Inaction could not last forever. The Chicago Bulls finally made a move at the trade deadline after three consecutive years of standing pat, taking one more step forward toward a future vision of a rebuild.
Change came in the form of trading long-time star Zach LaVine, a years-long goal of the Bulls front office that was finally accomplished Sunday with a three-team trade to the Sacramento Kings. The move still came as a shock to some teammates. But for LaVine and the Bulls, the breakup was a necessary heartache for both sides to start over with a (somewhat) clean slate.
But outside of freeing up flexibility on their cap sheet, the Bulls didn’t gain much in the LaVine trade. Their haul included full rights to a 2025 first-round pick they were already on track to retain and a handful of role players (Kevin Huerter, Tre Jones, Zach Collins) who will contribute to further clogging up the backcourt.
So outside of moving LaVine, the front office did not accomplish any of its other goals for this deadline window. The Bulls were unable to secure deals for Coby White and Nikola Vučević despite negotiations for both players that continued up until the final buzzer Thursday at 2 p.m. While the Bulls listened to light interest for guard Lonzo Ball, they ultimately chose to re-sign the point guard to a team-friendly two-year deal.
Without moving any of these players, the Bulls failed to add a single new draft pick at this window— the primary goal for any team attempting to pivot its roster to build around young talent. The Bull didn’t gain any capital to build forward momentum despite giving up their most talented player — a continuing trend after the team parted with DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso without also recouping a single pick.
It’s still progress for the Bulls. But it’s slow and unwieldy, leaving the Bulls once again waiting for the next window to take the next step in what is guaranteed to be a laborious rebuild process.