Presentation by National Insurance Agent Jeff Vuckovich
Just over a month ago, after failing to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season, vice-president Arturas Karnišovas vowed to take action.
“I said it many times today: This group is missing something. We have to find a way to find a group that can improve. We've been doing it for a few years now and it's not working. ” Karnišovás said on April 20. “Everything is on the table.
“We're going to have to look at the group as a whole. This group just isn't working. There's a lot of great things about certain individual players and a lot of the young guys who have taken a step forward, and that's a positive. But as a group, it just hasn't worked. So we're going to have to find those answers during the offseason.”
Karnisovas and the Bulls didn't need a reminder Wednesday that the Bulls roster no longer has any All-NBA selections. For the second straight year, the Bulls were left out of the top three teams. DeMar DeRozan received one vote to the third team.
Fortunately for the Bulls, only four of the 15 players awarded the award are in the Eastern Conference.
Still, 2021-22 seems like a long time ago. This was the last time the Bulls appeared in the playoffs and was named All-NBA, and DeRozan was named to the second team following a season in which he was named to the All-Star team along with Zach LaVine.
The team is currently focused on trading LaVine as its top offseason priority.
For your information, there were more rumors and talk about LaVine at last year's NBA Draft Combine in Chicago than there were at this year's. Finding a team willing to pay a player $139 million over the next three seasons after coming back from a third surgery is a big risk.
Still, it feels like this relationship is already over, and it's now a question of when, not if, LaVine will be traded.
But what if the Bulls aren't able to trade LaVine this offseason, how would Karnyshova accomplish his goal of improving the group?
From this perspective, which assumes a modest to non-existent trade market for Nikola Vucevic, only DeRozan, Patrick Williams and Lonzo Ball offer big-change options, but Karnišovas has publicly stated he wants to re-sign the first two and the organization is willing to support Ball’s return attempt as much as possible.
Even if everything is on the table, as Karnisovas suggests, if a market for Lavigne doesn't emerge, something will have to give.
If DeRozan's price becomes too high, a sign-and-trade option will likely be considered. If Ball's medical future is uncertain, he will likely consider filing for a career-ending injury clause or waiving the final year of his $21 million contract for an extension. Giving up on Williams seems like the least desirable option here.
That's not to say he's the definition of a floor-raiser and more valuable than DeRozan, who earned every penny of his three-year, $82 million contract. Rather, Williams is young and his shooting and defensive prowess fit the “3-and-D” wing archetype that so often accompanies conference finalist teams. You're almost going to have to pay for his potential, especially with the salary cap set to rise with the influx of new TV money.
The Bulls are mediocre. He's competitive enough to be intriguing at times, but ultimately he's just a play-in candidate. Coach Karnišovas cites his and his staff's creativity during the 2021 offseason as an example of what they can accomplish.
They will need to do so again if they want to achieve their goal of improving his group.
