There is very little room for a middle ground in the modern NBA. Teams are either contenders or they are not. It is becoming increasingly difficult to argue the Bulls are anything but the latter. The concern isn’t as much that the team is not a current contender as much as it’s that the current roster is unlikely to show any significant growth in recent years.
DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic are already in their 30s, while Zach LaVine is 27 years old with multiple significant knee surgeries under his belt. None of those three players are primed for breakouts and should only decline with age.
Why the Chicago Bulls should start building for the future.
Furthermore, the lack of development from youngsters like Williams and White offers little comfort as to what the future holds for the team. Even 25-year-old Lonzo Ball cannot be written in as a part of the team’s future until he returns from injury.
As of now, the Bulls are not good enough to compete for anything meaningful, but they also lack the cap space and draft capital to make any significant additions. This is why many fans are fearful the team is doomed to come face-to-face with its own mediocrity.
Rebuilds are often filled with uncertainty, but there is an argument to be made that the Bulls would be better suited for taking a gamble on a strategy that could pay off in the long run than to stick with a formula that is clearly not working.