Waiting for the Bulls to Join the Chicago Sports Renaissance (and Other Bulls Bullets)

The Bears drafted Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. The Blackhawks drafted Connor Bedard. The Sky drafted Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. The Cubs have the best farm system in baseball.

Welcome to the Chicago Sports Renaissance! Feel free to join whenever, Chicago Bulls!

https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1783652262193021410

  • Chicago sports fans have a lot to be excited about right now. Of course, that is if you’re not a fan of a Jerry Reinsdorf-owned team! The White Sox currently look like the worst team in Major League Baseball, while the Chicago Bulls needed a self-deprecating press conference from their front-office leader to make their followers feel anything. You’d hope that the seemingly incoming success would serve as a motivator to for all parties, but I’m not sure any of us believe that will be the case.
  • Technically, the Bulls have an opportunity to join the optimistic mix this offseason. Arturas Karnisovas could stand by his vows for change and aggressively overhaul the roster. This feels like a natural breaking point for his aging core that has failed to finish above .500 in two straight seasons. Trade Zach LaVine. Let DeMar DeRozan go in free agency. Maybe find a deal for Nikola Vucevic or use him as a veteran leader. Chicago would open a comforting future of flexibility, as well as the potential to snag a high-end talent in 2025’s attractive draft class (*cough* Cooper Flagg *cough*).
  • Adam Silver stands at the NBA Draft before announcing the Chicago Bulls pick.
    (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

  • Look, I’m not always a tank-or-nothing kind of guy. I do think there is a world where you can gradually build a contending team or be extremely aggressive in building a win-now squad. But the Bulls tried and failed at that approach. They don’t necessarily have the option to do that all over again right now. They still owe a protected 2025 pick to the San Antonio Spurs. They lost most of their trade value in players like Zach LaVine and now DeMar DeRozan. Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu would likely draw some eyes in the open market, but trading either would be extremely foolish at this point. Karnisovas has painted himself into a corner, and the only way out is to get his clothes dirty.
  • You’d always rather have a top 5 pick, but I actually kind of like where the Bulls project to land in this year’s draft. The top is an absolute mess right now. Nobody knows who belongs in the No. 1 slot, as there is a staggering lack of elite-level talent. In some cases, having the field help determine whose left on your board can make it a lot easier not to screw up! And, well, Arturas Karnisovas doesn’t necessarily have the best track record in the first round right now!
  • I also think this Bulls team would benefit from some more versatile size at the wing, and there could be a couple of nice options in the late lottery. Cody Williams, Matas Buzelis, Dalton Knecht, and maybe even Ron Holland could stumble into the 9-11 range. All four are very different players, but they would each offer some great positional size. At the end of the day, though, this is a draft the Bulls must approach with a “best-player-available” mindset. While another guard wouldn’t be ideal, I don’t think a team with back-to-back Play-In Tournament losses can be picky.
  • Angel Reese and Caleb Williams are about to make Chicagoans so happy …
  • After Coby White lost the Most Improved Player award to Tyrese Maxey, I expressed some concerns about how the voting might go for DeMar DeRozan. Even though the veteran forward felt like an even stronger lock to take home the Clutch Player of the Year award, the superstardom of Stephen Curry won out. What a bummer.
  • The last player who should receive some well-deserved recognition is Alex Caruso. Up for his second-straight All-Defense First Team honor, it would be arguably the greatest snubbing of all if he doesn’t make the cut. BBall Index reminded us of just how special he is on that end, listing him as the No. 1 points of attack defender using their metric D-LeBron.
  • The Caleb Williams hype is so dang real.
  • While we’re on the topic of drafts …
  • written by

    Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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