What are the particular positional and organizational needs that the Chicago Bulls most desperately must address in the looming offseason?
Facing the daunting task this offseason of trying to piece back together a rebuild that once looked promising at times over the course of the last two or three years will be what former Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas deals with for the Chicago Bulls in the near future. The Bulls hired Karnisovas to be the executive vice president of basketball operations, to replace John Paxson as the lead voice in the front office.
The point in hiring Karnisovas was to keep the rebuild moving in the right direction, or find a new path to chart a course on that will be more successful in the near future. What was clear this season was that the Bulls weren’t going in any right direction under the direction of the former vice president of basketball operations Paxson and former general manager Gar Forman.
Entering the impending offseason (whenever it may arrive), the Bulls hired former Philadelphia 76ers vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley to replace Forman as general manager and Karnisovas to replace Paxson as the overall lead voice with the organization. Karnisovas made other key hires since including J.J. Polk and Pat Connelly.
Free agency, the trade block, and the NBA Draft are all set to play significant roles this coming offseason in reshaping the model of the Bulls franchise for more success in the near future. The Bulls are looking at another potential top 10 pick in the draft lottery, have plenty of trade chips to use this year, and need to groom their cap sheet for the illustrious 2021 free agent class.
Before the Bulls can figure out who they should be targeting in free agency, the NBA Draft, etc., they need to know which needs they most desperately have to fill. Here’s a look into the three biggest needs for the Bulls for the coming offseason.