NEWSLETTER
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Chicago Bulls need a point guard!
With Lonzo Ball’s career potentially over, the Bulls have found themselves in desperate need of a true facilitator. Unfortunately for them, however, the upcoming free agent market doesn’t offer many options within their price range (good news for Coby White)!
Don’t believe me? Well, let’s take a look at the top names on the point guard market and who might be considered the most likely to receive an offer sheet.
Before you go on, perhaps you’ll be interested in this first …
The No-Chancers
James Harden: Not only are the Chicago Bulls missing the funds to offer James Harden an enticing deal, but it’s extremely hard to foresee any situation where Harden wants to put on a Bulls jersey. Turning 34 years old in August, landing his last big contract is likely only a tiny bit more important than competing for a championship. The Bulls’ future feels too in flux to entice someone of his stature.
Kyrie Irving: The Bulls should want nothing to do with Kyrie Irving. One of the most dysfunctional and unreliable superstars in the game, Irving has stirred up trouble at each of his past few destinations. For a franchise to try to establish a winning culture, he likely isn’t the long-term answer at point guard. Likewise, similar to Harden, Chicago simply doesn’t offer the kind of win-now environment Irving is surely expecting to join.
The Slight-Chancers
Fred VanVleet
To be clear, the Bulls aren’t signing Fred VanVleet outright in the open market. But out of the top point guards available, he does feel like the one who could make the most sense for a Bulls team refusing to take a step back.
The Athletic’s Eric Koreen recently offered up a sign-and-trade idea that would see VanVleet head to Chicago on a four-year, $124 million deal in exchange for Patrick Williams, Lonzo Ball’s contract, and a second-rounder. To be clear, I don’t think Chicago should do this trade nor would do it — and Koreen agrees. But the idea is the right one.
To land VanVleet, the Bulls would have to work out some sort of sign-and-trade and likely give up a real asset in return (assuming VanVleet has a relatively competitive market). A former champion who has averaged roughly 20.0 points and 7.0 assists per game the past three seasons, there is no denying his combination of playmaking and high-volume 3-point shooting would fill a significant hole in Chicago.
None of this is to say I think this is the right move for Chicago, though. They would have to hand VanVleet a lot of money. And the dollars would undoubtedly creep the Bulls toward the luxury tax if other significant roster moves weren’t made. All I’m saying is this feels at least more plausible than signing either of the two biggest free-agent guards, especially when we consider the front office seemingly has no interest in a rebuild.
D’Angelo Russell
Let me preface this by saying I want very little to do with D’Angelo Russell.
The point guard has moved around quite a bit during his NBA career thus far. Four teams since 2019 represents plenty of movement. Now, some of that isn’t necessarily his fault. But my alarm bells begin to ring whenever a starter can’t seem to stay with a franchise for more than two full seasons. Whether it be his shot selection or defensive effort, there has seemingly been enough there for multiple organizations to question if he’s the guy.
With that said, he’s still managed to average 18.2 points and 6.4 assists per game over his past three seasons. Even more impressive, he’s shot 37.2 percent from downtown on 7.2 attempts per game. The shotmaking alone will grab the attention of multiple front offices. And that’s the main reason why I could see the Bulls at least tossing his name around behind closed doors.
The problem, however, would be that Jovan Buha of The Athletic recently said on the HoopsHype podcast that he would expect Russell to land somewhere in the $17-20 million range. The Bulls would have to work out a sign-and-trade to add him to stay under the tax. All while also moving one of their core members. Russell isn’t the kind of player you go out of your way to do all of that to acquire. VanVleet? You can make a case for him, in my opinion. But not Russell.
The Maybes
Derrick Rose
The Chicago Bulls have already been linked to their former franchise superstar once this offseason. We also know that the Arturas Karnisovas-led front office showed some interest in a reunion prior to his decision to re-up with the Knicks a couple of years back. All in all, that’s the primary reason I consider him part of the “maybes.”
If the Bulls’ big free-agency move was to bring back Rose, I’d have mixed emotions. While a reunion would undoubtedly pack the United Center, that shouldn’t at all be what this upcoming season is about. The organization should be making moves that serve in the best interest of winning – whether that be in the short term or long term. Unfortunately, adding Rose into the mix at this point in his career might not help in either situation.
For the sake of not repeating myself, I’ll just drop the link to our discussion from a couple of weeks back:
Russell Westbrook
Similar to Rose, the reason Westbrook makes an appearance here is merely due to past connections. The Bulls reportedly looked to add the veteran point guard through the buyout market before signing Patrick Beverley. Billy Donovan even got in on the recruiting work.
Now, their interest could have spoken more to the limited options on the market as opposed to genuine interest. But Donovan did coach Westbrook during his best seasons in Oklahoma City. And adding him might not cost that much more than a veteran minimum. Would that be enough to convince the Bulls to sign him?
FWIW: I still think the fit would be awful.
The Most-Obtainables
Patrick Beverley
After Patrick Beverley joined the fold, the Bulls went 14-9 and beat the Raptors in their first Play-In Tournament game. They also came within just three minutes of advancing into the playoffs for the second-straight year.
While he can’t be viewed as a long-term answer, Beverley filled a clear need for Chicago. Plus, he gave the Bulls shades of the defensive backcourt they saw behind Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball. If they were to run it back, keeping Beverley wouldn’t be the worst outcome. The big question, though, is can they afford him?
Beverley said on his podcast that he’s looking for a deal somewhere between $13-15 million annually. Assuming Chicago has just its mid-level exception to spend, that isn’t enough to meet Beverley’s mark. Even if Beverley came down a bit, it’s hard for Chicago to justify using the entirety of its MLE on someone considered an aging asset.
Dennis Schroder
Speaking of players with past connections to the Bulls …
Chicago has been name-dropped as a Dennis Schroder landing spot multiple times in the past. Once again, this has seemingly been due to his past connection with head coach Billy Donovan. Schroder put together arguably the best seasons of his career under the head coach in OKC. This run included averaging 18.9 points per game as a sixth man in 2019-20.
Schroder’s journey has been an interesting and inconsistent one. Turning down a massive extension with the Lakers to bet on himself, the free agency market didn’t materialize in the way he thought it would after the 2020-21 season. This forced him to accept a super cheap one-year deal with Boston before being traded to Houston where he barely played.
Back with the Lakers this season, though, he looked closer to his old self, appearing in 66 games and averaging 12.6 points with 4.5 assists. Someone who plays with tons of energy and has a decent downhill game, he’ll likely get a multi-year chunk out of some team’s MLE this offseason.
Tre Jones
Only 23 years old, throwing a restricted free agency offer at Tre Jones might not hurt.
Jones is coming off a career-best season with the Spurs. He averaged 12.6 points, 6.6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in San Antonio. In doing so, Jones finally started showing NBA teams the kind of well-rounded play they saw at Duke. He isn’t going to be a reliable downtown threat, but he’s a strong floor general who can fill the connective-passing role the Bulls desperately need with Lonzo Ball sidelined.
Likewise, he’s a high-effort defender who would fit right into the identity Chicago started to build on that end of the floor last year. My guess is that San Antonio decides to match whatever offers come his way. But this could be one of the more attractive avenues for the Bulls to pursue at the right price.
Gabe Vincent
After a run to the NBA Finals with the Miami Heat, Vincent might belong more with the “maybes.” I’m sure some team out there – if not the Heat – will talk themselves into giving him a deal worth more than what the Bulls would feel comfortable with. And, honestly, I’d be fine with that.
Vincent has shot an impressive 39 percent in the postseason thus far and has displayed some solid facilitating. But I’m not yet bought into the idea of him being the right fit for a Bulls team trying to find their way. He’s likely built for a contending team that doesn’t need to ask too much of him on a nightly basis.
Jevon Carter
The Milwaukee Bucks got some big games out of Jevon Carter this year. While teams likely aren’t going to view him as a traditional point guard, he does have the makings of a solid role player and bench option. Carter played in 81 games for the Bucks this season and shot an impressive 42.1 percent from behind the arc on 4.2 attempts per game.
For a team like the Bulls who need any 3-point shooting they can get, he might be worth a try.
More on just how much bad luck the Bulls have had at point guard …
