Grade the Chicago Bulls Off-Season

[Jimako10]

For so many years I complained that the old FO would never pick a lane.

Even if you don't like the current moves, you have to respect the fact that this FO picked a lane and went full throttle.

[DuckIII]

Putting it all into context, it’s one of the most creative, aggressive, comprehensive and impressive seasons I’ve ever seen from any FO.

It’s an A+.

[SHO'NUFF]

2021 Bulls Off-Season

Additions:
Lonzo Ball - PG
Alex Caruso - PG
Ayo Dosunmu - PG/SG
DeMar DeRozan -SG/SF/PF
Marko Simonović - PF/C
Tony Bradley - PF/C
Derrick Jones Jr - SF
Stanley Johnson - SF/PF
Alize Johnson - PF

Released/Traded: (R/T)
Thomas Satoranski - PG/SG (T)
Daniel Theis - PF (R)
Ryan Arch - PG (R)
Garrett Temple - SG (T)
Al Farouq - PF (T)
Thad Young - PF (T)
Denzel Valentine - SG (R)
Christiano Felicio - PF (R)
Lauri Markkanen- PF (T)
Adam Mokoka - SG (R)

Kept from last season:
Zach LaVine - SG
Nico Vucevic - C
Patrick Williams - SF/PF
Coby White - PG/SG
Troy Bown Jr - SF
Javonte Green - PG/SG
Devon Dotson - PG (2 way contract) ****

Depth Chart:
PG: Lonzo / Caruso / Ayo
SG: LaVine / Coby / J. Green
SF: DeRozen / T. Brown Jr / S. Johnson
PF: PWill / Derrick JJ / A. Johnson
C: Vucevic / T. Bradley / Simonović

G-League: Dotson (PG) ****
G-League: Matt Thomas (SG) ****

Contracts:
•DeRozen Contract: 3 Years - $81.9 million (fully guaranteed)
•Lonzo Contract: 4 Years - $80 million (4th year player option)
•Caruso Contract: 4 Years - $36.98 million (4th year only $3 million guaranteed)
•T. Bradley Contract: 2 Years - [Vet Min] $3.826 million (2nd year player option)
•Javonte Green Contract: 2 Years - [Vet Min] $3.45 million (fully guaranteed)
•Ayo Dosunmu Contract: 2 Years - $2.489 million (fully guaranteed)
•Dotson Contract: 2 Way (G League)
•Marko Simonović Contract: 3 Years - $4.325 million (final year not guaranteed)
•Derrick Jones Jr Contract: 1 Year - $9.732 million
•Alize Johnson Contract: 2 Years - $3.6 million
•Stanley Johnson Contract: TBD
•Matt Thomas Contract: 2 Way (G League)


Future Draft Picks Traded Away:
2021: Fist round pick (#8) - Franz Wagner
2022: Second round pick via Lakers (TBD)
2023: First round pick (TBD)
2023: Second round pick (TBD)
2025: First round pick (TBD)
2025: Second round pick (TBD)

Future Draft Assets Received:
2022:First round pick: (Portland) Lottery Protected until 2028 then turns into 2nd
2023:Second round pick: (Denver) 47-60 Protected

[Jimmy Forums]

Easily the best offseason of my lifetime. This team was a pain to root for, aside from the Derrick Rose era we lucked into a subsequently squandered. Now we've got a contender in the East and what's sure to be a FUN team to watch. On top of that, we now know we've got an aggressive and creative front office to trust in.

The way I look at the squad now is this core:

Lonzo/Caruso
Lavine/Coby
Derozan
Williams
Vucevic/Bradley

With primarily these bodies to throw off the bench as needed:
Troy Brown Jr
Derrick Jones Jr
Alize Johnson
(Stanley Johnson and Javonte Green in a pinch)

Still would like an intimidating rim protector and/or lockdown defender but this ain't a finished product. For what it seems our team wants to do, we're going to be pretty good at it. In a league that's increasingly just about how much you can score, we're pretty close to "can't rule anything out" territory in terms of our status as a contender.

[_KYUSS_]

A-plus plus....plus plus plus plus plus plus lol. one of the best off seasons ever, especially considering what AKME inherited.

in one off season, AKME did more than paxson did in 18 years. its sad to think about but at least its over. i have to wonder if the NBA went to the Reinsdorf family and said 'enough is enough, things need to change'. they seem to be taking a more assertive approach with their mega market franchises and tolerating less nonsense from them, and of course the NBA needs for Chicago to be good again. its just such an unthinkable 180 turnaround in such a short amount of time. everything from the visibility, to branding, and of course all the signings and trades, so i feel like the NBA may have stepped in.

the Madhouse is going to be absolutely insane this season, probably the most lit arena in the league.

[RSP83]

2021 Bulls Off-Season

Additions:
Lonzo Ball - PG
Alex Caruso - PG
Ayo Dosunmu - PG/SG
DeMar DeRozan -SG/SF/PF
Marko Simonović - PF/C
Tony Bradley - PF/C
Derrick Jones Jr - SF
Stanley Johnson - SF/PF
Alize Johnson - PF

Released/Traded: (R/T)
Thomas Satoranski - PG/SG (T)
Daniel Theis - PF (R)
Ryan Arch - PG (R)
Garrett Temple - SG (T)
Al Farouq - PF (T)
Thad Young - PF (T)
Denzel Valentine - SG (R)
Christiano Felicio - PF (R)
Lauri Markkanen- PF (T)
Adam Mokoka - SG (R)

Kept from last season:
Zach LaVine - SG
Nico Vucevic - C
Patrick Williams - SF/PF
Coby White - PG/SG
Troy Bown Jr - SF
Javonte Green - PG/SG
Devon Dotson - PG (2 way contract) ****

Depth Chart:
PG: Lonzo / Caruso / Ayo
SG: LaVine / Coby / J. Green
SF: DeRozen / T. Brown Jr / S. Johnson
PF: PWill / Derrick JJ / A. Johnson
C: Vucevic / T. Bradley / Simonović

G-League: Dotson (PG) ****
G-League: Matt Thomas (SG) ****

Contracts:
•DeRozen Contract: 3 Years - $81.9 million (fully guaranteed)
•Lonzo Contract: 4 Years - $80 million (4th year player option)
•Caruso Contract: 4 Years - $36.98 million (4th year only $3 million guaranteed)
•T. Bradley Contract: 2 Years - [Vet Min] $3.826 million (2nd year player option)
•Javonte Green Contract: 2 Years - [Vet Min] $3.45 million (fully guaranteed)
•Ayo Dosunmu Contract: 2 Years - $2.489 million (fully guaranteed)
•Dotson Contract: 2 Way (G League)
•Marko Simonović Contract: 3 Years - $4.325 million (final year not guaranteed)
•Derrick Jones Jr Contract: 1 Year - $9.732 million
•Alize Johnson Contract: 2 Years - $3.6 million
•Stanley Johnson Contract: TBD
•Matt Thomas Contract: 2 Way (G League)


Future Draft Picks Traded Away:
2021: Fist round pick (#8) - Franz Wagner
2022: Second round pick via Lakers (TBD)
2023: First round pick (TBD)
2023: Second round pick (TBD)
2025: First round pick (TBD)
2025: Second round pick (TBD)

Future Draft Assets Received:
2022:First round pick: (Portland) Lottery Protected until 2028 then turns into 2nd
2023:Second round pick: (Denver) 47-60 Protected

This bench, I feel like the have the potential to either become special, or really mediocre. If things goes right for them, I think the fans are going to love them. These bench has a lot of dogs in them, especially defensively.

Alize - he likes to crash the board and physical
DJJ - he's crazy athletic, long, and highlight reel maker
Caruso - also athletic, good defender, highlight reel maker
TBJ - versatile, good defender, poor man's Iggy
Green - athletic guard who can guard 1 and 2
Coby - poor man's Lou Will, microwave scorer
Bradley - solid bigman defender, good IQ
Stanley - bruiser SF
Marko - mobile big, good IQ, versatile offense

This bench has the potential to eclipse the bench mob.

[Grodoboldo]

Can't **** wait to watch this team on the court!
I wish pre-season started tomorrow.

[Wingy]

Putting it all into context, it’s one of the most creative, aggressive, comprehensive and impressive seasons I’ve ever seen from any FO.

It’s an A+.

...and you doubted after the Vuc trade. Remember those debates?

The man said he wasn’t done. And he meant it!!

Easily an A for me.

[nomorezorro]

not super into ball, but he's fine. the contract could be a lil rough if he doesn't improve but it shouldn't be debilitating

caruso is a nice fit addition, but kind of pricey for who he is.

love the derozan signing based on the direction we started with the vucevic trade. if you're making a serious push to improve the next few seasons, go out and land the most talented guy on the market at the time. legitimately brings skills nobody else on the roster has, and i think the defense got bolstered enough that it won't live or die based on him and him alone

markkanen s&t was pretty remarkable; 0% chance i would have bought us getting a first round pick for him

i DO like the focus on defensively talented wings. i am perplexed by the degree to which we have not prioritized shooting. i guess maybe a trade could balance things out in-season, but otherwise, we got a lot riding on coby

overall, solid b.

[petebraun0]

I will give them an A. I love how the Nets waived a player to sign Aldridge and then we grab him. They get older, we get younger. We could end up with the better player. I love every move so far. We only need to add couple bigs as invites to camp, and see if one of them makes the team. We could always cut Thomas to make that happen. A Plus.

[HomoSapien]

It's an easy A. We're a significantly better team than before. My only criticism is that I though we should have resigned Daniel Theis. He would've made a more complete team.

[BullChit]

Based on their goals of turning over the roster and moving towards a "win now" team, I can't imagine how they could have added more talent in any reasonable fashion.

I wouldn't have likely chosen this direction, but knowing what direction they were going in, it was very well executed IMO.

This, it's refreshing that our front office and coaching staff are actually aligning on a direction...

I mean total 180 from "we playin Hoiball! Signing Wade and Rondo"

[gobullschi]

I have some serious questions as to why the Bulls needed to include a 1st Round Pick in the DeRozan S&T. I'm also not 100% sold on Alex Caruso.

The biggest question of the offseason (for me) is the tampering investigation. IF the Bulls get found not guilty (or at least don't get a 1st taken away), I'd grade this offseason an A.

AKME constructed a trio of all-stars, surrounded said trio with a solid supporting cast, and have enough upside talent (PAW, Zo, Coby, DJJ, TBJ) to have the 'potential' to be a contender. It's still going to require great coaching, significant player development, and a solid 2022 draft, but the 'potential' is definitely there. That's really all you can ask for out of a front office.

[jStuNNa]

B-

Didn't secure Zach or acquire a legitimate star player. It's possible Zach leaves next season and this team is stuck with a bunch of mediocre and/or developing players.

That being said, the Bulls acquired very good complimentary pieces to surround Zach with, if the plan is to indeed build around him. Let's hope it all works out and he stays... And that Zach proves he's the type of player you can build a winning team around.

[fleet]

I have some serious questions as to why the Bulls needed to include a 1st Round Pick in the DeRozan S&T. I'm also not 100% sold on Alex Caruso.

The biggest question of the offseason (for me) is the tampering investigation. IF the Bulls get found not guilty (or at least don't get a 1st taken away), I'd grade this offseason an A.

AKME constructed a trio of all-stars, surrounded said trio with a solid supporting cast, and have enough upside talent (PAW, Zo, Coby, DJJ, TBJ) to have the 'potential' to be a contender. It's still going to require great coaching, significant player development, and a solid 2022 draft, but the 'potential' is definitely there. That's really all you can ask for out of a front office.

The tampering price to be a real kick in the balls if you add that into the grade. I also include Vuc. The Bulls mortgaged the future draft and flexibility it provides for acquisitions to really to build this team. As such, the ‘A’ I would like to give just for the names becomes a ‘B-. This is the team for the foreseeable future, we went all in like Billy King. I hope we like it.

[Andi Obst]

Pulling all of this off while operating over the cap, which was the first smart decision of the offseason, is pretty remarkable. The FO identified players and player archetypes they wanted to target and it looks like they got their guys. I'm not super excited about the Lonzo deal but I love the fit, so that's fine. Love the Caruso deal and fit. Letting Theis go was the right decision IMO. They got the first they wanted for Lauri. Tony Bradley and Alize Johnson are really good minimum signings. Obviously, the team will be much more competitive than it was for the last couple of years. So I'd definitely say I like the offseason and I can't wait for the season to start.

I still have some (minor) issues with some decisions, most of which have already been discussed here. DeRozan was an overpay for me. Our wings and bigs (aside from Vucevic) can't shoot, which is problematic with DeRozan on board. We really need guys like Caruso and Pat to step up and make shots at a higher volume. Wish we could've gotten a better shooter than Stanley Johnson to fill the last roster spot. I almost forgot about the tampering thing, that could obviously make things look worse.

Overall, it's a B for me.

[suursahuri]

B

Those "experts" who rate us D, they assume everything is within the reach. In reality the options are very limited. Analysts also seem to overvalue future draft capital. At the same time some podcasts are overly positive, hosts screaming in joy, like we owned the off-season.

AKME's maneuvering as an over the cap team deserves an A. Finally the Bulls is aggressive and not afraid to make deals. We sure were in a dire need for a change.

Unfortunately I'm not sold on the end result. Overpaying aging former all star and a glorified role player from former champions, in DeRozan and Caruso, is very much a Knicks type of move. Some people wrote how happy they are that we are finally acting like a big market team, but I'm sure they didn't mean that.

Of course I want to see us succeed. If this works better than I expect, I'm more than happy to admit I'm wrong.

I still have faith in AKME and I think we won't settle and we'll continue to be aggressive in building the winning team.

[sco]

B

Those "experts" who rate us D, they assume everything is within the reach. In reality the options are very limited. Analysts also seem to overvalue future draft capital. At the same time some podcasts are overly positive, hosts screaming in joy, like we owned the off-season.

AKME's maneuvering as an over the cap team deserves an A. Finally the Bulls is aggressive and not afraid to make deals. We sure were in a dire need for a change.

Unfortunately I'm not sold on the end result. Overpaying aging former all star and a glorified role player from former champions, in DeRozan and Caruso, is very much a Knicks type of move. Some people wrote how happy they are that we are finally acting like a big market team, but I'm sure they didn't mean that.

Of course I want to see us succeed. If this works better than I expect, I'm more than happy to admit I'm wrong.

I still have faith in AKME and I think we won't settle and we'll continue to be aggressive in building the winning team.

Great points!

I think the league experts, as many do, for proven vets in their prime as "A" moves, paired with their contracts.

DDR is a proven vet, but he's at the end of his prime and he's on an expensive deal.

Ball isn't really proven as a PG.

Caruso may be the most proven as a bench rotation guy, but not really as a PG, and he's on an expensive deal.

Bradley, DJJ, A Johnson aren't proven, but all have shown flashes that they could be decent for limited stretches.

S Johnson showed he can be a defensive specialist as a 3rd stringer, but that doesn't matter much.

Marko and Ayo haven't shown enough to earn a meaningful NBA minute.

To me the strategy is clear. AKME wants Zach to show he can be effective as a #1 when he's surrounded by decent NBA players (which he's never had). After that, it's about giving Pat more developmental experience, and get both guys some playoff experience. Vuc and DDR will be what they are. Ball was AKME's big swing because if he can step forward as a near-allstar, he has a real core to go forward with Zach and Pat. The other guys seem like a high risk portfolio bet that one or two can be part of a future core. Given that we really weren't likely to land a top 10 guy, this isn't a terrible strategy, and could pay off big if, as I mentioned, some hidden gems are revealed.

I think we would have been better off bringing in two experienced vets for those last 2 spots, and maybe we tried for Milsap and whiffed (can't help that). I think we are too reliant on Coby as a bench scorer given his injury and inconsistency, not to have brought in a guy like Moore who gives a decent floor at backup SG.

[DuckIII]

Putting it all into context, it’s one of the most creative, aggressive, comprehensive and impressive seasons I’ve ever seen from any FO.

It’s an A+.

...and you doubted after the Vuc trade. Remember those debates?

The man said he wasn’t done. And he meant it!!

Easily an A for me.

Doubt would be an understatement. I considered this degree of quality roster overhaul extremely unlikely after the Vuc trade.

In my defense I also qualified it repeatedly by saying if AK could land Ball it would completely overhaul that outlook. Once he did that, everything else became possible.

The FO did an outstanding job executing on the chosen plan.

[DuckIII]

This is the team for the foreseeable future, we went all in like Billy King. I hope we like it.

Not really. AK went all in, but to the extent there are degrees of “all-in-ness” he’s well below Billy King. Our picks are protected and we still have young assets to move around. We aren’t carved in stone.