The Chicago Bulls have invested a lot of money in Zach LaVine and Jabari Parker during the off-season. The rebuild will be consistently continued in Windy City. Patience is still being preached, but how long the calm at Lake Michigan will prevail is questionable.
Tanking was probably the worst word of the past season. Due to the large number of teams with a weak (and similar) record, there was a knockdown for the best chances in the lottery, the league did not like this at all. The Chicago Bulls were also busy mixing in and in the meantime pulled starters like Justin Holiday or Robin Lopez completely out of circulation, and Nikola Mirotic was sold off to New Orleans for a first-round pick for the trade deadline.
Especially the sparing of healthy players pissed off the league, the Bulls were warned according to some media reports, the obvious tanking was stopped. In the end it was “only” enough for the seventh pick for the Bulls, with which Wendell Carter Jr. was pulled. In the Summer League the center made at least an excellent impression.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, owner Jerry Reinsdorf is said to have been annoyed about the result and the course of the season, even though he was warned in advance. So it’s almost logical that the Bulls signed a reasonably big name with Jabari Parker, a hometown hero.
“Jabari is 23 years young and fits perfectly with our core”, General Manager Gar Forman was quoted in the welcome statement. “He’s a high-profile scorer in this league and we’re delighted to welcome him here in his hometown.”
$40 million for two years in Windy City. Money the Milwaukee Bucks wouldn’t pay their restricted free agent. As a nice gesture, the Bucks even withdrew the qualifying offer, allowing the Bulls to offer a two-year contract. Offer sheets, on the other hand, must have a minimum term of three years.
The second year is just a team option, so after twelve months Chicago can consider whether it’s better to dip a toe into the Free Agency pond again. The capspace would then finally be there, even if this applies to a lot of teams in summer.
But first, coach Fred Hoiberg will see if Parker can build on his best season so far in 2016/17 when he was the second best Bucks player after Giannis Antetokounmpo and averaged over 20 points and 6 rebounds. Then, however, his second cruciate ligament rupture stopped the forward, resulting in a break of over a year.
At the end of last season, the No.2 pick from 2014 returned, but had to make friends with a bankroll in the beer city. He did defensive damage to the Bucks on several occasions, but in the play-offs against Boston he showed his potential. Milwaukee no longer had any real use for him, and the franchise from a comparatively small market would have had to pay the luxury tax for the forward. But this was to be avoided in Wisconsin.
Luxury tax is as popular with Bulls-Owner Reinsdorf as athlete’s foot, but Chicago was able to avoid it despite Parker, because they freed up enough cap space with smaller moves. Jerian Grant was traded to Orlando, the qualifying offer for promising forward David Nwaba was withdrawn and Paul Zipser, whose salary was not guaranteed for the coming season, was fired.
Financially, the Parker deal is therefore hardly associated with any risk or difficulty for the Bulls, a question mark rather stands behind its fit in Chicago. A few days earlier, the Bulls had matched the Sacramento Kings’ offer sheet and held Restricted Free Agent Zach LaVine for 4 years and $78 million. Like Parker, the Highflyer is a player who likes to hold the ball in his hands and is not known for being able to play Lockdown Defense.
Already last season the Bulls had problems, when Point Guard Kris Dunn, who also dominated the ball, was together with LaVine on the field. Coach Fred Hoiberg staggered the minutes so that the two could act independently of each other. Parker is now another player who wants and needs to be fed.
In addition, Parker’s ideal position is more like the four, where the Bulls with Lauri Markkanen are actually well positioned. The Finn would also be an option as a centre for the future, but the Bulls picked a five in the lottery with Carter and also have a solid NBA starter in the squad in Lopez.
But Forman and John Paxson are well aware of this not yet optimal squad composition. With Dunn, LaVine, Parker, Markkanen, Carter and Bobby Portis you now have a core of young players together, who are 22.2 years old on average, a good start. With Parker, too, the Bulls remain a borderline playoff team at most; instead, the goal is to hoard as many assets as possible.
It’s a somewhat softer rebuild the Bulls have been doing since Jimmy Butler’s trade to Minnesota than the Atlanta Hawks, for example. On the other hand, Chicago also failed to offer their capspace to other teams to record lazy contracts and knock valuable draft picks out of the opponent’s GMs. This is what the Brooklyn Nets did with the Denver Nuggets, for example, when they willingly took in Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur and when Zuckerl received a first-round pick in 2019.
Patience, however, remains the top premise, at least that is what is always preached, as the draft showed when Chicago did not try to trade upwards with the No.7 and No.22 picks. “We want to be patient and disciplined in our decisions,” Paxson explained the strategy after the draft evening.
Instead, the Bulls picked up Parker, another player who fits the age structure. Since the contract is structured accordingly, the bulls do not take any great risks. If the forward exceeds expectations, the Bulls now have bird rights on Parker and can offer more money than any other team. If this does not happen, the relationship can be quickly terminated, and Parker may also be a useful trade chip if a real star becomes available.
Nevertheless, it is also possible that the Bulls will have a turbulent season if the parts do not fit together to some extent. Then the focus should be on Coach Hoiberg again, who has always been GarPax’s ideal candidate, but has been constantly on a hot seat since his arrival in 2015.
The coach has at least once said something positive about Parker Signing. “I have a good feeling about him,” Hoiberg The Athletic said, “He has always improved despite the injuries, especially his threesome. I think he fits very well into our concept.”
He does not feel any pressure, even though the Bulls now have two hopeful players in the squad who earn 20 million a year. “I don’t think about pressure,” the coach quickly wiped away the thoughts that he could become a scapegoat in case of failure. “I want to put the players in good positions so that we can be successful.”
Hoiberg now has at least one squad that fits his philosophy better than in previous years. He has the chance to really realize his idea of pace and space, which was hardly possible with previous editions. But he will also have to measure himself against that, even if this team can hardly stop an opponent on paper.
Patience is always preached, but another sad year at the heart of the lottery is not something those responsible (especially at the highest level) in Chicago want to see; progress must be discernible. Hoiberg now has a few months to put this not so easy puzzle together in the best possible way and to deliver certain results.
In Windy City, refuelling is no longer required; instead, the rebuild quickly reaches the next stage. While teams such as OKC, Philly and Phoenix have been fueling for a long time in the past, Chicago are trying the somewhat faster, almost old-fashioned variant.
After the horrible last season, Bulls games should at least become much more entertaining again. That would be an important step in the right direction, even if the road is far from over.