Lillard will be back to lead the Bulls
The Chicago Bulls ended last season by falling to the Detroit Pistons 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs, albeit without rising star Lauri Markkanen (out with an injury). GM Marcos had done a wonderful job re-building the Bulls quickly (impressively quick) into a playoff team in a very stacked and competitive Eastern Conference. Heading into the off-season, the Bulls had a couple options. They could choose to stay the course with their mostly young squad and focus on internal development and putting the right pieces around their young stud Markkanen. Or the Bulls could try to take another big step forward and contend for a title in the CSL’s last season using DDS3. To do the latter, their GM would have to wheel-and-deal with the best of them, but there isn’t another GM in the CSL better at that than the Bulls’ own Marcos Beck.
Sources seem to indicate that the Bulls’ front office went back and forth on which path to take, both conducting talks with teams about potentially trading away 32 year old star Damian Lillard, as well as conducting talks about trading some of their youth and picks for quality veterans to make a true run.
Prior to the draft, the Bulls were involved in a trade that sent out Capela, WCS and Trice for Harris, Stokes and pick #23 in the impending draft. It was another solid move for the Bulls that opened up some cap and evened out some of their supporting cast.
As draft night came, it appeared the Bulls had settled on methodically building up their team around their rising young core. They took C Laurynas Birutis with the 19th pick in the draft, and he appeared to be a well-rounded big with a bright future. They then made what appeared to be a minor but prudent trade, by swapping pick #23 for a future 1st from OKC. The Bulls were not enamored with anyone left on the board, so decided to get a future 1st instead.
The Bulls were certainly improved from a season ago, but still not a contender. Then, shortly after free agency, OKC made the surprising decision to rebuild rather than contend (even though they were very much a contender in the West). All of a sudden, that future OKC 1st became a hot commodity when OKC’s GM came calling and trade talks ensued.
Thanks to trade block updates that imply OKC has re-acquired their 2026 1st from the Bulls, it’s become very obvious that a verbal was struck. OKC appears to be shipping Kawhi Leonard and another asset for their 1st back and some other assets.
And just like that, the Bulls had everyone’s attention. Add in the development of young guys Markkanen and Allen, as well as Birutis booming in training camp (which can not be understated), and there’s no doubt the Bulls are a serious contender.
Rumor has it that Kawhi will be joining the Chicago Bulls at Day 30
Here is there projected lineup (keep in mind it is probably missing a piece or two in verbals):
Lillard / Payne
Crowder / Harris
Kawhi / TBD (from verbal)
Markkanen / Stokes
Allen / Birutis
Wow is that team loaded. And unlike some other contenders, depth does not appear to be an issue. Their second unit of Payne / Harris / TBD / Stokes / Birutis is better than a handful of teams’ first unit. They have depth at every position (which should help them stay healthy), great playmaking with Lillard, good shooters against zone (Lillard, Markkanen, and Crowder), good defenders (Crowder, Payne, Harris, Kawhi, Allen, and Birutis). Granted, they haven’t played a game together yet (and won’t until at least day 31), but on paper, this team looks vastly improved and looks as good on paper as anyone. Add in that Marcos has already won a title (so he knows how to win) and that, again, Marcos is as good of a trader as the CSL has. So you know this team isn’t done improving yet, which is a scary thing to hear for every other contender out there.
The East was already loaded last year, and it just got even better. The East is really going to be fun to watch as the season unfolds.
