Norman Powell didn’t exactly sneak in a subtle take when he was asked to name the NBA’s most overrated team. He went straight at the Lakers.
"I'm gonna say the Lakers, bro."
That answer landed with extra bite for Bulls fans, because Chicago’s offseason and Los Angeles’ summer ended up tracing some of the same paths - only with very different price tags and very different levels of restraint. The Bulls made plenty of moves, but they avoided the kind of aggressive bets that can tie a team’s hands. The Lakers, meanwhile, swung harder.
One of the clearest examples was Collin Sexton. He went from Chicago to LA after arriving with the Bulls at last season’s trade deadline and giving them 26 games of steady production.
Over that stretch, he put up 17.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game while hitting 41.0 percent from 3-point range. He’s 28 this season, though, and doesn’t line up with the Bulls’ timeline.
The Lakers signed him to a two-year, $19 million deal, and he’ll battle for the sixth-man role.
Then there was the Walker Kessler deal, one of the biggest splashes of the offseason. Los Angeles acquired the center from Utah in a trade that sent the Jazz unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, along with pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. Kessler’s rim protection, rebounding and finishing around the basket would have made him a clean fit for Chicago’s long-term center spot, but the price the Lakers paid would have been far too rich for the Bulls.
Chicago had other routes it could have taken, too. The Bulls could have thrown a big offer sheet at restricted free agent Austin Reaves.
They could have used the 15th pick on Cameron Carr before choosing Dailyn Swain. Jake LaRavia and Dalton Knecht were both tied to the Bulls in different trade discussions, and Quentin Grimes was another backcourt option on the market.
That’s what makes the comparison interesting: there was a version of this summer where Chicago’s roster looked a lot closer to LA’s. But the Bulls ended up choosing a cleaner path.
Instead of chasing Kessler, executive vice president of basketball operations acquired Nic Claxton from the Brooklyn Nets and took on his contract using open cap space. He used the No. 4 pick on Caleb Wilson, grabbed Swain at No. 15 and exercised the team option on 22-year-old forward Leonard Miller.
He also brought back Zach Collins as Claxton’s backup and signed Powell to a two-year, $45 million contract.
That deal matters for another reason, too. Both Collins and Powell have team options in the second year of their contracts, which makes them effectively expiring deals and gives Chicago a chance to turn them into draft assets down the road.
In Other News...
Bulls Have A Chance To Steal A Young Bucks Guard Right Now
Ryan Rollins has started to look like the kind of young guard the Bulls could use next to their existing talent, which is why his name is getting attention in Chicago circles. His defensive work and perimeter shooting give him a different profile than Josh Giddey, and that matters for a roster trying to find cleaner fits around Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis. For a team still sorting out its backcourt identity, Rollins brings both upside and a skill set that could plug into what the Bulls are building.
Milwaukees backcourt situation only adds to the intrigue, because Rollins has climbed from the margins into a more relevant part of the discussion. The Bucks have reasons to weigh their guard rotation carefully, and Chicagos interest makes sense if the Bulls are looking for a young player who can help right away without forcing the offense to bend around him. The real question is what it would take to get the Bucks to listen, and whether the Bulls are willing to pay that price. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Could Use Josh Giddey To Cash In On Detroit Pressure
Detroits rise has changed the temperature around the league, and it has also made every roster decision feel a little more urgent. After a breakthrough season that ended with a second-round playoff trip and a 60-22 mark, the Pistons suddenly look like a team trying to turn a jump forward into something lasting, which is why their frontcourt situation is drawing so much attention around the NBA.
For the Bulls, that kind of pressure can create opportunity if they decide Josh Giddey fits as more than just a piece for their own rebuild. Chicago has no reason to ignore a team trying to accelerate its timeline, especially one with a clear need to settle key lineup questions, and speculative trade chatter has already started to connect the Bulls to Detroits dilemma. The intrigue now is whether that momentum turns into something real, or whether this stays in the realm of what-ifs until one side blinks. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls May Have A Familiar Answer To Their Defensive Problem
The Bulls have spent years trying to get back to the kind of defense that once defined the franchise, but the results have been uneven since the middle of the last decade. With the front office and coaching staff both pushing to rebuild that identity, any realistic option to bolster the roster on the perimeter is going to draw attention, especially one with a profile that fits the way Chicago says it wants to play.
Terrence Shannon Jr. has emerged as a name to watch because of the way he fits that conversation from the Minnesota side of the ledger. The Bulls are also in a position to examine whether the money and roster structure make a move possible, which is why this feels less like a theoretical fit and more like a workable one if Chicago decides it wants to act on its defensive priorities. [Read more 🡒]