The Chicago Bulls’ offseason can best be labeled as “confusing” and has left them stuck in a familiar purgatory between being bad and good.
If you look at their team payroll, it doesn’t inspire confidence that a quick rebuild is coming, as the Bulls still have cumbersome long-term contracts and little young talent.
But if a couple of things break their way next season, the future will look a little brighter and a competitive restoration of the roster not so daunting.
Josh Giddey, Patrick Williams and Matas Buzelis are better than expected
Most of the Bulls’ roster would be categorized as known commodities. We can probably expect mini-leaps from Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu in bigger roles, but we basically know what they are at this point.
The same can’t be said of Josh Giddey, Patrick Williams or Matas Buzelis who are all 23 or younger (Williams just turned 23). Giddey is just 21 and could flourish with his own team to run, something he never had in OKC. There is time for him to become a more confident and competent shooter to go along with his passing.
Williams hasn’t improved in four years so betting on him is a long-shot, which is why the Bulls should have never given him that ridiculous contract. But they did, so now they have to hope Williams turns it into a bargain. That would mean becoming more of a threat offensively, becoming more of a lockdown defender and continuing to hit 3-point shots at a high rate.
Buzelis has yet to play a game in the NBA and is still a teenager, but he already has swagger and may be better than his draft position indicates.
The Bulls' rebuild is based on these three players right now, and if all of them step up next season, things will look a lot brighter, especially if the next thing happens.
The Bulls are able to trade Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and Lonzo Ball for actual assets
The Bulls can’t really be classified as a rebuild as long as they have LaVine, Vucevic and Ball on the books.
If Chicago were willing to give up assets or take quantifiably bad trades, I’m sure they could move all of these guys right now, but just clearing payroll isn’t going to speed up the rebuild, as they’d likely have to take back contracts that are just as bad.
But if LaVine and Ball return healthy and play well, both could at least net the Bulls some picks or young players, which would help the rebuild along.
Vucevic will be easier to move as the two years on his deal dwindle and some team might be desperate enough to cough up a second-round pick or two for his services.
Getting draft assets and young players will allow the Bulls to add young talent to their pipeline or use them in future trades to land bigger names.
Right now, the Bulls don’t rank among the top rebuilds in the NBA, largely because they haven’t fully committed to it. They have to hope these young players live up to the hype and they can clear their cap sheet of bad deals, otherwise, this is going to be a long process.