When the 2023 offseason got underway, some questioned whether or not the Chicago Bulls should hit the tank button. They’ve had two years with their current win-now core but have won just a single playoff game. Despite that, they brought back all their pieces, adding just a couple of rotation guys on the fringes.
Now, as next season inches closer, some are beginning to wonder about what the next steps should be for the Bulls. Their ceiling hasn’t changed much since last year. If anything, everyone around them has gotten better, so they could be in for a rough year. Should they shake up the core?
Buy Bulls TicketsZach Buckley of Bleacher Report recently wrote about a risk every team around the league should take, and for the Bulls, he suggested they explore potential trades for Patrick Williams.
“If the Bulls want to give this group the best possible odds of competing, then they have to explore what Patrick Williams’ potential would bring back on the trade market,” Buckley wrote. “He has had a solid start to his career, but moments of special play have been few and far between for the 2020 draft’s No. 4 pick.
“If teams out there still envision the 22-year-old as Kawhi Leonard 2.0, then he might anchor the kind of offer that could fetch an impact player who could dramatically change this franchise’s fortune.
“If teams see Williams as more of a trade sweetener and wouldn’t deliver a difference-maker in a deal built around him, then Chicago is better off keeping him around and hoping he can maximize his potential sooner than later.”
Trading Williams would be a huge risk, as it would sacrifice even more of Chicago’s future, but is it worth it?
