The Chicago Bulls are trying to figure out how to restore their former glory. While they may never reach the heights of the Michael Jordan years, they can at least rise above NBA purgatory. That may be a lot to ask of a franchise that hasn’t been a playoff fixture in a decade. To that point, the Bulls have only had two postseason appearances —both First Round exits —in the last nine years.
When the Bulls hired executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas in Apr. 2020, they expected change. The former general manager of the Denver Nuggets under then president Tim Connelly, he was a popular front office candidate. Not only did he have success in a suit but in a jersey, starring overseas for several years. Instead, Karnišovas hasn’t even been able to live up to his predecessor, Gar Forman. The clock had ran out on Forman in Chicago, but the Bulls did have eight playoff runs in a nine-year stretch when he was general manager.
Karnišovas has led the Bulls to one playoff appearance in four years.
Bulls Lower Asking Price to Spur Zach LaVine Trade
Of course, there’s no Derrick Rose —the youngest MVP in NBA history —on this roster. Nonetheless, Chicago has three players with 10 All-Star selections between them. That constellation of stars has amassed 50,818 career points in the regular season alone.
Injuries and defensive issues have undermined their talent though. Exacerbating the problem is fact that Karnišovas held onto hope that they would mesh for too long. Now, the only member of their Big 3 whose value hasn’t depreciated is DeMar DeRozan. Yet, he’s also the plsyer that they want to keep.
Both Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic are on the trade block this offseason. In fact, the Bulls are eager enough to get a deal done that they’ve dropped their asking price for LaVine.
“I don’t think the Bulls will take an awful deal if little materializes,” reports NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson, “but I do get the sense they’re open to more possibilities than before. I’ve reported before what their asking price was—All-Star level talent, first-round picks or both—and my sense is that it has dropped significantly.”
An Imperfect Return
With the Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, and New York Knicks all expressing interest in LaVine over the past year, they’re his most likely landing spots.
If the Lakers have lowered their asking price, then they may be targeting players like Jaden Ivey, Austin Reaves, and Bojan Bogdanovic. They may not score at an All-NBA clip, but they each averaged just over 15 points per game in 2023-24. There are also defensive concerns with this trio, but Ivey and Reaves have flashed upside at that end. In fact, Reaves’s defense on Nuggets star Jamal Murray was one of the team’s bright spots in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers’ fan favorite helping hold Murray to 40.0 percent shooting from the field (29.4 percent from 3).
