NBA Free Agency 2018: 5 offseason targets for the Chicago Bulls
After bottoming out last season, the Chicago Bulls should continue to rebuild by adding low-cost youngsters and keeping the books clean for July 2019.
When the Chicago Bulls bought out Dwyane Wade and traded Jimmy Butler in the summer of 2017, we knew that they were preparing to fire up the tank and push for a high lottery pick. As the 2018 season got underway the Bulls were as bad as expected. Midway through December, Chicago was 3-20 with a miserable negative 11.2 point differential and an all-time bad 96.2 offensive rating. Youngsters like Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn (not actually that young) were showing signs of promise and the team was still losing. Everything was going according to plan!
And then Nikola Mirotic returned with from his facial fracture (suffered during an altercation with Bobby Portis) and lit the world aflame. In what was perhaps a final act of vengeance, Mirotic sabotaged an impeccable tank job as Bulls experienced a remarkable turnaround. Chicago ended up flipping Mirotic to New Orleans for a protected 2018 first-rounder and the putrefied contract of Omer Asik. For the rest of the season the Bulls were a bad but not historically bad team.
Overall, this franchise is in good position moving forward. Markkanen had an awesome rookie year, flashing a smooth jumper from 3-point range and exceeding the expectations of even the most optimistic scouts. He seems like a legit building block at this point. Chicago will also be picking seventh in the 2018 Draft, which is a nice spot in what is generally understood as a deep draft.
In terms of free agency, the Bulls can move in a number of directions in this summer. They are one of the few teams this summer that has significant cap room. Chicago actually has a pretty clean cap sheet moving forward as well. Other than the Asik deal, which they absorbed on purpose, and the ugly contract of Cristiano Felicio, everyone on this team is currently on a rookie scale deal or an expiring contract. The Bulls will have max space and then some during the 2019 offseason.
Given the current state of the team, Chicago should probably aim to strike in free agency during the summer of 2019. Right now the Bulls are improving but still bad and they won’t be able to attract any real difference makers this summer. At this point they should use their space to re-sign players that are part of their long-term plans and fill in their wing and backcourt needs with low-risk contracts. Chicago could take flyers on some youngsters and also pursue veterans on short deals in both the trade and free agent markets. With so many teams looking to unload bad salary and dodge the tax, they should be able to extract some draft assets out of one or two particularly desperate teams. Chicago has to be careful here of course. The Bulls won’t want to impact their 2019 space with dead salary that extends for multiple seasons.
Chicago could get into the mix for some high profile restricted free agents, but again caution is key. Speeding up this rebuild will be tempting for an organization that is accustomed to competing in the playoffs. The Bulls could make big offers for Jabari Parker, Aaron Gordon or Clint Capela, but I’m not sure that would be a good decision at this point. Fitting Parker or Gordon with Markkanen could be awkward and while Clint Capela is a solid theoretical fit, actually obtaining him seems far-fetched at best. Aiming for more marginal pieces might be the proper play this summer. Without further delay, here are five realistic options that the Bulls should consider signing in July.