Bulls: What’s new, season prediction & 2024 free agents

Returning with the 2022-23 core intact, the Bulls have continuity, though that might not mean much when you’ve slipped from 46 victories to 40 and from a promising playoff season to a Play-In elimination. Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, surrounded by role players, are just good enough to dissuade management from opting for a full rebuild.  

What’s new?

• Three surgeries on his left knee were enough to convince the Bulls to seek a disabled player exception on point guard Lonzo Ball, whose defense and playmaking had ignited Chicago for the first three months of 2021-22.
• Center Nikola Vucevic got a new three-year, $60 million contract but it’s as hard to see him taking the Bulls into the playoffs as contenders as it is to imagine them sniffing .500 without him.
• Jevon Carter was a valuable piece for the Bucks up I-94 last season, but as position concerns go, backup point guard matters less to the Bulls right now than starting point guard.

How far can the Bulls go?

Losing Ball – again – and just drawing his contributions from the backups and existing roster doesn’t instill much confidence that Chicago can reverse its direction from last season. Even casual NBA fans can cite six or seven Eastern Conference teams that have more talent, depth, momentum and/or buzz than the Bulls. That suggests Play-In or bust for these guys.

1 player who must take a leap

Patrick Williams. Chicago drafted him with the fourth overall pick in 2020, yet he enters his fourth season with fans and media talking about him as if he’s a rookie, still wowed by occasional glimmers of his talent and too forgiving for how long this is taking. He hasn’t established himself as the power forward the Bulls projected him to be, falling behind draft peers Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, Desmond Bane, Tyrese Maxey and a half dozen others. Though he could have signed an extension this summer, he will have to demonstrate his market value this season and then hit restricted free agency.

In-Season Tournament

The Bulls are in East Group C. Here’s a refresher on how the In-Season Tournament works. 

Upcoming free agents

The Bulls have four players that will be free agents in 2024:

• DeMar DeRozan
• Patrick Williams
• Lonzo Ball
• Andre Drummond

DeRozan has been impressively productive for the Bulls in two seasons, with All-Star selections both times. But he’s 34 now and a major candidate to be shopped at the February trade deadline. Williams, as noted above, will have to follow teammate Coby White’s path, becoming a restricted free agent to land a new deal. Ball has a $21.4 million player option for 2024-25 which, unfortunately, could become his final payday as a pro player.

Chicago’s full roster can be found here.

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