The Chicago Bulls made a lot of moves during the offseason. The additions of Lonzo Ball, Vucevic and DeRozan made this team extremely competitive on paper. It even triggered an investigation by the league into their behind-the-scenes operations, but these operations also used up almost all the Bulls' draft picks in recent years.
For the Bulls, this is a season in which they are betting on the future. If there is a little bit of wrong operation, this team will become a laughing stock in the next few seasons.
Let’s put aside these new players who have joined the team. First of all, we must consider Zach LaVine. It is no exaggeration to say that Zach LaVine’s contract is a very dangerous signal for this team. , and the arrival of Lonzo Ball will largely lead to the emergence of this dangerous situation.
In Lonzo Ball’s four-year contract, the first-year salary is as high as 18.6 million, and this high salary means that LaVine will inevitably make certain sacrifices in the future, although it is very likely that he will continue Stay here, but judging from the current team's salary, the Bulls have no way to give LaVine another maximum salary contract.
Of course, we can also see the team management’s thoughts on this. They are more hoping that the team will show strong competitiveness in the new season, so as to give them an advantage in subsequent negotiations with LaVine. favorable position. For Lonzo Ball, the Bulls' decision to acquire him is not a bad thing. After all, he has been in a stage of improvement in recent seasons. However, his joining will definitely make this team Does the team have what it takes to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference?
Let’s look back at DeRozan. His contract extends until the age of 35. If nothing unexpected happens, DeRozan will stay with the Bulls during this period of time. Considering his technical shortcomings and age The question is, how much benefit does his joining really bring to this team?
Although we look back on the past few seasons, he has almost always been the player with the highest usage rate on the team, but now on the Bulls team, what he has to do is different from before, considering their congestion in the paint. In the new season, Drode may need to create more space on the outside. Even if he can't hit those three-pointers, he must create more scoring opportunities on the outside.
But considering DeRozan's embarrassing performance at the three-point line in recent years, can he meet the team's requirements for him? Although we have confidence in such All-Star players and believe that they have the ability to resolve such a situation, in the end we have to return to the team's offensive space. We hope that DeRozan will not only do it, but do it. better.
In the follow-up, the team will also have to consider another issue. With the addition of Lonzo Ball, how should head coach Donovan allocate the playing time between him and Coby White? There are also the newly added Caruso and Patrick Williams, who performed well last season. How should their playing time be allocated? And how to make up for their defensive shortcomings? These are things that the head coach and team management need to solve before the new season. For the Bulls, it is best not to let these things happen at the same time. This will be detrimental to their subsequent advancement into the playoffs, or their subsequent impact. It will have a big impact on the road to the championship.
And if these things really happen in this team, we do not rule out that Zach LaVine will choose another club without getting a maximum salary contract. Judging from these circumstances, it seems that the Bulls' operations in the offseason are not all good again. Even if they can finally enter the playoffs after next season, if they fail to reach the top half of the Eastern Conference, they will face the Bucks, Nets, 76ers or... For a higher-level team like the Hawks, under such circumstances, the possibility of them being eliminated in the first round is very high.
And if the things we talked about above eventually come true, then we do not guarantee that the Bulls will be able to keep LaVine in the future. If the team chooses to let LaVine go for nothing, then they will only have one player left in their hands. There are a lot of puzzle players, and the contracts they have will put huge pressure on the team.
Therefore, the new season seems to be more challenging for the Bulls. They will either let the team perform unexpected results, or let the outside world see their huge competitiveness in the future when they fail. Able to retain quality players on their team.
If this team finally manages to avoid these two options, then there is a high probability that they will have no hope in the Eastern Conference for several seasons.
