The Chicago Bulls have been one of the best stories in basketball this season. After missing the playoffs five straight years and having a roster and from office overhaul, the Bulls have turned heads jumping out to a 27-15 start. Despite a barrage of injuries and COVID cases early on in the season, the Bulls have been one of the top teams in the league and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings.
However, last week’s blowout losses to the Nets and Warriors served as a reminder that as far as the Bulls have come this season, they still have a ways to go if they want to be a contender come playoffs.
Chicago Bulls are expected to be one of the most active teams at the trade deadline, but does it make sense for the team to fully commit to the season.
The Bulls may be one of the feel-good stories of the season, but being fun and likable doesn’t guarantee playoff success. With the trade deadline quickly approaching and a front office that has quickly developed a reputation for being aggressive, the Bulls have the opportunity to improve their roster for the home stretch of the season. The question is: should they?
Why the Chicago Bulls should be buyers at the deadline
The reasoning for the Bulls being aggressive at the deadline seems obvious. They have a really good team and could use more depth in the frontcourt. Outside of Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls have had trouble finding a big man worthy of significant playing time.
Ever since Patrick Williams went down with a wrist injury early in the season, the Bulls have been forced to play a smaller lineup. It has worked well, but there are flaws in playing with an undersized group. Vucevic, at 6-foot-10, is the only player over the height over 6-foot-6 who has gotten consistent minutes.
Just because the Bulls have a great record doesn’t mean their lack of size hasn’t hurt them. Chicago is ranked 29th in rebounds per game and 19th in points in the paint allowed per game. It’s reasonable to think acquiring a solid power forward would help these numbers.
Players like Marvin Bagley II, Myles Turner, or Jerami Grant would fix a lot of the team’s problems from day one. The Bulls do also have several trading blocks to make a splash, such as Coby White, Patrick Williams, and two potential first-round picks in the upcoming draft.
Arturas Karnisovas has gotten the Bulls into this position by being a go-getter. It doesn’t make sense for him to stop now. DeMar DeRozan is having a career year and at 32, it’s no guarantee he continues to play at this level past this season. The Bulls have the ability to better their roster for the remainder of the season and doing so could pay dividends this spring.
Why the Bulls shouldn’t be buyers at the deadline
For the first time since the Derrick Rose days, it seems like the Bulls are trending in the right direction. They have a solid coach and a good combination of veterans and young players. Improving the team would be nice, but is it worth sacrificing the long-term value of your younger players?
The NBA trade deadline is a zero-sum game. There aren’t any free handouts. To get a valuable asset, a team has to give up a valuable asset. Guys like White and Williams may not be stars currently, but they have the potential to be high-quality players, and their upside, in the long run, shouldn’t be overlooked. Can you really justify moving on from former lottery picks who are younger than many college basketball players for a one-year rental?
The benefits of going all-in on this season are simple. It gives the team the best chance of making a playoff run. But it may be unwise to put the future of the franchise at risk for one season. Given the Bulls’ cap situation and Zach LaVine’s imminent extension, it would be hard for the Bulls to maintain anyone they acquire past this season.
Final thoughts
Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer one way or another. The Bulls desperately need more size in the frontcourt, and they also want to hang on to the two of the only young pieces they have left. Those two ideas may be mutually exclusive, and they may have to decide which is more important.