Chicago Bulls stay put in post free agency NBA Power Rankings

Before free agency, the Chicago Bulls ranked 23rd in the NBA per ESPN’s Power Rankings, which is perhaps fitting for a team that finished below .500 and crashed out of the play-in game at home against the Miami Heat.

After the main window of free agency has closed, the Bulls are once again 23rd. The assumption is that they will bring back Josh Giddey, but that is not an addition since he was on the team, and it doesn’t change their roster construction.

“Despite finishing 39-43 in back-to-back seasons, the Bulls are in a position to return a virtually identical roster next season,” Jamal Collier analyzed. “They sent Lonzo Ball to Cleveland in exchange for Isaac Okoro — forgiving Okoro’s offensive limitations exposed in the playoffs in an attempt to build a defensive identity, according to VP Arturas Karnisovas.”

Of course, Collier mentioned that the final thing on the to-do list is to figure something out with Giddey, who remains a restricted free agent “locked in a stalemate” with the Bulls over the salary terms for his upcoming contract. It remains to be seen when that will happen.

But as of now, the Bulls have not made any major moves. Trade rumors swirled around Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White, but neither has had any traction on that front. Nikola Vucevic seemed like a certain goner given his age, salary, and contract length, but he hasn’t been traded either. It’s the same team minus Lonzo Ball and plus Noa Essengue and Isaac Okoro.

That might ensure that the Bulls aren’t terrible next season, but it probably won’t be enough to get them over the hump and into the playoffs in the East, unless Essengue is a draft steal and Matas Buzelis takes a major leap heading into year two.