The Chicago Bulls have made their intentions clear.
Josh Giddey (21), Matas Buzelis (19), and Jalen Smith (24) have all been added to the roster over the last couple of weeks. Patrick Williams (22) also agreed to a five-year contract to remain a fundamental part of the organization. If the Chicago Bulls’ plan was anything but to begin a rebuild, they are doing a very bad job!
Still, Arturas Karnisovas and Co. are only at the beginning. A full roster overhaul will not be complete without the official breakup of the team’s former core. And that’s taking some time to figure out.
Chicago Bulls Trying to Break Up the Big 3
Despite free agency opening at 5:00 p.m. CT on Sunday night, DeMar DeRozan has yet to find a new home. The trade market on Zach LaVine also appears to remain ice cold, as a recent report even stated that the Warriors opted to waive Chris Paul instead of trading his salary for the All-Star. Whether or not there are any takers for Nikola Vucevic is also unknown. The big man may provide a nightly double-double, but he’s owed $20.0 million over each of the next two seasons. For a defensively limited big man coming off a very bad shooting season, that’s not the most palatable salary.
To be sure, something is going to give eventually. But precisely what that will be remains a major question. The DeRozan situation, in particular, has become rather complicated. The Los Angeles Clippers were consistently rumored as a landing spot for the veteran, but they swiftly went on to make a couple of role-player signings after losing Paul George to Philly. In other words, they no longer have as much money to throw around.
The Los Angeles Lakers have at least popped up as a possible secondary suitor after losing out on Klay Thompson. However, the road to make that deal work isn’t crystal clear. Due to the Chicago Bulls’ signing of Jalen Smith using some of the mid-level exception, they are now roughly $13.3 million away from the luxury tax. We all know they aren’t paying that, especially during what is shaping up to be a rebuilding season. This means they’re limited in the amount of salary they can take back in a potential sign-and-trade deal. Knowing the kind of money DeRozan likely covets (and deserves) they would presumably have to take back more than that amount.
For what it’s worth, the Chicago Bulls are also hard-capped now that they used their mid-level exception. This would mean that – even if they wanted to go into the tax – they can not exceed the first apron (which they are roughly $22 million away from).
DeRozan is now left in a pretty uncomfortable position. The options in front of him are to either (1) sign with a cap space team, (2) sign via a mid-level exception, (3) hope the Chicago Bulls can move some money around to allow a sign-and-trade, or (4) find someone else to take on salary in a trade. If one thing is for sure, DeRozan’s camp isn’t even thinking about options one or two right now. I’m sure everyone is holding out hope that a sign-and-trade can come together so DeRozan can be compensated fairly AND end up where he wants to be.
But, again, the moving money part hasn’t proven easy for Chicago. LaVine market feels as dead as ever, and we’ve heard next to nothing about interest in Vucevic. The Chicago Bulls would also be foolish to attach any sort of future assets to either player merely to move their contract. The front office should only be in the business of asset acquisition at this point in time.
I suppose the good news is that we’re only on Day 2 of free agency. Many more conversations have to be had and many more players have to sign. New doors open up all the time in this league, so there is still a good chance something comes together quickly that allows Chicago to break up this core. Up until this now, however, the Chicago Bulls have seen how tricky it can be when you hold onto your assets too long.
Let’s hope AK is learning a lesson.
