This offseason looks to be a time to rebuild the roster for the Chicago Bulls, this time around a bona fide star duo in shooting guard Zach LaVine and center Nikola Vucevic. First-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls wrapped up the 2020-21 regular season on a high note, even though they missed out on the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
For most of the second half of the regular season, the Bulls remained in the thick of contention to land a spot in the play-in tournament. But competing teams in the Eastern Conference such as the Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, etc., forced the Bulls out when it was all said and done.
Donovan and the Bulls wound up finishing up the regular season with a record of 31-41. While that is an improvement from where the Bulls finished up last season under the direction of former head coach Jim Boylen, it isn’t good enough to meet the expectations set by this new coaching staff and front office.
Chicago Bulls need to plan the offseason around star SG Zach LaVine
A lot of questions loom large as to what the Bulls will do in this cycle of free agency. And there’s a good bit of anticipation as to what will happen for the Bulls in the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery. They still have a slight chance to get their lottery pick back from the Orlando Magic.
However, the main task at hand should be forming the roster around the star duo of LaVine and Vooch. Namely, appealing to LaVine enough to get him to buy into signing a contract extension with the team is a huge looming task for the front office.
Here’s a look into four key support pieces that the Bulls can add via free agency this offseason that will play well with LaVine and likely encourage him to sign an extension in Chicago.