The Chicago Bulls are playing a high-stakes game of ’21
Despite not landing any of the big fish in free agency, the Chicago Bulls have been winners this off-season. Will their display land them their prize?
The Chicago Bulls have done well this off-season. Thaddeus Young, Tomas Satoransky, and Luke Kornet are not franchise-altering talents, but they all add a lot of value to a team. Coby White has looked like a good bet to deliver on the promise that made him the seventh-overall pick, and Daniel Gafford has wasted no time endearing himself to See Red Nation.
Bulls brass also never got involved in the trade that ultimately saw Russell Westbrook go to the Houston Rockets. That trade would have likely taken away from a core that is essential to the Bulls master plan of attacking free agency in 2021.
Surely you have seen the names of possible players hitting free agency in a couple of summers from now. The one looming largest is that of reigning-MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. There are other names but a critical eye could whittle the list of targets down to Giannis and few others that move the Bulls’ championship needle.
After Greek Freak, the list could include Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, both of whom just returned home to SoCal this summer. A move away just doesn’t seem likely, and Leonard will be eligible for the ten-year-vet max contract then.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis share an agent and just moved Heaven and Earth (and a gang of young talent) to be in L.A. Plus LeBron will be 36-years-old and Davis has previously said he does not want to return home. James has mostly defied the aging process so far, but how much longer will that last? And AD could change his mind, but until he does, he hasn’t.
Who out of Blake Griffin, Bradley Beal, CJ McCollum, Rudy Gobert, or Victor Oladipo vaults them to the top of the East? LaMarcus Aldridge or Mike Conley? How about Jrue Holiday? Nope, nope, nope, nope… you get the idea.
For all intents and purposes, it is Giannis or bust for Chicago (and every other team). Of course, in two years any number of things can change and new players could become available who aren’t in the discussion now. But that is exactly where the risk lies.
What if Giannis signs an extension? The Milwaukee Bucks have signed his older brother in an attempt to keep the 6’11” Swi…Gree…Nigerian-army knife in Cream City. And that is just a simple outcome. Obviously, every team will be vying for his services so the Bulls best pitch might still not be enough because so much can change between now and then.
None of this will matter if Zach LaVine takes his game to another level or Lauri Markkanen puts it all together. The latter had an 11-game stretch from February 2 to March 1 where he averaged 26.5 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. He scored 25-plus in seven of those games and dropped 30-plus in five of them.
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To be clear, the Bulls front office has done a good job of building a team capable of supporting a star in the two years since trading Jimmy Butler. But they are banking on a future with more moving parts than an assembly line. Planning for the summer of 2021 is indeed a dangerous game; one where the dealer won’t bust and bail them out.