The Chicago Bulls didn\u2019t steal headlines this summer, and honestly, they weren\u2019t expected to. Yet somehow, despite a relatively quiet bull’s offseason, they\u2019ve turned heads, and not in a bad way. The front office didn\u2019t chase stars or shake up the roster with headline-making trades, but what they did do might signal something more strategic. Or maybe it\u2019s just another year of treading water.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s talk transactions. The Bulls moved on from<\/a> Lonzo Ball<\/a>, sending him to Cleveland and getting Isaac Okoro<\/a> in return, a tough, athletic wing who defends well and knocks down open shots when needed. In the draft, they snagged 18-year-old French forward<\/a> Noa Essengue<\/a> with the 12th overall pick and took a flyer on Aussie big man Lachlan Olbrich<\/a> at 55. They also tinkered with their two-way contracts, letting Jahmir Young<\/a> go and bringing in Japanese guard Yuki Kawamura<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, none of this screams \u201ccontender.\u201d But it\u2019s not meaningless, either.<\/p>\n David Aldridge of The Athletic recently ranked all 30 NBA teams based on how much they improved this offseason, not how good they\u2019ll be, but simply who upgraded the most. Surprisingly, Chicago landed fairly high on the list. That said, Aldridge couldn\u2019t ignore the obvious: the Bulls are still one major move away from truly changing their trajectory.<\/p>\n There\u2019s something intriguing about where the Bulls are heading. Essengue, at 6-foot-10, fits nicely alongside Matas Buzelis<\/a>, another 6\u201910\u201d forward with bounce and length. The two could form a dynamic, switchable frontcourt duo down the line. Buzelis plays with more burst and flair, while Essengue moves with the kind of smooth control that can\u2019t be taught. Both are raw, yes, but there\u2019s real upside on both ends of the court. Adding Okoro fits the pattern. Chicago is clearly leaning into a gritty, athletic identity, building a roster filled with players who can defend multiple positions and run in transition. And to be fair, it\u2019s about time the Bulls established a clear direction. For years, fans have watched the team shuffle pieces without a real sense of identity. Still, the elephant in the room remains: how long can you keep retooling without actually contending?<\/p>\n \u201cAt some point, Chicago is going to have to be more intentional in making bigger moves that can get it out of Play-In round hell; except if it\u2019s cool staying in Play-In round hell,\u201d said Aldridge relating to fan frustration.<\/p>\n That quote hits home because it echoes what many Bulls fans. and probably some players are thinking. After three straight seasons of scraping by in the play-in, with nothing to show for it, how can this still be acceptable? Yes, there\u2019s a little optimism Josh Giddey<\/a> is expected to make a comeback after a breakout season. Coby White<\/a> made real strides. Kevin Huerter<\/a> finished strong. And Buzelis? He might be ready to take a big leap. Head coach Billy Donovan<\/a> finally has a team more suited to his preferred fast-paced, attacking style.<\/p>\n But if this year doesn\u2019t bring meaningful improvement i.e. real wins, and not moral victories, then the Bulls might need to stop patching and start building something bolder. Because while patience has its place, mediocrity doesn\u2019t last long before it turns into stagnation.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Nell Redmond-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Chicago Bulls didn\u2019t steal headlines this summer, and honestly, they weren\u2019t expected to. Yet somehow, despite a relatively quiet bull’s offseason, they\u2019ve turned heads, and not in a bad way. The front office didn\u2019t chase stars or shake up the roster with headline-making trades, but what they did do might signal something more strategic. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5601,"featured_media":156233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1608,62,556,4721],"tags":[2842,667,49148,49859],"class_list":["post-156029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bulls","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-trade-rumors","tag-isaac-okoro","tag-lonzo-ball","tag-matas-buzelis","tag-noa-essengue"],"modified_by":"Zach Kircher","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156029"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156235,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156029\/revisions\/156235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Young Talent, Fresh Identity, Same Old Ceiling?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Progress, but Still Not Past the Play-In Wall<\/strong><\/h3>\n