The Chicago Bulls have long been opposed to the idea of trading their star defender Alex Caruso, with the team reportedly turning down offers consisting of multiple first-round selections, including a top 10 selection in this year’s draft, according to Will Gottlieb of CHGO.
The decision to hang onto Caruso at all costs becomes increasingly difficult to comprehend, given where the Bulls currently find themselves on the NBA totem pole, stuck between the play-in tournament, and the actual playoffs.
Furthermore, Caruso’s contractual situation is in a state where trading him likely makes the most sense. He’s got just one year left on his deal, at $9.8 million, and is extremely likely to enter unrestricted free agency in 2025.
While Caruso is extension eligible, his modest contract makes it impossible for the Bulls to extend him due to the 140% extension limit.
(If that sounds familiar, it’s because Chicago is in a similar situation with both Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu.)
Caruso has become one of the league’s most impactful two-way role players. He’s positionally fluid, defends everything from point guards to smaller power forwards, and even canned over 40% of his three-pointers this season.
By the summer of 2025, when he can sign with anyone he chooses, he’s very likely to receive a contract that exceeds $20 million per year due to his aforementioned play.
What are the odds of him returning to Chicago, given the organization’s constant failure to make themselves a legitimate playoff team?
During his three years with the franchise so far, the Bulls have won a single playoff game, and otherwise been eliminated in the play-in tournament twice.
Caruso, who will be 31 next summer, isn’t at a point where he will have the luxury of time to wait for the Bulls to get their act together. Especially as that mission is likely to take years given their constant inaction, and reluctance to pay for a playoff team.
It is then reasonable to assume that it’s unlikely that Caruso re-signs in Chicago next summer, just as it’s reasonable to assume he’ll reject whatever extension offer that comes in over the next 12 months.
(Chicago can, at most, offer him an extension that starts at $13.8 million, which is far below his market value.)
So, what are the Bulls waiting for?
The organization is rumored to have offered DeMar DeRozan at a price of $80 million over two years, and he’ll turn 35 before the season.
They’re also likely to eventually trade Zach LaVine, for a return that’s going to be viewed as extremely modest given his All-Star career with the Bulls.
The organization re-signed Nikola Vučević, who will turn 34 right at the beginning of the season, believing him to be a major core piece to their success.
What, exactly, is the plan here?
As far as directions go, the Bulls appear to simply not have one. And if they do, it doesn’t appear to be one that’s built on significant detail.
Turning down trades, that would have them come out with far more options for the future, borders on malpractice. If they were a permanent playoff team, and believed they were one year away from competing for a title, then trade rejections as the above would make sense.
The reality of the situation is, however, that they are not. In fact, as currently constructed, they’re not even close to being a threat to making the playoffs.
The Bulls appear to be living in an alternate reality where they’re two to three levels higher in the NBA hierarchy, than they actually are, underlined by their constant belief in a roster construction that completely fell apart after the injury to Lonzo Ball over two and a half years ago.
What’s worse about their handling of Caruso is how the above trade proposals were before the 2024 trade deadline.
By not trading Caruso then, they’re left with the option of trading him now, and his price will have shrunk in the meantime given that teams were looking to have Caruso for two playoff runs, instead of the single one they’re sure to get now.
Does he still fetch a first-round pick? Probably. But it’s fair to question if any team is willing to give up multiple at this point, as whatever team lands Caruso will also not be able to extend him, thus risk losing him next summer.
All of this is to say, the Bulls appear rudderless. They don’t seem to comprehend how to deal with contractual challenges, such as the ripple effect of the 140% extension rule, nor do they appear to understand how to get out ahead of certain challenges, by making trades at the right time.
The Bulls are constantly reacting to the world around them, much to the satisfaction of the league’s other 29 teams who simply won’t have to worry about Chicago from a competitive perspective.
They’ve become that passive guest at the party, who spends all night in the corner of the room, not understanding why people don’t come to them based on the fact they’ve won six titles in the 90’s. Surely they’re still the talk of the town, and the envy of everyone around them.
They’re not.
And if they are talked about, it’s not in relation to past glory, but more so due to subjects like not moving off Caruso in due time, and being overall one of the worst managed teams in the NBA.
How they’ve handled the Caruso situation – meaning, how they haven’t handled it at all – also points to how the White and Dosunmu situations are likely to be resolved.
Inaction. Wasted trade value. Risk of losing them or nothing. Rinse, repeat.
Now, to be fair, the 140% rule is a problem. The Bulls did extremely well in the negotiations with all three of Caruso, White, and Dosunmu – all of whom are signed to deals far below market value.
They shouldn’t be penalized for making shrewd deals.
But, fact of the matter is the 140% rule is in place, and the Bulls seemingly don’t understand how to navigate it. Or perhaps they don’t care, believing themselves to be the best option for all three players down the line.
Regardless of their motivation, their failing in reacting to a very real challenge is a pattern. They spent nearly a decade using Derrick Rose’s ACL tear as an excuse to the fan base for not being a competitive franchise.
They’re using the same playbook with Ball’s injury, directing attention away from their inability to pivot into something else, and finding new ways to improve.
What might be the most egregious mistake by the Bulls, however, is their seemingly constant belief that no one’s the wiser.
They speak to the media, and thus their fans, in a manner of high superiority, scoffing at critical questions, and making false promises year after year, selling the fan base anew on an old product that’s outdated and barely functional.
It’ll be interesting to hear what explanation they come up with when they end up taking far less for Caruso than what was originally offered, or when he leaves in 2025 and they sit empty-handed.
Perhaps that is the point when they realize the corner is no good place to hide in, and they join in on the dance floor.
