When the Chicago Bulls brought in head coach Billy Donovan, fans were shocked, thrilled and full of hope. Finally, Chicago hired a coach with previous head coaching experience — and a great one, at that.
The hope coming with Donovan had mostly to do with the fact that he notoriously gets the absolute most out of every single one of his players. He’s done far more with less talent than many coaches around the league, and it’s because of the buy-in factor.
Players listen to and respect Donovan. He’s been there and done that, and this young team bought in right away last year. Unfortunately, there were injuries and health issues that kept some key players out which ultimately led to the Bulls missing the playoffs.
But, that doesn’t mean last season was a failure. Fans saw some excitement out of this team they hadn’t seen in a while. Donovan had his guys playing hard, competitive basketball — and it was a sight which was rarely seen prior to last season.
This summer, the Chicago Bulls have decisions to make within their roster moving forward.
Donovan, along with Bulls brass (Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley), will work together now over the summer to further shape this roster. The Bulls will actually have some cap space to work with this year, making things a little interesting for once.
Chicago might not be the top-tier free agent destination, but with Donovan in place and guys like Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, you never know who the Bulls could lure in.
Before looking at the crop of free agent talent elsewhere, though, the Bulls will have to make decisions on their own guys. Chicago has quite a few players that could come off the books this summer, and not all of them will be brought back.
Some of these players are well-worth paying to return, but a few others aren’t quite as valuable to the Bulls. Which of their own players should be brought back, and which should be allowed to leave? The following five players all require that exact decision over the summer.