For executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas, the goal all along was to make the Bulls a desired destination.
It’s time to find out if the juice was worth the squeeze.
On Friday at 5 p.m., teams officially can begin to negotiate with free agents and their representatives. Obviously, back channels have been busy for weeks with teams sending out feelers in the shadows.
Karnisovas and the Bulls, however, find themselves in a precarious position.
They just missed the playoffs — losing to the Heat in the final play-in game — but are built to win now. With little cap space, they’re in position to use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which is projected to be in the $12.4 million range, or can use one or both of their biannual exceptions of $4.5 million.
What does that really mean now that backup center Andre Drummond opted in for $3.36 million on Thursday?
They’ll still find themselves in a bidding war with more competitive teams that are also cap-strapped, all trying to land more veteran shooters and possibly a playmaker at the point.
Given a choice between the Knicks or Bulls, would Donte DiVincenzo turn down the Big Apple with all things being equal? New York is in a much better position than the Bulls over the next few seasons and is fresh off a playoff run into the second round.
Max Strus and Gabe Vincent? Same situation. If they don’t want to stay with the Heat, there are better teams looking to add scorers.
That means the Bulls might have to shop at the discount rack and try to land Seth Curry, Jevon Carter or Georges Niang.
They undoubtedly would help the Bulls, but Jimmy Butler and the Eastern Conference champion Heat won’t be losing any sleep over those additions.
One intriguing name to keep an eye on is Dillon Brooks. He doesn’t fix the outside-shooting issues, but the front office and coaching staff know that the roster is a bit on the softer side, and Brooks instantly brings some toughness to the mix. Will Brooks be highly coveted or has he started to wear out his welcome around the league?
The bigger fish, however, will be found on the trade market. And that first domino will be Trail Blazers All-NBA guard Damian Lillard.
The Blazers are making it sound as if Lillard will be staying in Portland, but it could be a bluff in the ultimate game of player poker. The Heat and Knicks headline a list of teams that would love to acquire Lillard. In many ways, Lillard’s end game will dictate what happens next.
So what does that mean for the Bulls and Zach LaVine?
As of this week, not much. An NBA source told the Sun-Times that the asking price for LaVine remained astronomical.
Karnisovas could be playing a dangerous game of chicken if that continues.
The new collective-bargaining agreement will make adding max players much tougher, and teams are starting to prepare for that. If the Bulls are serious about cashing in their best trade chip in LaVine and trying to reload the roster on the fly, this offseason might be the best opportunity to do that.
If LaVine is a Bull when fall camp starts, the writing is on the wall. Karnisovas’ continuity mantra will have won the day.
