The Chicago Bulls are now being mentioned among the rebuilding teams, although they still haven’t even solidly committed to that.
The Bulls have traded veteran contracts to kickstart things, but didn’t get the draft assets most rebuilding teams are looking for, instead settling for Josh Giddey and a bunch of scraps.
Giddey may turn out to be a great pickup, but his next contract is going to present problems in the future, one of many payroll issues the Bulls will face as they try to rebuild.
Chicago Bulls 2024-25 payroll and beyond
If you just looked at the Bulls payroll for the next few seasons and knew nothing else about them, they wouldn’t immediately jump out as a team that was trying to rebuild. They still have big contracts that extend more than a season, not enough young talent on rookie deals and guys who are due for big raises in the near future.
Player | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|
Zach LaVine | $43,031,940 | $45,999,660 | $48,967,380* |
Lonzo Ball | $21,395,348 | ||
Nikola Vucevic | $20,000,000 | $21,481,481 | |
Patrick Williams | $18,000,000 | $18,000,000 | $18,000,000 |
Coby White | $12,000,000 | $12,888,889 | |
Jalen Smith | $8,571,429 | $9,000,000 | $9,428,571 |
Josh Giddey | $8,352,367 | ||
Ayo Dosunmu | $7,000,000 | $7,518,518 | |
Jevon Carter | $6,500,000 | $6,809,524* | |
Chris Duarte | $5,893,768 | ||
Matas Buzelis | $5,195,520 | $5,455,560 | $5,715,360** |
Dalen Terry | $3,510,480 | $5,399,118** | |
Torrey Craig | $2,845,342 | ||
Julian Phillips | $1,891,857 | $2,221,677 | $2,406,205 |
*Indicates a player option
**Indicates a team option
The obvious albatross is the Zach LaVine deal that extends for three more seasons at over $138 million. Once the Bulls get that deal off the books, things won’t look nearly as bad, but trading LaVine has proven to be exceedingly difficult, and unless he comes back and plays well, that is going to be true.
The Bulls will get some relief with Lonzo Ball and his $21 million coming off the books after this season, but it will immediately be undone (and then some) by Josh Giddey’s new deal.
Giddey will be a restricted free agent after this season, so the Bulls will have the inside track to re-signing him, but Giddey also has plenty of leverage, as he was the lone asset they acquired in the Alex Caruso trade and the Bulls won’t want to lose him for nothing. Expect an overpay with a player option at the end of it, so Giddey is going to go from a bargain to a max player very quickly.
The Bulls should also be able to get rid of Nikola Vucevic’s remaining two years at some point, which will give them another $20-21 million coming off the books, but like LaVine, he will be difficult to trade without taking back a similarly odorous contract, so I wouldn’t expect much relief there.
Unless they can rid themselves of LaVine and Vucevic, the Bulls are still going to have a ton of money tied up in the roster in 2025-26 for a team that is going nowhere.
They won’t get real relief until 2026-27, when the Bulls will only have three guaranteed contracts on their books (Patrick Williams, Jalen Smith, and Giddey, assuming he stays) to go along with LaVine’s player option. (if he's still around) and team options on Matas Buzelis and Julian Phillips.
Obviously, the big question will be what happens to Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, who are both set to be unrestricted free agents after the 2025-26 seasons. Even if the Bulls can somehow keep both of them, both guys are going to be on big raises, so again, we are talking about a fairly steep payroll for a team that doesn’t have a clear star player unless Buzelis or someone else turns into one by then.
This rebuild will be a challenge even if LaVine and Vucevic’s deals are off the books unless the Bulls can take back shorter-term salaries in exchange.
This isn’t going to be easy and will get even more financially challenging when Giddey, White and Dosunmu all get raises. This could be a long journey.