After a year's worth of negotiations, the Chicago Bulls reached an agreement with restricted free agent point guard Josh Giddey on a four-year, $100 million contract earlier this month, a rare wise decision by a much-maligned front office. If they choose to, the Bulls can splurge in free agency again next summer, but wheeling and dealing on the trade market during the 2025-26 campaign would mark a second wise decision in as many offseasons.
Chicago executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas will have a massive amount of cap space to work with next year -- the most of any team in the NBA, in fact. His track record of roster building doesn't inspire much confidence, but perhaps constructing one of the youngest groups in the league and signing Giddey to a team-friendly deal means he's turning a corner.
But it would be an enormous risk to carry up to $70 million in available cash (even accounting for a $30 million per year extension for Coby White) into the 2026-27 offseason hoping to lure the top free agents on the market to an organization with no recent track record of competing in the playoffs, let alone for championships.
The Chicago Bulls can't risk squandering a critical offseason
Adding more high-end talent to a budding young roster is a logical next step for Chicago, and with its abundance of cap space, a step it is well-equipped to take. But there are two major flaws in that plan -- NBA free agency doesn't work the way it used to, and the Bulls are far from a destination franchise.
Title contenders in 2025 are built either through the draft or by trade. Karnisovas has all of his own future picks to work with, but the Bulls are comfortably stuck in mediocrity, which means a top-five selection is out of reach. That means Chicago's clearest path to playoff contention will have to come through shrewd trades, despite having a wild amount of cap space.
But maybe there's a way the Bulls can use that financial freedom without having to worry about convincing players to come to a struggling organization: They could conduct their free agency in advance, a strategy suggested by Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron.
In essence, Karnisovas would use the almost $90 million in expiring contracts at his disposal in the form of Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, Nikola Vucevic and Jevon Carter to acquire young players by trading for them. The Bulls could absorb expensive contracts into their eventual cap space or have a leg up on other teams aiming to sign the same players.
They could make a trade with the Golden State Warriors, for example, to acquire Jonathan Kuminga. Then, Chicago could negotiate a long-term deal with Kuminga before he hits the open market, avoiding a bidding war in unrestricted free agency.
This offseason is a critical turning point for the franchise. The Bulls can't afford to lose a game of musical chairs and come home empty-handed, or worse, overpay for someone who won't move the needle far enough toward playoff contention. This strategy may be how Chicago finds success next summer.