Chicago Bulls Team Review

 

2022-23 Finish: 40-42

 

Season Highlight:

The Bulls through an inactive GM year and injuries to key guys, as well as the lowlight that will be discussed soon, still pushed on through and sat in the playoff spots all through the year before finishing 7^th behind another massive year from the 2^nd best player in the NSL last year, Anthony Davis. They were devastating to teams on the road, going 23-18 there versus 17-24 at home, and made their presence felt despite the teams GM going through some tough times before eventually stepping away. All in all, a year where you make it to a play in, as a favourite, even if you then crash out, is a solid year through adversity.

 

Season Lowlight:

The lowlight for the Bulls came before the year even started. Merencio played a little chicken with his superstar SG, Bradley Beal, telling the league he was placing a 60 piece on him to make him return, but ended up putting down only 10 which did nothing to a bluff calling Utah bid of 99 and the rest is history. They were down a star before they even began, for no reason.

 

Best Trade:

Bulls send: TPE

Bulls receive: Maxi Kleber, Pick 51 2023 and Cleveland 2025 2^nd

 

Kleber isn�t a world beater, but when you have cap space to burn and need assets, it�s a super smart move to take on a rotational big that you can use on the court or move on again, with extra assets. Good work by the new GM.

 

Worst Trade:

Bulls send: Pick 54 2023
Bulls receive: Portland 2024 2^nd

Nothing really wrong with this one, it�s probably just the least value of any of the small deals they did this year. Portland pick probably going to be worse than 54 next year, waited a year to make that worse pick.

 

Other Notable Trades:

Bulls send: Toronto 2026 2^nd and Chicago 2027 2nd

Bulls receive: Cash Considerations

 

The FA juggle in action.

 

 

 

Bulls send: Milwaukee 2025 2^nd

Bulls receive: Cash Considerations

 

And the juggle continues.

 

 

Bulls send: Isaiah Todd
Bulles receive: Cash considerations

 

Good value for Todd (23 GM points) given he was already struggling in his career and is now out of the league.

 

 

Bulls send: Pick 51 2023

Bulls get: Cash Considerations

 

Selling high at draft time, why not.

 

 

 

 

Free Agency:

The Bulls free agency is going to be very quiet, and that�s the way the new GM Jonathan wanted it to go. He knew the record wouldn�t stand up great and he at the time of making most of his deals, also knew the talent level was high and was going to effect things. The reset button was hit and he took on salary with reckless abandon as well as filling out a roster of 2k vets who don�t look half bad playing together. His only expiring player is Tre Jones, who will be back as an RFA, and he has two other spots needing to be filled otherwise, but has cap space and a Room exception to do it with. He'll be fine.

Tre Jones � RFA, Free return for this young up and coming point guard.

 

Star:

Anthony Davis

The man down low has been the staple of the Bulls since the day the league started and this year was no different. He continually puts up MVP numbers, year in and year out, but obviously with the caveat that he played only 57 games again this year. 23.5 points, 14.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.9 blocks per game though is why this team stayed relevant through the hardship and made it to a pre-post season. His final year for the team, but he did what he always does as their star again.

 

Flop:

John Wall

Wall was finally back and healthy after so many years of sitting there being paid $40+ million for nothing, and then he was all up and down and in and out. He expired, but signed a new deal which was great for the team to finally have their man playing, and then he simply fizzled out in the NBA again, was traded, and then waived, and now is finally done. 24 games they got after 54 two years prior, and that�s all he managed in the entire NSL.

 

 

Draft Grades:

Pick 13 � Jett Howard

Pick 35 (via Cleveland) � Gregory Jackson

Pick 49 (via Cleveland) � Isaiah Wong

Overall Grade: B+

I like this draft on the whole. Jett has some elite size from a SG and could really fit a 2k mould if he finds a good role in the NBA. He needs to work on his defence, and he moves almost like a Duncan Robinson, but we shall see.

GG obviously went earlier here than in the NBA, which was always going to happen when you�re an 18 year old�let alone an 18 year old with some genuine upside and was projected as a lottery pick had he not reclassified. But, he is only on a 2way deal and he has a long uphill battle to get onto an NBA court regularly with his tendency to need the game to be all about him and shooting.

Wong is a solid get down late since he too got a 2way deal. He may not make it, but he has a contract which is always a good start.

 

 

The Future:

This team is in semi holdover mode really right now. They took on a boatload of salary in the offseason, to gain assets in the process, which was a genuine A+ result of turning �nothing� (cap space) into something to work with going forward. They actually ended up with some solid rotational pieces though too which should have some trade value as the season progresses. THJ, Nance and maybe even Kleber. And of course, they�ll ditch out on guys like Bertans before the Player Option gets picked up so they go into next summer with space, again. And they�ll need it to bring back nice young pieces like Claxton while also finally paying LaMelo. The team won�t be going all the way this year, but they knew that, and they�ll be set up for next year to start making that push forward again. Ball, Bridges, Jones, Claxton and a rising Thomas all making cases for being the face of the future.

C: Nic Claxton / Maxi Kleber
PF: Larry Nance Jr. / Davis Bertans / Gregory Jackson
SF: Mikal Bridges / Tim Hardaway Jr. / Jett Howard
SG: Cam Thomas / Malik Monk
PG: LaMelo Ball / Tre Jones / Patrick Mills / Isaiah Wong