2017 NBA Offseason Review: Chicago Bulls
The Bulls trade away important pieces in the aim of looking towards the future

Last season, the Chicago Bulls tried to go their version of ‘all-in.’ They brought in future hall of famer Dwyane Wade, and former champion Rajon Rondo to run with Jimmy Butler; all with the intent of trying to create a 3-headed guard-centric monster. If they had been able to create a time machine, and get ’08 Rondo and Wade, they may have found some success. Instead, the past season hamstrung the team and turned the Bulls into a franchise lost without much direction. The young players they need to develop didn’t get many minutes, the veterans flamed out, and Jimmy Butler demanded his way out of town.
Key Losses
Jimmy Butler and the #16 overall pick (which turned into Justin Patton), in a trade to the T-Wolves. Butler’s stat line this past season? 23.9 points, 5.5 assists, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game. Butler is a true 2-way player, a bulldog defender capable of guarding 1–4 on most teams and has a versatile offensive game. He is arguably the best Bull since Derrick Roses’ heyday, yet one of the most disappointing due to the lack of support from the rest of the roster during his time in The Windy City.
The Bulls also said goodbye to Rajon Rondo, Isaiah Canaan, Michael Carter-Williams, and Anthony Morrow. The losses of Rondo, Canaan, and MCW free up a bit of a logjam in their backcourt. Rondo moving on likely won’t be missed by many in Chicago, yet it was surprising that they allowed MCW to walk instead of continuing to try and develop him. Losing Morrow and Canaan gives up some shooting ability for this squad, something they still need to compete.
Key Additions
Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn come over from the Wolves in the Butler deal in Chicago’s attempt to go younger and get a jump start on a rebuild. In an ideal scenario, this would allow the Bulls to accelerate their rebuild timeline by a number of seasons if they are at or near the bottom of the standings this season and get lucky with the ping pong balls next June. Having a few position boxes checked off (if LaVine and Dunn pan out) allows them to target specific positions and players in the future.
LaVine is coming off of an ACL tear, which is concerning for a young player who relies so much on athletic ability to play his game. However, he has always been an underrated perimeter shooter, and has converted 38% of his shots from deep during his career. This is in large part due to his ability to elevate and shoot over a defender, and that same leaping ability helps him finish inside.
He has a lot of questions on defense, where he posted a less-than-impressive defensive box +/- of -2.4 in 2016–2017. If he can rehab well, and make a lot of strides as a defensive player, he could be a key cog for this squad moving forward. The questions, and comparisons to Butler will likely always follow him though, as the front office must have a lot of faith in his progression to require him to complete the Butler deal.
Dunn is the polar opposite of everything LaVine is. Defensively, he is dynamic and long with quick hands. He is athletic enough to stay in front of just about anyone, and has the size to not get bullied around. Those qualities should help him on the offensive end of the court, but the fact that he completely lacks the ability to shoot outside allows defenders to play off of him and dare him to shoot threes, where he only hit on 28.8% of such shots. He can finish inside, but he won’t be able to get there until he raises that shooting percentage by 7 or 8 points. He did not impress in summer league play either, mostly spending his time looking lost on the offensive end of the court.
The Bulls also drafted Arizona big man Lauri Markkanen, a sweet shooting 7-footer who has questions on defense. He needs to increase his foot speed and agility in order to stay on the court in the NBA, especially since he is projected to play next to Robin Lopez with Nikola Mirotic’s contract situation up in the air. If they get Mirotic back, they will likely be better overall if they are able to pair Markkanen with Portis on the court as backups to Mirotic and Robin Lopez. This would allow for Markkanen to stay near the rim on defense where he can use his big body and long frame to bother shots, while the more athletic Portis chases players around the perimeter.
The Bulls also added some rotation players in free agency. They brought in Justin Holiday and Antonio Blakeney on a two-way contract, and claimed David Nwaba off waivers from the Lakers. Holiday had a solid, if unremarkable season playing for the Knicks last season and should see some time on the wing. Neither of the other two players are expected to make huge contributions, although Blakeney flashed a little bit this past summer.
Moving Forward
The Bulls should clearly be in tank mode, and should be trying to give as many minutes to their young guys as possible. With LaVine coming off of his knee surgery, expect them to emulate the 76ers and play him sparingly (if at all). Wade will likely see those minutes, as he plays out his $24 million contract. The fact this front office did not make him aware of their plans is questionable, because if they had this would have allowed him to not opt in for the upcoming season. Whether they buy him out remains to be seen, but they need to avoid this sort of mismanagement in the future for this rebuild to be successful.
For everyone else on their roster, this is the time to get them experience and inflate their value for trades. They need to see what they really have with 2016 summer league MVP Jerian Grant and the underachieving Denzel Valentine. They also desperately need to devote a lot of time and energy to making Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen worth trading a top 10 player for them. Paul Zipser and Bobby Portis turned it on as the season went on last year, and both had their moments in the series against the Celtics, but are young and inconsistent.
This much is clear: this Bulls roster is full of questions. On paper, this team should be a bottom 5 team in the league, but everything could break in a way where this team is a scrappy team with a couple stellar defenders (Lopez, Dunn) with guys capable of hitting big shots (Markkanen, Wade/LaVine) and the glue guys needed (Portis, Zipser) to overachieve in a weak eastern conference. This team could gut out 33–38 wins, which would be a lot of fun to watch, but overall disastrous for their long term development as a team. They are in a place as a team where they need to fully commit to the reset button after trading away their only true superstar, and there is no time like the present.
All stats courtesy of basketball reference.
