Questions for the Bulls this offseason

The Bulls have found great success this season and are officially contenders. The most influential player to the Bulls’ success has no doubt been DeMar DeRozan, who was acquired this past offseason.

I am so happy with the Bulls’ current roster. We have great veterans and foundational players for the future. 

The offseason is a time when a team acquires new players through free agency, makes big deals, and drafts players for the future. The offseason is arguably the most important time for a front office, so let’s look at what the Bulls can do this offseason to have a great roster for next year.

Coby White: 

This should serve as a “run it back” year for the Bulls. This year, the Bulls have struggled with bench scoring ranking 29th in the NBA and only trailing Toronto. Coby White scores the majority of the bench points averaging 14 points per game along with three rebounds and three assists. Many Bulls fans have complained about the inconsistency of Coby, but he is only 21. There is a lot of room for Coby to grow and the front office knows this. The Bulls will almost definitely exercise Coby White’s team option on his contract. 

Derrick Jones Jr. 

Derrick Jones Jr is a high flyer who has provided a spark off the bench. DJJ is somewhat of a journeyman at this point in his career, but he is only 25. DJJ is making 9.7 million dollars which he is not worth, so it’s hard to know if the Bulls will re-sign him. As a Bulls fan, I really like him and would love to see the Bulls re-sign him at something like 2yrs/$12M.

Zach LaVine:

All-star Zach LaVine has been the foundation for the Bulls over the last few years. LaVine has made it clear he wants a max or something close. He has also made it clear that he likes the Bulls and wants to be here. I would be shocked and devastated if LaVine didn’t re-sign, though I am confident he will. I think the Bulls will give him his bag. 

Matt Thomas:

I am going to keep this short and sweet. I do not want to re-sign Matt Thomas. His role is super replaceable, he is a bad defender, and is way too ambitious with his shot selection.

DeMar DeRozan

We have DeMar locked up for the next two years, the only worry heading into next season is if DeMar can continue with his MVP caliber play. Even if we don’t get MVP DeMar we will still have the All-star caliber and reliable veteran. 

Troy Brown Jr. 

Troy Brown Jr is on the last year of his rookie contract (including his time with the Wizards). TBJ is a great on-ball defender and has shown he can knock down the three. There haven’t been any reports that the Bulls will look to re-sign him. In fact, TBJ’s name was thrown around in trade talks during the trade deadline. This comes as an unpopular opinion from a Bulls fan, but I think TBJ has a lot of potential to be a rotational player in the future. An ideal deal for me would be giving TBJ a 2yr/$10M contract. 

Windy City Bulls:

I have been to a few Windy City Bulls games this year, and they’ve got some talented players. Devon Dotson and Marko Simonovic have played nearly every game there, while Tyler Cook and Malcolm Hill have had some time with the Chicago Bulls. With the lack of big man depth (because Tony Bradley is awful), I would love to see Tyler Cook serve as the primary backup big next season.

Devon Dotson plays best when he is the primary facilitator so it may be difficult to have him play key minutes for the Chicago Bulls. As far, as Marko goes, he really just isn’t ready to play any minutes for Chicago. Lastly, Malcolm Hill has shown he can hit big shots in key minutes, but I would like to see these three players continue to develop and perhaps they can be rotational players two-to-three years down the line. 

Go Bulls!