The Chicago Bulls returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2017 in this 2021-22 season, but they were dispatched easily in five games by the Milwaukee Bucks despite Khris Middleton missing the last three games of the series. The Bulls' own injury problems hurt them during the latter half of the season and into the playoffs, and their roster flaws wound up catching up with them as well.

Chicago knows more changes are needed to the roster after a major overhaul last offseason. But just what could those changes entail? Do the Bulls simply work on the margins and hope for better health plus internal development next season? Or do they try to do something drastic again?

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One situation Chicago must monitor is that of Phoenix Suns big man Deandre Ayton. The Suns didn't max out Ayton last offseason after their run to the NBA Finals, and now there's drama surrounding the young big man after their ugly second-round exit at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Ayton only played 17 minutes in Game 7, with Monty Williams' comments afterward hinting at some internal beef.

Ayton is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. The Suns will be able to match anything, but if he doesn't want to be there or they don't want to pay him a max, he could very well be on his way out. The Bulls won't have any cap space, but they should still look into the situation and see if he has any interest in an attempt to upgrade on the aging Nikola Vucevic. There's always the possibility of a sign-and-trade, though there are some tricky salary cap rules that make it a bit more complicated than just using Vucevic and filler to match salary.

Ayton has his flaws, as just seen in these playoffs, and adding him on a max that would pay him north of $30 million next season is not a slam dunk. The 23-year-old would be a defensive upgrade over Vucevic, but he doesn't have the offensive versatility of Vooch. And, despite his incredible physical gifts, Ayton frustratingly doesn't always put them to use, too often playing a finesse game instead of powering through opponents.

Still, we're talking about a 23-year-old center who was a double-double machine coming into the league while improving immensely on defense to start his career. He still has room to improve offensively as well. On the latest episode of Blue Wire's Cash Considerations podcast, we discussed the merits of going after Ayton this offseason (discussion starts at 27:10):

It's probably a long shot that the Bulls get Deandre Ayton. There will be plenty of interested parties, and he could very well wind up back in Phoenix. But the Bulls should look into it.

Cash Considerations: A Chicago Bulls Podcast is part of the Blue Wire Podcast Network. The pod can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.