Grading every Chicago Bulls 2023 free agency signing (so far)

Day one of free agency is officially in the books, and somewhat surprisingly, I can confidently that I’m actually pleased with the front office’s direction of the team thus far. While concerns remain that the Chicago Bulls are still desperately ducking the luxury tax threshold in the name of running a mediocre basketball team out on the court to sell tickets, they’ve yet to make a significant misstep with their limited assets this offseason.

This is particularly crucial, as the Bulls infamously sat out the NBA’s last three transactional cycles in the name of continuity. Having already executed one trade and four free agent signings this summer, it’s clear to see that Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley finally understand that this roster as constructed is not enough.

With that being said, let’s dig in and review the Bulls’ major free agent signings thus far this summer.

Grading every Chicago Bulls signing after Day 1 of free agency.

Nikola Vucevic rejoins the Bulls on a three-year, $60 million contract extension

I’ll admit it, when news of this extension first broke, I wasn’t quick to sing its praises. Bringing Nikola Vucevic back for the long haul just felt like the front office was resigned to running back a mediocre core that clearly is not in the running for a championship. This may have been a fair market rate for Vooch, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that the Bulls were bidding against themselves here with no other clear suitors emerging for the big man.

While I still have concerns over Vucevic’s fit an intended role on this roster moving forward, his deal is starting to look a fair bit more reasonable now that the dust has settled on day one. I believe Vucevic is a superior player to Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl, for instance, who also scored a $20 million AAV deal with the Raptors. Even a role player like Bruce Brown got paid more, securing a two-year, $45 million deal with Indiana last night.

The most important thing worth noting here is that the Bulls did not create a big problem for themselves in the future with this deal. Even if they fail to move Vucevic before his contract expires, this value is not terrible and three years is not an overly long sentence to serve. Compare that to some decisions made last night like Houston giving Fred VanVleet $130 million, or Portland inking Jerami Grant to a five-year, $160 million deal, I think I can live with this.

Grade: B

The Bulls surprisingly sign Jevon Carter to a three-year, $20 million deal.

While several reports indicated the Bulls would show interest in free agent guards like Derrick Rose, Donte DiVincenzo, or even a reunion with Patrick Beverley, management decided to go in an entirely different direction with this move here. I fully expected the Bucks to prioritize retaining Jevon Carter this summer, but the Bulls managed to swipe a valuable asset from their Central division rival here.

Signing for the next three years on a $20 million deal, the Chicago-native Carter joins the Bulls on what looks to be a shockingly team-friendly contract. Seeing as how other guards around the league like Dennis Schroder and Caris LeVert received significantly more money on the open market, this deal looks extremely palatable — best of all, I have a sneaking suspicion that Carter contributes more to winning than either of the aforementioned players.

Jevon Carter is an excellent addition to round out the Bulls’ backcourt rotation.

Carter averaged 8 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.4 rebounds primarily off the bench for Milwaukee last season. He was a key contributor for the second unit, helping the Bucks hold down the fort while the starters rested, as Milwaukee outscored opponents by 3.4 points per 100 possession when Carter was on the court.

Most importantly, Carter is an excellent shooter — attempting 4.2 long-range shots per game and knocking them down at an impressive 42.1% clip — and point-of-attack defender. It’s not often you see a true ‘3-and-D’ talent at the point guard position. He’ll slot perfectly alongside Zach LaVine when the Bulls stagger their starters’ minutes, and could even create a fearsome defensive duo alongside Alex Caruso. With Carter on the roster, Billy Donovan will have an even easier time coaching one of the NBA’s best defenses.

Grade: A

Coby White returns to the Bulls on a three-year deal while the money remains a mystery.

When The Athletic’s Shams Charania first broke the news that Coby White had re-signed with the Bulls for another three years and a total value of $33 million, I was elated. You can imagine my surprise then, when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported just a few minutes later that Coby was instead coming back to Chicago for a total value of $40 million.

Rather than a reporting error, what this likely means is that White has had a few potential incentives tied into his deal to increase his annual salary. We aren’t quite sure of what those are just yet, but common incentives include things such as games played as well as statistical achievements and accomplishments, such as qualifying for the All-Star Game. When his incentives are released to the public we’ll update you here over at Pippen Ain’t Easy, but this deal is sure to have fans pleased regardless.

Re-signing Coby White had to be a priority for the Bulls this summer.

At an average annual value between $11 million to $13.3 million (depending on how likely his incentives are), this feels cheaper than I expected the market for him to be given his upside, shooting ability, and noticeable improvements as a playmaker and defender.

I’ll be following this story closely to see if Coby’s likely to receive those $7 million in incentives, but either way, I believe this is excellent value for a player who by all means looked like an elite third guard off the bench. If Coby takes that extra stride this offseason, I see no reason why he couldn’t challenge for the starting point guard position next season.

Chicago’s greatest area of need entering free agency this summer was to address their lack of shooting, so losing a player who has shot 37.9% from deep over the last two seasons and has hit the most threes of any Bulls player not named Zach LaVine was always out of the question. Re-signing Coby to a team-friendly deal caps off what was otherwise a very successful day one of free agency for the Bulls.

Grade: A+