Nikola Vucevic was a huge pick-up for the Chicago Bulls at the NBA trade deadline and with him under contract through the 2022-23 season, the Bulls can begin building a winning culture once again.

Both Vucevic and Zach LaVine were named All-Star this year and with some young talents with a lot of potential in Coby White and Patrick Williams, the future is definitely bright for the Chicago Bulls. 

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However, this team is likely going to come up short of making the playoffs yet again, making this the fourth consecutive season this franchise has missed the playoffs. The last time they missed the playoffs for 4+ years in a row was after “The Last Dance” when Michael Jordan retired, Phil Jackson left the Bulls and others like Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen and Steve Kerr all continued their careers elsewhere. 

Since then, the Bulls have been rebuilding and trying to find championship success, and they finally may be onto something with their current team. While they are still far off from being a true championship contender, they have the pieces set up for them to contend for a playoff spot next season. 

However, this offseason will be extremely important for them because they have a lot of contract situations that need to be figured out, one of which is Lauri Markkanen’s pending free agency.

The soon to be 24-year-old big man is going to be a restricted free agent this offseason and after not reaching an agreement on a long-term deal prior to the start of this season, many believe that Markkanen could actually hit the open market and sign elsewhere. 

Whether or not the Bulls retain Lauri Markkanen, they still have other aspects of their team to address and some issues to fix. With that said, let’s take a look at three offseason moves the Bulls should consider making in order to take the next step towards success in the 2021-22 season.