Free agents that could immediately bolster the Chicago Bulls’ bench: Aron Baynes
I’ve long been a stan for the Bulls’ front office to go out and get the former Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, and Phoenix Suns big man Aron Baynes. There’s very few veteran centers available in free agency at this point that could give the Bulls a lot of what Donovan needs more of a traditional center to do, and help provide a solid presence down low when Vucevic isn’t in the game.
The absence of Vucevic shows that the Bulls will likely break down, especially in the second and third unit, when the small-ball lineups aren’t working against better opposition. That was the case for the Bulls in the second half in the road loss to the Blazers earlier this week and in the loss to the Warriors last weekend.
It might get a bit crowded if the Bulls had a frontcourt unit that consisted of the likes of Vucevic, the newly signed center Tony Bradley, and Baynes. But any injuries to Vucevic or Bradley have really shown to thin out the traditional center depth for the Bulls.
The idea that the Bulls could go out and sign a big man like Baynes would hinge almost entirely on how confident the front office and coaching staff are in playing small-ball throughout the rest of the regular season.
Any further injury issues that would arise in the frontcourt for the Bulls would lead me to believe that signing someone like Baynes would be a great move for this team. Until that point, it might be worth waiting out what happens in the frontcourt unit whenever Vucevic returns to the mix.