Free agency came and went in a flash for the Chicago Bulls, and it entailed plenty of action. The Bulls were one of the busiest teams during this cycle of free agency, as a number of key additions should help bolster the roster for head coach Billy Donovan heading into next season.
Some of the key additions this summer via free agency for executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley included former New Orleans Pelicans point guard Lonzo Ball, San Antonio Spurs star DeMar DeRozan, and Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso. There were some other notable additions this offseason, but those were the three biggest by way of the free agent market.
Next offseason, the Bulls do have one key player that is currently set to hit the unrestricted free agent market. That is star 26-year-old shooting guard Zach LaVine, who the front office has to be hoping will re-sign ahead of next summer.
Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls do have high hopes ahead of his 2022 free agency
And a report from Bobby Marks of ESPN this week (paid content) noted that LaVine is one of the headlining free agents set for next summer with some of the other stars that were extended before then. This ESPN piece also notes the Washington Wizards star shooting guard Bradley Beal as the other top name for free agency next offseason.
It looks as if the shooting guard position will be the one to watch in NBA free agency in 2022. That will really be true if Brooklyn Nets superstar guard James Harden opts out of the final year of his current contract next offseason. There are some key stars to watch that have impending player and club options. The Nets have another star guard that could opt out of the final year of his contract next summer in Kyrie Irving.
Yet, the impending LaVine free agency looks to be one of the big reasons why the Bulls surrounded him with so much talent this summer. LaVine received his first-career All-Star nod in 2021, and looks to only take his game up from here.
If the Bulls can finally get over that postseason hump next season, it would be the first time that LaVine made the playoffs. He’s never really played for a winning team, but that all looks to change heading into next season.
The Bulls look to have a solid supporting cast surrounding LaVine next season. That starting unit looks to have Lonzo at the one, LaVine at the two, DeRozan and Patrick Williams at the three and the four, and star center Nikola Vucevic at the five.