With all that the Chicago Bulls front office invested to get start center Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline from the Orlando Magic back on March 25, there are not a whole lot of resources available to build up the roster this summer. In fact, the Bulls will probably have to build almost exclusively through free agency, at least to add significant roster pieces.
And for the Bulls to make some major strides next season, the front office has to get the process of continuing to build out the roster right this summer. That could mean executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisvoas and general manager Marc Eversley taking bigger risks in free agency than they did last fall.
The Bulls didn’t have a full season to evaluate the talent on hand, or really anything close to that when the new front office regime and coaching staff took over in 2020. But once Karnisovas and Eversley had some time to evaluate the roster they inherited in Chicago, the trade deadline was maybe the busiest in franchise history this year.
Shroud over the Chicago Bulls free agency strategy this summer
Vooch was the headlining acquisition at the trade deadline. And the Bulls will look to continue to build around the core trio of rookie forward Patrick Williams, star shooting guard Zach LaVine, and Vooch, in the starting unit.
For the Bulls to build up this starting unit without a plethora of cap space, it’s hard to see the front office doing so without taking some level of risk. With that in mind, here’s a look into four risky free agent targets worth the gamble for the Bulls this summer.