Following a four-year hiatus from the NBA Playoffs, the Chicago Bulls returned to the spotlight in 2021-22. Chicago put together a 46-36 season and, if not for injury issues that prompted a decline in the second half of the campaign, the Bulls were seemingly on the way to competing for home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason. In conjunction with another strong season from Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan put together a tremendously effective debut season in Chicago, and the Bulls were able to use those contributions and an uptick in backcourt defense to post improvement across the board.
LaVine is a free agent in 2022, even if most believe he will return to Chicago, and the Bulls do have interesting decisions to make for the 2022-23 season and beyond. Chicago also entered the offseason cycle with the No. 18 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, and despite their best efforts to move it, dangling Coby White and the 18th pick on the trade market for weeks, they stood pat on what was a fairly quiet draft night overall for trades.
Roster Needs: Clarity on LaVine, defense outside of the backcourt, a leap from Patrick Williams
Dalen Terry (No. 18 Overall), B: Admittedly, Terry is one of my favorite players in the draft and I had him as a strong first-round pick before it was in vogue. Perhaps I’m in the tank as a result, but this is a good pick for Chicago. There is a question about Terry’s jump shot and his ceiling might be capped without development there. He does have real intrigue as a defender and as a creator with point guard skills at 6’7, with all reports encouraging on his mentality and competitiveness.
2022 Free Agents:
Zach LaVine (UFA)
Derrick Jones Jr (UFA)
Troy Brown Jr (RFA)
Matt Thomas (RFA)
Tristan Thompson (UFA)
Malcolm Hill (RFA)
Tyler Cook (RFA)
Roster:
DeMar DeRozan
Nikola Vucevic
Lonzo Ball
Alex Caruso
Patrick Williams
Coby White
Tony Bradley (player option)
Javonte Green
Ayo Dosunmu (non-guaranteed)
Marko Simonovic
Dalen Terry
