The Chicago Bulls have very important decisions ahead this summer, as Arturas Karnisovas has stated his desire to avoid a rebuild. While that may be the better choice for the future of the franchise, that’s not the direction Chicago plans to go in. And if that’s the case, it needs to add talent around its core.
Before the Bulls can do that, Chicago must retain its current players. Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu are both in need of two contracts, and Patrick Williams could use a contract extension, too, but that’s not as crucial.
However, according to Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report, his one prediction for the Bulls this summer is that it will re-sign big man Nikola Vucevic.
“The Chicago Bulls have been thoroughly mediocre over the last two seasons, and they were flat-out bad before that.
“So, running it back might not make a ton of sense.
“However, letting Nikola Vučević walk for nothing doesn’t exactly kick-start a rebuild, either. Even without whatever his next salary is, the Bulls will be threatening 2023-24’s projected salary cap of $134 million.
“The smart move is probably to sign the big man to a reasonable contract ahead of his age-33 campaign and hope for the best.
“If the Bulls are toiling away around .500 again in February, they can shop some combination of Vučević, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan,” Bailey wrote.
The 32-year-old big man played all 82 games for the Bulls this past season, and Chicago would love to have him back.
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