At the 2021 NBA trade deadline, the Chicago Bulls made a massive shift in ideology, trading for Nikola Vucevic and signaling their push for improvement. They followed that up by signing DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso. Things were looking up in Chicago.
Now, the Bulls are stuck. They’ve only made the playoffs in one of two years since then, and even regardless of Ball’s poor injury luck, they seem like a middle-of-the-pack team at best. It will be tough for them to get out of the hole they’ve dug themselves in. In a recent offseason financial preview article, Keith Smith of Spotrac detailed their tricky situation.
Arturas Karnisovas has made it clear that he doesn’t want to rebuild, but Chicago will be stuck in mediocrity unless they do. It’s a rough spot to be in.
“There’s no easy path here for the Bulls,” Smith wrote. “If they were to let Nikola Vucevic walk in free agency, trade DeMar DeRozan and/or Zach LaVine, they’d be hitting a major reset. If they re-sign Vucevic and keep the All-Star wings, they’re locking into a team that will probably push for a playoff spot, but not much more.”
In addition, Smith noted that the biggest obstacle Chicago has to overcome is Ball’s contract.
“The major problem for Chicago with either path is that they’re going to have to work around Lonzo Ball and his contract,” Smith wrote. “Ball has two years and $41.8 million left on his deal. It’s unclear if he’ll make it back on the court from his latest surgery. However, it is clear that Ball is going to keep trying and seems to have no intention of retiring. And that $21.4 million player option for 2024-25 is as good as exercised already.”
No matter what the Bulls decide to do this summer, some fans will be upset. And that’s not a fun spot to be in.
