It’s easy to forget that this time two years ago the Bulls were embarking on an ultimately futile attempt to compete within the window of Jimmy Butler‘s prime. Fast forward to today and things are about as promising as they possibly could be for a team that still won’t crack 35 wins.
What’s different about the Bulls this summer is that we’re looking back on the package John Paxson and Gar Forman landed in exchange for Butler entirely differently. Now, frankly, the fact that the club managed to yield Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine in exchange for their outgoing star is hard to believe, let alone incredibly underrated guard Kris Dunn as well.
Key offseason losses:
There’s so much fluidity in the Bulls plans as they amass intriguing young assets in order to watch which ones actually pan out that they haven’t really had to experience any major losses (yet). In fact, over the summer, the Bulls only lost two players that played more than 20 minutes per game in 2017/18.
Seeing Jerian Grant and David Nwaba head to Orlando and Cleveland respectively won’t cause fans in Chicago to lose any sleep but it’s important to note that the two were solid, rotation pieces that understood their roles and eventually the club will need to bring guys like that back.
Key offseason additions:
There’s considerable variance in what people are expecting out of Carter Jr. in his rookie campaign but while there will always be a time and place to get excited about a shiny new lottery pick, the most significant addition that the Bulls brought aboard this summer is Jabari Parker.
In a day and age when it’s chic for basement dwelling franchises to use their cap space to absorb ugly contracts in exchange for draft assets, the Bulls made an old-fashioned investment in a once-promising young player.
There’s merit to concerns whether or not the 23-year-old will be healthy or even fit enough to be the future All-Star we cast him as back in 2014 but, as far as I’m concerned, the move was a wise one for the franchise to make.
Two years from now Parker could be the most impactful player on this roster and while that’s obviously far from guaranteed, it’s possible. That very possibility makes his signing a better use of Chicago’s available cap space than the hypothetical pair of second rounders they would have landed in exchange for eating some panicked general manager’s albatross contract from the ill-fated summer of 2017.
Outlook for 2018/19:
There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the state of the Bulls franchise but don’t confuse those for high, short-term expectations. The roster remains a hodgepodge of exciting but still largely unproven prospects and forgettable big men with regrettable contracts.
The early consensus is that surprise success Markkanen will continue to impress in 2018/19. Meanwhile, expect Dunn to take another step forward in his first full season as the obvious starter at point and don’t be surprised if his backcourt mate LaVine’s fresh new four-year contract starts to look stale quick.
If last year was this roster’s first chance to run amok with carte blanche and see what level of talent they had on the payroll, this year will be the one we start seeing the club’s four or five hypothetical future stars carving out an actual hierarchy between themselves.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.
