The Chicago Bulls were a team that many people were expecting to see a major shake-up with this offseason. Their attempt to build a contending team on the fly fell woefully short of expectations after an injury to point guard Lonzo Ball has put his playing career in jeopardy.
But, instead of accepting the reality of the situation and embarking on a rebuild, the Bulls have opted to double down on the mistakes they already made. That, in large part, is why Sam Quinn of CBS Sports gave the team such a brutal review of their offseason thus far.
Quinn gave the Bulls a D grade for the moves that they have made since the offseason started. Only one team, the Toronto Raptors, received a worse grade than the Bulls as Quinn handed them an F. The Denver Nuggets were the only other team to receive a D grade along with Chicago, who did nothing to improve the future outlook of the team.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan & Chicago Bulls Updates
“The only thing saving the Bulls from an “F” was the quietly valuable signing of Jevon Carter for $20 million over three years. Carter is an underrated offensive player that can fill either guard spot and plays tough defense. Otherwise? This offseason has shown a startling lack of self-awareness on Chicago’s part. They’re coming off of a sub-.500 season. Lonzo Ball may never be healthy enough to play for them again. Zach LaVine has health concerns as well. Nikola Vucevic is 32 and DeMar DeRozan is about to turn 34. No front office genuinely interested in competing for championships would run it back with this team, but no sane observer would accuse the Bulls of having championship ambitions. Chicago has spent the better part of the post-Jordan era proving that its goal is to make the playoffs and duck the luxury tax. That is the only way to justify the three-year, $60 million pact given to Vucevic. General manager Arturas Karnisovas raised eyebrows when he was asked about the disastrous Vucevic trade and declared that he “thought that deal worked out pretty well for us,” but if the goal was always to sustain mediocrity, he’s technically not wrong.”
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan & Chicago Bulls Updates
A full reset is desperately needed in the Windy City but it doesn’t look like that is something the current regime and ownership group are interested in doing. The deal to acquire Nikola Vucevic from the Orlando Magic in 2021 resulted in the Bulls making the playoffs once.
A relatively easy argument could now be made that the Magic are also in a much better spot than the Bulls. Orlando can thank them, in part for that as they used the assets from the trade to fill out and upgrade the roster.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan & Chicago Bulls Updates
Bringing Vucevic back, given the current state of the franchise, makes little sense. Chicago is mired in mediocrity as they are too good of a team to realistically expect to land a top pick in the NBA Draft but nowhere near good enough to contend in the postseason. In the NBA, that is the worst place a team can be but the Bulls seem more than content living there.
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