The Chicago Bulls might be entering the most important offseason out of any team in the NBA this summer. First off, they and Zach LaVine both have to decide if they want to continue a mostly unsuccessful partnership so far.
The Bulls identified LaVine as a worthy cornerstone to build around following their fallout with former Chicago star Jimmy Butler, electing to trade Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a package centered around the UCLA product.
While he quickly proved himself to be one of the most gifted and versatile scorers in the league, LaVine failed to lead any meaningful or winning seasons in the Windy City. That is until the Bulls overturned their front office and subsequently went all in to put a win-now roster around him.
In 2020-21, Chicago traded a hefty package to the Orlando Magic to acquire All-Star center Nikola Vucevic. They followed that blockbuster trade-up by bringing in a triumvirate of free agents the following summer, signing Alex Caruso, Lonzo Ball, and DeMar DeRozan to form a new core with LaVine and Vooch.
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The roster turnover paid off dividends as the Bulls won their way to the top of the Eastern Conference for the majority of the first half of the 2021-22 season. Following a slew of injuries, Chicago fell back down to Earth and never regained the momentum that they built up earlier in the year.
Ultimately, they dropped down to the sixth seed and into a first-round matchup with the reigning champion Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo and company made quick work of the shorthanded Bulls and escorted them out of the playoffs in just five games.
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Now, Chicago has to decide if they’re willing to offer Zach LaVine a max contract, and LaVine in turn has to discern whether or not his future is with the Bulls. And if they do re-sign him, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karsinovas then has to find a way to improve the roster around him, DeRozan, and Vucevic with few avenues to do so.
Given that LaVine returns on a max deal, Chicago will be over the salary cap and will only have veteran minimum deals and their midlevel exception to work with to lure other free agents.
