NEWSLETTER
Late last week, the Chicago Bulls signed Ayo Dosunmu to a multi-year deal. Despite the rather lengthy restricted free agency for the third-year guard, Dosunmu ended up netting himself $21 million over three years.
Of course, we’re still waiting for the final terms of the deal to come out. Considering the lack of offer sheets thrown Dosunmu’s way, it wouldn’t be a shock if the Bulls ended up leveraging a team option or a non-guaranteed third year into the youngster’s contract. This is especially true when we consider that the reported $7 million felt like a slight overpay. As much as I like Dosunmu, the fact that he ended up netting an AAV over his $5.2 million qualifying offer surely came as a surprise after weeks of sitting on the open market.
The deal also means shrinking the Bulls’ remaining spending power by a little more than initially expected this summer. Factoring in the 8 percent raises, Dosunmu is expected to make $6.4 million during the 2023-24 season. So how much space does that leave the Bulls before hitting the luxury tax? Well, using Spotrac’s team management tool, the Bulls check in at roughly $3.7 million under the tax. And this is assuming they waive Carlik Jones’ non-guaranteed deal by the start of the season.
In other words, the Bulls only have roughly $3.7 million in breathing room with 13 guaranteed contracts. This means that signing two players on a veteran minimum contract very well could throw them just over the luxury tax threshold. And, well, I think we can all agree that isn’t something this organization wants to do.
Here’s a look at the current cap sheet w/out Carlik Jones (let me know if anything looks wrong here … I’m not a cap sheet expert by any means):
| Zach LaVine | $40,064,220 |
| DeMar DeRozan | $28,600,000 |
| Nikola Vucevic | $18,518,519 |
| Coby White | $11,111,111 |
| Patrick Williams | $9,835,881 |
| Alex Caruso | $9,460,000 |
| Ayo Dosunmu | $6,481,481 |
| Jevon Carter | $6,190,476 |
| Andre Drummond | $3,360,000 |
| Dalen Terry | $3,350,760 |
| Torrey Craig | $2,528,233 |
| Julian Phillips | $1,600,000 |
| Lonzo Ball | $20,465,117 |
| OPEN ROSTER SPOT | — |
| OPEN ROSTER SPOT | — |
| Bulls’ Total Payroll | $161,565,798 |
| NBA’s Luxury tax threshold | $165,294,000 |
| Bulls’ Tax Space | $3,728,202 |
So what the heck are they going to do? That’s a great question! I’m particularly curious to see where this all goes considering that Coby White has a contract incentive each season worth a little over $1 million. If he hits that, this would also throw the Bulls further into the luxury tax during the regular season.
If one thing is for sure, they should have *at least* one more signing under their belt to get the roster to 14 guaranteed contracts. But where they go after that is up for debate. Could they leave a spot open as they head into the regular season just to dodge the tax? I wouldn’t put it past them. Would they try to offload salary during the season to prepare for White’s incentive to hit? I also wouldn’t put that past them!
Arturas Karnisovas can tell me all he wants is that this franchise will finally embrace the tax. But I’m not buying it, especially not if it’s just to add some minimum-level talent.
