There is no easy answer for the Chicago Bulls this summer. After snapping their four-year playoff drought in 2021-22, they took a step backward this past season, getting eliminated in the Play-In Tournament. Now, with no direct path to improvement, they must decide whether to run back the same middling core or blow things up and reset the roster.
Arturas Karnisovas has no interest in a rebuild, but that may be what’s best for Chicago. At the same time, however, they are just two years removed from their previous rebuild. According to The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, the Bulls’ GM job is the “least wanted” in the league.
During a recent edition of his podcast, “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” Simmons tore into the Bulls, explaining just how disastrous their situation is.
“I don’t know what their move is,” Simmons said. “They don’t have a first-round pick this year. They lost their Franz Wagner pick. DeRozan’s in his mid-thirties now. I’m not a Zach LaVine guy… he’s certainly fine, just not personally my cup of tea. He might be yours, just not for me. There’s talk about a Vooch extension, which makes me super nervous, it was in the news. I don’t know if Patrick Williams is going to be good. I don’t really know what the moves are with this team from a roster standpoint.”
It seems as though the Bulls are intent on keeping Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic together, but what’s the ceiling of that core? That part is unclear, but unfortunately, it’s not a championship.
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