At a point of the offseason where the Chicago Bulls front office won’t be as busy as they will later in the summer months, there is an opportunity to sit back and scout what they have on hand at the moment. The Bulls do have a plethora of impending free agents that they will have to decide what to do with this summer.
And now is the time for executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley to figure out what the plan is for the Bulls’ impending free agents. There already looks to be some leading indicators as to what Karnisovas and the Bulls will do this offseason on the free agent market.
Having a decent mix of impending restricted and unrestricted free agents looming for the summer will complicate the Bulls’ decision-making a bit, though.
Chicago Bulls must bring back the right supporting cast for the 2021-22 season
Nearly half of the Bulls’ current roster at hand is set to either come up on a player option or hit some form of the free agent market this summer. The good news in that regard is that the Bulls likely have the four most important players in their newfound core set to return for next season.
That list of key Bulls players returning for next season includes rookie forward Patrick Williams, second-year point guard Coby White, star shooting guard Zach LaVine, and fellow star center Nikola Vucevic.
With that in mind, here’s a look into three Bulls’ impending free agents that the front office would be foolish not to bring back in some form or fashion for next season.
Players the Chicago Bulls would be foolish not to bring back for 21-22: Devon Dotson
While it is always difficult to include an impending free agent that was also signed down to a two-way contract in the prior season in a list like this, it is tough to think that it is a bad idea to bring back point guard Devon Dotson for the 2021-22 campaign. Dotson was a really solid find for Karnisovas and the Bulls last offseason as an undrafted free agent signing.
The 6-foot-2 and 185 pound former Kansas Jayhawks star floor general is still just 21 years old, and is a native of Chicago. He seems to be a great find for this budding backcourt rotation, and would not cost the Bulls a whole lot to bring back this offseason. In fact, he might be a candidate to get one of the two-way contract slots for next season.
In the limited playing time that Dotson did get under first-year head coach Billy Donovan during his rookie season with the Bulls, he was pretty efficient. Playing in just 50 total minutes during the regular season, Dotson managed to register a solid 2.1 box plus/minus, .177 win shares per 48 minutes, 19.3 player efficiency rating, and he shot over 52 percent from the field.
Unless the Bulls’ front office doesn’t feel like Dotson is valuable to their long-term plans and they have another good two-way contract signing in mind, it seems like a win-win to bring him back next season. While the Bulls wouldn’t necessarily be taking part in a consequential move if they let Dotson walk, it’s hard to see the downside of re-signing him this offseason.
Players the Chicago Bulls would be foolish not to bring back for 21-22: Javonte Green
Another player that the Bulls wouldn’t necessarily suffer too much from if they let him walk this summer is the former Boston Celtics and Radford 27-year-old shooting guard Javonte Green. But since it’s difficult to see the downside of re-signing the impending free agent Green heading into the summer months, it makes a lot of sense for all parties involved to have him come back for the 2021-22 campaign.
The 6-foot-4 and 205 pound Virginia native guard would likely be a player that Karnisovas and the Bulls could bring back on a minimum deal heading into next season. And Green also fits the ideal mold of what Donovan and the Bulls need out of a truly effective two-way contracted player given their defensive issues at times last season.
What also bodes well for Green’s chances to return next season is the fact that he played pretty well on the offensive end of the floor down the stretch in the season that was. Green registered a career-high 0.5 offensive win shares last season, along with a sparkling 61.0 true shooting percentage. That went along with a stellar 1.5 defensive box plus/minus and 2.1 steals per 36 minutes.
It feels like the Bulls are either going to bring back Green or veteran 35-year-old shooting guard Garrett Temple this offseason. Both shooting guards are impending free agents, and wouldn’t cost the Bulls a lot to bring back next season. They are also both stellar on defense and likely won’t be a regular starter anytime soon in the Windy City.
The deciding factor in my eyes between re-signing Green or Temple would be the fact that the former of those two guards registered a very solid defensive box plus/minus just with the Bulls last season north of 3.5.
Players the Chicago Bulls would be foolish not to bring back for 21-22: Daniel Theis
Someone who Karnisovas and the Bulls landed at the trade deadline that was a fan favorite right away was the former Celtics center Daniel Theis. This 6-foot-8 and 245 pound German 29-year-old big man was very solid for Donovan and the Bulls down the stretch last season. The Bulls also could start to round out their frontcourt rotation for the next couple of years by handing Theis a new contract for at least two years this summer.
Theis should have at least a few years of high-level production either in a second unit role off of the bench, or in a starting unit in a hybrid power forward/center role. And if the Bulls could get him on a contract this offseason that would pay him around $6-$8 million per year, then it should be a slam dunk for this front office to pull the trigger and re-sign Theis.
Looking like a really solid fit next to the likes of Vooch and Williams down the stretch last season, Theis could continue to help improve the team chemistry heading into next season. He was very versatile and valuable for Donovan in this frontcourt rotation, especially when injuries were piling up.
He averaged 10.0 points per game (a career-high with any one team), 5.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.6 blocks, in 23 games played with the Bulls post-deadline in the season that was. And he shot 52.2 percent from the field, a supbar 28.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 65.1 percent from the free-throw line with the Bulls during the regular season.
Among the three Bulls players on this list that Karnisovas and Eversley could bring back this summer, Theis might be the one that the fans want back the most. He’s already a fan favorite and brings a ton of value to this frontcourt rotation.