Bulls management must get creative, aggressive this offseason

Bulls management must get creative, aggressive this offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich

On Thursday night at the United Center, the Boston Celtics emphatically underscored the difference between a team with championship aspirations and one with competitive ones.

Granted, the Chicago Bulls are currently extremely shorthanded due to injuries. But even if the Bulls maintain their play-in standing and, unlike last season, prevail to earn a playoff seed, it likely will be the eighth seed and a first-round matchup against those same high-powered Celtics.

Barring a stunner, this will mean the Bulls will conclude a three-year window with no playoff series victories and either one or two first-round exits, depending on how this season concludes.

While the Bulls’ current 4-1/2 game cushion to maintain their play-in standing appears safe, they do still face the Celtics one more time, the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road, the Los Angeles Clippers twice and the New York Knicks three times. And they’re extremely shorthanded without Zach LaVine for the rest of the season, Torrey Craig for at least two to four more weeks and Patrick Williams indefinitely.

That’s the short-term stuff. The big-picture outlook is the roster that management so dramatically overhauled during 2021 has reached its expiration date. And whether a trade of LaVine, a cost-saving plan for Lonzo Ball or—more surprising—a sign-and-trade with DeMar DeRozan is coming, this offseason will be crucial.

“What we did in 2021 when we turned our roster around that summer, I think we showed we can be aggressive,” Artūras Karnišovas said earlier this month, following a third straight inactive trade deadline.

Citing the control of their 2024 first-round pick and a “positive” mindset about free agency, Karnišovas and his staff again will have to show aggressiveness and creativity this offseason.

That 2021 offseason began with attention focused on the partial guarantees for the contracts of Thad Young and Tomáš Satoranský and whether the Bulls would operate as an under- or…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/bulls-management-must-creative-aggressive-152435805.html

Author : NBC Sports Chicago

Publish date : 2024-02-23 15:31:27

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