Chicago Bulls: Expectations for the new look roster
By Adi Bhatta
Chicago Bulls expectations beyond 2021
As previously mentioned, LaVine will be entering a contract year during the 2021-22 season. This makes him the top priority of next season. The Bulls, if things go accordingly to plan, need to continue to build around LaVine and Vucevic and progress beyond a playoff appearance in 2021.
Outside of Lavine, other notable free agents from the Bulls who hit the market in 2022 are Thaddeus Young, Tomáš Satoranský, and newly acquired Al-Farouq Aminu. Aminu most likely won’t be brought back past his current contract, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he gets dealt before it expires.
As for Satoranský and Young, they present a more challenging choice. Both will be relatively old when their contracts look to run out (30 and 33 respectively), so the question then becomes, do the Bulls look to move them on beforehand, and if not, how long do they bring them back on for (if at all).
In regards to Satoranský, if rumors about the Bulls actively looking for a point guard at the deadline were true, then it can easily be assumed that by the 2022 summer, the Bulls will have most likely made a move for a guard, and Satoranský would then either be shipped out or surplus to requirements.
With Young, his age might be the nail in the coffin, and the Bulls might look to move on, sheerly based on the fact that his production will most likely begin to decline.