Re-capping this Chicago Bulls’ rebuild
In the end, the Bulls would be left in a position where they could continue being competitive — potentially even pushing for the playoffs if the success of the Jazz, Pacers, and Thunder this season is believed to be sustainable.
If this team plays well, fans would still get to watch entertaining basketball while retaining the opportunity to flip their assets later. If they’re not very good, then Chicago could finally commit to a proper rebuilding process. Either way, it’s a win-win situation.
Here’s what the depth chart could potentially look like after making all of these trades.
- PG: Lonzo Ball, Ayo Dosunmu, Goran Dragic, Jaden Hardy, Malachi Flynn
- SG: Coby White, Will Barton, Moses Moody, Donte DiVincenzo
- SF: OG Anunoby, Javonte Green, Dalen Terry
- PF: Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Williams, Derrick Jones Jr.
- C: Andre Drummond, Davis Bertans, Khem Birch, Tony Bradley, Marko Simonovic
Re-tooling instead of fully rebuilding could bring the Chicago Bulls back to playoff contention sooner than expected.
This brings the roster up to a whopping 20 players, meaning 5 would need to be waived in the process. Flynn, Simonovic, and Bradley make for easy cuts here, but there’s a fair debate to be had as to who should be the last two men out.
Lonzo would be able to spend the rest of this season recovering instead of rushing back, which would be good for extending his career’s longevity but also ensuring the Bulls have the best odds possible to lose games and retain their draft pick. Speaking of draft picks, these moves would help the franchise climb out of the hole dug by the DeRozan and Vucevic trades and leave the Bulls with 10 first-round picks over the next 7 years.
I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch to believe that this team could soon surpass the current rendition of the Bulls if they were able to land a top-four pick and have either Victor Wembanyama anchor the team or one of the top guard prospects (like Scoot Henderson) to fill in the void left by LaVine in the starting five.
Just like any hypothetical trade scenario, I wouldn’t say any of the deals in this thought experiment are likely to happen, but that also doesn’t mean I think they couldn’t happen. Each of the above trades stands to benefit all of the teams involved and are within the realm of plausibility. I wouldn’t say I’m a complete advocate for the Bulls to initiate a complete re-tooling of the roster, but if these are the type of deals the front office has in front of them, it’s hard denying that it could provide quite an enticing future.