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.
In any given circumstance, there WILL be 5 Javontes 🍪 pic.twitter.com/VJCsQFQhdQ
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) November 19, 2022
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.
Keep: Coby White
Coby White has had a rollercoaster career since being drafted by the Chicago Bulls at number 7 overall in 2019. The 23-year-old is the second-longest tenured player on the team behind Zach LaVine, and he has shown a ton of change in his game over these years. White played 74 games this season but started only twice, which has been the trend over the past two years after his 2020-21 season where he started 54 games.
White had the lowest scoring average of his career this year at 9.7 points per game, but this may have been his best season due to his solid shooting, improved playmaking, and increased effort on the defensive end. Coby has shown more maturity in his play, often avoiding most miscues that he would fall victim to earlier on in his career.
White has shown this development as a 6th man and has fallen back into favor with the Chicago Bulls fanbase with his play late in the season. He was named in many different trade talks up to even the trade deadline, but his play in 2023 now shows that the Chicago Bulls need to keep him on the roster. White would be available for a heftier price tag, with estimates of his salary being around $14-$15 million. The Bulls front office is indicating that they are willing to match any offer for White, and this is a good decision as he demonstrated that he is one of the best shooters on the team and is becoming a much more well-rounded player.
Helluva sequence by Coby White.
— Mark K (@mkhoops) December 27, 2022
Defense ➡️ Offense pic.twitter.com/abFAf73M3g
This sequence from White is something that we did not see often during his first few years in the league, as a quality steal led to a nice behind-the-back dribble into a perfect lob for Zach LaVine. White’s defensive effort, handles, and passing instincts have improved significantly over the season, and he has shown flashes of developing into the player that the Bulls had hoped when drafting him. In his last 22 games of the season, White averaged 11.9 points and 4.5 assists on 49.5/42.3/100 shooting splits. This efficiency shows the ability that White has on the offensive end and if he can continue this play, he is more than worth a contract match.
Leave: Ayo Dosunmu
Ayo Dosunmu was hit hard by the sophomore slump this year. The Chicago native enjoyed a successful rookie season, being named to the All-Rookie second team after being drafted in the second round by the Bulls. Dosunmu started 40 games on a playoff team and was very efficient on offense, shooting 52% from the field and 37.6% from three. Dosunmu also showed an ability to make shots in crunch time which was huge in getting the Bulls to a 46-36 record last year.
In his second season, Dosunmu did not enjoy the same success. He ended up starting 51 of 80 games but saw his minutes diminish as he got benched later in the season due to his lack of shooting. Ayo’s three-point percentage fell to 31.2% this year, which was one of the root causes of his issues meshing with the starting lineup and the Bulls’ big 3.
Additionally, he is not a traditional point guard and did not add the playmaking that would give him a bigger role on the team. With Coby White’s improved play and the addition of Patrick Beverley for defense, Ayo fell out of favor with Billy Donovan. As Dosunmu approaches free agency this season, the Bulls will have plenty to mull over but they could let their second-year player leave as he will likely have a small role next year.
Keep: Zach LaVine
At the beginning of the season, Zach LaVine struggled to completely recover from his knee injury and had a slow start to the year. However, he finished the season on a tear. In the 22 games he played after the all-star break, Zach averaged 27 points and 4.7 assists per game on 53.2/39.4/87.8 shooting. LaVine was able to score the ball efficiently, and that led to a 13-9 record for the Bulls to finish the season. LaVine rode this strong play to average 24.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 4.2 APG on 60.7 TS%, which is 73rd percentile among guards, which is impressive considering his high shooting volume.
This is the first time that we are seeing a team where Zach LaVine can be the top dog while having a good enough supporting cast that his play can translate to wins. The narrative that he is not a winning player has been a symptom of his situation, but the Bulls are at a turning point where they can actually build around him as he enters the prime of his career. With his play toward the end of the season, he showed that he is a max player and he needs to stay with the team even if the front office decides to shake things up.
Leave: DeMar DeRozan
This may be one of the tougher decisions with the lineup, as whatever happens with DeMar DeRozan will undoubtedly be the indicator of which direction the Bulls are choosing to go. However, it is becoming clear that DeMar’s play style does not fit well with the rest of the roster.
With DeRozan as the focal point of the offense, the Bulls tend to play at a slower pace and go in the half-court set. They tend to rely on his contested midrange jumpers, which are not advised statistically. Oftentimes, Chicago has struggled whenever DeRozan can’t get his shot to fall, as they have relied on him too much and the way he plays is only beneficial when he is surrounded by shooters, which is not the case.
DeMar is going to be 34 years old this upcoming season, and it is clear that he should be going to a contender, as he could be beneficial for a team that needs that one extra piece. Additionally, he has had some of the best seasons of his career with the Bulls, and that should generate some solid trade value when he goes to market. If Chicago can get some good, young players and draft capital from a trade, it could move the franchise in a more positive direction. This is not to say that the Chicago Bulls should go into a full rebuild, but they should allow their younger players to develop and play around one another.
Overall, the Chicago Bulls franchise and fanbase were disappointed by the results of the lottery on Tuesday, but the front office needs to move on to the offseason. The Bulls have shown that they currently are not made to be contenders, which means that some moves need to be made in free agency and through trades.