NEWSLETTER
Once the NBA Finals wrap up, the Chicago Bulls will begin their first official offseason under the new regime. Front office executive Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley will begin to tinker with the roster, as they work their way through the 2020 NBA Draft and free agency.
The expectation should be that this roster doesn’t experience a lot of change over the next season. Not only does the team have limited financial flexibility in the short term, but the Bulls new brass will want to get a more legitimate look at some of their young talent. As a competent and proven head coach, Billy Donovan should be a big help when it comes to evaluating the players and deciding who should (or should not) be a part of future plans.
At the same time, we can’t necessarily rule any early roster moves out. Karnisovas has already brought up numerous times his affinity for draft night trades, while Eversley has made it clear that this revitalized front office isn’t about to begin another rebuild. To use Eversley’s words exactly, the Bulls want to “retool,” which means there are more immediate plans to improve the team’s competitiveness and roster. I don’t know about you, but hearing all of this has been music to my ears. A major market team like Chicago should view themselves as capable of pulling off a quick turnaround, and this aggressive mindset from the front office is exactly what fans have wanted for years.
Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the Bulls are in a great position to sniff around the trade market. The team has all of its future first-round picks in their back pocket, and they also have plenty of young players – all of whom appear to have the potential to become at least an average starter in this league. ESPN’s Bobby Marks recently outlined each teams trade lists, and he demonstrated well how solid the Bulls contract situations are moving forward. Most importantly, though, he listed the players each team will likely consider “off the table,” and can you guess who he put for the Bulls? That’s right … no one!
While I feel like this is something we’ve all know for a while, it’s reassuring to see a front office insider like Marks put it down in writing. No one should ever be safe on a team that has missed the playoffs three-straight seasons and lacks a superstar. Sure, there are guys I want to see get a chance to develop (Coby White being one), but if Karnisovas saw an avenue to move any of them for a player that can make this team consistently more competitive, it’s almost impossible to say he shouldn’t take it.
Again, I don’t necessarily think the team will be actively searching for trades over the next couple of months. However, if an opportunity presents itself, I definitely believe Karnisovas will (/should) pick up the phone and have that conversation. We saw how adamant he was about going after Donovan once he became available. If that’s any sign of how he will manage the trade market, Bulls fans could be in for quite the ride. I look forward to seeing the in-house talent grow and develop under this new front office, but I’m also excited to see how active the Bulls can be in this new era.
