Following their tough loss to former head coach Tom Thibodeau and the New York Knicks on the road at Madison Square Garden on the night of April 28, the Chicago Bulls will really be fighting an uphill battle in the final stretch fun of the regular season slate. First-year head coach Billy Donovan does not currently have his team in a great position to land even a spot in the play-in tournament for next month.
The Bulls now sport a record of 26-36 following their double-digit loss to the Knicks on April 28. Donovan and the Bulls manage to collapse in the fourth quarter of a game at almost every instance where it looks like they will be able to build a significant winning streak.
Maybe it is various injury issues for the Bulls, or maybe this team is just a really long time to gel, but the results since the trade deadline were anything but what we imagined. More than one month ago, the Bulls new front office regime made a number of deadline day deals to try and put this roster in more of a win-now mode.
Back on March 25, the Bulls traded for key players they have now like star big man Nikola Vucevic, center Daniel Theis, and shooting guard/small forward Troy Brown Jr. to try and bolster the roster. But since the trade deadline, the Bulls have played well below .500 basketball.
We have seen some newer faces rise to the occasion of late, though, which could be a good sign of things to come next season. What lies ahead this coming offseason is already a key focus for Bulls fans since the postseason outlook isn’t so optimistic.
With that in mind, here’s a look at three Bulls players that the team shouldn’t let walk in the next year.