The Chicago Bulls have stayed very quiet during this 2020 NBA free agency period.
One of the most exciting parts about being a fan, in sports, is seeing what your teams do during the offseason. Whether it be via the draft or free agency, it’s always fun to watch how your teams get better. For the Chicago Bulls, they took a little different approach than that this offseason.
Understandably so, fans have been sick and tired of the same old mediocrity each year. Fans desire to see the Bulls be able to land big name free agents and become a contender once again, and that might happen in the near future.
But, not this year, and that’s perfectly O.K.
The Bulls went through a huge overhaul in their front office, of course, bringing in Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley. With Karnisovas coming in having tons of respect around the league, he was able to help Chicago land arguably the best available head coach in recent years — Billy Donovan.
If we know one thing about Donovan, it’s that he knows how to do much with little, but he also understands how to manage personalities and coach superstar players. He’s the best of both worlds. However, seeing him take the Bulls job was quite the shock, if we’re being honest.
The Bulls have a very, very young roster. Many would have thought Donovan would try to go somewhere he saw potential to be a playoff contender, and maybe even championship-caliber.
But, here we are, with Donovan having chosen the Chicago Bulls.
While we have seen plenty of cash handed out over the last couple of days via NBA free agency, the Bulls have kept quiet. They made their own in-house decisions by bringing back swingman Denzel Valentine on his $4.7 million option, while declining the option of point guard Kris Dunn.
The one outside signing they made was with veteran Garrett Temple, who has been a career journeyman and will mostly offer the Bulls leadership and a rotational guy, similar to Thaddeus Young.
Chicago did not have a ton of money to work with, but even so, they didn’t attempt any big trades nor did they have their name in the hat to even go after a player with somewhat of a recognizable name. They stood pat.
Having a coach like Donovan in his first year, this was the best call. Keeping this current roster intact with young guys like Coby White, Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter and Zach LaVine was in the organization’s best interest.
Donovan deserves to have a season with these guys to see what he can make of them. The potential of Markkanen in his contract year is something to watch. Seeing what Carter is able to do if he stays healthy is an intriguing storyline.
Obviously, the second year of White next to LaVine should be exciting at the very least. Fans have a lot to be excited about. We tried our best to stay positive going into last year, but not having a capable head coach was going to be the team’s downfall all along.
Now, going into the 2020-2021 season, they have a highly-respected coach in Donovan and a young, impressionable roster which could surprise some people. Having no major moves made, on top of keeping an open mind for the coming season, will prove to be beneficial for the Bulls and their fan base.
Let’s see what Donovan can do with these guys and come back to the idea of free agency in 2021.
