The Chicago Bulls will be among the league's most financially flexible teams this offseason.
Following their flurry of moves at the trade deadline, in which they dealt away Nikola Vucevic, Ayo Dosunmu, and Coby White, they will have roughly $82 million to spend this offseason. For a team that's looking to be competitive immediately, this cash might be spent on bolstering the roster into a play-in berth. That's likely the way the old front office would have handled things.
But under Bryson Graham, it's clear that Chicago is headed towards, at the very least, a short-term rebuild. By the time the 2026 NBA Draft has concluded, it should have a strong young core at its disposal.
Any sizable contracts they bring on this offseason, therefore, must either have a long-term outlook or a definable, short-term purpose. A trade for someone like Dorian Finney-Smith would fit the latter category.
Finney-Smith will be entering the second year of his four-year, $52 million contract he signed with the Houston Rockets last offseason. If Houston is willing to attach draft capital in order to move off of Finney-Smith, the Bulls may have already found their perfect offseason target.
Bulls need to accrue additional draft capital this offseason to jumpstart their rebuild
As strong of a position as the Bulls are in to immediately accelerate their rebuild, they still certainly have some work to do. They're not currently in possession of any first-round picks outside of their own after the 15th overall pick in the 2026 Draft conveys.
A trade for Finney-Smith likely would not yield one. But it could be a strong opportunity to add a couple more second-round selections to their growing hoard. Houston has four second-round selections available between now and 2030.
In theory, Finney-Smith was the perfect addition for the Rockets last season. Although he was coming off an ankle injury, his 3-and-D skill-set could have provided a major boon to their bench scoring. Instead, he played in just 37 games, averaging 3.3 points and shooting just 27% from beyond the arc.
Houston will face some financial troubles this offseason as they attempt to sort out an extension for Tari Eason. Moving off of Finney-Smith would alleviate some of those issues.
For the Bulls' part, three years might be a lot to take on considering Finney-Smith's questionable long-term fit. But he's just one year removed from being dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers at the deadline for a trio of second-round selections. If he can find a longer runway in Chicago and pump his 3-point percentage back to viable territory, he could quickly become a serious trade asset.
The Bulls will need to explore all their options this offseason. But given these factors, Finney-Smith is already seeming like a viable salary-dump candidate.
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