Rebuild? Re-tool? Refresh.
July 8th, 2024, marked the end of the DeMar DeRozan era for the Chicago Bulls. It was on this day the months-long saga between DeRozan and the Bulls reached its conclusion. This, however, does not answer the question of what this team will be in 2024-25 season and beyond.
DeRozan feels like the first domino to fall in what looks like a concerted effort to make the team younger and more flexible.
It all started when the Bulls traded two-time All-Defensive player Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for 21-year-old Josh Giddey. This marked the first Bulls trade since August 2021 when they acquired DeRozan and Derrick Jones Jr. within a few weeks of each other.
After the trade, the average age of the Bulls is 25.1 years old, which is a full year lower than what they were entering the ’23-24 season with more moves on the horizon.
Bulls general manager Artūras Karnišovas said the team’s plans for next season will be impacted by their pick in next year’s draft, which is owed to the Spurs if they do not fall into the top 10.
This implies that tanking to keep the pick is not on the list of options for the Bulls next season, which falls in line with AK’s philosophy of fielding teams that compete for the Play-In, qualifying for it three out of the four years he has been in charge.
With training camp still two months away, the Bulls are in a unique position to overhaul their roster before the season begins.
From the moves that have been made so far, though, the Bulls are not waving the white flag. Giddey is coming off his third year in the NBA, averaging 12.3 points (48% FG, 34% 3PT, 81% FT), 6.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game for the number one team in the Western Conference.
Giddey teams up with up-and-coming guard Coby White, who just dropped 19.1 points and 5.1 assists on 51/38/84 shooting splits in his first full year as the starting point guard. Young players like these, the newly re-signed Patrick Williams, and 2024 draftee Matas Buzelis give the Bulls an intriguing young core with a lot of potential still to be tapped into.
While the Bulls’ current focus has been trying to move two-time All-Star guard Zach LaVine, it has been no easy task with over $140 million still owed to the to the Bulls’ swingman. With two freshly acquired second rounders to attach to the trade, the Bulls are still looking to find LaVine a new home and acquire some assets that will help this regime on their new timeline.
The other odd man out is former All-Star big man Nikola Vucevic, who has seen his name come up in various trade rumors over the last couple of weeks with things expected to pick up now that the DeRozan saga is over. While the consensus is to acquire as many picks as you can during a rebuild, the Bulls have taken a slightly altered approach, targeting players who can contribute immediately (Giddey, Chris Duarte).
This Bulls team just needs to ask itself: what does it want to be this year?
Do they want to fully blow it up and trade their last two most valuable assets for future picks, flexibility and their own pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA draft? While the fan base has been clamoring for a rebuild, they do not necessarily want to see the team bottom out a la process 76ers. Especially when the Eastern Conference seems to be wide open aside from the top teams of Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Milwaukee.
The Bulls could make a few more moves this offseason and even leading up to the trade deadline and still find themselves in the thick of the playoff race in the softer East. This scenario leaves fans wondering if it makes sense to fight to get a low playoff spot when potential gems Cooper Flagg or V.J. Edgecombe could be waiting for them at the top of the lottery and a Play-In spot will concede that pick to the Spurs.
Rebuilds are not finished until you find a superstar for your team and the Bulls must decide if that player is currently on the roster or if they need to re-position themselves to be able to acquire that player.
One thing can be agreed on and that is change is needed in the Windy City. The team has only been to the playoffs twice in the last nine years and only once since AK took over the front office. The Lonzo Ball injury set the team back and they were never able to reconfigure the team when he went out in 2022 with the initial meniscus tear. The team remained competitive and participated in the Play-In but never showed any kind of consistency over the last three years.
With DeRozan gone and other established veterans not far behind him, this seems like the best chance for Chicago to refresh the roster while remaining firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Leave a comment