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The Chicago Bulls have largely underperformed this season, though they have played much better of late. In fact, they have a winning record in January and have slid into 10th place in the Eastern Conference. Does that mean they're on the right track? We don't think so. This Bulls team would be better off pushing the rebuild button as soon as possible. As such, here we will look at the nightmare scenario that the Bulls don't want to happen as we close in on the 2023 NBA trade deadline.
First, keep in mind that in 2022, the Bulls acquired Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, and signed Zach LaVine to a five-year, $215 million contract. However, their performance on the court has been underwhelming. Despite recent wins against strong teams, the Bulls will not likely fare well in the postseason.
Vucevic is set to become a free agent and may sign a four-year, $118 million extension. However, that would put the team in the luxury tax. For his part, DeRozan is in the last year of his contract and may also sign a four-year, $153 million extension. LaVine, meanwhile, has played well at times. Still, he may not have much trade value due to past knee surgeries and a high salary in the last two years of his contract.
Zach LaVine eurosteps his way for the lay 👣pic.twitter.com/r3Ec7wHjJG
— Bulls Nation (@BullsNationCP) January 24, 2023
And then there's Coby White and Alex Caruso.
White is a young guard in his fourth season. He has moved to a backup role this year, but his minutes have been increasing. If the Bulls want to improve their season, White could be a valuable asset as a restricted free agent. Meanwhile, Caruso also has value not only because of his contract but also his ability to defend multiple positions. The Bulls should trade only if it will improve the team's performance on the court.
Given these factors, we recommended that the Bulls be sellers at the deadline. They should trade away players such as Vucevic, LaVine, and White in order to acquire future assets and begin a full rebuild of the team. We feel that even if Lonzo Ball returns, this current iteration of the team just is not likely to perform well anyway.
With that said, let's look at the Bulls' nightmare scenario for the 2023 NBA trade deadline.
Bulls get stuck with Nikola Vucevic, Zach LaVine, and Coby White
Although the Bulls have recently won 11 out of their last 17 games, they should not be content with remaining a low-level play-in team. As we said, even a healthy Lonzo Ball will not improve their performance by much. Instead, the team should consider proactively rebuilding its roster in order to aim for better results in the future.
This will not be an easy task, though. Again, the team has many options. Aside from dealing away Vucevic, LaVine, and White, the Bulls could also look at other opportunities to acquire assets. They can explore trade options for DeMar DeRozan's one-year contract and even consider potential trades for Patrick Williams. The Bulls should not hesitate to make moves that will bring in draft equity or prospects that will benefit the team's long-term success.
In the event that the Bulls don't do anything at the trade deadline, that would be really bad for them. As things stand, they won't make it past the play-in tournament — IF they stay in the East's top 10 at all. And then afterward, they could also watch Vucevic and White walk during free agency anyway. They would also be stuck with LaVine's big contract while still dealing with his inconsistency and injury history.
Maybe the Bulls don't need to do a total ground-up rebuild. However, at the very least, they should get rid of these three players on or before the deadline. Keeping them would create more problems moving forward.
