Chicago Bulls: 5 early 2021 free agent targets ahead of 2020-21 season

A once very fruitful 2021 free agent class has largely declined of late. But there’s still targets out there that the Chicago Bulls should be looking into.

Although contract extensions handed out prior to the start of the 2020-21 regular season slate have greatly dwindled down what looked to be a very fruitful 2021 free agent class, the Chicago Bulls can still have a plethora of targets to go after. The strategy might shift a good bit for newly hired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley this season, though.

Hitting the trade market to get the assets that the Bulls need to move this rebuild in the right direction in its fourth year might also be more important than ever.

A few of the very notable superstar players that were supposed to be available in the 2021 free agent class includes Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis, Milwaukee Bucks back-to-back MVP forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George, and Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert. There’s a number of others that received contract extensions this offseason that dwindled down next offseason’s free agent class.

The Bulls should still focus on what is still available in next year’s free agent class to see how they should continue to develop and construct the roster heading into the 2020-21 regular season. The 2021 trade deadline could be more crucial than ever before because of the sliding scale of the quality of free agents available.

And with so many variant contracts getting handed out in the last couple of weeks, the trade market could also be a volatile place for Karnisovas and the Bulls to live this season.

With all of this in mind, here’s a look into five early targets for the Bulls in the 2021 free agent class.