2025 Free Agency

[League Circles]

We suck. But not enough to ensure multiple consecutive high lottery picks (high is top 3 or 4 I'd say) under any realistic circumstance IMO.

I've long been a huge proponent of going against the trends and clearing massive salary cap space on a regular basis to try to be a player. Not with the expectation of getting a 2010 Miami Heat haul, but sort of a realistic poor man's version of that in 2-3 good players.

That said, the 2025 crop looks pretty bad IMO, and then there is the issue of whether we could even clear enough space to be a threat, and whether the impact of doing so would be wise at all.

So here's a thread to discuss different cap space scenarios (by trading various players and/or letting various guys walk at the end of the season). Then we can discuss whether that outlook appears better than staying on the current path of mediocre players, mediocre assets, and mediocre future prospects.

I don't consider a single player on the roster to be even close to a "must keep". So I have no attachment to them, but that doesn't mean I don't value them at all. I'd roughly say that Zach, Coby and Matas are the guys I consider of most potential value to us on the court going forward. Zach and Coby cause they're already good and talented, and Matas as a prospect. Some other guys bring some value, but very little IMO.

Thoughts?

[League Circles]

The fact that we're carrying like 15 mil next year for Carter, Terry and Phillips is just so **** gross.

[League Circles]

Ideally (though probably unrealistic), If we could dump Vuc, Carter, Terry and Phillips for expirings, I'd also consider dumping Ayo and Patrick.

[kodo]

I guess Kuminga is interesting if GS can't come to terms with him, although I'm not as high on him as most people
He wants $30M per.

[Dan Z]

In recent years how many top players left a team through free agency? And how many times have they been re-signed and then traded?

[nitetrain8603]

Ideally (though probably unrealistic), If we could dump Vuc, Carter, Terry and Phillips for expirings, I'd also consider dumping Ayo and Patrick.

IMO, Patrick should've never been resigned. And that's not hindsight, I've consistently felt that he's not worth it.

[sco]

Ideally (though probably unrealistic), If we could dump Vuc, Carter, Terry and Phillips for expirings, I'd also consider dumping Ayo and Patrick.

IMO, Patrick should've never been resigned. And that's not hindsight, I've consistently felt that he's not worth it.

Sure, but the goal should be to free up enough to go after 1 FA MAX guy (via FA or trade) in the offseason. Maybe in the latter case Pat becomes an interesting tradeable asset.

[nitetrain8603]

Ideally (though probably unrealistic), If we could dump Vuc, Carter, Terry and Phillips for expirings, I'd also consider dumping Ayo and Patrick.

IMO, Patrick should've never been resigned. And that's not hindsight, I've consistently felt that he's not worth it.

Sure, but the goal should be to free up enough to go after 1 FA MAX guy (via FA or trade) in the offseason. Maybe in the latter case Pat becomes an interesting tradeable asset.

He never will. The premise of resigning him was based around "Well Lauri left and turned good (he's also regressed a little this year too), and I don't want that with Patrick.

Folks need to stop tethering one young player to another. Patrick has never showed the hunger he needs to. He's never been consistent. Heck, he's never been able to consistently play on the court. I'm still amazed by how many people wanted Demar jettisoned, and how quickly they wanted to resign Patrick. And I'm not saying resigning DeMar was the right move either. Both could be moved.

Giddey is also a FA and if you want to resign him, he wants top dollar. So, realistically, if you want to improve this team via FA, you're going to have to also trade PWill or eat the fact that you traded Caruso for the absolute wrong asset.

[League Circles]

IMO, Patrick should've never been resigned. And that's not hindsight, I've consistently felt that he's not worth it.

Sure, but the goal should be to free up enough to go after 1 FA MAX guy (via FA or trade) in the offseason. Maybe in the latter case Pat becomes an interesting tradeable asset.

He never will. The premise of resigning him was based around "Well Lauri left and turned good (he's also regressed a little this year too), and I don't want that with Patrick.

Folks need to stop tethering one young player to another. Patrick has never showed the hunger he needs to. He's never been consistent. Heck, he's never been able to consistently play on the court. I'm still amazed by how many people wanted Demar jettisoned, and how quickly they wanted to resign Patrick. And I'm not saying resigning DeMar was the right move either. Both could be moved.

Giddey is also a FA and if you want to resign him, he wants top dollar. So, realistically, if you want to improve this team via FA, you're going to have to also trade PWill or eat the fact that you traded Caruso for the absolute wrong asset.

IIRC the vast majority of people didn't want to re-sign Patrick to the deal he got. I'm among his biggest believers and even I only wanted to offer him a 1+1 (team option) deal worth just over the MLE.

But yeah, this convo is definitely about things like dumping him and Giddey. I basically think we should dump both, though I suspect dumping Patrick for an expiring will be difficult or impossible.

[ChettheJet]

I'm against stripping down the roster for lots of cap space because the Bulls and Chicago have historically been played by the big names to get leverage over where they intend to go. This go back to Tracey McGrady and Grant Hill, through Kobe, Lebron, Bosh and Wade. And we end up with Ron Mercer, Eddie Robinson and Carlos Boozer getting the almost big money for almost average results.

There's just no way of knowing if the FA you are targeting would really sign until the press conference. d when you fail to sign that one main guy, most of the time there is no 1A guy who is willing to come to Chicago over anyplace else. He doesn't want to look like the fallback choice and you don't want the consolation prize. When your eggs are all in one guy's basket, the Bulls see that basket break too often.

For their lack of success GarPax mostly through the draft got high character guys who were from solid programs and DRose might have made that strategy work. But what they also did that works against the tear down for FAs path is stagger the contracts of the main players so for the most part only one guy, two at most, came up for new big contracts so if they weren't really a top level piece to hang on to or weren't overpaying then they only had to fill one top line position not 2 or 3.

You just don't want to have a stripped down roster, two tons of cap space and no star max players spend it on.

The Bulls are in good shape staggering the deals now, Lavine is the big long one, Vuc is expiring next year, Williams is long and as the cap goes up becomes more reasonable. You got Giddey knowing his deal was coming up and you've got this year to see if he'll be worth it. You signed Smith and now have to find out f he is capable of stepping up to be a starter. White and Dosunmu come up but unless they get a lot more consistent few teams, including the Bulls, are going to see them as max guys.

[kodo]

And the big names tend to go to already contending teams. Dame to Milwaukee, Jrue to Boston, KAT to NY, etc.. Big names FAs don't actually hit UFA they're traded beforehand, even if a team gets a 2nd round pick it's better than literally nothing. Caruso was our version than that, getting something over nothing. Even the albatross of a contract Bradley Beal was traded.

The best use of a lot of space might be what HOU did with FVV and Dillon Brooks. Non-stars to bolster a young team but they already had their best players in Sengun & Green. They didn't use UFA to try and find their best players. And this method doesn't save you any money, FVV is a 15 ppg player and he costs $42M, same as Lavine.

The best argument for FA was Jalen Brunson but we're not NY, and he was only considering NY. He said NY & Dallas were the only teams he considered, he didn't even bother meeting with the other teams interested. Even Mikal Bridges was that situation, other teams were bidding on him but he was only going to verbally commit long term if he was in NYC.

[drosestruts]

Free agency is dead and cap space is a thing of the past. If a player wants to come to Chicago we'll figure out a sign and trade if needed.

Where cap space can be valuable is in finding diamonds in the rough - hoping we found one ourselves in Jalen Smith this summer.

In the regard some player to keep an eye on:

Precious Achiuwa - 25 years old, will be a full unrestricted free agent and New York might not be able to afford to keep him

Ziaire Williams - a RFA which complicates things, but uber athletic 6'8" wings don't grow on trees

Nikeil Alexander-Walker - 26 years old, as kind of blossomed as a 3&d guard. Will be UFA

Jalen Hood-Schifino - 21 years old. Will be a UFA. Hasnt done anything impressive in the NBA yet, but is still very young.

Jake LaRavia - 6'8" forward shooting 38% from 3. 23 years old and will be a UFA.

Patrick Baldwin Jr - 22 years old and will be a UFA. Do you trust Washington's staff to properly develop young players?

Mo Bamba - I know there's still some believers here

Jaxson Hayes and Sandro Mamukelashvili - more young UFA centers. We need size and youth.

[Hangtime84]

I guess Kuminga is interesting if GS can't come to terms with him, although I'm not as high on him as most people
He wants $30M per.

Lauri situation?

[Donkedave]

Some low value players that could be good on the bench that won’t cost much.

All depends on if/when trades happen and what picks we make also

T Watford UFA
Not sure why but I just keep going back to him, yet another cheap bench role player.

D Barlow UFA (2-Way)
Imo he’s better than being on a 2-way contract. Showed some signs when given more minutes

D Sharpe RFA
Not sure of any value here? Seems good on defense in a limited role.

[TheSuzerain]

Cam Spencer, Cole Swider, Ty Jerome, Moussa Diabate

[sco]

Here's the list: https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/_/year/2025

Guys I'd consider:

RFA's:
Kuminga
Grimes
Sharpe
Aldama
Diabate

UFA's
Turner
Nance
Boucher
Achuiwa
Payne
Kornet
Bol
Bamba

[MrSparkle]

Sign BPA with that MLE. Caruso was an incredible pickup. Jalen Smith was an alright signing. IMO he is a better trade piece than he was a basketball target.

If we’re looking at RFAs, you’re not getting any of the good targets without a S&T. I’d of course investigate Sharpe, Kuminga and Aldama. If any of these guys have a strong second half to the season, it’s doubtful their teams let them go.

Dumping Vuc and Zach before the deadline doesn’t seem so likely. AK doesn’t seem to want to swallow his pride and get pitiful returns. So that money will likely be on the books. And I doubt they just let Giddey walk.

I think there’s gonna have to be a choice between Ayo and Coby. Both put us in the conundrum of playing undersized lineups. I like Ayo more, but Coby’s 3P shooting and on-ball scoring has a higher ceiling. S&T involving one of them for a bigger player might make sense.

[drosestruts]

Minnesota's free agency will be super interesting. They traded KAT in part to be able to afford to retain guys like NAW and Naz Reid, but what happens /if/when they don't retain those guys?

Reid should have plenty of suitors who will not only be able to offer him money, but perhaps a starting role - something he has not been given on the Timberwolves.


Another guy I'm interested in is Matisse Thybulle who has a player option. An excellent defender and athlete. Could Patton work his shooting magic on Thybulle??

On the older sid but I've always liked Larry Nance Jr - a good 4/5 that can stretch the floor and block shots.

Christian Wood - one of my toxic traits is still believing in the potential of Christian Wood. So much talent, so little ball iq. (see also Kai Jones)

AJ Green - an absolute sniper. Can you ever have too much shooting?

[Chi town]

Minnesota's free agency will be super interesting. They traded KAT in part to be able to afford to retain guys like NAW and Naz Reid, but what happens /if/when they don't retain those guys?

Reid should have plenty of suitors who will not only be able to offer him money, but perhaps a starting role - something he has not been given on the Timberwolves.


Another guy I'm interested in is Matisse Thybulle who has a player option. An excellent defender and athlete. Could Patton work his shooting magic on Thybulle??

On the older sid but I've always liked Larry Nance Jr - a good 4/5 that can stretch the floor and block shots.

Christian Wood - one of my toxic traits is still believing in the potential of Christian Wood. So much talent, so little ball iq. (see also Kai Jones)

AJ Green - an absolute sniper. Can you ever have too much shooting?

AJ Green is a winning player. Like him. Bucks will pay him.

[drosestruts]

Minnesota's free agency will be super interesting. They traded KAT in part to be able to afford to retain guys like NAW and Naz Reid, but what happens /if/when they don't retain those guys?

Reid should have plenty of suitors who will not only be able to offer him money, but perhaps a starting role - something he has not been given on the Timberwolves.


Another guy I'm interested in is Matisse Thybulle who has a player option. An excellent defender and athlete. Could Patton work his shooting magic on Thybulle??

On the older sid but I've always liked Larry Nance Jr - a good 4/5 that can stretch the floor and block shots.

Christian Wood - one of my toxic traits is still believing in the potential of Christian Wood. So much talent, so little ball iq. (see also Kai Jones)

AJ Green - an absolute sniper. Can you ever have too much shooting?

AJ Green is a winning player. Like him. Bucks will pay him.

Bucks are a 2nd apron team. I think it'd be easier than you think to get them to not match an offer