5 former players the Chicago Bulls should have never given up on

Of all the criticism I’ve heard directed toward the Chicago Bulls over the last calendar year ⁠— and believe me, there’s been a lot ⁠— some of it has been particularly valid, and some of it… less so. There is one fault, however, that I do think many have overlooked as the Bulls have rushed to acquire star talent and contend now.

Where is this team’s young core, exactly? Do they even truly have one?

A lack of promising young talent is to be expected when the Bulls have given up on each and every single draft pick this team has made before 2019. Even then, Chicago has traded away their 2019 second-round pick Daniel Gafford, even after a very promising rookie season. Is this really a feasible method of team-building?

Chicago’s lack of young talent becomes especially poignant when you look around and see how many former Bulls are thriving in new environments around the NBA today. It feels like the Bulls’ development staff just isn’t getting the best out of these players like other teams are, so I went and compiled all of Chicago’s biggest missed opportunities over the past few years,

This list isn’t an evaluation of player talent in a vacuum, but rather an assessment of how big of an impact each player could have made if they remained with the Bulls. That’s why you won’t find a player like Wendell Carter Jr. listed here, as I still believe Chicago made the right decision to cut ties and pursue an upgrade in Nikola Vucevic, even if things haven’t panned out perfectly on that front just yet. I’m happy to see the strides Wendell is taking in Orlando, but that doesn’t mean he was the answer for the Chicago Bulls.

I believe these five players, however, would have made a significant difference for the Chicago Bulls if the team had committed to them with long-term contracts and the right role to maximize their talents.

The Chicago Bulls seem to struggle to develop their young talent, seeing as how many former players become success stories after leaving.

5. Max Strus

Max Strus was born in the suburbs of Chicago. He attended high school 12 miles away from the United Center. He even played college basketball at DePaul University before graduating and setting his eyes on the NBA. You’d be hard-pressed to find many active players in the league with as deep of roots to the city as Strus.

Even so, Chicago gave up on him before he even had a chance to thrive. Ironically, Strus was acquired before the start of the 2019-20 season due to losing a battle to current Bulls forward Javonte Green for the Celtics’ 15th and final roster spot. This allowed the Bulls to scoop him up on a two-way deal, but Strus would suffer a torn ACL just one month into his stint with the team. The Miami Heat would then scoop him up during training camp the very next season before Strus could ever leave his imprint on the Bulls.

Now in his third season with the Heat, Strus has earned a sizeable role in the rotation and even supplanted their $90 million investment Duncan Robinson in the starting lineup. Strus is averaging 14.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game so far this season and has been an incredibly efficient high-volume shooter ⁠— knocking down over 40% of his three-point attempts over the last two years.

Strus has thrived in Miami’s system, leaving naught but regrets that the Chicago Bulls weren’t more patient with the homegrown talent as he recuperated from injury.

4. Spencer Dinwiddie

Speaking of developmental projects that the Chicago Bulls were too impatient with, Spencer Dinwiddie has to be one of the first names that come to mind. After a middling rookie season, the Bulls would trade Cameron Bairstow to secure the second-year guard out of Colorado in 2016.

While Dinwiddie was expected to have a role in the rotation, Chicago unexpectedly switched gears by trading Derrick Rose away to the Knicks and bringing Michael Carter-Williams on board in an attempt to get younger.

Due to this change of events, Dinwiddie would be waived and sent to the G League before the regular season began. Dinwiddie would perform extremely well with the Windy City Bulls, averaging 19.4 points, 8.1 assists, and 3.7 rebounds across nine games as the primary offensive option. However, this allowed the Brooklyn Nets to swoop in and claim the young talent.

The Chicago Bulls made several massive mistakes in the summer of 2016, including letting Spencer Dinwiddie slip their grasp.

Dinwiddie elaborated on this whole process in a recent podcast appearance back in October, and it’s well worth the listen.

Hearing things from Dinwiddie’s perspective, it’s hard not to be embarrassed not only because Spencer would end up becoming a very good NBA player, but also because of how unprofessionally the GarPax regime handled the situation.

Dinwiddie is now having the best season of his career alongside Luka Doncic in Dallas, averaging 18.5 points, 4.7 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game on incredible splits of 52.5% on two-point attempts and 45.9% from beyond the arc. Considering how long Chicago struggled to find a franchise point guard before trading for Lonzo Ball, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Dinwiddie could have been that guy for the Bulls all this time.

3. Bobby Portis

Drafted 22nd overall in 2015, Bobby Portis is without a doubt among the best non-lottery draft picks made by the Chicago Bulls this century. Just when he was hitting his stride, however, the Bulls dealt him away for the washed-up remains of Otto Porter Jr. — a mistake Chicago is still paying for, as they still owe Washington their 2023 second-round draft pick from that trade.

While Porter Jr. would go on to have little to no impact on the Bulls, Portis would immediately continue improving in Washington before inking a very team-friendly deal with Milwaukee in 2020. Portis has averaged 13.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in three seasons with the Bucks, serving as a genuine Sixth Man of the Year-caliber player behind Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Most importantly, he played a pivotal role in Milwaukee’s 2021 championship run, something he’s he’s been keen to remind Bulls fans about.

The Chicago Bulls traded away a championship-caliber player in Bobby Portis.

Few players have embodied the toughness and culture of Chicago as well as Portis over the last several years. I mean, how many other players can punch their teammate in the face and be celebrated for it?

Portis has discussed how big of an impact playing in Chicago has had on his career, particularly in regard to his relationship with beloved former Bulls Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson.

"“I can call these guys right now, I call these guys if I need anything, if I need advice about anything, they are still right there. They are my big bros.”"

I see no reason why Portis couldn’t have become a beloved player on that level in his own right, had Chicago committed to him long-term. As much as it hurts to not have Portis on the Bulls for a longer amount of time, it’s concerning that he’s still just the third-biggest missed opportunity on this list.

2. Jimmy Butler

When the Chicago Bulls finally pulled the trigger on a deal that sent Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017, it signaled a true end of an era and the beginning of a full-scale rebuild. The Bulls would receive Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, and Kris Dunn in return, a package that has actually panned out better than expected but still somehow doesn’t feel like enough to fill the void Butler left in our hearts.

Butler was dealt following the best scoring season of his career, as he averaged 23.9 points per game in 2016-17, which at first glance might make it seem like a perfect sell-high on the Bulls’ behalf. However, Jimmy has elevated the rest of his game so much since then that no sane person would argue 2017 was his peak.

Since then, Butler has taken the eventual NBA champion Raptors to the absolute brink in the final seconds of a 7-game playoff series in 2019 and single-handedly carried a depleted Miami Heat team to two wins in the NBA Finals in 2020. There’s just no denying that Butler is one of the NBA’s premier players these days, and the Chicago Bulls have to face the fact that refusing to offer him the extension he deserved was a massive misstep.

Jimmy Butler was the #1 option the Chicago Bulls had been searching for in a post-Derrick Rose world, but they gave up on him far too soon.

Knowing Jimmy is the type of player that thrives in the face of adversity, perhaps being let go by the Chicago Bulls provided the motivation he needed to improve in the first place. After all, he made it abundantly clear just how big of a mistake Philadelphia made by choosing to retain Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons over himself.

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Because it’s impossible to know if he would have taken these leaps in development without being traded in the first place, Jimmy only comes in second on this list, despite clearly being the best player among the bunch.

Even if Butler wouldn’t become the All-NBA talent he is now, wouldn’t it have been nice to watch a perennial All-Star actually play his career out in Chicago? Instead, Butler joins former teammates Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah as Chicago legends that ultimately had their legacies diminished by a horribly-incompetent front office.

1. Lauri Markkanen

As the saying goes, when there’s smoke, there’s fire. That’s why everyone should have taken notice when former Bulls prospect Lauri Markkanen posted averages of 27.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while powering his home country Finland through the EuroBasket tournament this summer.

After the Utah Jazz dealt away star duo Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, they were likely expecting to be on the losing end of things far more often than not. Markkanen, however, had other plans. Joining his new team in Utah, Lauri has finally shown what he can do when allowed to be the first option on offense, averaging 21.8 points and 8.6 rebounds through 15 games.

Against all odds, this wild turn of events has the Jazz standing at 10-5 and jostling for supremacy in the Western Conference. Without Markkanen, none of this would have ever been possible.

The Chicago Bulls failed by never giving Lauri Markkanen the chance to be a true first option on offense.

As unbelievable as it sounds, Lauri’s early-season dominance has to have put him in the driver’s seat for the Most Improved Player award and it’s looking increasingly likely that he may earn All-Star consideration for the first time in his career if he keeps this up. With the Jazz being the unexpected feel-good story of the year, Lauri will surely be a fan-favorite pick and should garner plenty of fan votes.

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Markkanen finally looks like the aggressive player Bulls fans always wanted him to be, as he’s shooting his highest percentage on two-point attempts of his career at 64.1%. Lauri’s not even shooting particularly well from deep yet, only making 34.4% of his three-point shots, but has more than doubled his career-best offensive box/plus minus at 3.6 (previous best was 1.4).

This all goes to show how mistaken the Bulls were to force Lauri to strictly be a perimeter-oriented player during his time in Chicago. Markkanen was instead slotted into a complementary role alongside LaVine by disgraced former head coach Jim Boylen, instead of being encouraged to become the best version of himself.