The Bulls Stayed The Same…Does That Count As Getting Better?
Bulls Confidential Editors Michael Walton & Geoffrey Clark attempt to answer that question as the new-look Eastern Conference continues to take shape.
The Bulls had perhaps the most boring free agency period of any NBA franchise this offseason. Thankfully for Bulls fans, boring isn’t always bad.
Chicago’s fairly new-look front office preached continuity at every turn, fast forward and it isn’t extremely shocking that the Bulls chose to run it back with the (mostly) same squad.
What is shocking however, is that the moves around the fringes didn’t quite feel like what you would expect from a shrewd front office like the Bulls currently have. At Bulls Confidential we decided to zoom out and discuss how we felt about the Bulls offseason moves or lack thereof.
Below is a summary of the Bulls offseason, with the new faces joining the team having their names italicized and in bold font:
Chicago Bulls Offseason Summary:
— Drafted Dalen Terry 18th overall in the 2022 draft
— Tony Bradley opted into his $2.04 million Player Option with the Bulls for 2023
— Signed Andre Drummond to a 2-year, $6.6 million contract with a player option in Year 2
— Agreed to a 5 year $215.16 million contract with Zach LaVine
— Agreed to a 2-year, $6.6 million contract with Derrick Jones Jr.
— Agreed to a 1 year $2.9 million contract with Goran Dragic
The Bulls did make a few solid moves in free agency but certainly not the big splash that many Bulls fans and some analysts were expecting, especially as it pertains to the now traded Rudy Gobert. Vucevic was at least able to have a little fun with the news after being the subject of trade rumors throughout most of the Gobert saga.
Ultimately, the Bulls the moved made this offseason suggested one of two things (or a combination of both):
- Either the front office issued a strict mandate to stay under the luxury tax threshold no matter what OR
- President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas and GM Marc Eversley truly have a ton of confidence in the continued development of LaVine and Patrick Williams.
The core of the 2022 Bulls is intact, with LaVine signed up for five more seasons flanked by some combination of DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, Nikola Vucevic, the aforementioned Williams and (hopefully a fully-healed) Lonzo Ball.
At 100% health, Chicago boasted an elite defense that was powered by the speed of their top perimeter defenders in Ball and Caruso. Ball’s versatility made him an absolute match-up nightmare, as Billy Donovan showed no fear in deploying him against scoring-minded forwards like Julius Randle or smaller guards. But as Bulls fans know, 100% health is never guaranteed.
Chicago faithful expected the Bulls front-office to go into this offseason and sign players to help with rim protection and 3-point shooting woes.
The Chicago front office theoretically added these things with cheap deals for Drummond and Dragic but realistically speaking, Dragic shot 25% from 3-point range and Drummond is more of a rebounding-specialist than a rim protector.
So…that leaves everyone wondering, in a season where so much changed around the NBA, did the Bulls get better by (mostly) staying the same?
Geoffrey Clark (@gfclark89 on Twitter): It’s understandable for Bulls fans to be underwhelmed by the team’s offseason haul to this point after it made one big splash after another last year. What Karnisovas and Eversley have done here is announce that they are happy with the team they have built, and their main focus has been on re-signing key guys and bringing reinforcements in to shore up some of the team’s weaknesses.
Sure, the Eastern Conference is getting better, but these Bulls haven’t scratched the surface as far as their potential yet. The moves to this point mean that the front office has a lot of faith in this team continuing to raise its ceiling.
Michael Walton (@ZenMasterMike on Twitter): To be quite honest, I actually liked the Bulls offseason.
Of course, it is always ideal to add better players, even superstars, etc., but the reality is these things take a long time, lots of cooperation from the players themselves and an owner willing to spend luxuriously. The Bulls have rarely operated as a luxury tax team and it is hard to imagine them dipping into that territory to add a better backup center, etc. Chicago is a great team, but obviously not a title contender yet after losing to the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs last season.
With that being said, I have no problem with the Bulls choosing a cost effective option to help with their rebounding and size issues — which were quite pronounced in the regular season when Vooch went down — over a splashier move. They also added Goran Dragic in what I assume was an insurance move in case Lonzo Ball isn’t ready to go at the start of the season and onward. I’m not thrilled about that specific move as Dragic appears to be washed in my book, but I would be more than happy for the crafty Slovenian vet to prove me wrong.
I was at every Bulls home game in 2021–22, and it was quite clear that LaVine was playing hurt for much of the season, possibly even longer than it seemed in public discourse. Playing at less than 100%, he still put up a 24/4/4 stat line on efficient shooting next to a very ball-dominant player in DeMar DeRozan.
Father Time is undefeated, meaning that DeRozan and Vucevic are likely to take a step back on offense, whether by design or nature. Any slight step back in usage from either of those two means more shots for a 100% healthy LaVine and Patrick Williams.
My faith in the Bulls front office choosing to re-sign LaVine and bring most of the 2021–22 team back is quite simple: I also have a TON of faith in Williams and LaVine.
These two Bulls franchise cornerstones both finished the season with great True Shooting Percentages — 66.4% for Williams and 60.5% for LaVine — and can keep those figures high even with an increase in usage rate.
My belief is that a full season of Williams next to LaVine, Caruso and Ball will allow Billy Donovan to rediscover the formula that had Chicago fighting for the top-seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the All-Star break.
My belief is that a full season of Williams next to LaVine, Caruso and Ball will allow Billy Donovan to rediscover the formula that had Chicago fighting for the top-seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the All-Star break.
