DeMar DeRozan is in the final year of his contract. Alex Caruso has been playing the best basketball of his career. Andre Drummond has given the Chicago Bulls some quality minutes, especially when Nikola Vucevic has been out. Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig are solid 3-and-D pieces. All of them could have netted the Bulls decent returns at the trade deadline. But Chicago did nothing.
The Bulls are stuck firmly in the middle of the East, clearly lacking the talent to compete with the top teams in the conference, yet the front office seems content with where they are at.
Bulls Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas spoke out after the Bulls’ lack of deadline dealings, revealing that Chicago didn’t have any offers on the table that would have helped them improve.
“We didn’t see anything that would make us better,” Karnisovas said via KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “We would take a step back, which we didn’t want. We want to compete for the playoffs.”
Artūras Karnišovas: "We didn't see anything that would make us better. We would take a step back, which we didn't want. We want to compete for the playoffs."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) February 8, 2024
There were a bunch of teams around the league who reportedly showed interest in a potential Caruso deal, and multiple squads called the Bulls about Drummond. Chicago even took some calls about DeRozan, who still doesn’t have an extension in hand yet.
But rather than planning for the future, the Bulls committed to being mediocre. Again.
They risk losing DeRozan this summer, and the same can be said for Drummond. And with Zach LaVine out for the season, any hope of any sort of playoff run this year is likely out the window, too.
