Chicago Bulls plan to delay rebuild until after they make playoffs

The trade deadline has come and gone, and the Chicago Bulls, by all accounts, had an underwhelming deadline.

The only move the Bulls made was trading away their star guard and leading offensive scorer, Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings. The trade also involved the San Antonio Spurs, who sent the Bulls Tre Jones, Zach Collins, Kevin Huerter, and the Bulls first-round pick that was top 10 protected.

Fans thought more could’ve been done to get a better package back for LaVine, but President of Basketball Operations Artūras Karnišovas thinks the Bulls could still be a playoff-caliber team.

The Chicago Bulls’ underwhelming deadline

The Bulls only made one move at the trade deadline, which was to trade away Zach LaVine, and that was all the Bulls ended up doing. The Bulls had other players on the roster such as Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, and Lonzo Ball, who were all garnering trade interest from teams, but the Bulls decided to hold fast on all three.

Not only did the Bulls hold fast on all three players, but the Bulls ended up giving Ball a two-year extension worth $20 million. Ball is having a respectable season playing in 29 games, averaging 21.3 minutes, scoring 7.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, and is an 85.7% free throw shooter.

Vucevic was the Bull’s second-best trade asset and was getting a lot of attention from the Golden State Warriors but the Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler, and that deal immediately died. Vucevic has one more year left in his deal after this season and he would’ve netted the Bulls more picks to help with the rebuild.

The Orlando Magic was the team with the most interest in the services of White, but like Vucevic, nothing ever came to be. White was a prime candidate to be traded, becoming an unrestricted free agent after next season.

The rebuild will be on hold

During his press conference with the media, Karnišovas didn’t give promising answers for how he handled the deadline. A big note that perked the ears up of media members was when Karnišovas stated that he’d rather have the Bull’s young core lead them to play-in/playoffs and that it would be ‘worth it to him’. Bulls insider K.C. Johnson captured Karnišova’s comments.

“Artūras Karnišovas on if young core leads them to play-in/playoffs at expense of lowering draft lottery odds: “That’s worth it to me.”

Says young players learning to win is a sign of growth/development.”

Artūras Karnišovas on if young core leads them to play-in/playoffs at expense of lowering draft lottery odds: “That’s worth it to me.”

Says young players learning to win is sign of growth/development.

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) February 6, 2025

Whatever led Karnišovas to make these comments must mean he hasn’t watched the Bulls, who have not been playing good basketball. And with being down their leading scorer in LaVine, the Bulls don’t appear to be a playoff-bound team.

The Bulls currently sit at 22-30 and are tenth in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bulls are 3.5 games behind the Magic for the last playoff spot and are slowly falling further behind.

In January, the Bulls were 6-10 and were outscored 1,874 points to their 1,575 points. The Bulls didn’t start February off on the right foot either, currently sitting at 2-3 and have been outscored 381 to 360.

The Bulls should look to the offseason

The Bulls currently lack an identity and do not have a viable scoring threat, now that LaVine is gone. The rest of this season shouldn’t be focused on making the playoffs or hoping that they’ll make it in, but it should be focused on identifying core players to retain and build around.

One of those players is rookie Matas Buzelis, who has all the makings of being a star in the league once he can slow the game down. Josh Giddey is proving to be another player that the Bulls should look to build around, having a career-high in assists this season at 6.6 a game.

Karnišovas also stated during his press conference that the Bulls will look to the draft and free agency to better their roster. This statement completely contradicts his earlier statement that he’d be fine with taking a lesser pick if the Bulls’ young core gained experience instead.

Finding building blocks in the players the Bulls have

If you’re going to go into a rebuild, then the Bulls need to, fully embrace the rebuild. That way, you trade off all the assets you have to get the best return.

The Bulls have a few nice pieces, like Buzelis, Giddey, and Ayo Dosunmu, who could all be key contributors to the Bulls for this season and next.