After finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 40-42 record, the Chicago Bulls spent money this offseason looking to improve the roster, also while maintaining the same core and locking Nikola Vucevic into a 3-year extension.
That is after a season with the same core where they finished 46-36 and the 6th seed, suffering a gentleman's sweep against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. So after regressing last season (even with an incredibly healthy roster!), why would the Bulls look to continue staying in mediocrity? Their 2023 offseason just makes little sense, even if they acquired some quality players and extended some good players.
Being stuck in mediocrity is NBA hell. The team won’t come close to winning or competing for anything, a trade for a star still won’t put the team over the top, and the team isn’t losing enough to get top-end draft selections. Look at the 2014-2019 Charlotte Hornets, 2016-2019 Detroit Pistons, and 2018-2023 Washington Wizards as examples of how not to run an NBA team.
Unfortunately, the Chicago Bulls appear to be trending in that direction with their moves this summer. Truthfully, we’ve seen enough of the DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic trio to know they cannot compete with it. Because of that, they need to blow it up.
Don’t get me wrong: these are all very good players. DeRozan absolutely is one of the premier mid-range scorers in the league, and LaVine is a legitimate three-level scorer (I dove super deep into his scoring here). Both of these guys are still clearly all-star caliber players. Vucevic may not be all-star level, but he’s still a very good rebounder and post-up player while being a good screener and passer.
They have some solid role players too. Alex Caruso is the best point of attack defender in the NBA and was just a member of the All-Defensive 1st Team. Coby White was moved into more of an off-ball role and strived, posting a career-high in efficiency. Pat Williams still has all of the upside in the world at just age 21 while also currently being a solid two-way player. Ayo Dosumnu also is a very good defender and is just 23 years old. All of these players currently remain on the Bulls roster.
Notably, they brought in Jevon Carter this summer, who I really like. He’s one of the better point of attack defenders in the league. I mean, just look at this graph. They have both Caruso and Carter.
https://twitter.com/CharlieSpungin/status/1686027507785408513?s=20
Their acquisition of Carter -- and Torrey Craig (a solid 3&D player) -- just makes me question the direction of this team. Why sign players that can make an impact now? We absolutely, 100% know that the Bulls cannot win with this core of DeRozan, LaVine, and Vucevic. LaVine is the player who has been in trade rumors the most this summer, but those have seemed to calm down.
It appears incredibly likely that the Bulls will enter this coming year with the same core, and it feels like their fate as a play-in team is locked in. I like this team, and it’s a solid team with some good players, yet they just will never be good enough with this group to justify keeping it together.
Charlie Spungin , NBA Analyst