DeRozan & Lakers, Williams’ Contract Ranked Biggest Overpay, Best Available FAs, and Other Bulls Bullets

The Cleveland Cavaliers have the Chicago Bulls another reason to press the reset button on Tuesday morning. Donovan Mitchell is reportedly returning to the franchise on a new three-year deal, which is expected to keep the Cavs comfortably in the postseason mix for the foreseeable future.

Whether it be Boston, Milwaukee, New York, Philly, Orlando, or Cleveland, Chicago is nowhere near that tier. The only way to change that in the future is to first take a step back.

  • Fortunately, the front office has apparently come to its senses. They’ve added multiple 24-and-under talents to this roster, while talks with DeMar DeRozan have remained silent. Nevertheless, the organization is still experiencing the fallout of its previously poor decision-making. Neither DeRozan nor LaVine appear to have much of a market at all. Could that change over the coming days as free agency continues? Absolutely. We all know things shift fast in this league. But what will not change in the coming days is the fact that Arturas Karnisovas waited too long to confront this issue.
  • Even if a new suitor emerges for LaVine, the Chicago Bulls aren’t going to get anything meaningful in return. Heck, the most recent reports suggest that they may be willing to fork over future draft capital to get off the contract. There was also some hope that a DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade could net the Bulls something decent, but this feels less likely by the day. The Los Angeles Clippers were viewed as the most likely landing spot for the six-time All-Star, but they’ve gone on to invest in other role players. So who is now in line to sign DeRozan? And will he have to take a shocking pay cut?
  • For what it’s worth, the Lakers might as well be the most obvious suitor at this point. They missed out on Klay Thompson this week, who will reportedly head to Dallas. LeBron James opted out of his contract to open up some financial flexibility for another big name, and DeRozan is the last All-Star-level name on the market. Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer said on Monday that the Lakers still hold an “affinity” for the veteran forward. Could we see a deal come together sooner rather than later with both parties becoming increasingly desperate?
  • DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls and LeBron James compete in NBA All-Star Game.
    (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

  • The hard thing for Chicago is that they are only a little over $13.0 million away from the luxury tax. With that in mind, they’re limited in how much salary they can take back in a potential DeRozan S&T. This could change if they were to move on from Zach LaVine or even Nikola Vucevic, but we all know that’s asking a lot right now. Anyway, we talked more about some of these complications on Monday afternoon. To be sure, the organization is at least headed down the right path, but they also only have themselves to blame for making it a real challenge to officially break up this recent core.
  • Keith Smith of Spotrac made a list of the best available free agents on Day 3. I wouldn’t expect the Chicago Bulls to be in the running for really any of these names. We’ll see.
  • Bleacher Report went ahead and ranked the top 5 overpays in free agency thus far, and Patrick Williams sits at the top of the list. We discussed this shortly after the news broke, so I don’t want to labor on it too long. However, I think the general consensus from those who follow closely is that this was a pretty solid signing. Especially with the cap going up in the very near future, $18.0 million a year is going to feel very close to the mid-level exception. Also, we can’t underestimate the interest that was out there from cap space teams. The Chicago Bulls wanted to ensure he didn’t hit free agency, and they also knew they had to pay at least a slight premium on the upside. At the end of the day, for a 22-year-old who is already an above-average wing defender and 3-point shooter, I can stomach this contract.
  • Good breakdown by Steph Noh of the newest Chicago Bulls big man, Jalen Smith. Considering the Josh Giddey signing, I think this move made a lot of sense for Chicago.
  • Good for Kris Dunn. The guy was almost out of the league at one point and completely re-invented himself.
  • Nikola Vucevic is competing for a spot in the Paris Olympics with the Montenegro National Team. He put together a solid performance against Brazil this morning, finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Are any NBA front offices watching!?
  • I didn’t think this would be the discussion we were having this season …
  • A lot happening in Blackhawks land!
  • written by

    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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