This is My Ideal Offseason for the Chicago Bulls

This is My Ideal Offseason for the Chicago Bulls

I’ve seen a lot of people ask not just me but to other Bulls fans throughout social media hey what does your ideal offseason look like for the Chicago Bulls what’s the best case scenario for this organization heading into next season and recently I had a few people ask this question in my mailback video and I didn’t answer it because quite frankly I don’t even really know at this point like I legitimately don’t know what an ideal off season would look like for the Bulls this summer partially because if we’re going to take a realistic approach there are only so many options or Avenues the Bulls can take given their cap constraints and current roster Construction while also wanting to remain competitive meaning they’re not going to tear things down and rebuild but because I continue to get asked this question I’m going to try and give what I would consider to be the most ideal offseason for the Bulls a realistic one anyway and I would love to hear what a best case scenario offseason looks like for you guys as well in the comments so what’s going on everyone you’re listening to Bull Central here hope you’re all doing well now I mentioned I’m trying to look at this as realistically as possible and discussing the Bulls off season no trading for Giannis or Luca or joic and calling in a day but concrete actionable moves that can be done and make sense the other piece I’ll add to this is whether you’re in the blow it up camp and you want to rebuild or try to improve on what you have and focus on trying to win now for the purposes of this video and looking at an ideal offseason we’re going to assume the Bulls take the competitive approach I know it’s a trigger word but the reason we’re going with this assumption is because whether you like it or not this front office isn’t folding and taking a step back to be bad for a while and build through the draft not saying it’s the approach they should take but given everything we know about this front office everything they have preached throughout their tenure and even at the end of the season while they acknowledge change needs to happen and that they can’t expect the same results with the same crew they were still clear and their desire to keep building a winning roster and a goal of making the playoffs so we can sit here and debate all day on why that’s a dumb approach and how they need to be going the tanking route especially when their first round pick next season is only top 10 protected otherwise it’s owed to the Spurs but it doesn’t really matter they’re not going down that route so just wanted to call that out because I’m sure some will say well ideal offseason means tearing this whole thing down and starting over it’s just not going to happen so I’m going to start with the draft as the draft will be the first major offseason event it happens before free agency and not only will the Bulls be selecting a player in the lottery at number 11 but it’s also a time where you generally see a lot of Trades throughout the league with teams trading up or down in the draft trading future picks that now become available to trade at the time of the draft all of that and while there have been some rumors of the Bulls potentially looking to trade up in the draft to get guys like Donovan Kling in or Matas pelis for me I would rather see the Bulls stay at 11 and not trade future assets to move up in a weak draft class so with the bulls staying at 11 and of course making big assumptions on who’s going to be available at the time with mock draft boards all over the place I really have my eye on two guys in Cody Williams and Dalton connect now it’s very possible neither would be on the board at 11 I’ve seen some mock drafts who have connect as high as five and some as low as 15 Cody Williams for the most part though has been pretty consistent in that 99 to 12 draft range he’s really been one of the few players in this draft class that has been consistent in that range on all boards the other guy I’ll throw in as a potential is Nika topic who of course has fallen on a lot of draft boards recently because of that partially torn ACL that he sustained that could sideline him for all of next season and yes I would be hesitant to take on a player who has already suffered a major injury at the start of their career but top pitch was a consensus top three pick in most mock draft boards throughout the season some even having him going as high as number one if he slides all the way to 11 I think that’s a risk worth taking if you’re the Bulls think of a guy like Michael Porter Jr who sled all the way to 14 because of his injury concerns on his draft night but yes ideally Cody Williams and Dalton connect two very different players but both would fit a need for the Bulls Cody Williams for his strong two-way potential versatile hustle Defender but also a lot of upside on offense with his playmaking ability and ability to create shots for himself an athletic toolsy wing with a 7-1 wingspan but can also shoot it from three and it’s only 19 years old could fit a role for the Bulls not only for now but also for the future and then for Dalton connect who I believe is the oldest player in this draft already 23 years old but has been an incredible shooter one of the best Shooters in college basketball last season he can score at all three levels plays well off the ball as a catch and shoot shooter he’s kind of got that clutch Gene in hitting big shots without having the star-like Allure but for the Bulls need ad shooting young Shooters are ideal that you can build with for the future but also a player who can come in and start helping right away rather than a project player like a lot of these other guys in the 2024 class I know it’s kind of a cop out to give two players that I would want to see selected when I’m talking about an ideal offseason for the Bulls but either of those would be my ideal from a draft perspective now as it relates to the rest of the Bulls roster and what I would like to see is one trade Zack LaVine I know that’s easier said than done when it’s still believed that there is little to no trade market for Zach but honestly I don’t see how the Bulls can go into next season with Zach still on the roster not only because of everything that has happened last season and both sides agreeing to look for a new home for him and I’ve always said you really can’t come back from that after that’s already out there and you know Zach doesn’t want to be here anymore but more importantly I don’t see how the Bulls can keep Zach around with their salary cap situation and being over the luxury tax line and I’ve said before the Bulls are not going to be able to make meaningful changes to this roster with Zack LaVine still on it because they’re going to be so limited from a cap perspective as long as they still have his contract on the books and so from my view you got to trade Zach this summer and I would go even as far as to say the ideal thing is to trade him to a team with cap space to absorb his salary and to not have to take equal salary back in return and treat this as a cost cutting exercise a salary dump if you will like I’ve gotten past the idea that the Bulls can somehow get a meaningful return for Zack line they’re not going to get multiple first round picks for him they’re not getting upand cominging young players for him it’s not going to happen so ideally for me you dump Zach salary to a team with cap space a team like the Sixers the magic Pistons maybe the Bulls get a second round pick in return or an expiring contract or two at lesser value that’s what I want to see now as it relates to free agency obviously the two most prominent free agents for the Bulls this summer are Demar de R rozan and Patrick Williams Drummond is going to be a free agent as well but I don’t see the Bulls resigning him or Drummond wanting to come back when he could have a more prominent role on a playoff team but as it relates to Pat andar some might be surprised by this but ideal to me is resigning both of them but to reasonable team-friendly deals I think if you can get Patrick Williams around $15 million a year for a player at his age his skill set and the fact that’s just slightly above the mid-level exception and only a couple million dollars over his qualifying offer that’s really good value for Patrick Williams and then for dear I mean this one is tough because I think paying dear upwards of $40 million which has been initially reported even if it’s only for two years that is a massive stretch and I don’t think you can justify it but if you can get Demar closer to $30 million a year or 25 million for two years that would be ideal that probably the one area where I’m not being realistic because I don’t think dear is going to take that kind of offer knowing he wants something a bit longer and also knowing that he’s still balling and could Garner much more on the open market as an unrestricted free agent but that would be my ideal and yes I do think there is value in keeping dear as your veteran leader you need to keep vets to help guide and Mentor your younger players otherwise you end up in a situation like the Pistons who have a lot of talent but don’t have the experience to really get them anywhere the same can be set for the Bulls in the post Jimmy Butler trade era who were without any veteran leadership so you resign to Mar and Pat Drummond walks ideally to where Craig declines his player option also walks in free agency as well now as it relates to Alex Caruso and I go back and forth in this one so much but for me I would love to see him get extended I would rather they extend him now lock him in for the long term so it still gives them an option to trade him down the line on a reasonable contract or if they’re not going to extend him I would preferbly traded him because they’re not going to get as great of a return for him on an expiring contract versus a longer term deal where a team knows they’re trading for a player that they’ll be able to keep around and yeah my Logic on the Bulls keeping Caruso hasn’t really changed you can always use a player like Caruso whether you’re competing now rebuilding as a mentor for younger guys and anything in between he fits the definition of Chicago basketball hustle grinded out kind of player I don’t want to lose that I know I’ll always be the minority in that opinion but that’s just where I stand unless of course the Bulls can get something like two first round draft picks for him which we know isn’t going to happen now I was going to say ideally the Bulls would trade bovich but there really is no trademark for him there aren’t going to be teams looking for a starting center especially at his age and his contract so not realistic Bulls are stuck with V for now another ideal but also slightly realistic Lonzo ball is ready to go to start the season and is 50% of the player that he used to be if Lonzo can still shoot close to what we were seeing before his injury if he still has the court vision and IQ like we saw before that’s a big win for the Bulls and so by my count based on all these transactions and this assumes the Bulls don’t take any players back in a Zack LaVine trade if they trade him to a team with cap space to absorb its salary Drummond walks Craig walks they draft a player at 11 the Bulls then have two open roster spots for which they can use the mid-level exception to sign and still remain know the attack since getting rid of Zack steel would actually give them enough cap space relief so in this instance because the Bulls didn’t draft a big I would love to see them use the full mid-level exception on Nick Claxton now that might not be enough to land Claxton as he’s expected to Garner more money in free agency but if they can give him a longer term say four-year deal at the mid-level exception maybe they could sway him over a shorter term contract that would pay him higher annually the Bulls could then maybe pick up a player for the vet minimum maybe a guy like sarch another big who can shoot or maybe a jetty Osman but if Nick Claxton isn’t an option because he wants too much money more than the full midlevel exception maybe the Bulls try and get a player like buddy heeld who is a lights out shooter and you can get on a cheap short-term contract maybe joris valent chunis although him and V are kind of redundant so yeah I don’t know maybe that wouldn’t work I just want Nick Laxton as the bull’s number one free agency Target a Young mobile big that can protect the rim something the Bulls have needed for years now but a player who has also started rounding out his offensive game as well finishes well around the rim a legit lob Threat all things the Bulls could use and need so yeah I guess there you have it my ideal offseason for the Bulls draft Williams or connect trade Zach resign dear and Pat let Drummond and Craig walk keep AC and sign Nick Claxton does this make the Bulls a title Contender no but I do think it makes them better than what we saw last season but let me know what you guys think though let me know in the comments as always be sure to subscribe and I’ll see you in the next one

Answering the ever pressing questions, what does an ideal offseason look like for the Chicago Bulls

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