The Chicago Bulls entered the offseason fresh off a disappointing end to this past year. They were bounced in the play-in tournament by the Miami Heat, and since their all-in moves two years ago, they have won a single playoff game. Instead of rebuilding, the Bulls decided to push forward.
In free agency, they re-signed Nikola Vucevic and Coby White while adding key depth pieces on the open market, bringing in Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig. And while both players should give the Bulls bench a nice boost, the rest of the league improved in free agency, too.
According to Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report, the Bulls are the 23rd-best team in the league post-free agency. Before it, they ranked 18th.
“Outside of applying for a disabled player exception for Lonzo Ball, who’s likely to miss the entire 2023-24 season, the Chicago Bulls didn’t do anything dramatic in free agency.
“The additions of Jevon Carter (perhaps a cheaper facsimile of Ball) and Torrey Craig are decent fringe moves, but they certainly don’t guarantee an escape from mediocrity. That might require a big move to unload one or all of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević (who just re-signed for three more years) and some patience to wait out a full-scale rebuild.
“Chicago’s hesitance to go that route is understandable, though. Since Michael Jordan’s last season with them in 1997-98, the Bulls are 25th in the league in win percentage. Most of those two-and-a-half decades have felt like a long, largely unsuccessful slog.
“Even a glimmer of hope, which the big scoring nights of DeRozan and LaVine can provide, must be tough to let go,” Bailey wrote.
Will the Bulls make the playoffs next year?
