Fans of the Chicago Bulls have been waiting patiently for the front office to reveal its long-term strategy for the team.
We’ve gotten some hints, starting with the trade of Alex Caruso, a solid indication that the Bulls aren’t just going to run it back.
They also drafted a project player with the 11th pick, Matas Buzelis, a big forward who could be the long-term replacement for DeMar DeRozan.
Is this a sign that the Bulls are embracing a reboot this summer?
We’ll know soon.
Chicago Bulls and DeMar DeRozan’s extension
Even with Caruso gone, Chicago could try to walk the line of being competitive and building at the same time, which isn’t easy to do.
If the Bulls are going to attempt this strategy, we’ll know soon, as they have only two more days to come to an extension agreement with DeMar DeRozan, who is the single biggest factor in the Bulls’ offseason.
If the Bulls come to an agreement with DeRozan, expect more of the same, a team not good enough to compete but not bad enough to get a top draft pick, which would be even more painful next season in a better draft in which the Bulls own a top-10 protected pick.
If they do not come to an agreement with DeRozan and let him enter free agency, it’s a sign that he is not likely returning and the Bulls are going in a different direction.
It would be a shame to lose DeRozan for nothing, a probability the Bulls should have never let come to fruition, as they should have already extended or traded him long before it got to this.
But they didn’t and now they have to decide if they want to throw more money at the best player on a bad team or just start rebuilding around all of their young players and some newly found cap space.
Fans are hoping for the latter even though DeRozan is a hugely popular player who has been good in Chicago.
It’s not about DeRozan but what he represents, which is the mediocre past.
Letting him walk would be the end of that past and we’ll know on June 30th whether the Bulls have finally let it go.