Chicago Bulls: 3 free agent targets to replace Cristiano Felicio

One of the least efficient and effective parts of the Chicago Bulls rotation on the current roster is overpaid Brazilian big man Cristiano Felicio.

What really put the Chicago Bulls in a tough spot when the injury bug bit this team hard over the course of the last few years was the lack of depth deeper in the frontcourt rotation. Given how injury prone both power forward Lauri Markkanen and center Wendell Carter Jr. were since the beginning of their careers in the last two and three years, respectively, the Bulls didn’t do a good enough job adding depth to this part of the rotation.

To the Bulls credit last offseason, they really tried to stack the depth behind Markkanen and WCJ in the frontcourt rotation. They signed the likes of former New York Knicks center Luke Kornet and veteran Indiana Pacers forward Thaddeus Young to try and fill out the roster more effectively than the previous season.

Poor usage of key forwards/bigs like Young and rookie center Daniel Gafford from former Bulls head coach Jim Boylen last season didn’t do anything to help the frontcourt rotation either. There was way too much playing time for the likes of Kornet and the sizable 6-foot-10 and 270 pound Brazilian power forward/center Cristiano Felicio.

The next cycle of free agency is about to begin on Oct. 18, so the Bulls have just a couple of days left to figure out what their plan will be to address any positional and rotational needs in that market. They also have a number of impending free agent decisions to make in the very near future. Although Felicio is not immediately set to be a free agent this year, what is the best way to proceed given he has just one year remaining on his current deal?

Here’s a look into the three free agent targets for the Bulls that could replace Felicio, if their new front office regime were to waive him before his current contract runs up.