Chicago Bulls: 3 impending free agents likeliest to return in 21-22

All eyes among Chicago Bulls fans at the moment are looking ahead to what lies ahead for this team in the looming cycle of free agency. The Bulls front office has a busy summer ahead, with a number of looming free agents among players on the current roster. And there’s still a lot of work to do to improve this roster in the first place.

Under the direction of first-year head coach Billy Donovan, the Bulls finished up the 2020-21 regular season with a record of 31-41 following a May 16 home win over the divisional foe Milwaukee Bucks. But that still put the Bulls a few games shy of the likes of the Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, etc. to get a spot in the play-in tournament this year.

That meant that the Bulls missed the postseason for the fourth straight year. The Bulls haven’t made it back to the postseason since they dealt their former star shooting guard/small forward Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves back during the 2017 offseason. The drought continues for the Bulls for the postseason until this roster legitimately improves as a unit.

Free agency decisions could determine the Chicago Bulls fate in 2021-22

Considering that the looming cycle of free agency is pretty talented and deep at most position groups, the Bulls should be able to take full advantage of what resources they do have to build up the roster this offseason.

But executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley do need to make the right decisions for the impending free agents on the roster from last season.

Here’s a look into three of the likeliest Bulls’ impending free agents to return for next season.