The Bulls entered the 2024 offseason recognizing that major roster changes were necessary, with president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas telling members of his staff that the team needed to have a summer like 2021, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.
Unlike in 2021, when the club added a pair of win-now veterans – DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball – in sign-and-trade deals, Chicago focused this offseason on younger players, acquiring 21-year-old guard Josh Giddey, adding 24-year-old big man Jalen Smith in free agency, re-signing 22-year-old restricted free agent Patrick Williams, and drafting 19-year-old forward Matas Buzelis.
“We’ve gone young,” general manager Marc Eversley told Collier. “We’ve got players who are experienced and give us a greater opportunity to have a longer runway for sustainability to winning meaningful games for a longer time.”
Despite their focus on accumulating younger talent, the Bulls haven’t fully hit the reset button, with veterans like Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic still on the roster. So is the goal for the 2024/25 season getting back to the playoffs or beginning a rebuild? Eversley dismissed the idea that Chicago will bottom out, but also acknowledged the team isn’t exactly in win-now mode.
“We’re not so focused on being a top-six seed or being in the play-in,” Eversley said. “We’re focusing on developing this group every single day and see how much better they can get over the next year.”
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- If Chicago were committed to fully rebuilding, the front office may have been more inclined to trade Alex Caruso for draft assets instead of Giddey, a three-year veteran who is up for a rookie scale extension this offseason. But the Bulls weren’t just looking to sell off vets for future assets, per Eversley. “There’s no appetite in our building to go young and just blow it all up,” the GM told Collier. “We’ve gone young. We’ve got players who are experienced and give us a greater opportunity to have a longer runway for sustainability to winning meaningful games for a longer time. I don’t want to, a year from now, [be] winning 15 games and focusing on the lottery. We have an opportunity here to roll out younger players who give us an opportunity to turn this thing around, maybe not quicker, but in a more pragmatic approach than just looking at the future and building through the draft.”
- The Bulls and DeRozan consistently expressed mutual interest in continuing their relationship leading up to the offseason, but once the team’s new direction became clear, the two sides never came close to reaching an agreement on a new contract, sources tell ESPN. “I love DeMar. He was terrific for our organization the last three years,” Eversley said. “But I don’t think we were in a position to deliver what he was looking for going forward. He wants to win. He deserves an opportunity to win at a really high level. And arguably, we’re not in that situation right now. As much as it hurt to let him go, I’m extremely happy for him.”
- There has been some tension between LaVine and the Bulls over the past year, according to Collier, who cites LaVine’s interest in a trade and his decision to undergo season-ending surgery in February as two factors that rubbed the team the wrong way. According to Collier, LaVine letting the Bulls know he was open to being dealt “irked” Karnisovas because it suggested he wasn’t committed to sticking with the team — that gripe seems unfair to me, given that Chicago had already discussed LaVine in trade talks before that.
- LaVine and head coach Billy Donovan have also clashed over the years, Collier writes, though Donovan flew to Los Angeles this month to spend some time with the star guard and the feedback from that visit has been positive. According to Collier, LaVine has felt in the past as if he’s been singled out during film sessions and disproportionately blamed for losses, while Donovan believes he’s simply trying to get the 29-year-old to adopt a more team-friendly playing style.
- The expectation at this point is that LaVine will open the season with the Bulls, though a split still seems likely at some point. LaVine could improve his trade value by buying into Donovan’s vision for him, a team source tells Collier. “He’s never won, he’s done it his way the whole way and never won,” that source said. “If he’s interested in winning, he’ll do what’s asked of him. And if he’s motivated to not be here, one way is to come, be compliant and be who he is.”
Josh Giddey ain’t Jason Kidd but I gotta be real he is definitely reminiscent of young JKidd. He could have a similar impact in Chicago as Kidd had in Phoenix. People harp on what he doesn’t do well (shoot/score efficiently), but the things he does well are not common & extremely beneficial to his team. He’s basically a Kirkland mix of Kidd/Luka & his size is always gonna be tough for other teams to deal with, especially if/when Chi eventually gets a Derozan replacement type scoring wing.
Yup, look I’m not saying Giddey will ever be an all-nba guy necessarily, but to people who killed the bulls for not getting picks for AC: what are the odds one of those two picks turns into a prospect with as much upside as Giddey? I’d rather take the actual player.
Not nearly as low as you’re making it to be.
The picks also have a fixed salary slot and FOUR YEARS of team control
Giddey is getting a massive raise in a year.
Even with salary control, those picks are still gambles. Especially knowing that OKC is a far better negotiator than Chicago, I imagine one or both of the picks the bulls would’ve gotten for AC would be low and/or protected.
I guess it depends on your perception of Giddey. If you’re assuming that he plays exactly like he did this year, in that case I’d agree they’re in a rough spot having to pay him, but I’m optimistic that he’ll look a lot better as the primary ball-handler, in which case I don’t mind paying him.
comparing to this season is rough. He is never going to be a guy who delivers a ton of value playing off the ball, and once they decided to put the ball in SGA and jWill”s hands more (which I get), it reduced him down to his worst skill set. if he’s handling the ball he’ll be good for the bulls, and he’s still SO young.
LaVine is going to be the comeback player of the year.
pass that to me man, I want some
LaVine is much more likely to be a 43 million dollar sit on the couch at home and watch TV than on the Bulls. He’s going to fight with Donovan, Whine and complain and probably get sent home. And we all know Donovan will win that battle because he already has. His only chance to get out of here is to shut up, Do what he’s told and play. But we all know that isn’t likely. Right now I see the Bulls starters as Williams, Buzelis, Vujevic, Giddey and White. That should set him off right there. If not Buzelis maybe Phillips or Sanogo. That kid needs to play. With Allen, Ayo, and then LaVine on the bench. If all he wants to do is shoot, That would be a good place for him to do it.
This bulls FO is so disconnected from reality…
Giddy is young, and perhaps talented enough to defy the odds and become that rare lottery pick that plays to expectations in a second chance. But, from CHI’s standpoint, he’s not the equivalent of a current draftee. He’ll need to be paid after this season. Not a big deal if he plays like an All Star or shows little more than he did in OKC, but anything in between sends them down a road of overpayment and hope. Not a good road for a rebuilding team.
Giddey’s always played to expectations. Shai became one of the best players in the league and in order to be at his best he needs the ball in his hands. Jalen Williams was better than people thought and Holmgren can create for others from a big man position. Those things combined made Giddey expendable and redundant.
Giddey’s at his best when he has the ball in his hands but he’ll never be on the level of Shai. Don’t forget Giddey is the one who asked for a trade. The Thunder acquiesced because they saw a chance to acquire a player that fit a role they needed.
Who’s expectations, as of when? Certainly not those of the 6th overall pick in what was considered a great draft at the top. At that level, you’re either worth significantly more, or significantly less, a few years later than you were on draft night. Giddey’s the latter, although because of some of the circumstances you mention, he’s probably in a better position to turn things around than most.
As far as expectations, like you said he was the sixth pick in his draft. So most people’s expectations would be that he’d be the around the 6th best player in his class. If I were rate the success of his contemporaries in the 2021 class I’d say the most successful have been Barnes, Mobley, Wagner, Sengun and Cunningham. I’d put Giddey in the next tier along with Green and Murphy with Suggs going after that. That would make Giddey somewhere between the 6th and 8th best player in his class, just as one would expect.
OK, that was yours. I think that’s south of what many expected, which wouldn’t be determined with reference to the draft class. Simply, a reasonable expectation for a prospect like him would involve getting a max extension off of his RSC (early or expected by this point, e.g., Maxey). He’s not there, and will need a breakout season to get that or close.
Lavine will benefit from Giddy’s passing. Ball is the wild card. If he can play again. The Bulls gave trade options.
Bulls will go full rebuild or retool. Zach and Vucevic won’t last past trade deadline. Once Zach starts playing. And with no DeM. He will get the ball. They will try and push his value back up. Lead the team in scoring. Then someone will bite. He’s just not bringing back the return he once would.
Ball is finished ….. has no cartilage in the knee.
The problem is that Lavine apparently has no trade value right now, and he’s still a highly productive scorer. How many guys can give average 25 in any given season? And still, because of his contract and defensive shortcomings, he apparently has no trade value. What could he possibly do to raise that value before the deadline? He’s not gonna learn how to play defense if he doesn’t commit to it, and he’s not gonna be at 30+ per night, but his contract will still be enormous to absorb. I don’t know, man. I don’t see it happening unless they throw in like two firsts. Which is also wild because no matter his liability on defense, who can’t benefit from a guy that just straight-up gets buckets? You don’t have to rely on him for defense; you can play him as starter-minutes sixth man or integrate him into a team with strong defenders at the 1 and 3.
I realize half of that was contradictory, but it’s not my fault; I took an Ambien last night.
Bulls will use season to boost his value. Then move him and tank. Next yr draft is to tank for.
If you can’t see Giddey as the next great PG. You don’t watch him enough. Great vision. His scoring is coming. He’s still young. Never understand how a 22 yr old is suppose to be a star. Simply cause he’s been in NBA for 3-4 yrs. Relax ,,,, players came out at 21-22 yrs old and still took 3-4 yrs to show. Giddey is a big guard. Positional size and excellent vision. Give him time.
I literally said nothing about Giddey. I think he’s a fine player. And there’s almost nothing the Bulls can do to increase Lavine’s trade value without Lavine suddenly buying into defense or the Bulls attaching a detrimental amount of draft capital to him. If there is, I would be enthusiastic about hearing it. Just saying. Regarding Giddey, I think he’ll be great in Chicago and his role will undoubtedly be expanded, which will only make the acquisition look better. He’ll be valuable. Just keep an eye on his Instagram DMs (I kid).
LaVine has the right to ask for a trade… the FO are really bad if they hold it against him, trash organisation!
Bulls still can’t get rid of Lavine… Pity.