Leader of the Eastern Conference, tied with Miami, Chicago is among the candidates for the Finals and the title this season. In a few months, the arrivals of Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball transformed the Bulls, who had been skating for a few seasons, into a machine capable of aiming high.
To continue to be competitive in the future, we will have to make the right choices and above all not hesitate to take out the checkbook, even if it means paying the “luxury tax”. Is Michael Reinsdorf ready to do it, when his father, Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the club, has always tried to avoid it, paying it only once, in 2013?
” Absoutely “announces the president of the franchise, for NBC Sports. “If we look at the last champion teams, how many were in the red? If you want to fight for the title, you have to agree to pay the luxury tax. Most people will say they only want to pay to play for the title, not for eighth place or to get out of the playoffs quickly. For the Bulls, if we can take the necessary steps towards the title next season, then for sure we will pay the luxury tax. It’s part of the nature of the NBA. “
Zach LaVine’s salary could tip finances into the red
When Michael Reinsdorf talks about next season, he is obviously referring to Zach LaVine. The back is out of contract and we know he wants the maximum contract. He doesn’t plan to give the Bulls any gifts and his next salary to hover around $200 million over several years.
“I hope he will stay here for the coming seasons”announces the leader. “Zach knows what we think of him. “
If Zach LaVine lands a contract worth more than 40 million per season, then the Bulls will indeed be in the red. For the 2022/23 financial year, the authorized payroll should be 121 million dollars and the “luxury tax” would be set at 147 million.
The Bulls already have $100 million and nine players under contract for next season. It is enough to add the salary of the back and to finish filling the workforce to see that the bar of 150 million will be crossed.
“We are going to spend money, because we have to invest in our team”, warns Michael Reinsdorf. “I’m impatient because, if we’re in the red, that means we have a very good team. “
– luxury tax : in the NBA, the salary cap is not strict, and the NBA authorizes the richest franchises to exceed the threshold set with a tolerance margin of approximately 20%. In this case, next year, the franchises would normally have been able to spend up to $139 million. Then, for every dollar spent above this cap, franchises must pay the “luxury tax” to the NBA. A kind of tax that can be very expensive, and candidates for the title usually pay tens of millions of dollars each year. A sum then paid back to the franchises, good students, who did not pay the “luxury tax”.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Demar Derozan | 56 | 35.7 | 52.1 | 35.3 | 86.4 | 0.8 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 28.3 |
| Zach Lavine | 48 | 34.6 | 48.0 | 39.6 | 87.1 | 0.3 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 24.5 |
| Nikola Vucevic | 53 | 33.9 | 47.2 | 31.5 | 76.7 | 2.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 3.6 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 18.1 |
| Coby White | 40 | 28.0 | 45.2 | 39.8 | 84.0 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 13.9 |
| Lonzo-Ball | 35 | 34.6 | 42.3 | 42.3 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 13.0 |
| Tristan Thompson | 1 | 13.2 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 62.5 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 11.0 |
| Alex Caruso | 28 | 27.7 | 42.9 | 34.5 | 81.4 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 8.4 |
| Ayo Dosunmu | 55 | 26.0 | 52.3 | 41.3 | 67.7 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 8.2 |
| Javonte Green | 43 | 24.3 | 53.8 | 33.3 | 82.9 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 7.6 |
| patrick williams | 5 | 24.9 | 56.5 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 6.6 |
| Derrick Jones | 35 | 17.6 | 54.3 | 38.1 | 82.4 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 6.0 |
| Troy Brown, Jr. | 49 | 18.1 | 40.2 | 33.3 | 76.0 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 4.6 |
| Matt Thomas | 35 | 12.8 | 39.7 | 38.4 | 80.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 4.3 |
| Malcolm Hill | 13 | 11.5 | 45.0 | 35.7 | 70.0 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 4.1 |
| Alfonzo McKinnie | 17 | 12.1 | 39.3 | 33.3 | 25.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
| Tyler Cook | 19 | 10.3 | 61.1 | 0.0 | 64.5 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 3.4 |
| Tony Bradley | 45 | 11.1 | 57.9 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 3.1 |
| Devon Dotson | 11 | 7.7 | 47.8 | 22.2 | 55.6 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.6 |
| Mac McClung | 1 | 2.5 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Marko Simonovic | 9 | 3.9 | 26.7 | 20.0 | 72.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.9 |
| Alize Johnson | 16 | 7.5 | 52.2 | 0.0 | 57.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Jordan Bell | 1 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
