the works, no team can currently offer LaVine more than the Bulls both financially and from a competitive standpoint. If winning really means as much as LaVine has insisted it does over the past few seasons, taking a four-year deal for less money to play in Portland or Detroit would be the ultimate contradiction.

Then there’s the Bulls side of this equation.

Maxing one-dimensional point guards seldom works out in the last decade. Maxing a one-dimensional scoring guard? It’s never worked out in the history of the league.

The Bulls are betting on the LaVine they saw last summer with Team USA and the first six weeks of the regular season, before the left knee began betraying him. If they get that smooth scorer, as well as the improving, willing defender LaVine showed he could be? Well, there is hope.

If they get the LaVine that had a history of far too often getting lost on the defensive end, especially late in possession, then the Bulls are about to sign up for five years of frustration.

That scenario was proposed to LaVine earlier this season in an exclusive Sun-Times interview.

“You’re assuming that I’m done,” LaVine said, when asked about his improving defensive mentality at the time. “How’s my defensive rating now? It’s better. What does that tell you?”

More importantly, what did it tell the Bulls?

It told them that LaVine – when healthy – was now max-offer worthy.

History be damned.

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ANAHEIM — Johnny Cueto was 4-0 with a 1.34 ERA in five career starts against the Angels and was 1-1 with a 1.08 ERA in four road starts this season going into the White Sox game at Angel Stadium Tuesday.

Something did not have to give as far as the Sox were concerned. Not after losing five of their previous six games. But it almost did.

Cueto gave up home runs to Andrew Velazquez, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in the third inning, putting the Sox in a 3-0 hole. It was the 23rd homer for Trout, who was 3-for-19 against the Sox before the at-bat. Ohtani has 17.

But Cueto pitched a perfect fourth after that big inning, striking out Brandon Marsh and Velazquez before the Sox erupted for five runs in the fifth on Seby Zavala’s RBI double and a pair of two-run homers by ninth-place hitter Josh Harrison and Luis Robert, the latter carrying 448 feet and breaking a 3-all tie.

Robert doubled and scored on Jose Abreu’s two-run double in the seventh giving the Sox a 7-3 cushion. Meanwhile, Cueto faced two batters over the minimum in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.

“Great heart. Great sense for pitching,” manager Tony La Russa said of the 36-year-old Cueto, who took a 1-4 record with a 3.19 ERA into his eighth start. “Just gotta score some runs.”

La Russa was alluding to a trend Cueto could do without. He received one or no runs of support in five of his seven starts, and the Sox opened the game with four scoreless innings against Angels righty Chase Silseth, who was recalled from Double-A Rocket City to make his fifth start of the season.

But Cueto exited after six innings with a 10-3 lead. He has pitched six or more innings in seven of eight starts. He allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out five.

The Sox had 17 hits through eight innings and led 11-4. Harrison, Robert and Abreu had three each and Moncada, Zavala, Leury Garcia and Harrison each had two. Harrison had three RBI, and Robert, Abreu, Moncada and Zavala had two each.

Sosa to Charlotte

Infielder LenynSosa, who was 1-for-12 with a double in four games including three starts after his contract was selected from Double-A Birmingham on Thursday, was optioned to Charlotte to make room for Yoan Moncada, who came off the injured list.

La Russa said Sosa wasn’t going to play every day and leaving him up would “impede his progress.”

“He’s made the right impression, but he needs to play,” La Russa said.

Through four plate appearances Tuesday, Harrison had hit safely in 12 of his last 16 games, going 19-for-51 (.373) with two homers, a triple, double, 10 RBI, three walks and three hit by pitches.

The defense rests

The Sox ranked last in the AL with a .980 fielding percentage and allowed an MLB-high 51 unearned runs through Monday. They were 23-14 when errorless and 11-24 when they made one or more errors.

This and that

Closer Liam Hendriks is slated for a simulated game Friday in San Francisco and could come off the injured list (forearm flexor strain) for the home stand that starts Monday against the Twins, La Russa said.

*Outfielder Adam Haseley, who has been under the weather according to La Russa, was expected to rejoin the team Tuesday night or Wednesday.

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Cubs starter Keegan Thompson needed less than a minute to strike out Reds star Joey Votto in the fourth inning to end the frame.

Thompson started with a low curveball. Whiff.

Cutter. Ball, inside.

Four-seamer, almost the same spot. Foul.

Cutter at the top of the zone. Whiff. Strike three.

Only 58 seconds had elapsed.

“I think naturally when you’re doing well,” Thompson told the Sun-Times this week, “you want to get back on the mound and keep going.”

Thompson maintained his up-tempo delivery in the Cubs’ 5-3 loss to the Reds on Tuesday through a career-high 6 1/3 innings. He was charged with four runs.

Thompson also held the Pirates and Braves to one or fewer runs through six innings in his last two starts. He’s been the Cubs’ best pitcher in that stretch, bouncing back from a trio of rough starts to begin his official tenure in the Cubs’ rotation.

While Thompson’s pitch mix – throwing more fastballs and adding a slider – has played into his success lately, the bigger picture has to do with nonlinear development.

Thompson’s rough patch wasn’t a sign of regression from a lights-out start to the season. It was part of a process to guarantee his early success was sustainable in a long season, especially if Thompson was going to transition into a starting role.

“Being a multi-inning reliever is a different task than being a starter that’s going to try and eat up 150-plus innings for us,” Cubs assistant pitching coach Daniel Moskos said in a conversation with the Sun-Times. “So, being able to be efficient, maintain his delivery, prevent some injury risk there, all of those things are going to benefit in the long run.”

To get there, the Cubs slowed things down and identified checkpoints for a consistent delivery. But in-season adjustments are tricky. A starting pitcher has to balance focussing on mid-week tweaks but not letting them throw him out of sync on start days.

“Your game day is, ‘Go have fun and attack and compete,'” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “We’ll reevaluate after, and we’ll try to find ways during the game to make the adjustments if we feel like we need to.”

Thompson’s athleticism and ability to attack the zone and adjust on the fly make him special. And Hottovy saw the 27-year-old losing some of those traits as he homed in on things like stride length and arm position.

“We were trying to do small movements [one] at a time,” Thompson said. “And for me, we just needed to get back into moving as quickly as possible, instead of slowing things down, to get my arm in the correct spot. So that when things aren’t going correctly, I know that even if things aren’t in sync mechanically, I know how to get my arm to the right spot.”

Through that process of breaking Thompson’s delivery into three components and then speeding it back up, he’s now naturally hitting his checkpoints without thinking about them.

Thompson’s quicker delivery has gone hand-in-hand with an up-tempo pace from pitch to pitch.

“Him thinking about being a little more up-tempo,” Hottovy said, “it shows you how confident he is right now.”

On Tuesday, Thompson didn’t allow a base runner into scoring position until the sixth inning. He gave up a pair of runs on back-to-back doubles. The next inning, he allowed two one-out singles. Both runners scored when reliever Rowan Wick gave up a three-run home run to Reds leadoff hitter Jonathan India.

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Six people were displaced Tuesday evening after a fire on the Lower West Side.

Officials responded to a two-alarm fire in the 2300 block of South Seeley Avenue about 6:35 p.m. and the blaze was struck out shortly after, Chicago fire officials said.

No injuries were reported and six adults were displaced, officials said.

The cause of the fire was being investigated.

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Before the Cubs opened a three-game home series against the Reds on Tuesday, Wrigley Field hosted a promising live batting practice session.

Right-hander Marcus Stroman (right shoulder inflammation) and lefty Drew Smyly (right oblique strain) each threw two innings, totaling 36 and 32 pitches, respectively, according to the Cubs.

Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki (left ring finger sprain) and second baseman Nick Madrigal (left groin strain) hit against them.

“Seiya’s probably at a point where, if he feels good tomorrow, we’re starting to think about a rehab assignment for him,” Cubs manager David Ross said, “and get him out there and get him some consistent at-bats.”

The Cubs could send Suzuki out on a rehab assignment as soon as Wednesday, depending on the feedback the team gets from his recovery.

Madrigal, who Ross said “looked really good,” in BP, is further behind Suzuki in his recovery timeline. Stroman and Smyly’s next steps will depend on how they feel Wednesday.

Suzuki has been out since injuring his finger stealing second base in Cincinnati a little over a month ago.

Suzuki continued to test his finger over the next few days, hoping to avoid an IL stint. And when it became clear he’d need a trip to the 10-day IL to address the inflammation, he aimed for a return against the Yankees a couple weeks ago.After seeing a doctor in New York for yet another opinion, however, Suzuki accepted a prescribed break from hitting.

Over the past week, Suzuki has been rehabbing and building up his hitting at the Cubs’ spring training complex in Arizona. On Tuesday, he rejoined the team in Chicago.

In other injury news

Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward was out of the lineup for the third straight game on Tuesday. The Cubs are treating him for right knee soreness, according to the team. He’ll be evaluated in the coming days.

Cubs first baseman Frank Schwindel (low back strain), who became eligible to return from 10-day IL on Tuesday, was set to be re-evaluated on Tuesday. The Cubs have not announced a timetable for his activation.

Lefty Wade Miley, one of three Cubs starters on the 15-day IL, along with Stroman and Smyly, played catch on Tuesday.

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Three young brothers who died in a West Humboldt Park fire were trapped in an illegal basement apartment with only one exit that was blocked by flames, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

A fourth boy remains in extremely critical condition from the fire, which broke out early Sunday in the back of the the apartment at 4032 W. Potomac, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.

The child’s mother was badly burned and inhaled smoke, likely while trying to find her children in their bedrooms, Langford said. Flames blocked the back door — the only exit — forcing the mother to break a window and escape, he said.

The mother remained incapacitated at a hospital while she recovers from burns to her face, Langford said.

Firefighters responded at 12:20 a.m. and had to break through the apartment door, which was locked from the inside, Langford said. Two children were found unresponsive in a room near the door, and the two other children were found on the other side of the apartment.

Firefighters rescued all four of the children, who had suffered smoke inhalation, Langford said.

Axel Cruz, 4, was pronounced dead at Saints Mary and Elisabeth Medical Center, authorities said. Jayden Cruz, 6, and Angel Rodriguez, 11, were hospitalized but later died. The fourth child remains hospitalized.

Investigators determined the fire was caused by an open flame in one of the back rooms, Langford said. But everything beyond that remains under investigation, he said. It’s unclear what set the fire, or if it was accidental.

Firefighters could hear a working smoke detector when they arrived at the home, according to the fire department.

All four children were brothers who lived with their mother and her partner at the apartment, Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) said in an interview. They had lived there for at least a few years, she said. The community held a vigil for the children and is planning another for 5 p.m. Wednesday outside the home.

Mitts said the fire was especially tragic because several of the children’s friends had seen them being taken unconscious from the building.

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Three young brothers who died in a West Humboldt Park fire were trapped in an illegal basement apartment with only one exit that was blocked by flames, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

A fourth boy remains in extremely critical condition from the fire, which broke out early Sunday in the back of the the apartment at 4032 W. Potomac, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.

The child’s mother was badly burned and inhaled smoke, likely while trying to find her children in their bedrooms, Langford said. Flames blocked the back door — the only exit — forcing the mother to break a window and escape, he said.

The mother remained incapacitated at a hospital while she recovers from burns to her face, Langford said.

Firefighters responded at 12:20 a.m. and had to break through the apartment door, which was locked from the inside, Langford said. Two children were found unresponsive in a room near the door, and the two other children were found on the other side of the apartment.

Firefighters rescued all four of the children, who had suffered smoke inhalation, Langford said.

Axel Cruz, 4, was pronounced dead at Saints Mary and Elisabeth Medical Center, authorities said. Jayden Cruz, 6, and Angel Rodriguez, 11, were hospitalized but later died. The fourth child remains hospitalized.

Investigators determined the fire was caused by an open flame in one of the back rooms, Langford said. But everything beyond that remains under investigation, he said. It’s unclear what set the fire, or if it was accidental.

Firefighters could hear a working smoke detector when they arrived at the home, according to the fire department.

All four children were brothers who lived with their mother and her partner at the apartment, Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) said in an interview. They had lived there for at least a few years, she said. The community held a vigil for the children and is planning another for 5 p.m. Wednesday outside the home.

Mitts said the fire was especially tragic because several of the children’s friends had seen them being taken unconscious from the building.

Read More

Three young brothers who died in a West Humboldt Park fire were trapped in an illegal basement apartment with only one exit that was blocked by flames, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

A fourth boy remains in extremely critical condition from the fire, which broke out early Sunday in the back of the the apartment at 4032 W. Potomac, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.

The child’s mother was badly burned and inhaled smoke, likely while trying to find her children in their bedrooms, Langford said. Flames blocked the back door — the only exit — forcing the mother to break a window and escape, he said.

The mother remained incapacitated at a hospital while she recovers from burns to her face, Langford said.

Firefighters responded at 12:20 a.m. and had to break through the apartment door, which was locked from the inside, Langford said. Two children were found unresponsive in a room near the door, and the two other children were found on the other side of the apartment.

Firefighters rescued all four of the children, who had suffered smoke inhalation, Langford said.

Axel Cruz, 4, was pronounced dead at Saints Mary and Elisabeth Medical Center, authorities said. Jayden Cruz, 6, and Angel Rodriguez, 11, were hospitalized but later died. The fourth child remains hospitalized.

Investigators determined the fire was caused by an open flame in one of the back rooms, Langford said. But everything beyond that remains under investigation, he said. It’s unclear what set the fire, or if it was accidental.

Firefighters could hear a working smoke detector when they arrived at the home, according to the fire department.

All four children were brothers who lived with their mother and her partner at the apartment, Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) said in an interview. They had lived there for at least a few years, she said. The community held a vigil for the children and is planning another for 5 p.m. Wednesday outside the home.

Mitts said the fire was especially tragic because several of the children’s friends had seen them being taken unconscious from the building.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — The White Sox activated Yoan Moncada from the injured list on Tuesday.

Now comes the important thing about that: Will Moncada make it meaningful?

The 27-year-old switch-hitting third baseman in the third year of a $70 million, five-year contract paying $13 million this season, has played in only 29 games in 2022 because of oblique, quad and hamstring injuries. When healthy, he has produced a .179/.230/.292 hitting line with a .523 OPS and three home runs.

Moncada is one missing piece of a puzzling Sox offense that is a big reason why the team enters Tuesday’s game against the Angels with a 34-38 record, 6 1/2 games behind the Twins in the AL Central.

Moncada landed on the 10-day injured list on June 20 (retroactive to June 18) with a strained right hamstring. He recorded a career-high five hits including a home run and drove in five runs on June 15 at Detroit, far and away his biggest game of the season.

He was injured in the Sox’ next game while running out a ground ball.

Sosa went 1-for-12 with a double in four games since his contract was selected from Double-A Birmingham on June 23.

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LOS ANGELES — Prime Video is turning to an experienced host for its coverage of “Thursday Night Football.”

Amazon announced Tuesday that Charissa Thompson will host the pregame, halftime and postgame coverage for its first season as the exclusive home of the primetime package.

Thompson will also continue to host Sunday’s Fox “NFL Kickoff,” which she has done for the past three seasons.

“Charissa’s infectious enthusiasm, quick wit, and strong NFL credentials make her perfectly suited for this role. We look forward to seeing her elevate conversations and connecting with viewers every Thursday night,” said Jared Stacy, Prime Video’s director of Global Live Sports Production.

Thompson worked with Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez the past three years at Fox. Prime Video has also hired recently retired quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman as studio analysts. Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit will be the game announcers.

Prime Video will carry a preseason game when San Francisco faces Houston on Aug. 25. Its first Thursday night regular-season game comes on Sept. 15 when Kansas City hosts the Los Angeles Chargers.

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