Of all the decisions the Chicago Bulls are forced to make this summer, these should be among the easiest.
KEEP: Zach LaVine
Zach LaVine is the de facto captain of this squad, he steers the ship and will ultimately decide if the Chicago Bulls are playoff-caliber or not. For the first time in his career, however, he has a supporting cast around him that will allow him to defer at times and not be burdened with carrying the offense in its entirety.
When Arturas Karnisovas pulled the trigger on the trade that brought Nikola Vucevic to Chicago, it signaled what this squad’s goal was and gave them a clear path moving forward. The Bulls are here to win games, and LaVine is going to be the man to get the job done. At least that’s what the hope is, a full offseason should be enough time for this team to gel and demonstrate if they’re actually good enough to get the job done.
OUT: Cristiano Felicio
You’ve had a good run, Cristiano Felicio. Your inadequate performances gradually devolved from a constant source of fan frustration to becoming an almost endearing $32 million dollar mascot. Through some strange turn of events, six long years later and Felicio became the longest-tenured Bull on the roster. We were forced to expect nothing of him and eventually came to sort of adore his off-court antics and charming personality.
Felicio may never play another minute of NBA basketball, and that’s okay. He’s enjoyed a lucrative career and hopefully, his departure signals an end to this period of Rebuild-A-Bulls. I only hope Felicio remembers to send a thoughtful thank you card to Rajon Rondo for getting him that contract in the first place.
ON THE FENCE: Thaddeus Young
From the very beginning, I lauded the Bulls’ decision to steal Thaddeus Young away from Indiana. His value as a locker room leader to mentor the young core and play lockdown defense was worth the price of admission alone.
However in his first season with the team, the veteran tried to move away from the things that have made him so successful over the years. Young abandoned a strong mid-range game in favor of the long ball. A career-high 36.9 percent of Young’s shots came from behind the arc in 2019-20, and it led to the veteran posting his lowest average points scored per game since his rookie year.
This season, however, Thaddeus got back to the basics and Chicago reaped the rewards. We can most likely attribute this return to form to the coaching change over the summer and Young’s increased presence in the locker room with full support from LaVine. There were long stretches this year where Young clearly looked like the second-best player on the roster. His deal is partially guaranteed for next season so his fate remains undecided for now, but it would probably be a mistake to let him go for nothing at this point in time.