The possibilities
With at least $22 million in salary cap space, the Bulls certainly cannot afford D’Angelo Russell, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard or any of the stars in the league for that matter.
Going after talents like Randle or Malcolm Brogdon, for example, may be the best they can afford.
There have been rumors of veterans such as Cory Joseph, Patrick Beverley, and Taj Gibson that could be added to the roster this summer, but none of them will be long-term options for Chicago like Randle.
Randle is a phenomenal talent especially in the scoring and offensive rebounding department ranking among the best in the league, but his defensive statistics are among the worst.
He ranked 61st out of 63 centers in Defensive Real Plus-Minus and 152nd out of 158 out of all forwards and centers last season.
Cristiano Felicio was among the worst in the league defensively ranking 93rd of 94 with a -4.35 Real-Plus Minus compared to Randle’s 0.14 which was 33rd.
At the center position, Randle ranked sixth in Real-Plus Minus offensively at 1.52. He finished behind Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid, and free agent’s Nikola Vucevic and Al Horford.
The 6-foot-9, 250-pound big man took more threes last season and knocked down 34.4-percent on 2.7 per game. He also shot just over 73-percent from the charity stripe making 4.9 of 6.7 per game.
The Bulls offensive tempo will increase this season and should feature more fast breaks and three-point shooting, so adding a player like Randle to hit the boards and stretch the floor would be a match.
If the Bulls can find a suitor for Felicio and shed his $8,156,500 million due this season and $7,529,020 next year, adding Randle could easily be done and strongly considered at the least.
Waiving Walt Lemon Jr. and Shaq Harrison could add up to $1.4 million in extra cap space too in order to sign Randle or a veteran.
The problem in signing Randle lies with the Bulls ranking 25th in defensive rating last season and adding a player with his defensive history would make you question if it is the smartest move for the NBA’s youngest team.
A frontcourt with Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., Julius Randle, and Daniel Gafford rotating between power forward and center, however, is certainly appealing.