Ranking Bulls' Priorities for 2023 NBA Free Agency
The Chicago Bulls have plenty of work ahead in 2023 NBA free agency.
What type of work, though, depends on the direction the team wants to go.
Chicago took a step backward this season, winning just 40 games and failing to escape the play-in tournament. With Lonzo Ball's ongoing knee injury issue making it unclear when (or, gulp, if?) the Bulls will have their floor general back, it's fair to wonder where this group is headed.
For some, that's reason enough to abandon ship and start over. Still, it doesn't sound like the Bulls will entertain the possibility.
If Chicago wants to keep chasing maximum competitiveness, its free-agency focus will be on talent retention. Let's dive in to the biggest items on the docket, then.
3. Finding the Right Price for Ayo Dosunmu
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The Bulls have a slew of support players heading to free agency, which makes it tricky to pin down their respective importance. You could argue for Patrick Beverley (unrestricted), Derrick Jones Jr. (player option) or Javonte Green (unrestricted) in this spot.
Ayo Dosunmu obviously got our nod, though, and that ties back to the flexibility he adds from a roster-building perspective. If the Bulls are pushing forward, he can contribute with plucky defense, secondary playmaking and sporadic scoring. If they're starting over, he's young enough at 23 years old to keep around for whatever their next chapter entails.
For better and worse, his restricted free agency isn't coming at the best time. His numbers dipped across the board from his solid rookie season, and his inability to harness his three-point shot (31.2 percent, down from 37.6) limited his floor time since the Bulls didn't get great spacing to begin with.
That didn't help the 2022-23 club, but maybe it will help the 2023-24 budget. It's hard to see any team throwing a massive offer his way, so the Bulls should be able to keep him if they want.
2. Coby White's Restricted Free Agency
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This time last season, Coby White loomed as one of the Association's most logical trade targets. Fast-forward to the present, and he seems a likely keeper, particularly if no one blows up his market in restricted free agency.
While he handled the smallest role of his career this season (23.4 MPG), he made major strides as a table-setter and stopper.
His handles tightened, allowing him to become more productive as a creator for himself and his teammates. His shooting slash had never been so balanced (44.3/37.2/87.1), which speaks to his becoming a more complete scorer. Tack on his defensive strides, and you have the reasons why he became a positive floor presence for the first time.
His stock is going up but not in a way that should make his next deal unreasonable. This looks like a good time for the Bulls to buy.
1. the Vučević Debate
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If you want to know which direction the Bulls are going this offseason, just check their approach to Nikola Vučević's free agency.
If they want to be as competitive as possible, they need to keep him around. He maybe isn't an ideal fit with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine—all three of whom are score-first players—but it speaks to Vučević's skills that he can be an imperfect fit and still put up 17.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per night.
If Chicago is ready to start over, then re-signing the 32-year-old would make less than zero sense. The Bulls would presumably at least want to facilitate a sign-and-trade that nets them something in return, but not paying him would be the important part—again, if they're resetting themselves.
Since this free-agency player pool isn't overflowing with top-shelf talent, plenty of teams could be tracking how things play out between Vučević and the Bulls.
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