We’ve finally reached draft day! And with it, comes an endless stream of speculation and rumors for teams navigating the trade market in hopes of improving their championship dreams. Things are no different for the Chicago Bulls, who enter Thursday armed with the 18th pick and a host of interesting assets.
President of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has not been shy about discussing the vast retooling this team needed when he took over. As such, only two players remain from the roster he originally inherited—Zach LaVine and Coby White.
As we’ve already seen demonstrated on several occasions during his short tenure, Karnisovas won’t hesitate to pull the trigger on any deal he thinks can improve this roster. For that reason, I believe Chicago is a team to watch as they look to replace the weakest links in their rotation before next season kicks off.
With 2022 set to be a make-or-break draft for the Chicago Bulls, these players could soon find themselves on the outside looking in.
3. Tristan Thompson
Brought in to bolster the team’s rebounding and interior defense, the Tristan Thompson experiment in Chicago was an odd one.
Logging 16 minutes per night, Thompson averaged 5.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in his limited playing time. Thompson’s offensive game has always been limited throughout his 11-year career, but it was practically non-existent with the Bulls.
Still, Thompson was a clear upgrade over other frontcourt options Tony Bradley and Marko Simonovic. His presence injected some much-needed toughness into Chicago’s locker room and helped this team find that edge they were severely lacking.
Unfortunately, this change did not actually end up leading to winning basketball. The Bulls floundered during the Thompson era, posting a pitiful record of 8-15 to end the season. This was a poor showing and extremely disappointing conclusion of a season that had the Bulls on top of the East on New Year’s Day.
If the Bulls get their hands on a prospect like Tari Eason, E.J. Liddell, or even Mark Williams (going to need a little luck on this one), Thompson and other rotation pieces Derrick Jones Jr. and Troy Brown Jr. may be made redundant.