Chicago Sports

BUFFALO, N.Y. –That didn’t take long.

Less than a month after Blackhawks forward Sam Lafferty and general manager Kyle Davidson made clear their mutual interest in re-signing, the Hawks announced Friday a two-year contract extension for Lafferty with a $1.15 million salary cap hit.

“I’m just really grateful,” Lafferty said. “Things weren’t looking that great for me for a little while there in Pittsburgh, but people here [in Chicago] believed in me. I’ve got to keep proving them right.”

Lafferty’s production –11 points in 45 games –doesn’t pop off the page, but his combination of intense work ethic and subtle skill have been impressive.

His ability to beat defenders one-on-one to create opportunities for himself is a rare trait on this Hawks roster. Only Alex DeBrincat has produced more individual scoring chances (per 60 even-strength minutes) than Lafferty has since his Hawks debut Jan. 13.

He is already 27, but he seems like a potentially late-blooming impact NHL player.

“That was a great signing,” said interim coach Derek King, one of Lafferty’s biggest supporters all season. “He’s going to be a big part of the rebuild. He’s the kind of player you need. [He] brings some energy; he’s a good character kid. He’s got a lot of upside to him.”

“Sam’s speed and up-tempo style is the brand of hockey we hope to see the team play over the coming years,” Davidson said in a statement. “Sam adds a dynamic to our roster that allows him to fit seamlessly throughout the lineup and give our coaches a reliable forward that can be trusted in nearly every situation.”

Raddysh vs. Hagel

Speaking of trades with encouraging early results, the much-discussed Brandon Hagel trade also looks wise so far.

Taylor Raddysh –just one of four assets the Hawks acquired from the Lightning –has singlehandedly outscored Hagel since trade day.

Raddysh tallied 10 points in his first 20 Hawks games after scoring twice Wednesday. Hagel, conversely, is off to a slow start in Tampa, having recorded just six points in his first 21 games. Hagel’s playoff performance will matter far more, but the Lightning will certainly want him to pick up the pace.

Dach needs reset

There’s no fair way to characterize Kirby Dach’s third NHL season other than as an abject disappointment. He finished with only nine goals and 17 assists in 70 games.

But Dach is still only 21 years old –six years younger than Lafferty and 2.5 years younger than Hagel, for reference. He has time to turn things around. He just needs a mental reset this summer.

“He needs to just clear his mind, get away from the game for a little bit and come back refreshed,” King said.

Johnson does, too

To conclude his extremely chaotic season, Tyler Johnson finally found some stability the last two weeks. Entering Friday, he’d played in seven straight games, tallying three points, averaging 14:40 of ice time and prompting King to admit, “I wish I had him all year.”

This upcoming offseason, which will be much longer than his last two since they followed the Lightning’s Stanley Cup runs, should be crucial for him.

“I can’t wait to get some training in me,” Johnson said. “[The] last couple years, I’ve played a lot of hockey [and] really haven’t had any off time — or any time — to get my body back where I want to be. With the surgery, it set me back a little bit. … It’s gonna be a pretty exciting time.”

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Throughout the Bulls season, guard Zach LaVine was about the business of putting the team first, even ahead of his ailing left knee.

On Friday, with the 2021-22 season now in the books for the organization, he was about the business. Period.

Let the game of chicken begin.

Speaking to the media after his exit meeting with the front office and coaching staff, LaVine reiterated what he has warned for years: He views himself as a max player, and entering unrestricted free agency this summer, he wants to be compensated like a max player.

If that involves the Bulls — who can pay LaVine the most — that would mean a five-year deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $212 million total, and $42.4 million per year. If it means going elsewhere, it would be one less year, but still a deal with $40 million-plus per season.

While both sides have indicated in the past that they wanted to work out a deal to keep LaVine a Bull, even if that means going into the luxury tax area at some point, the Bulls were also hoping that the two-time All-Star would take into consideration that the more money he was willing to leave on the table, the more wiggle room they would have to help build the roster around him.

A nice concept, but LaVine sounded like he was out of the doing favors concept of this upcoming negotiation.

“I plan to enjoy free agency with what it is as a whole,” LaVine said. “I think you’re going to have to experience A-Z without making any fast decisions. I think that’s something that me and [agent] Rich [Paul] get to go through and experience.”

Translation: LaVine will be open to all offers.

That’s the Paul way and what Paul’s agency, Klutch Sports, brings to the table. Hometown discounts are nice … for other guys.

“I mean, I think it’s important to me,” LaVine said, when asked if being a max player was a priority. “But you get paid what you’re valued at, and I see myself as a top guy in this league. And I think I’ve proven that over the last four years. And I think that’s what we’re going in negotiating. I think that’s what [general manager] Marc [Eversley], AK [executive vice president of basketball operations], and Rich are going to have to discuss.”

A discussion that Karnisovas seemed very excited to have.

During his session with the media on Friday, Karnisovas stressed “continuity” in the organization, using that buzzword over and over again. That included bringing LaVine back if the two sides can find common ground.

“The thing is we have a relationship with him, he knows exactly what to expect here, and you know, we have a really good relationship with him,” Karnisovas said of LaVine. “The last two years have been the best years of his career, so we’ll see what happens.”

First things first, and that means LaVine taking the next week off to “chill out,” but then admittedly seeing his knee specialist in Los Angeles to figure out what the next move was to get him back to 100%. LaVine has been dealing with swelling and discomfort in the knee since early December, and a source told the Sun-Times earlier this week that the guard had already told teammates an exploratory surgery was needed.

LaVine was still trying to downplay that scenario, but admitted to how much maintenance it actually took to keep going, including “overtime” for the training staff.

“Once I get back to L.A., go see my doctor, communicate with him and figure out what’s the best plan of action,” LaVine said. “Right now, I don’t know. We’ll figure that out.”

Results that the Bulls would like to find out as soon as possible, but results that shouldn’t influence much.

Karnisovas was asked if the knee could be a sticking point in the negotiations with LaVine, and said, “No, I don’t think so.”

Don’t think so?

Game on.

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I know what I don’t want for the Bulls more than what I do want for them. That might not seem particularly helpful heading into the offseason and beyond, but bear with me here. Sometimes a negative can inform a positive.

I liked the 2021-22 Bulls, a team that showed heart and effort and all those things you want in an NBA club but don’t always get. Its weakness was an unfortunate habit of shrinking in the presence of more talented opponents, which, if you’re ranking weaknesses, is a bad weakness to have. It showed up again in Milwaukee’s five-game dismissal of the Bulls in the postseason. They fell by 30 points in Game 3, and that wasn’t a fluke, wasn’t an anomaly, wasn’t a lone-wolf bad night. It was typical.

Some will argue that the Bulls didn’t have a killer instinct this season, but that would imply they were ever in position to kill anybody in any of those lopsided losses. They weren’t. Moving forward, the temptation is to say they need to acquire an assassin, or at least someone who sticks out his chin and begs to take on the other team by himself.

Yes and no.

Yes to “sticks out his chin” and no to “by himself.”

Look no further than the Bucks, the defending NBA champions, for a template. Now, you’ll argue that Milwaukee has everything it needs in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is 6-11 with a wingspan of 7-4, which means that jumping while dunking is optional for him. He’s almost painfully gifted. You’ll laugh at me if I say that one of the big reasons for his success is that he cares about winning and cares about his teammates. I’m even rolling my eyes after writing that. But it’s true. Call up any of his TV interviews and listen to him. He cares. If he’s acting, then he’s Denzel Washington good. He could have left the Bucks to play somewhere else in 2020, somewhere with brighter lights and more “brand” exposure, but he chose to stay in pleasant Milwaukee and chase a championship.

The Bulls aren’t going to get a Greek Freak this offseason, unless he’ll be hiding at the 18th pick of the first round of the June draft. But Giannis serves a purpose for me. He’s a reminder of what I don’t want for the Bulls. I don’t want a James Harden or a Russell Westbrook. Not those two players specifically because I don’t know any winning team in its right mind that would want either. I don’t want anybody with a me-first, I-second approach to the game. There’s a reason Harden and Westbrook have had incredible individual statistics and haven’t won an NBA title: The way they play the game is antithetical to winning championships.

Their supporters will point to the huge number of assists that both players have amassed in their careers as proof of their desire to involve teammates. But by all appearances, the goal for Harden and Westbrook has been triple-doubles, a statistical pursuit in which assists are things to be collected for one’s private collection, like artwork or sports memorabilia. Teammates are vehicles to help them get from Point A to Assist B. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be making the same judgments on Luka Doncic and Trae Young someday.

Back to the Bucks. It’s not just Antetokounmpo who wants to win. The Bulls could really use someone like his teammate, Jrue Holiday, another talented player who doesn’t know the meaning of “can’t.” They need more players whom opposing players hate to face. And as detested as Grayson Allen is in Chicago and anywhere where cheap shots are frowned upon, the Bucks seem to appreciate his drive to succeed. He matters.

There’s no doubt the Bulls have to raise their talent level, but how they do it is important. Plenty of gifted players are out there, but plenty of them wouldn’t know how to spell “team” if you spotted them all four letters in the correct order. It’s not just Harden and Westbrook. It’s all the players who aspire to be Harden and Westbrook. What I’m arguing for here is team “culture,” and I think I’m going to be ill. It’s a sports buzzword that drives me to the brink of insanity. But the Bulls are at a pivotal point. How they proceed could decide whether they turn into winners or remain a team that wilts against quality opponents.

It would help if they stayed healthy next season, but injuries to Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso were not the main reason they struggled at times this season. They need more talent, but the right kind of talent. Fair or not, I still look at LaVine as impressionable. Having DeMar DeRozan, an excellent player who cares about winning, as a teammate was a good thing for the 27-year-old. But if someone without DeRozan’s terrific attitude came along, I wonder which way LaVine would go. In the direction of Harden and Westbrook?

If the Bulls don’t offer LaVine a max contract in the offseason, it would be hard to blame him for going elsewhere for the money. But it’s worth noting that Antetokounmpo chose to sign a new contract with the Bucks in 2020 in hopes of bringing a title to Milwaukee. He did.

Doesn’t LaVine have some unfinished business in Chicago?

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I know what I don’t want for the Bulls more than what I do want for them. That might not seem particularly helpful heading into the offseason and beyond, but bear with me here. Sometimes a negative can inform a positive.

I liked the 2021-22 Bulls, a team that showed heart and effort and all those things you want in an NBA club but don’t always get. Its weakness was an unfortunate habit of shrinking in the presence of more talented opponents, which, if you’re ranking weaknesses, is a bad weakness to have. It showed up again in Milwaukee’s five-game dismissal of the Bulls in the postseason. They fell by 30 points in Game 3, and that wasn’t a fluke, wasn’t an anomaly, wasn’t a lone-wolf bad night. It was typical.

Some will argue that the Bulls didn’t have a killer instinct this season, but that would imply they were ever in position to kill anybody in any of those lopsided losses. They weren’t. Moving forward, the temptation is to say they need to acquire an assassin, or at least someone who sticks out his chin and begs to take on the other team by himself.

Yes and no.

Yes to “sticks out his chin” and no to “by himself.”

Look no further than the Bucks, the defending NBA champions, for a template. Now, you’ll argue that Milwaukee has everything it needs in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is 6-11 with a wingspan of 7-4, which means that jumping while dunking is optional for him. He’s almost painfully gifted. You’ll laugh at me if I say that one of the big reasons for his success is that he cares about winning and cares about his teammates. I’m even rolling my eyes after writing that. But it’s true. Call up any of his TV interviews and listen to him. He cares. If he’s acting, then he’s Denzel Washington good. He could have left the Bucks to play somewhere else in 2020, somewhere with brighter lights and more “brand” exposure, but he chose to stay in pleasant Milwaukee and chase a championship.

The Bulls aren’t going to get a Greek Freak this offseason, unless he’ll be hiding at the 18th pick of the first round of the June draft. But Giannis serves a purpose for me. He’s a reminder of what I don’t want for the Bulls. I don’t want a James Harden or a Russell Westbrook. Not those two players specifically because I don’t know any winning team in its right mind that would want either. I don’t want anybody with a me-first, I-second approach to the game. There’s a reason Harden and Westbrook have had incredible individual statistics and haven’t won an NBA title: The way they play the game is antithetical to winning championships.

Their supporters will point to the huge number of assists that both players have amassed in their careers as proof of their desire to involve teammates. But by all appearances, the goal for Harden and Westbrook has been triple-doubles, a statistical pursuit in which assists are things to be collected for one’s private collection, like artwork or sports memorabilia. Teammates are vehicles to help them get from Point A to Assist B. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be making the same judgments on Luka Doncic and Trae Young someday.

Back to the Bucks. It’s not just Antetokounmpo who wants to win. The Bulls could really use someone like his teammate, Jrue Holiday, another talented player who doesn’t know the meaning of “can’t.” They need more players whom opposing players hate to face. And as detested as Grayson Allen is in Chicago and anywhere where cheap shots are frowned upon, the Bucks seem to appreciate his drive to succeed. He matters.

There’s no doubt the Bulls have to raise their talent level, but how they do it is important. Plenty of gifted players are out there, but plenty of them wouldn’t know how to spell “team” if you spotted them all four letters in the correct order. It’s not just Harden and Westbrook. It’s all the players who aspire to be Harden and Westbrook. What I’m arguing for here is team “culture,” and I think I’m going to be ill. It’s a sports buzzword that drives me to the brink of insanity. But the Bulls are at a pivotal point. How they proceed could decide whether they turn into winners or remain a team that wilts against quality opponents.

It would help if they stayed healthy next season, but injuries to Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso were not the main reason they struggled at times this season. They need more talent, but the right kind of talent. Fair or not, I still look at LaVine as impressionable. Having DeMar DeRozan, an excellent player who cares about winning, as a teammate was a good thing for the 27-year-old. But if someone without DeRozan’s terrific attitude came along, I wonder which way LaVine would go. In the direction of Harden and Westbrook?

If the Bulls don’t offer LaVine a max contract in the offseason, it would be hard to blame him for going elsewhere for the money. But it’s worth noting that Antetokounmpo chose to sign a new contract with the Bucks in 2020 in hopes of bringing a title to Milwaukee. He did.

Doesn’t LaVine have some unfinished business in Chicago?

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Joey Bissing suffered his second ACL injury in football as a freshman at Libertyville.

It proved fortuitous.

“My dad said he would buy me a Ranger bass boat if I quit football,” Bissing said.

That 2007 Ranger became a life-changer.

As a sophomore in 2018, he and Jackson Paden took Libertyville to its first sectional title in high school bass fishing with the big bass (4.37 pounds) anchoring their winning bag of 14.24.

Then came the learning experiences of Bissing’s junior year not going well at sectionals and Covid knocking out his senior year.

“If you’re not learning, you not going to get any better, that is biggest thing I learned in high school,” Bissing said.

Learning showed when I asked how he liked to fish.

“I’m good at throwing ChatterBaits and a jig,” Bissing said.

That’s an odd combo for a young angler.

“One I learned on the Chain, the other on Geneva,” he said, then explained. “Brad Marshall took me under his wing, taught me how to fish on Chain O’Lakes. Scott Schmidt taught me how to fish Lake Geneva and taught me how to fish deep.

“The Chain is really shallow, Geneva is super deep. It’s two different worlds, that’s kind of bass fishing. I am very fortunate to learn from those two guys.”

As to the college bass fishing life at the University of Tennessee, Bissing said, “We travel all over the country. What a crazy life I lead. . . . I’m here for a week, gone for a week, it’s hard to keep up with classes.”

This semester he has classes in Excel, communications, statistics and economics, while also taking an online class Spanish class from College of Lake County.

“I owe so much to my parents [Joel and Kim],” Bissing said. “I can’t afford to go [college fishing] without them. I owe everything to them.”

Bass fishing at Tennessee does not rank with the Vols having a storied women’s basketball (eight national titles, Pat Summitt) and football (six national titles, Peyton Manning) programs.

But they have Bill Dance, who made an orange and white Tennessee cap de rigueur bass-fishing attire. For the bass-fishing club, alum Harrison Smiddy, founder of Enduro Power Lithium Batteries, is the most important supporter. That explains the wrap on Bissing’s boat, a 2020 Ranger, which was finished a couple weeks ago.

Yes, Bissing uses his major in marketing and minor in communications.

Libertyville bass-fishing coach Bob Uliks appreciates how Bissing juggles life.

“This is something that I saw Joey really learn and understand as he started his college fishing career,” Uliks said “Being on the water 10-12 hours a day in practice and during competition takes a lot of preparation both mentally and physically, from the travel, being in the elements to staying hydrated, preparing your gear to nutrition and sleep, if you want to excel and succeed as Joey has you need to understand these concepts and adapt them to your daily life. That in conjunction with attending classes and keeping grades up makes Joey a complete athlete in my opinion.”

Bissing and Paden finished fifth March 4 at MLF’s Abu Garcia College Fishing Open at Lake Guntersville in Alabama to qualify for the national championship.

When I asked his advice for high school anglers, who have sectionals Thursday, he said, “Surround yourself with good fisherman who love fishing and learn from them. You have to take in everything they say.”

Bissing and Paden pass it on with JJ Fishing summer camps. Bissing said he has some openings this summer.

Reach Bissing, also a licensed Wisconsin guide, on Facebook.

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The first round of the 2022 NFL Draft has come and gone, but not without some chaotic movement as 9 trades were made over the course of Thursday night. As the draft enters Day 2 on Friday, the Chicago Bears will finally make their first picks of the draft with selections 39 and 48 in the second round and selection 71 in the third round.

Several names connected to the Bears in mock drafts, including Tulsa’s Tyler Smith and Chattanooga’s Cole Strange, went in the first round. These picks may have shaken up GM Ryan Poles’ draft board along with the whopping six wide receivers selected on Thursday, but there’s still plenty of talent to be had. Here’s a look at five names the Bears should consider on Day 2 to fill out their roster.

Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia

Five defensive players from Georgia were selected in Thursday’s first round and Dean was shockingly not one of them. Arguably the best remaining prospect on the board, it wouldn’t come as a shock for a team to trade up to grab the reigning Butkus Award winner. If Dean remains on the board at pick 39, pairing him with Roquan Smith could make for the next great Chicago linebacker duo in the team’s storied history. With the switch back to a 4-3 defense, there’s plenty of uncertainty who will be lining up next to Smith this season.

Christian Watson, WR, North Dakota State

As the draft entered the last few first round picks Thursday night, it was looking iffy on whether Watson would see the second round after a heavy run of wide receiver selections. Connected to the Bears by several analysts, Watson is the best remaining wide receiver on the board. His tall frame and athleticism would bring a much needed edge to the Bears, and fit perfectly into Poles’ plans for building around quarterback Justin Fields.

Logan Hall, DL, Houston

The towering 6-foot-6, 283 pound Hall would immediately slot into a starting role at defensive tackle for the Bears. Noted for his violent burst off the line, his size would plug the gaps in stopping the run while getting after the quarterback with more success than normally seen in interior defensive lineman with his aggressive style of play. The question that remains on Hall is whether teams view him more as an 4-3 defensive tackle or a 3-4 defensive end, a debate that has been going on for a couple months now.

Bernhard Raimann, OT, Central Michigan

It’s been an odd football journey for Bernhard Raimann, a native of Steinbrunn, Austria who didn’t begin playing football until he was 14. His journey to the USA saw him play tight end before landing on offensive tackle at Central Michigan. Still considered a raw talent, Raimann’s draft stock has been volatile in recent weeks following reports that there have been red flags around his physical. While the same report also listed Alabama’s Evan Neal, the New York Giants had no issue selecting him 7th overall on Thursday. If the Bears are high on Raimann, they may be prepared to take him with one of their second round picks.

Jalen Pitre, S, Baylor

Finding a young, promising safety to pair with Eddie Jackson should be at the top of the priority list for Poles and the Bears. Pitre’s profile can slot in as a do-it-all safety in both pass coverage and run defense coming up on the line. Despite strong performances in his final year at Baylor, the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine, the hype hasn’t carried over on Pitre which makes him an intriguing target for the Bears on Friday. The 2021 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and first-team AP All-American would be another surefire best player available selection for Poles.

Make sure to check out our Bears forum for the latest on the team.

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The most dangerous way to approach the wildly unpredictable NFL Draft is to believe that you somehow have an uncanny ability to predict it.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles is unproven, but he’s a pragmatist. He knows his best chance at succeeding in his first draft is to take as many shots in the first three rounds as he can, which is why he resisted any impulse to catapult himself into the first round Thursday with an ill-advised trade.

It’s rarely fun to wait, but it’s often smart.

As the first round wound down, the Bears still had their second-rounders (Nos. 39 and 48) and a pick in the third (No. 71), and the goal is to find three significant pieces of their future with those selections Friday. Those are their valuable picks, and they need every one of them.

The odds of finding meaningful talent decreases with each round, but there’s still a strong enough chance in the second and third to make those picks worthwhile. On the Pro Bowl rosters last season, 34% of the offensive and defensive players were second- or third-round picks.

From the 2019 draft class, nearly two-thirds of the second-round picks and half the third-rounders have had at least one season as a full-time starter. And the Bears badly need starters across the board, but especially at cornerback, wide receiver and on the offensive line.

So Poles maintained the “discipline” he talked about in reference to holding firm in his long-term plans for the roster and watched patiently as the supposedly elite talent of this draft went elsewhere.

The Jaguars opened by taking Georgia defensive end Travon Walker, leaving Michigan’s Aiden Hutchinson for the Lions at No. 2 as the first five picks were defensive players for the first time since 1991.

The Bears never had any dreams of trading into that zone, but one of the early picks had to be painful. Using the selection the Bears traded them to move up and get Justin Fields last year, the Giants drafted Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal at No. 7. They would’ve had their choice of any wide receiver at that point, too.

That’s one of the toughest parts of this rebuild for Poles, who must deal with the mess Ryan Pace left him while going for broke and mortgaging the future only to finish 6-11 last season and get fired. It would’ve been awfully helpful to have a full arsenal of draft picks in his first year, but Poles had to trade Khalil Mack for that extra second-rounder just to give himself a chance at producing a decent class.

“It’s definitely a challenge, but at the same time that’s why I was hired,” Poles said this week when asked about navigating the draft with a depleted set of picks. “That’s just what we’ve been handed and we’re going to maximize that.”

Poles’ restraint Thursday offered yet more hope that the Bears are headed in the right direction. He has no delusion of being able to outfox counterparts like Bill Belichick, John Lynch and Jason Licht.

Given the state of the Bears, would it have been better to package two of those picks to move into the first round at, say, No. 20?Probably not.

Pace never shook that smartest-guy-in-the-room syndrome. The Bears’ 48-65 record under his direction — seventh-worst in the NFL over that span — suggests that he did not, in fact, know something that the rest of the league didn’t.

What Poles seems to know is that he doesn’t know everything. He doesn’t think he has the answers to a test that no general manager aces. He’s playing the actual odds, not the ones he imagines being inexplicably in his favor when there are 31 other teams going through the same draft preparation. It’s practical and prudent.

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Cubs catcher Willson Contreras wiped away tears after hugging his younger brother William at home plate before first pitch Thursday. And his eyes filled with tears again after the game when he recounted that moment.

“It was the moment of my life, believe me,” Willson said. “… I always recall those moments when we were growing up together back home, just dreaming to get signed by somebody. And I’m crying because of the job that we put together to get to where we are.”

The Contreras brothers shared a special moment Thursday as they exchanged their respective teams’ lineup cards before the Cubs’ 5-1 loss to the Braves. It was the brothers’ first time in opposing dugouts in their professional careers.

“I remember watching him play Little league,” Willson said. “And we were always close. We were always good brothers. We never fought, and we support each other. And those are memories that I will never forget.”

For Willson, the emotions started flowing hours before the game, when William called him Thursday afternoon.

“I thought he was bothering me a little bit, he was bored,” Willson joked.

Instead, William was calling to break the news that the Braves were recalling him from Triple-A before the series finale with the Cubs. William, who at 24 is five years younger than Willson, made his major-league debut in 2020.

“I thought that the best way to make my parents proud was taking the [lineup] cards out together,” Willson said.

So, he broached the subject with Cubs senior media relations specialist and interpreter Will Nadal, who passed on the message to Cubs manager David Ross.

Said Ross, when asked about curating special moments for his players: “It’s nice calling the other managers as well and putting it on their radar and saying, ‘Hey, this is something that I’d like to do for this guy or that guy, are you on board?’ And they’re all for it.

“As much as we compete against each other and want to win every second, the moments that you get to enjoy family dynamics and appreciate what a special place it is to be in the major leagues, I think that’s awesome.”

So, with Ross and Braves manager Brian Snitker on board, the Contreras brothers carried the lineup cards out to home plate Thursday evening, their last name stretching across the backs of their opposite-colored jerseys as they held their embrace.

“It is really special for me because of everything we went through to get to where we are right now as a family,” Willson said. “No one knows how hard the road is to get to the big leagues. And having my brother play against me, it’s just special. I’m trying to set an example for him to follow. And that’s what made me proud the most.”

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Three months after losing in the AFC championship game, the Chiefs — for whom new Bears general manager Ryan Poles was the assistant player personnel director — didn’t have a first-round pick in the 2019 draft.

They weren’t set to draft until No. 61 overall, the third-to-last pick of the second round. But they sent the Rams a fifth-round pick to move up five spots and drafted Mecole Hardman, the raw Georgia receiver whose 40-yard dash had wowed scouts.

“There were still a lot of good wideouts left,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said at the time. “But none that ran 4.27.”

Three years later, Hardman has been to the Pro Bowl once as a special teamer. Last year, he caught a career-high 59 balls for 693 yards. That’s steady, not standout, production.

“I think we made the right calculated guess there,” Veach said after making the trade. “You kind of see how the board’s falling and how those wideouts are falling.”

In his first draft Friday, Poles will have to judge exactly where the wide receivers are falling. Regardless of his assertion Tuesday — or was it a bluff? — that he could support quarterback Justin Fields by picking players who don’t catch the ball, the Bears enter the second round of the draft in desperate need of a receiver.

The Bears are scheduled to have Picks 39 and 48 in Round 2 and No. 71 in Round 3. Poles said this week he’s willing to move down to get extra selections if the Bears deem that part of the draft particularly deep.

Receivers available when the second round begins Friday include North Dakota State’s Christian Watson, who stands 6-4, and Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore, who is 5-10.

Alabama’s John Metchie III and Georgia’s George Pickens are stars each returning off torn ACLs; Metchie hurt his knee in the SEC title game in December and Pickens was injured during spring practice, returning for the last four games of a national championship season. Memphis’ Calvin Austin III, Cincinnati’s Alec Pierce and South Alabama’s Jalen Tolbert will be on the board in Round 2, too.

Teams that needed receivers pounced Thursday.

The Eagles traded the No. 18 and No. 101 picks to the Titans for star receiver A.J. Brown, who had clamored for a contract extension. The Eagles reportedly signed him to a four-year, $100 million deal, and the Titans used their new first-round pick on Arkansas receiver Treylon Burks.

He was the last of six receivers picked in the top 18. Four were chosen during a five-pick run, starting with the Falcons’ choice of USC’s Drake London at No. 8. The Jets took Garrett Wilson, one of Fields’ former teammates at Ohio State, No. 10. The Saints traded up to select another one, Chris Olave, with the next pick. The Lions then moved all the way up to No. 12 from No. 32 via a trade with NFC North rival Minnesota to take Alabama receiver Jameson Williams. Later, the Commanders drafted Penn State’s Jahan Dotson at No. 16.

The Cardinals, having seen the run on receivers, traded their first-round pick, No. 23, for Ravens veteran “Hollywood” Brown, who had 1,008 receiving yards last year, and Pick No. 100. He played at Oklahoma with Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.

The pressure will be on Poles to find his guy Friday. The three free-agent receivers he signed to one-year deals have question marks. Byron Pringle had 42 catches for 568 yards with the Chiefs last year — fewer than Hardman — but was arrested Saturday on suspicion of reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.

Equanimeous St. Brown had two fewer catches with the Packers last year than he has letters in his first name — nine. Former Seahawks receiver David Moore, who signed after trying out in last week’s minicamp, didn’t have a catch last year.

That leaves the Bears, and Poles, looking for more.

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Too bad the Chicago Bulls couldn’t keep the ball rolling.

They still deserve a round of applause, though, for a spectacular season and a few nail-biting moments during postseason play.

With so many injuries sidelining key players, defeating Giannis Antetokounmpo and the rest of the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks was certainly more than a tall order.

That didn’t keep fans from gripping onto a sliver of hope when the Bulls came roaring back in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, narrowly beating the Bucks in Game 2.

Then came the let-down Chicago sports fans know too well.

Sports pundits and basketball aficionados who’ve been yelling at TV screens these past few days have already started discussions on how the Bulls roster must be shaken up if the team wants to really shine.

Even a taste of the two epic three-peats of the 1990s would be glorious.

We got revved up inside our homes during the height of the pandemic two years ago watching Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman in “The Last Dance” docuseries.

Then in October, the Chicago Sky gifted the city with its first WNBA championship.

Right after, this Bulls team emerged and set the basketball court on fire.

DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and born-and-raised Chicagoan Ayo Dosunmu, to name a few favorites, excited both old-school fans and the younger set who weren’t even born when “His Airness” retired.

Thanks to this current team, the city and Chicagoans scattered throughout the country are Bull-headed again.

Need proof?

Television ratings of the 42 Bulls games that aired live on NBC Sports Chicago through January ballooned 86% compared to the same time span during the previous season, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Jeff Agrest reported.

The Bulls also drew huge crowds, with the largest attendance records in the NBA for both home and away games during the 2021-2022 season, according to ESPN. No bull.

Bulls fans didn’t get the slam dunk of a championship season they yearn for. Too early to expect that.

But they got back that enthusiastic spark and spirit that can nourish new dynasties.

Looking forward to next season and the start of something Bulliful.

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