During the 2023-24 regular season, the Chicago Bulls surprisingly exceed their projected win total from before the season, although not by much. Winning 39 games and finishing with the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference, the Bulls went one-and-done in the Play-In tournament, falling at home to the Hawks.
While they did technically win more games than expected, it was another disappointing season in Chicago. The Bulls' roster is loaded with veterans and features a healthy crop of talent, both offensive and defensive. But despite competing in the weaker East, they could not put together enough wins to make the playoffs.
Many believe that the time is now for Chicago to bite the bullet and commit to a rebuild, as they have been stuck in the miserable middle for several years at this point. With that in mind, these are seven players that we may not see back with the Bulls next season.
1. Jevon Carter
The sixth-year veteran out of West Virginia University, Jevon Carter signed with the Bulls last summer and his addition was seen as one of the best moves the team made in the offseason. After starting 39 games for Milwaukee and playing a career-high 22.3 minutes per night last season with the Bucks, many thought he could be a valuable contributor.
But it seems Carter's season last year was a bit of an outlier, as he played just 13.9 minutes with the Bulls in 2023-24 with no starts. He shot just 37% from the floor and was not much of a factor in Chicago winning or losing games.
There would be little to no reason for the Bulls to keep Jevon around for next season. Unless they see him as a foundational vet that they want mentoring young players, it would probably be best to let him seek greener pastures.
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2. Zach LaVine
After seven seasons in the Windy City, it may be time for the Bulls to put an end to the Zach LaVine era. Playing just 25 games this season due to injury, LaVine's usefulness in Chicago appears to be wearing thin.
In the grand scheme of things, it is not likely that Zach will ever be the best player on a championship-winning team, or even the second-best player on a title team. There was virtually no chance LaVine was going to lead Chicago to the promised land even if he had been able to remain on the floor for the entire season this year.
While he is a sensational offensive talent, Zach's defense is routinely lacking and he is not the type of player that is versatile enough to be plugged and placed in a variety of lineups. Considering his current value and the massive contract he signed with the Bulls in 2022, it is best that Chicago consider their options and look at offloading Zach to the highest bidder.
He has already been named in numerous trade rumors and discussions over the last few seasons, and the Bulls would likely be happy to just put an end to the drama. There is a very small chance LaVine is still a Bull come training camp.
3. Torrey Craig
Joining the Bulls last summer on a two-year, $5.3 million deal, Torrey Craig departed a theoretical title contender in the Phoenix Suns to come to Chicago. Fans of the Bulls had the right to be excited about this signing, as Craig had just finished putting up a career-best 7.4 points per game, while playing the highest minutes average of his career as well.
By all accounts, Torrey was an excellent player in Phoenix in 2022-23. He put up a number of solid statistical achievements, including shooting 39% from three (higher than league average) and averaging career-highs in rebounds and assists as well.
Craig's 60 starts in 79 games played were by far the highest percentage of games he had started in over the course of one season since entering the league, and it was also the most overall games he had appeared in as a pro as well. Torrey was supposed to provide a legitimate boost to the Bulls' rotation.
But instead, he took a bit of a step back and was not nearly as big a factor as many thought he would be. With a player option for next season on his contract, Torrey has until June 29 to decide where he wants to be for the 2024-25 season.
4. DeMar DeRozan
For much of the second half of the 2010s, the Bulls had been searching for their next franchise star. A guy that was a legitimate All-NBA candidate and whose abilities would be able to propel the franchise back to its former glory. Someone that would be able to restore honor to Chicago basketball. No, not a Michael Jordan-level player, but just someone that could give the franchise legitimate relevancy.
In the summer of 2021, it looked like the Bulls might have found their guy. When the front office pulled off a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan with the San Antonio Spurs, the scoring machine that made a name for himself with the Raptors was on his way to Chicago, and things were finally beginning to look up in the Windy City.
As we expected, DeMar completed an excellent first season with the Bulls in 2021-22. He was named to the All-NBA second team, and finished in the top ten for MVP voting while being nominated an All-Star as well. But as Chicago fell down in the standings toward the end of the year due to injuries, the DeRozan experience started to fade a bit.
His two seasons since then have still been solid from an individual perspective, but it is clear the Bulls will not be making any kind of legitimate playoff run with DeMar at the helm. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and it seems like a near certainty that he moves on.
5. Javonte Green
The story of Javonte Green is not like most of the players in the NBA. After entering his name in the 2015 NBA Draft, Green went undrafted and proceeded to begin his professional career overseas. He sent time with clubs in Spain, Italy and Germany before earning an opportunity back in the United States with the Celtics in 2019.
As such, Javonte did not play his rookie season in the NBA until he was 26 years old. He played with Boston until March 2021 when he was traded to the Bulls. Green has mostly played sparingly during his time in Chicago, outside of the 2021-22 season where he started in 45 games.
Even during that year, his numbers and impact did not exactly jump off the page. He is a nice story and I wish him success, but it is clear Javonte is not exactly the picture of what an impact player in this league looks like.
Looking at just the stats, Green has actually been solid in the time he has been able to get on the floor this season. But he has only played in nine games as a whole, and his impending unrestricted free agency makes it very unlikely the team keeps him around past this summer.
6. Lonzo Ball
It is hard to think of a player in the NBA that has suffered from more frustrating injuries in the last several seasons than Lonzo Ball. When he arrived in Chicago in the summer of 2021 along with DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo figured to be a huge game-changer for the Bulls that could in theory help them get back to the level of a perennial playoff contender.
As we know, that was how things began when the Bulls shot up the standings in the first half of the 2021-22 season. But when Lonzo was sidelined midway through January of 2022 with a reported meniscus tear, things started to take a turn for the worse.
Ball missed the remainder of his first season with the Bulls after it was announced he would undergo knee surgery. Later, when he attempted to return to basketball activities, he was still dealing with nagging pain in his knee that needed to be addressed with another procedure that involved cleaning out loose material in the joint.
The result was Lonzo missing all the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Knee trouble is no joke for basketball players, and this has undoubtedly been a long and tedious process for the star guard. Here's hoping he can still make a full recovery and get back to being the player Bulls fans fell in love with, but it should also be no surprise if the team looks to move on in the offseason.
7. Andre Drummond
When it comes to high-level rebounders in the NBA, few do it better than Andre Drummond. The big man has continued to stay true to his reputation as a hard-nosed interior threat on the boards. He is not an All-Star caliber player, but he has proven himself extremely viable in the role he plays best.
When he joined the Bulls during the 2022 offseason, Drummond was seen as a supporting role player that could be consistent and help lift up the core group of stars in DeMar, Zach, and Lonzo after he returned from his injury. He did just that, and has continued to impress in the way that he has reinvented his game to be more useful in a modern setting.
But with the Bulls' core group experiencing continued injury trouble during Andre's two seasons in Chicago, he was never able to live out his purpose for this team to the fullest extent. Drummond has just finished up the second year of his two-year deal with the Bulls, and he will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
With the future of this team up in the air and the possibility that the Bulls pursue a full rebuild increasing, it is very likely Drummond ends up on a different NBA roster next season.