This summer, the Bulls finally, officially stopped pretending they were close to competing for anything but a play-in tournament berth.
Three years after offloading major draft capital in the supposed hopes of becoming Eastern Conference contenders, Chicago waived the white flag. The Bulls front office ditched probably two of its three best trade chips in two-time All-Defensive Team guard Alex Caruso and six-time All-Star small forward DeMar DeRozan. The third, 24-year-old emerging point guard Coby White, remains rostered after a breakout individual season in 2023/24.
DeRozan agreed to a three-year, $73.9MM deal with the Kings as part of a three-team sign-and-trade with the Bulls and Spurs. San Antonio netted an unprotected first-round pick swap, as well as the contract of 3-and-D combo forward Harrison Barnes. Chicago, despite moving by far the best player in the deal, only nabbed two second rounders and deep-bench shooting guard Chris Duarte.
Now, two other veteran former All-Stars remain very available on the trade market. But the Bulls can’t seem to give away either shooting guard Zach LaVine or center Nikola Vucevic, both of whom are on far-too-generous long-term deals.
Caruso was shipped out to the Thunder in exchange for point guard Josh Giddey, who by the end of this spring’s playoffs was a barely-used eighth man, averaging just 12.6 minutes per game in Oklahoma City’s second-round loss to the Finals-bound Mavericks. Giddey’s missing-in-action jumper and poor defense made him a liability in his postseason debut. Luckily for the 6’8″ Aussie, he’s not in danger of making the playoffs again any time soon.
Oklahoma City gave up a pair of second-round picks to obtain Gordon Hayward in a trade deadline trade. Caruso, on an expiring $9.9MM sweetheart deal, is one of the league’s elite defenders, and surely could have netted back some level of first-round equity had he been handled by shrewder front office management.
Armed with a core of DeRozan, LaVine, Vucevic, Lonzo Ball, Caruso and White, the Bulls went a combined 125-121 across three seasons. Chicago did make the playoffs once, briefly, during this group’s first year together, 2021/22, but hasn’t survived the play-in tournament since.
The team has been stubbornly resistant to making significant moves to improve its defense or long-range shooting since Ball went down with a left knee meniscus tear in January 2022. He’s currently rehabbing after his third surgery, and hoping to make a comeback in the final year of his contract.
The Bulls selected intriguing young G League Ignite forward Matas Buzelis with the No. 11 pick in this year’s poorly regarded draft. The 6’10” pro was an underwhelming floor-spacer in the G League, making just 27.3% of his 3.4 triple tries, but flashed encouraging finishing ability and athleticism during his Summer League games with Chicago.
For Chicago’s only free agent addition thus far, the team inked ex-Pacers reserve big man Jalen Smith to a three-season, $27MM deal. At 24, the 6’10” Maryland alum could conceivably grow along with the rebuilding Bulls.
The Bulls also re-signed restricted free agent forward Patrick Williams to a generous five-year, $90MM new deal. The 23-year-old incurred a left foot injury in January that required a season-ending surgery. Due to minimal frontcourt size elsewhere, the 6’7″ wing has often been miscast by Chicago head coach Billy Donovan as a power forward, but his skinny frame has impeded his ability to get much offense cooking against opposing players.
Across 43 games last year, Williams averaged 10.0 points on .443/.399/.788 shooting splits, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. Those numbers are more or less the same as his rookie season output of 9.2 points on a .483/.391/.728 slash line, along with 4.6 boards and 1.4 dimes. Though he has improved defensively during his four pro seasons, the Florida State alum has been a developmental dud on the other end, hampered by a slow release on his jump shots.
We want to hear from you. Did the Bulls get enough back in their deals for DeRozan and Caruso? How should they handle the contracts of Vucevic and LaVine? Will Ball even vaguely resemble his pre-injury self? Was Buzelis the right draft pick, or will he eventually go down in Bulls history as a lottery misfire a la Williams? How much more leeway should owner Jerry Reinsdorf give team president Arturas Karnisovas, who has underwhelmed during his tenure with the team thus far?
Let us know how you feel in the comments section below.