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The Chicago Bulls are becoming a textbook example of overvaluing your own players. At the turn of the decade, the Bulls started revamping their team after a three-year stretch mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
They started with the front office, cleansing themselves of the Jim Paxson and Gar Forman era that brought mixed results. They brought in Arturas Karsinovas — former Vice President who helped lead an enviable rebuild for the Denver Nuggets — and named him their new President of Basketball Operations.
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Karsinovas wasted little time turning the organization into his own. He replaced Head Coach Jim Boylen with Billy Donovan, someone who had recently led the Oklahoma City Thunder to numerous winning seasons and playoff trips.
Then, he brought in his stars, taking advantage of two different teardowns to trade for DeMar DeRozan from the San Antonio Spurs and Nikola Vucevic from the Orlando Magic. Coupling that pair of All-Stars with Zach LaVine, along with some key role-player acquisitions, including Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, made it clear that the Bulls were ready to compete for a title.
In that first year with their new core assembled, Chicago looked to be a dark-horse contender in the 2021-2022 campaign. They cobbled together a respectable defense built around Caruso and Ball’s ability to wreak havoc on the perimeter and in the passing lanes.
Their offense, led by their new star trio of LaVine, DeRozan, and Vucevic, was dangerous enough to potentially bring them to the Finals if their defense could hold in the playoffs. Plus, DeRozan’s heroics in the fourth quarter elevated him to superstar status for the year and gave analysts reason to believe that Chicago was at least a threat to knock off any opponent in a seven-game series.
DeMar DeRozan's late heroics pushes the @chicagobulls past Raptors in a OT thriller!
Coby White: 17 PTS, 8 AST, 6 REB
Alex Caruso: 13 PTS, 13 REB, 2 STL
Scottie Barnes: 22 PTS, 10 REB, 10 AST pic.twitter.com/smXtdPBfw2— NBA (@NBA) October 28, 2023
Unfortunately, injuries ultimately derailed that team and they wound up getting ousted in the first round. Sadly, that stretch, as disappointing as it was in the end, has turned out to be the peak for the Bulls core. Last season, Chicago tread water all year before ultimately losing in the Play-In Tournament and missing the playoffs altogether.
Through the early part of this year, the Bulls have instilled zero hope that their current roster could ever sniff a championship. Had Chicago made aggressive moves last season, they could have launched a quick and commendable rebuild, with LaVine, DeRozan, and Vucevic all likely to have brought back a haul in terms of draft capital and young talent.
Now, with their stars struggling produce and the Bulls record reflecting that, reports have come out that their trade values have all taken a significant hit. It appears that Chicago is destined to remain stuck in NBA purgatory, lest they sell off their parts for pennies on the dollar.
The #Bulls had their franchise player all along.
Coby White – 23 years old is Top 5 in 3s this season. Leads the NBA in 3s over the last 15 games.
Last 6 games: 26.1 PPG, 6.0 APG, 6.0 RPG (54.2% FG, 53.4% 3pt FG, 90% FT) pic.twitter.com/GSpUMLAyLX
— Die-Hard Chicago Bulls Fans (@DieHardCBfans) December 13, 2023
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| Title: The Chicago Bulls have doomed themselves for more mediocrity
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: December 13th , 2023
