The Chicago Bulls provided more questions than answers in a confusing offseason that didn’t choose an identity.
Chicago will roll with what they have, but it’s likely we’ll see a different roster than the one that starts the 2024-25 season.
Players can be categorized as “part of the future” (Giddey, Williams, White, Dosunmu, Buzelis) or “soon to be traded” (LaVine, Vucevic, Craig) or somewhere in the gray area in between.
The Bulls do have some young end-of-the-bench hopefuls and training camp invitees to fill out the roster and they could serve some purpose as developmental projects.
But Chicago also has a few players whose roster spot is more or less pointless for one reason or another, a problem they created themselves with some bad trades and signings.
Chris Duarte
Duarte was part of the botched sign-and-trade that sent DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento, with the Bulls somehow getting the worst of a three-team trade in which they had the best asset.
If the Bulls had gotten a high-upside young player (OR A 1ST-ROUND DRAFT PICK!), this trade may not have looked so bad, but instead they got 27-year-old Chris Duarte, who has gotten worse in all three years he’s been in the league.
He shot below 40 percent in the last two seasons and is a career 34 percent 3-point shooter. Keep in mind that shooting was his primary asset when he came into the NBA.
He’s only played 160 games in three seasons and has seen his minutes and numbers go down in each of them. He’ll have a hard time even making the rotation, as the Bulls have plenty of guys ahead of him on the depth chart.
He’s not likely to be a trade asset at the deadline, and unless he figures his shot out and can stay healthy, isn’t going to provide much in the rotation. Duarte is on an expiring deal, so it’s likely he spends the season collecting $5.8 million from the bench, not bad work if you can get it.
If the Bulls make a trade at some point, his contract could be useful, but barring that, his spot on the roster is a potential waste.