Keep or Leave: 5 Bulls players on hot seat after striking out in the lottery

The Chicago Bulls drew the expected 11th pick in the lottery on Tuesday, which means that they lose that selection to the Orlando Magic due to the Nikola Vucevic trade. The hope for Bulls fans was that they would land a top-four pick in the draft, which could have brought an excellent prospect to Chicago and potentially alter the franchise.

Now that the Chicago Bulls have lost the potential of acquiring one of these draftees, they must turn to the offseason and look to make some moves to improve the direction of the franchise.

The Chicago Bulls do not have a chance of getting a top-4 pick in the draft, so they must make some moves to materially improve the team.

Leave: Javonte Green

Back in March of 2021, Javonte Green and Troy Brown Jr. were acquired by the Chicago Bulls in a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics in exchange for Daniel Theis. At the time, Green was thought as little more than a throw-in to make salaries match, but as it turns out he’d end up becoming arguably the most valuable player the Bulls received from this trade.

Green spent most of his career as a combo guard, but once he got to the Bulls he was utilized primarily as a small-ball forward. Green brought loads of energy to the game, firing up the team when coming off the bench. He is incredibly athletic and an excellent defender, which led to a strong highlight reel for the Radford product.

Green was such a positive for the Bulls when on the court, but struggled with injuries that repeatedly held him back this season. Green only played 32 games this year and was out with a bone bruise for most of the season’s home stretch.

Once he finally got healthy, it was clear that he was not the best fit in the Bulls’ lineup, especially one that needed more rebounding and shooting. Javonte was never a great shooter and being undersized hurts his utility for the Bulls that have struggled on the glass. As the Chicago Bulls look for more viable forwards on the roster, they should let go of Javonte as he just does not fit the direction that the team is going.

Green is an unrestricted free agent this season, so the expectation is that the Bulls will let him walk without much pursuit or action on their end. Despite his excellent presence for the Chicago Bulls, Javonte may have fallen out of the rotation and will likely not be back for next season.