It was going to be a busy summer for Arturas Karnisovas. The Bulls management had to overhaul the roster after a disappointing season and another play-in loss. The franchise had given the roster a chance to reverse the trend at the trade deadline, but the offseason was supposed to bring change.
If Chicago struggles to find interesting offers in exchange for Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, Alex Caruso has already left for the Thunder and DeMar DeRozan has left for the Kings. These are two leaders who are already gone, leaving the possibility for others, like Coby Whiteto take over.
“DeMar always led by example. He wasn’t always the loudest or most talkative guy in the room. But if we had a meeting, he was early. If we had a bus, he was one of the first ones there. He was never late to a meeting. He was always ready to go. When the game came around, he was always focused,” explains Coby White. “There's also the way he took me, Dos (Ayo Dosunmu), DT (Dalen Terry), Pat (Patrick Williams) under his wing, to make me understand the things that I need to focus on when I'm older. And that can start now for me.”
A revamped workforce
Coby White and his teammates didn't just lose their leader in the offseason. Backup center Andre Drummond left for the Sixers in the “free agency”.
“Obviously it's tough on the human side to see AC (Alex Caruso) go, to see Deebo (DeRozan) go, to see Drum (Andre Drummond) go, to see guys that you've played with for a long time and built a personal relationship with. But that's part of the game.”he acknowledges. “This will give more opportunities for young people. We have to keep pushing and building something special.”
The Bulls did, however, pick up Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis, a Chicago native, with the 11th pick in the 2024 Draft. In the Summer League, the Lithuanian notably stood out with a 28-point game.
“He's young, very athletic, he can run, finish in the basket. He's very gifted.”concludes Coby White. “Obviously, Summer League is not the same as the NBA season, but he's shown flashes of what he can be. He's really talented. You can't teach him his size and his stature.”
