The Chicago Bulls are in a very tough spot, and this summer will be crucial if they hope to get out of it. The core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic is solid, but it’s not a championship-caliber group. The past two seasons have revealed that much. Yet Bulls leadership seems intent on keeping the core together.
Rather than rebuild the roster and get a haul of draft picks for LaVine and DeRozan, the Bulls want to run it back and push for the playoffs next year. Chicagoans haven’t been to happy about that decision, but Arturas Karnisovas has a message for them.
During his post-NBA draft press conference, Karnisovas was asked about Bulls fans’ complaints about the team. He told them to wait until after free agency, teasing some potential changes.
“When asked about Bulls fans being disappointed about the team, Chicago Bulls Basketball Chief Arturas Karnisovas responded by saying that fans should wait and see how the team looks like after free agency,” tweeted Daniel Greenberg.
When asked about Bulls fans being disappointed about the team, Chicago Bulls Basketball Chief Arturas Karnisovas responded by saying that fans should wait and see how the team looks like after free agency.
(Via @chicagobulls)
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) June 23, 2023
LIVE: Artūras Karnišovas & Marc Eversley address media following the 2023 NBA Draft https://t.co/uR8rMSveCd
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) June 23, 2023
As things stand, the Bulls have to re-sign Vucevic, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu this summer, and once that’s done, they won’t have a ton of cap space to make significant changes.
They will have the chance to use the MLE, but outside of that, they’ll be looking at bringing in minimum-contract players.
Maybe Karnisovas has some trades up his sleeve that could get done throughout the free agency period, but the likelihood that he significantly improves Chicago’s roster through signings seems low.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]