The Bulls are probably going to have a birthday they could have done without. Chicago is expected to experience a tenth season without making it through a playoff round, something never seen before in the franchise's history, not even in the post-Michael Jordan era. Because it seems very unlikely that this season's team will be able to imitate the one from 2014/15, then under the orders of Tom Thibodeau and with Jimmy Butler as the figurehead. The Illinois franchise even seems set to extend the streak for a while longer.
The All-Star trio experiment, Zach LaVine – Nikola Vucevic – DeMar DeRozan, is definitely over with the departure of the latter in a trade to the Kings. The three years of this group will have been synonymous with stagnation, even regression. And it is not the qualifications for the play-in without managing to convert the try in 2023 and 2024 that will be enough to embellish the record.
The Bulls want to turn the page on the soft underbelly and think about the future. But the work of demolishing the roster is underway, since if DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso have been exfiltrated, Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine have not yet found a place to fall. It is also not certain that the situation will be resolved by the start of the season.
So it is with a hybrid group and called for the next change that Chicago will begin this new cycle. Once again, it is difficult to see clearly, as it has been for several months in Illinois. The leaders, who had announced a big summer upheaval, have timidly begun to draw the contours of the future with the arrival of Josh Giddey and the draft of Matas Buzelis.
The Australian point guard is on the rebound after being in a stalemate with Oklahoma City. His association on the back lines with Coby White, one of the rare satisfactions of last season, seems rather interesting. It remains for coach Billy Donovan to organize a team that still has (too) many players who need the ball to shine. This, without even mentioning the defense, just passable last season, and which is not going to improve after having swapped guard dog Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey.
SUMMER MOVEMENTS
Arrivals: Matas Buzelis, Chris Duarte, Josh Giddey, Jalen Smith, DJ Steward (two-way)
Departures: Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan, Javonte Green, Andre Drummond
PLAYER TO WATCH: JOSH GIDDEY
The other sheriffs haven't all left the saloon yet, but the new kid is entering the place. The Bulls bet on Josh Giddey, a rare market opportunity for a player with certain potential but in a situation of failure in the NBA. Pushed to the bench in OKC and not really adapted to the game proposed by the Thunder, the player, soon to be 22, will now have the keys to the game like never before during his first three seasons alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Australian recalled all his talent at the Olympic Games, even showing himself to be skillful from afar at a more advanced FIBA distance.
He now needs to prove his ability to lead the game and become an important, even major, player in the league in this area. His last few months in Oklahoma City have confirmed what seemed increasingly obvious: Josh Giddey's inability to make a difference without the ball. Competition is currently limited around him at the Bulls, while waiting for Lonzo Ball to return to form and while Ayo Dosunmu is not a manager. It's up to Josh Giddey to seize the opportunity to establish himself as a pillar of the franchise in the medium term. Especially since he has not yet signed a contract extension and will be a free agent at the end of the season.
Average age: 25.1 years
Payroll: $175 million (18e)
THE IDEAL SCENARIO
The Bulls enter the dimension usually reserved for teams at the bottom of the table, where a successful season is spent mainly away from the court. First of all because they must finish with a bad record to hope to keep their first round of the 2025 Draft, who will go to the Spurs if Chicago takes between the 11e and the 30e place, or even to the Blazers, to whom they also owe a protected pick only if the Bulls do not play in the playoffs. In any case, this is no longer the priority of the franchise, which must purify both its workforce and its payroll, more than a third of which is occupied by the LaVine – Vucevic tandem.
Both players are more than ever on the way out, even if the full-back seems ready to make some concessions at first so as not to disrupt the development of the group's young players. The sports boss, Arturas Karnisovas, will have to pull two tricks out of his hat, which until now has been uninspired.
The Bulls may have to rely heavily on its two stars to better expose them and hope to eventually attract new buyers, or risk seeing their stock drop even further. Once the trades are completed, Chicago will have a clearer picture and will be able to accelerate its next chapter. We wouldn't be surprised if Matas Buzelis took advantage of a possible departure of Zach LaVine to bring the length and intensity on defense that the current starting five sorely lacks.
THE WORST SCENARIO
There's nothing worse in the NBA than a status quo in the “no man's land” around the tenth place in its conference. A rank to which the Bulls have become accustomed, even subscribed, and which could still be theirs if they fail to carry out their project of a new beginning. Even on the list of transfers, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic are too solid players not to be able to scratch out a few wins here and there.
If both men remain in the white and red jersey of Chicago, 2024-2025 will have the air of a frankly boring rehash with no real perspective, in the second part of the lottery, year after year.
While a full infirmary could be synonymous with a plummeting winning percentage, the Bulls would still like to be able to count more on Patrick Williams, re-signed this summer for five years and $90 million despite his frequent absences due to injury (he is still on the sidelines) and a level of play that is struggling to take off.
| WESTERN CONFERENCE | ||||
| 15 – Blazers | 14 – Jazz | 13 – … | 12 – … | 11 – … |
| 10 – … | 9 – … | 8 – … | 7 – … | 6 – … |
| 5 – … | 4 – … | 3 – … | 2 – … | 1 – … |
| EASTERN CONFERENCE | ||||
| 15 – Nets | 14 – Wizards | 13 – Pistons | 12 – Hornets | 11 – Bulls |
| 10 – … | 9 – … | 8 – … | 7 – … | 6 – … |
| 5 – … | 4 – … | 3 – … | 2 – … | 1 – … |
