The Chicago Bulls haven’t given fans much to be excite about over the past couple of seasons since their playoff series loss to the Bucks in 2022. Derrick Rose’s day of honor earlier this month is the highlight of the season for the organization, along with the announcement to retire his jersey next season.
The team had a chance to tear it all down this past offseason with Duke phenom Cooper Flagg in this upcoming draft. However, the front office decided to only trade away certain assets from last year’s squad.
The two big deals from this past summer for Chicago included trading away Alex Caruso to the Thunder for Josh Giddey, and sending veteran Demar Derozan to the Kings.
Despite these moves being made, the Bulls haven’t seen much of a change this year.
The Chicago Bulls have not picked a direction
The Bulls loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday marked the halfway point of their season. They have lost their last three games, and insider K.C. Johnson pointed out the fact that the Bulls have held similar records at the midway point in each of the last three seasons.
Bulls at midseason:
2024-25: 18-23
2023-24: 19-22
2022-23: 19-22— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 16, 2025
Nothing has changed for Chicago basketball, regardless of what the roster looks like. The Bulls will likely be too good to land a legitimate prospect in this summer’s draft, and not strong enough to make a deep run in the playoffs. This is the same spot the team has been in for year’s, yet nothing is being done to fix these outcomes.
In professional sports, direction for a franchise is everything. Hanging out in the middle of the pack on a yearly basis doesn’t accomplish much, yet the Bulls ownership and front office seems to be more than content with how things are playing out with the state of the franchise. They refuse to go over the luxury tax, but certain players like Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic are on bigger contracts that restrict them from doing much.
The trade deadline will be telling for the Chicago Bulls
Chicago’s front office has the opportunity to change the direction of the franchise with the upcoming trade deadline. Lavine and Vucevic are nearly at the top of their games and the value on the two veterans could not be higher for the Bulls right now. There have been rumblings of teams having interest in each player, so the line is out there for Chicago to make a move if they are up for it.
Being able to move players like Lavine and Vucevic along with Lonzo Ball could be crucial to reset the wheel for the Bulls front office. It’s one thing if they aren’t given the green light to move off these veterans, but if they are, that’s a whole different story. Nothing is being accomplished by keeping certain players on the current roster. If anything, it is hurting young guys like Matas Buzelis because he isn’t getting the NBA minutes he needs to grow in his rookie season.
This core group of players will never win a title for the city and their values have never been higher. If that isn’t a sign for the Bulls front office to make some moves, we will not see a championship level basketball team in Chicago for quite some time.
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