The new front office of the Chicago Bulls took the path that often punishes teams if they fail. They surprised the league at the 2021 trade deadline by acquiring Nikola Vucevic, a move that nobody saw coming. That signaled that they were open to moving young players and draft picks for veterans with an intent to reshape the roster into a competitor overnight.
And it worked!
They followed that trade by sign-and-trading for Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan, as well as signing Alex Caruso to fill out their core. They also hit on drafting Ayo Dosunmu in the second round. Getting a young player like him cancels out some of the assets they traded away in the past year.
The Bulls were in first place in the Eastern Conference for a significant chunk of the season before injuries and defensive regression pushed them down to the sixth seed. They will now look to build off their success this offseason for a push into the second round. Their roster is set for the most part but still have some flexibility and moves to make improvements.