It's no secret that the Chicago Bulls have refrained from a full-on rebuild for quite some time. Following Tom Thibodeau's departure from the franchise in 2015, the Bulls treaded water for two seasons under Fred Hoiberg before hitting the reset button in 2017.
Jimmy Butler was traded, and an injured, albeit up-and-coming Zach LaVine was acquired. Moreover, the Bulls began to rely heavily upon a slew of lottery picks, including Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., and Coby White.
The Bulls' initial flutter of trades only hurt future endeavors
Nonetheless, instead of exuding any form of patience, the Bulls initiated several rash moves, namely parting ways with both Markkanen and Carter Jr., in a matter of months. In return, the Bulls received then-30-year-olds Nikola Vucevic and Al-Faroug Aminu from the Orlando Magic and Derrick Jones Jr. and a lottery-protected first-rounder from the Portland Trail Blazers.
Alongside the personnel changes came a coaching and regime change. With the ever-successful Billy Donovan in tow, Chicago continued to stack veterans. Chicago added Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, and DeMar DeRozan all in one offseason. Yet, that wasn't enough. The Bulls won at most 46 games with their veteran-laden core, before beginning to tear it down last season.
Since the end of the 2023-24 season, the Bulls have traded Caruso, DeRozan, LaVine, and Ball. 34-year-old Vucevic is the lone remaining member of the early 2020s Bulls. Like in 2017, Chicago has begun to infuse its once veteran-laden rotation with youngsters.
Four of the Bulls' five most-played players a season ago were 24 or younger. Following the 2024-25 campaign, Chicago has remained focused on youth, adding 18-year-old Noa Essengue and 24-year-old Isaac Okoro to its roster. Including 22-year-old Josh Giddey, Chicago's average roster age is 24.3, which would have been the fourth-youngest team in the NBA prior to last season.
The evidence of a long-awaited rebuild is finally identifiable. With the impending re-signing of Giddey and the eventual trade of Vucevic, Chicago's rebuild will become more intensified.
Chicago's rebuild is back on track, despite what critics have to say
Still, not every pundit is on board with the Bulls' long-term plan. In an effort to slot all 30 associations into distinct categories, ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Kevin Pelton penned an "All-In" piece, placing each franchise into one of the following tiers: "All-in on winning a championship," "All-in on an extended championship window," "All-in on building around young cores," "All-in on two timelines," "All-in on a gap year," "All-in on draft positioning," "All-in on nothing?" and "All-in on 2024."
Chicago landed in Bontemps' and Pelton's "All-in on nothing?" grouping alongside the New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, and Toronto Raptors. While it's safe to say the Bulls have poorly navigated much of the 2020s, lumping Chicago into the same category with each of the aforementioned squads isn't.
The Pelicans, Kings, and Raptors all rank in the top half of the association in total salary cap allocations, and relief won't be coming anytime soon. All three teams will roster at least four players earning north of $20 million this upcoming season and in 2026-27. On the other hand, the Bulls will roster merely two (likely soon to be three) players raking in more than $10 million in 2026-27.
Furthermore, each of the Pelicans, Kings, and Raptors rosters is older than the Bulls' roster. Chicago is better positioned financially, possesses a younger team, and won the second-most games amongst the four squads.
Even though the Bulls are clearly rebuilding, they've continued to be lumped into the same category as teams intent on winning, yet going nowhere. To back up the Bulls' positioning, Bontemps and Pelton wrote, "… the offseason saw the Bulls extend lead front office executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley as well as coach Billy Donovan. But they've made the playoffs once and have won a single playoff game over the past eight seasons…"
Of course, extending Karnisovas, Eversley, and Donovan drew some ire, but the current regime's ultimate vision is rather misunderstood. The Bulls are a team in transition. As stated, to begin the article, Chicago is in the process of infusing its roster with youth and athleticism, specifically honing in on defenders.
Rather than cutting bait and utilizing the famed, yet almost inimitable strategy of stashing draft capital while taking on veterans with bloated contracts, Chicago has instead focused on building a team with a solidified identity under an aligned coach and front office. Although it's too early to make an assertion, the Bulls are heading in the right direction after navigating a rocky road littered with past mistakes.