The Chicago Bulls came into the 2020-21 season in a state of limbo. After nabbing the fourth pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and selecting Patrick Williams out of Florida State University, in what many pundits and draftniks believed to be a “reach,” the team had a strong young nucleus to build around including Zach LaVine, Coby White, Wendell Carter Jr. and Williams.

Fast-forward to the end of the season and the team looks completely different. Through a slew of trades with a bevy of teams, the Bulls now are home to a core of All-Star center Nikola Vucevic, first-time All-Star LaVine along with White and Williams.

Of course, that win-now move that sent numerous young players to different teams did not pay dividends this season, as Chicago was unable to even make the inaugural Eastern Conference Play-In game. Despite the eventual 10-seed Charlotte Hornets losing five straight games to close the season, the Bulls were unable to make up any real ground, finishing two games shy of 10th.

So what can Chicago do to right the ship next season? Clearly, the team’s front office has a plethora of decisions to make regarding the team’s future, so read on to explore a few key decisions that could lead to the Bulls being in the playoff mix next year.

Don’t Bring Back Lauri Markkanen

Bulls fans might not want to hear this, but the team’s No. 7 pick in 2017 has simply not panned out. While he had a strong rookie year, being named to the All-Rookie First Team, and followed it up with a productive and promising sophomore campaign, the Finnish big man has regressed in each of his past two campaigns.

Sure, his health has been a major reason, but he has also not shown the requisite growth required of a modern big man, especially on the defensive end. With Vucevic now on the team, the young center is also redundant.

The Bulls need a steady, defensively versatile backup big man, which is why Thaddeus Young was so good for them this season.

Invest in Defensive Playmakers for the Bench

The Bulls have had a long lineage of talented defensive players who racked up defensive events (steals and blocks). Though there’s hardly any Michael Jordan- or Scottie Pippen-level defenders in the NBA these days, even someone like Kris Dunn (now on the Atlanta Hawks) or Shaquille Harrison (now on the Denver Nuggets) could pile up steals or blocks if left to their druthers.

Last year, the Bulls ranked 28th and 27th in the NBA in steals and blocks, respectively, with 482 and 304 total in each category.

With Vucevic as your starting center and LaVine as your starting two-guard, defense isn’t going to be the starting unit’s calling card, which means defensive depth on the bench will be paramount.

Get to the Foul Line More

This is more of a coaching dictum than anything else, but the Bulls were lowest in the NBA in both free throws attempted (1258) and made (995) in the 2020-21 season. In order to juice their offense, they will have to get to the line more.

The team’s new long-term starting center, Vucevic, is notorious for not getting to the line at all due to his less-than-physical play style, but still, a 9.4 percent free throw rate as a center is preposterously low. Of course, it hurts even more when he hits 87 percent of his free throws when he actually does get to the line.

The same goes for young guard Coby White. White finished sixth in the NBA in free throw percentage with a lofty 90.1 percent showing at the line. However, his free throw rate of 15.7 percent was behind notably low foul-drawers Ryan Arcidiacono, Young, and Markkanen.

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If this team could just get to the line, it will help juice their offense in a major way.

Re-Sign Daniel Theis and Re-Acquire Otto Porter Jr.

This one is fairly simple: When Otto Porter Jr. has been healthy, he has been the team’s best wing. While Patrick Williams will hopefully grow into that role one day, the youngster is not quite there yet. As such, pending free agent Porter, who was traded to the Orlando Magic at the deadline, should be one of the team’s main targets to re-acquire in the offseason.

So should in-season acquisition Daniel Theis. He was an important cog in the Boston Celtics’ rotation for multiple seasons, and he would meet the criterion of being a defensively inclined center who also has decent roll gravity.

While these moves won’t make the Bulls a juggernaut in a conference that is packed full of star players and excellent teams, they will get Chicago one step closer to the promised land of the Play-In Games.