It took far too long, but the Chicago Bulls appear to be finally turning the corner toward becoming a franchise with an actual direction. Things are in the embryonic stages, but the Bulls now have several tools available to them that could help take a moribund, mediocre roster and transform it into one that could - eventually - become a playoff contender.
Perhaps this is painting too rosy a picture or using an unwarranted glass-half-full approach to the organization. But there are at least some reasons to believe there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and some is better than none.
The question now becomes, can vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley use these tools to accomplish what has been, for them, a seemingly insurmountable task?
Bulls can focus on youth, style of play, tradeable assets and draft picks
Chicago is on the ground floor (at least it's climbed out of the basement, right?) of a high-rise that the Oklahoma City Thunder just climbed. Few teams ever reach the top, and it's unlikely the Bulls do without a change in ownership and front office. But they've started to accumulate meaningful assets.
Chicago has an identity
Most importantly, the team seems to have a plan. For better or worse, the Bulls have leaned into an up-tempo, transition, three-point-heavy scheme on offense and a defensive style predicated on using activity and intensity to generate turnovers. Head coach Billy Donovan wants to play at one of the fastest paces in the NBA, and the Bulls did just that last season.
It's clear the current regime sees long, versatile, athletic players at the center of that vision. Chicago drafted 6-foot-10 forward Matas Buzelis last year and 6-foot-10 18-year-old Noa Essengue last month. Both are combo forwards who could develop into interchangeable pieces at the 3 and 4. Even Patrick Williams fits that mold.
The Bulls traded Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Isaac Okoro, who developed into a 3-and-D role player with the Cavs and shot 38.3 percent from deep the last two seasons. Kevin Huerter (6-foot-7), a career 37.5 percent three-point shooter, cracked Donovan's starting lineup at the end of last season. Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips are further down the depth chart, but both are long, lanky, athletic, switchable prospects.
Chicago added, and will likely re-sign, 6-foot-8 point guard Josh Giddey to run that offensive system.
The Bulls are skewing young
At least eight players who either will or have a good chance to make the rotation next season are 26 or younger. Buzelis holds the most upside of anyone on Chicago's roster and is only 20. Giddey is 22. Williams is 23. Okoro, Coby White, Tre Jones, Jalen Smith and Ayo Dosunmu are 25. Huerter is 26.
That list doesn't include Essengue (18), Lachlan Olbrich, the team's second-round pick in June's draft (20), Phillips (21) or Terry (23).
There's not a ton of All-NBA or even All-Star potential in that group, but at least the front office recognizes the need to include moldable young talent in a rebuild.
Chicago still has trades to make
This is the most difficult piece of the puzzle to evaluate. The Bulls have tradeable assets that could bring back more draft picks and/or young players, but Karnisovas has been extremely slow to pull the trigger on any outgoing deals.
Nikola Vucevic, Zach Collins and Huerter are all on expiring contracts worth about $20 million each. Vucevic can be offloaded anytime now, even if he doesn't fetch more than a few second-round picks. Ditto for Collins. Huerter's future should be decided by this year's trade deadline.
White and Dosunmu are unrestricted free agents after next season. Only one of them likely stays, which means the other could be trade bait, but would bring back more than the trio mentioned above.
Stocking the draft pick cupboard is a crucial step of any rebuild, and if they so choose, the Bulls have players to move that could add to it. Which brings us to the final point.
The Bulls have draft picks to play with
Chicago owns all of its first-round selections from now until 2032 and its second-rounders from 2028 to 2032. Portland owes the Bulls a top-14 protected first-rounder through 2028; the Trail Blazers are on track to become a playoff team as early as next season, which means Chicago would add another valuable draft asset.
It's worth repeating that the Bulls have multiple opportunities to add even more picks as soon as this summer.
Karnisovas built his first Chicago roster around DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Ball and Vucevic. He added Alex Caruso to that core. Things didn't work out like he planned, and though it took way too long, four of those five players are gone, and Vucevic isn't long for the Windy City. The front office has slowly cleaned house and begun to acquire young players who fit a new offensive system.
There's a vision here. Whether the Bulls can follow through and execute that vision is the unanswerable question.