I gave Arturas Karnisovsas plenty of credit for his end-of-season press conference. He blindsided us with his refreshing accountability and vows for change. All things considered, it was practically the exact opposite of what we watched from him during the trade deadline, when he appeared defensive and misguided.
With that said, the dialogue he shared with reporters wasn’t perfect. He still wouldn’t commit to a clear direction moving forward, which gives me an increasingly nervous feeling as we head deeper into the offseason.
The number of veteran players on the free agent market terrifies me. Players like Tobias Harris, Gordon Hayward, Kyle Lowry, Evan Fournier, Luke Kennard, Doug McDermott, Gary Harris, and Robert Covington will all be free agents. Could each provide something to a contending team? Sure, especially since it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to sign any of them. But these are the exact kinds of players the Chicago Bulls should likely avoid over the next few months.
Unless the Bulls shock the world and trade for Stephen Curry, adding a heap of veteran talent around DeMar DeRozan shouldn’t be the goal. You don’t move off Zach LaVine’s money only to sign a bunch of aging rotation players. Instead, if the Bulls are able to get off LaVine’s hefty contract, they need to prioritize future flexibility and continue to lift up their young players. Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu must be a big part of the game plan next season. I’d say the same for whomever the front office selects in the lottery. I don’t want to see developmental minutes going to Dougie McBuckets simply for a chance to clinch the No. 9 seed again.
I wonder if the Bulls have their eye on the big man market this summer. Both Nic Claxton and Isaiah Hartenstein will hit free agency this offseason. They are each 26 or younger and will be coming off extremely promising seasons. To be sure, the Bulls have zero clue if they’ll be able to offer either a competitive contract. But I’d love to see them try! The future of the center position is unclear. Vucevic – while serviceable – is transitioning into a new phase of his career and has really started to struggle as a floor spacer. Evaluating if he has any kind of trade value and opening up a spot in that position could be a great way for Karnisovas to stick by his “goal” of meaningful change.
Honestly, I am shocked the Bulls gave up the fewest points in the paint this season with Vucevic in the middle. The big man’s individual defensive plus-minus this season was -1.4, per Dunks & Threes. This put Vucevic in just the 20th percentile of NBA players. I get that he’s never been known for his defensive capabilities, but he’s also had above-average offensive execution to counteract that. With his diminishing 3-point shot and an overall sub-50.0 percent field goal percentage, it makes stomaching his defensive defenses that much harder.
Can you imagine if the Bulls didn’t have Alex Caruso this year? While the extra effort of Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu helped, there is no denying Caruso’s elite perimeter defense was the primary reason teams struggled to feast inside against this Bulls’ defense. During his three seasons as a Bulls, teams have scored -8.5, -6.9, and -7.0 points per 100 possessions when Caruso is on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass. What a special player.
BlogABull mapped out why Arutas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley should stretch and waive Lonzo Ball’s remaining contract. And I recommend you give it a read. The cap hit would be just about $7.1 million over the next few seasons, which isn’t all that bad. Do I see them doing this? Not right now, but I do wonder if they would consider it if they apply for the end-of-career injury exception and don’t get it.
More awards were announced this week …
Three Kia Performance Awards from the 2023-24 NBA regular season and the NBA Social Justice Champion Award will be announced this week.
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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