The Chicago Bulls franchise is heading nowhere fast and needs a rebuild. While the roster boasts some talented pieces, there does not appear to be any resurgence for the historic organization anytime soon. With a 6-10 record on the season and having lost by 16 to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, the Bulls might find it prudent to go the way of the Brooklyn Nets and proclaim themselves open for business.
Chicago Bulls Journey Out of ‘the Middle’ Means Rebuilding
ESPN Analyst Calls For a Chicago Bulls Franchise Rebuild
The Bulls are one of the highest-decorated NBA franchises in history. Their dominance and dynastic championship run through the 90’s is legendary. Several years later, Derrick Rose arrived on the scene and took the league by storm. But as with all things in sports that shape a league or draw the fanbase in by the droves, they end. Michael Jordan‘s Bulls run ended, as did Rose’s time in Chicago after injuries began to eat his career away. Since Rose, the Bulls have largely been a mediocre franchise with nothing to cheer about, which remains the case today. Pairing DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine together a few years back was meant to kickstart the sleeping franchise. Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out as LaVine was hampered by injuries, and his chemistry with DeRozan never breathed any significant life.
Today, LaVine remains with the franchise, and the team has a handful of other solid players—Nikola Vučević, Coby White, and Josh Giddey being a few. Yet, it is apparent that this current Bulls team is no threat to their conference, nor the NBA in general. On ESPN’s NBA Countdown, while preparing for the Bulls and Bucks matchup, the panel broke down the state of the Bulls. Richard Jefferson proclaimed that this iteration of the Bulls is going nowhere. He shared his perspective on what he thought was the best path forward for the franchise. His counterpart, Kendrick Perkins, suggested that Chicago trade for New Orleans Pelicans All-Star Brandon Ingram just moments earlier.
“The Bulls are not going to return to relevancy, they are not, not any time soon. You can say go get Brandon Ingram; ultimately they’ve been trying to patch up, but it’s just not working.” Jefferson continued, “Don’t be in the middle. They’ve been in the middle for multiple years, so they need to strip it down. They have a lot of attractive pieces, and they looked like they were headed in that direction with Alex Caruso and bring in [Josh] Giddy; ‘let’s go younger and cheaper’, and ultimately, they got into a space where this is still not going to work…the Bulls do not look like they’re going I the right direction for the last ten years, and it doesn’t look like its changing.”
Chicago Should Open Themselves Up for Business
Jefferson referenced “the middle,” as Chicago is consistently lukewarm, always in the middle of the pack. For several years, they’ve been unable to climb the Eastern Conference. On the flip side, they haven’t spent too many seasons in the basement either (they ended in 13th place just twice, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons). They’ve had one record above .500 since the 2016-17 season. Since then, Chicago has missed the playoffs for four consecutive years. They’ve made the playoffs just once, losing in the first round in 2022. And they qualified for the play-in the last two seasons but never further. This is “the middle” Jefferson tells of.
LaVine and Vucevic should both be on the trading block this year. Giddy shouldn’t be untouchable either, never mind that it’s his first season in Chicago. Jefferson is right on point with his analysis. The Bulls are a franchise in need of a total strip-down. To revitalize a team that’s been asleep for a decade, a rebuild from scratch is in order, which is why they should open for business.
