Chicago Bulls

2016-17: 41-41, 8th in the East

Payroll: $65,091,728

NBA Draft:

#7-Lauri Markkenen PF

Offseason:

IN: Zach Lavine, Kris Dunn, Nikola Mirotic (re-signed 2 years, $27 million),
Justin Holiday (2 years, $9 million), Quincy Pondexter

OUT: Jimmy Butler, Rajon Rondo, Michael Carter-Williams, Joffrey Lauvergne,

Dwyane Wade

Analysis:

Abandon all hope ye who enter. Most NBA analysts and draft
prognosticators are plugging the Bulls in for the number 1 pick next summer, so to
say confidence is lacking would be a massive understatement. The Bulls arent in
as bad of shape as some franchises, like Brooklyn, but things went south in a hurry
for Chicago. Since hiring Fred Hoiberg to transition the franchise from Tom
Thibodeaus meatgrinder style to an up-tempo, modern brand of basketball, the
front office has saddled him with slow rosters full of nonshooters. That was never
more evident than when the Bulls inexplicably signed Rajon Rondo and Dwyane
Wade last offseason.

The three-headed beast from last year is a thing of the past now, as
Chicago let Rondo walk, bought out Wade (for a costly $15.8 million), and traded
Jimmy Butler. Now theyre in tank mode, hoping for the chance to get a player
wholl at least reach the level that Butler currently is. Having 3 guys who cant
shoot and all need the ball doesnt normally work, even if all three are former all-
stars. This Bulls roster starts over with 0 all-stars and no probable breakout
candidates.

I dont want to be harsh, but most of this disarray can be blamed on the
upper levels of the franchiseowner Jerry Reinsdorf and FO heads Gar Forman &
John Paxton (Garpax lives!). Reinsdorf has historically been cheap and fickle when
it comes to the Bulls, butting heads with anyone who offers something other than a
milquetoast personality; he lives in an alternate reality where the White Sox are
somehow Chicagos main attraction and the Bulls are a side show. Garpax
certainly run the Bulls like a sideshow; every decision they make drags the
franchises closer to irrelevancy. They finished a trade tree this offseason tracing
back to giving Denver Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic to Denver in exchange for
Doug McDermott on Draft night 2014; McDermott was one of the pieces flipped to
OKC so the Bulls could get their hands on the now-injured Cam Payne (the only
player they received in the deal still on the team). Payne was described by a
Chicago staffer thusly, We knew [after] the second practice that he couldnt play
at [an NBA] level.

Their incompetency continued over the summer, trading Jimmy Butler, a

top-15 player who was essentially their entire team last season, for Zach Lavine,
who has a torn ACL, Kris Dunn, coming off a horrific rookie season, and a pick
swap with the Timberwolves. Yes, they gave up Butler and the #16 pick for
Lavine, Dunn, and the chance to draft Lauri Markkanen. I dont care how good he
was at Eurobasket, he wont be a savior in any way, shape, or form.

Just for good measure, in one of the deepest drafts in recent memory, the
Bulls sold the #38 pick in the draft to the Warriors, who picked Jordan Bell, a first-
round talent who has a good chance to emerge as a solid rotation player.

The Bulls offseason recently concluded with a long staring contest with
Dwyane Wade, ending in a buyout where he recouped about 2/3rds of the years
salary, and the re-signing of Nikola Mirotic after the extremely dry market for bigs
essentially forced him back to Chicago. What remains for training camp is a roster
with no one over the age of 30, but limited potential across the board.
 Hoiberg, whose coaching skills are yet to be fully determined, has overseen
a couple of seasons on the Treadmill of Mediocrity, but now he has an extended go
at player development. This young team more closely resembles the group he
needs to play the up-tempo style he worked wonders with at ISU, but the backcourt
is in no way ready to run a competent NBA offense. The Bulls will likely push the
pace the way the Sixers did between 2004-16 to at least maintain the appearance of
competition. Kris Dunn, Jerian Grant, Justin Holiday, Denzel Valentinesome of
these guys are fringe rotations players who might legitimately start a frightening
amount of games this season.

Paul Zipser and Bobby Portis are fine rotation players, Valentine is versatile
although uninspiring, and Cristiano Felicio proved decent last season, but none of
them are long-term keepers. Robin Lopez is the resident veteran, but with the Bulls
needing to pull themselves up to the salary floor, it might make sense to trade him
to a contender and get something goodhopefully a draft pickfrom it. Quincy
Pondexter has barely played in the past 2 years and even if he proves healthy, may
also be a trade or buyout candidate at mid-season.

Right now, the hope for this franchise is to tank and get a superstar in the
2018 Draftthat route is self-explanatory. The other is to hope the Butler trade
doesnt turn out as disastrous as it looks, and that means Lavine, Dunn, and
Markkanen all becoming league-average to good players.

Lavine is the most likely to ever become something special, but even those
are long odds. Hes still just 22, and hes a freak athlete, but over his first three
years in the league hes been an empty stats, losing type of player. He can score,
and hes shot about 39% from three-point range for 2 straight seasons, but he often
is also careless with the basketball, struggles to involve his teammates, and pouts
when his shot isnt falling.

He has become an offensive factor, but he will never be a good number 1

option for a playoff team; Lavine needs to play with a good facilitator who can
break a defense down and present him with opportunities to attack scrambling
defenders, because despite his athleticism, Lavine isnt cerebral enough to do that
work himself, and that limits his ceiling as a lead playmaker. Defensively, hes a
mess whose focus drifts in and out and who cant be bothered to fight through
screens. Chicago will have to pay him big money after this season, and if he
wallows in a losing culture for a few more years, his talent could go to waste.

Of course, Lavine is coming off a major knee injury that will sideline him
until at least mid-November, so all eyes will be on Lauri Markkanen to start the
year. The Dirk comparisons are entirely unfair, to anyone, and there is no denying
Markkanen can shoot the lights out, but right now his game has lots of holes in it.
He proved incapable of rebounding at Arizona, he didnt look comfortable in the
paint on offense or defense, and no matter who he guarded, he was liable to be
exploited; expect that to continue in the NBA. Opponents will go at him until the
cows come home if he cant hold his ground in the post, and he isnt quick enough
to chase 3s around he perimeter. Right now he looks like a spot-up shooter and not
much else, whether hes a stretch 4 or not. The Bulls didnt have a positive
experience with McDermott essentially occupying the same role, so I dont know
why they drafted Markkanen when there were a handful of objectively better
basketball players on the board.

Well see how bad the going gets for Chicago this year, but the franchise
diagnosis doesnt seem irredeemable likely because they drove off a cliff so
quickly. With a top-3 pick next June, Chicago could try to do a mini-emulation of
the Boston rebuild, but GarPax certainly doesnt have the ability to orchestrate
anything like what Ainge did. No matter how fast the Bulls play, this is going to be
an ugly offense to watch, and Bulls fans will probably be better off skipping some
games than hate watching the team this season. For now, buckle up, hope you nail
some lottery picks, and come back in a couple years with something more
promising than what you have now.

Player to Watch: Kris Dunn

Dunn is the last piece of the Butler trade. He started off rough last yearhe
could barely get on the court toward the end of the yearbut the player he was at
Providence has to be in there somewhere. Hes already 23, so his ceiling is limited,
but he should be solid defensively with his long frame & basketball IQ, and if he
ever gets comfortable with the speed of the NBA game, the playmaking he showed
at Providence will start to come. Im not sure he could be a starter on a playoff
team anymore, but I wouldnt call him a bust yet. If Dunn and Markkanen are
terrible, the Bulls wont sniff 20 wins, but if Dunn especially can make some
strides and be close to a league average player, this season may be only very bad
instead of gruesome for Chicago.

Imaginary Prop Bet: Chance Cam Payne scores 10+ points in a game this season-
O/U 20%

Prediction: 18-64, 15th in the East