For all the heat it deserves, the Chicago Bulls’ front office has made some solid decisions over the past 10 months.
VP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas pulled the trigger on a trade that sent Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Josh Giddey. Karnisovas, perhaps, could have squeezed a draft pick or two out of OKC, but Giddey’s massive leap at the end of the regular season makes it a net positive transaction for Chicago.
The next domino to fall was DeMar DeRozan, who was sent to the Sacramento Kings in a sign-and-trade deal that landed the Bulls a pair of second-round picks. Again, not exactly the return you’d hope for a player like DeRozan, but considering he could’ve walked in free agency for nothing, two second-rounders is nice.
The most significant move of all came shortly before the 2025 trade deadline when Karnisovas found a taker for Zach LaVine in Sacramento. The highlight of the return was the Bulls’ acquisition of their own first-round pick, which was sent to San Antonio in 2021, giving the franchise access to all of its future first-round picks.
Chicago also landed veterans Zach Collins, Kevin Huerter and Tre Jones in the LaVine deal, and all three played important roles at some point in the final months of the regular season.
With Caruso, DeRozan and LaVine all gone, Karnisovas’s next job is to trade 34-year-old center Nikola Vucevic, who’s been on the chopping block nearly as long as LaVine was, if not longer. But Vooch isn’t the only veteran who should be on the move this summer.
3 Bulls who should be traded this offseason along with Nikola Vucevic
Patrick Williams
This is the easiest move to list but, unfortunately for Chicago, the most difficult one to actually accomplish.
Williams just completed the first year of a five-year, $90 million contract that will likely go down as one of Karnisovas’s worst decisions during his time with the Bulls. The 23-year-old averaged 9.0 points and 3.8 rebounds, both career lows, while shooting just 35.8 percent from three in 2024-25. He missed 19 games due to injury.
The front office regime confoundingly continues to hold out hope that Williams will live up to the physical abilities that made him the No. 4 pick in the 2020 draft, but after five seasons, it’s safe to cut the cord. That contract, however, paired with his lack of production, will make it nearly impossible to do so.
Zach Collins
Collins arrived in Chicago at an opportune time. Vucevic was sidelined with a calf injury, and 2024 free agent signing Jalen Smith was struggling to hold down the Bulls’ starting center role. Once he got up to speed, Collins played perhaps the best stretch of basketball in his pro career.
From Feb. 24 to March 10, the former Spurs big started eight straight games and averaged 14.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 58.7 percent shooting from the field and 37.0 percent from three. He scored at least 15 points in five straight games.
Once Vucevic got healthy, Collins returned to his reserve role and was largely invisible for the rest of the season. His $18 million expiring contract makes him a likely trade candidate this summer or before next year’s trade deadline.
Kevin Huerter
Huerter is the most likely of this trio to stick around. Although he’s on an $18 million expiring contract like Collins, the 26-year-old made the most of his time in Chicago and partially resurrected what had been the worst season of his career.
Huerter scored in double figures in all but five of the Bulls’ final 22 games. He started 16 of those contests and scored 14.7 points per game with shooting splits of 46/39/77. He essentially stepped into the spot LaVine had vacated as a third guard/wing next to Giddey and Coby White. His fit in Chicago’s run-and-gun offense as a spot-up shooter and ball-mover—he averaged 3.4 assists during that span—was solid.
Still, the Bulls are unlikely to sign him to a new deal after next year, which makes trading him the most logical option.
