Offseason Approach

Should rebuild, will probably try to reset

Actual Cap Space

-$34.2 million

Practical Cap Space

-$32.6 million

Projected Luxury Tax Space

$47.6 million

Under Contract (12)

Lonzo Ball
Matas Buzelis
Zach Collins
Ayo Dosunmu
Kevin Huerter
Julian Phillips
Jalen Smith
Dalen Terry
Nikola Vucevic
Coby White
Patrick Williams
Jahmir Young (two-way)

View Roster

Potential Free Agents (6)

Jevon Carter (unrestricted – player option)
Josh Giddey (restricted)
Talen Horton-Tucker (unrestricted)
Tre Jones (unrestricted)
E.J. Liddell (restricted – two-way)
Emanuel Miller (restricted – two-way)

View Free Agents

Dead Cap (0)

None

Projected Signing Exceptions

Non-Taxpayer MLE ($14.1 million)
Bi-Annual Exception ($5.1 million)

Notable Trade Exceptions

Zach LaVine ($17.2 million)
Alex Caruso ($2.9 million)

First Round Draft Picks

#12

Notable Extension Candidates

Jevon Carter (veteran extension)
Zach Collins (veteran extension)
Ayo Dosunmu (veteran extension)
Julian Phillips (veteran extension)
Dalen Terry (rookie scale extension)
Nikola Vucevic (veteran extension)
Coby White (veteran extension)

Analysis

The Chicago Bulls are the NBA version of Groundhog Day. Every year is kind of the same. They are never good enough to be contenders. They are never bad enough to be in great shape in the draft. Each year on July 1, the alarm clock goes off and the season repeats itself.

With that exceedingly gloomy picture now set, let’s talk about how the Bulls will likely approach the offseason.

Despite the above, Chicago isn’t in a bad place. They have some really talented players. Unfortunately, most of the talented players have contact-related issues that need tackled. That’s where we’ll start.

Of this summer’s free agents, the most important is Josh Giddey. After not reaching an agreement on a rookie scale extension, Giddey turned in his best all-around season in his first year with the Bulls. He put up career-bests in rebounds and assists, while fitting in well as playmaker and scorer.

Most encouraging? Giddey shot the ball well. From the start of December on, over 49 games, the fourth-year wing hit 38.3% of this 4.2 three-point attempts per game. Considering Giddey came into the year as a 31% shooter from deep, that’s a massive improvement.

For the Bulls to give him a huge contract, they have to believe that shooting improvement is real. If Chicago buys that Giddey can now hit shots, a contract in the range of five years for $125 to $150 million makes sense. That’s a $25 to $30 million AAV, which reflects Giddey’s all-around skillset.

If the team is, no pun intended, less bullish on the shooting, then you probably knock that offer down into the range four years and $80 to $100 million. You lock in for less money and fewer years, unless you are certain Giddey can be a big part of leading this team forward.

It’s been rumored that Giddey is looking for $150 million over five years. That has to be the absolute upper bound for Chicago. And given Giddey’s restricted free agent status, the Bulls can afford to wait him out. Unless the Brooklyn Nets are jumping in with a giant offer sheet, Giddey won’t be in play for rival teams. The biggest threat could be that he signs his $11 million qualifying offer and becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026.

Bet on Giddey and the Bulls finding common ground on a new deal in the ranges we called out above. Chicago showed how much they valued him by not getting anything else in their deal to acquire Giddey. They aren’t going to mess around too much here.

Beyond Giddey, the team’s other free agents are of far less importance. Jevon Carter should pick up his $6.8 million player option. He won’t see that much money offered his way in free agency. Talen Horton-Tucker is a nice enough player, but he’s a veteran minimum guy to fill out the bench.

Tre Jones is interesting. He’s one of the better backup point guards in the league, but is overmatched as a starter. The issue for Jones with the Bulls is that this team is well-stocked with on-ball guys. He may have to look elsewhere for more playing time, even if it means taking less money.

At the draft, Chicago has the 12th overall pick. Given the draft has good talent throughout the lottery, the Bulls have a chance to add another rotation player. Arturas Karnisovas’ draft record is a bit mixed. He hit on Matas Buzelis and Ayo Dosunmu. Patrick Williams and Dalen Terry weren’t terrible picks, but neither has really hit either. The rest are very much still trying to find their way.

This year, Chicago should be in best-player-available mode at the draft. Yes, they have a glut of guards, but that could clear up relatively quickly. If so, picking a long-term answer at the guard spot could be the play. The team also needs more depth up front, especially at the center spot. And the Bulls need more shooting across just about every position.

At the draft, Karnisovas will be in the range to draft Collin Murray-Boyles or Carter Bryant, as solid two-way combo forwards. If the team wants to go with a guard, Kasparas Jakucionis or Jase Richardson might be on the board. If the idea is to add a big, Derik Queen or possibly Khaman Maluach (if the latter slips) could be available. Shooters/scorers in this range include Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley. Finally, if the team wanted to go with another big ballhandler who is a questionable shooter, Egor Demin could be the pick.

The main takeaway: Chicago is in position to add another Day 1 rotation player in this draft. Some may take more time than others, but the Bulls can afford to let players develop a little bit, as they did with Buzelis last season.

Outside of re-signing Giddey and the draft, the next most important decisions of the summer will come with extensions. Several veterans are extension eligible this offseason, including Coby White, Nikola Vucevic and Ayo Dosunmu.

Vucevic is the least likely to extend of that trio. In fact, Vucevic may not even be on the roster come opening night. The Bulls were reportedly close to trading Vucevic at the deadline before a couple of different rumored deals feel apart. With several contenders in need of a stretch big, expect Chicago to re-engage on trade talks involving the veteran center. Even if there is no trade, there won’t be an extension. Vucevic and the Bulls have one year left together before they go their separate ways, at most.

The guards are a more complicated story. Chicago already extended Lonzo Ball, with a two-year, $20 million deal (team option on Year 2) as a reward for Ball making it back from his years-long knee injury to be a rotation guy again.

Having Ball in the fold gives the Bulls a little cover if they can’t work out extensions for White or Dosunmu. And working out extensions for either of the talented combo guards is going to be difficult.

If we go back to when the Bulls signed White and Dosunmu to their current contracts, we all praised Chicago for getting both players on team-friendly deals. Those good feelings last for as long as the deals themselves do. If the player outplays their contract, which both White and Dosunmu have, then they become almost unextendible.

Because both White and Dosunmu look set to make less than the average player salary next season (barely for White and by a large margin for Dosunmu), they are both eligible for what we call the “Dinwiddie Extension”. This moniker is because once upon a time with the Brooklyn Nets, Spencer Dinwiddie was eligible to sign an extension based off the average player salary. It became so talked about, that every Nets fan, and Dinwiddie himself, could quote the exact terms for what he was eligible to extend for.

In the case of White and Dosunmu, their max extensions this summer project to be about $89 million over four years. That’s 140% of the average player salary, followed by 8% raises.

For Dosunmu, that’d be a huge win. While a good player, he’s less dynamic in a primary role than White is. Dosunmu’s value comes in that he can play either on- or off-ball, and that he’s a decent defender against opposing guards. He won’t get a deal worth just north of $22 million AAV. Something in the range of the MLE amount, which projects to roughly $60 million over four years, feels lot more palatable for Dosunmu, if even a touch high. A new deal around $48 million over four years feels a lot better for the young ballhandler, who might be a third guard as the Bulls improve.

For White, $89 million isn’t nearly enough. As his role has increased over the last two seasons, White has improved and maintained his efficiency. He’s now an outstanding scorer, both creating for himself or when playing off others. And White is a much-improved playmaker too.

Given that this extension is the best the Bulls can do for White, he’s better off to let his current deal play out. That doesn’t rule out returning to Chicago in the summer of 2026. It’s just that far more money should be available for White in free agency a year from now, be it from the Bulls or another team.

The pieces are in place for the Chicago Bulls to put together a decent team next season. They’ll probably be somewhere in the range of 36 to 43 wins with a spot in the Play-In Tournament awaiting them. But that’s sort of the issue. It’s the same thing every year. The Bulls either need to push in to add talent to be a lot better. Or Chicago needs to move on from some vets and rebuild. Doing neither isn’t the recommended path, but it’s the one that history tells us the Bulls will take.