To preface, the Chicago Bulls have only one roster spot remaining, unofficially reserved for restricted free agent Josh Giddey, who might not be re-signed anytime soon. Therefore, the Bulls cannot sign an existing free agent without making a corresponding transaction, such as trading a player for draft capital or waiving a player outright.

However, an almost finalized roster doesn’t limit the Bulls from making future transactions. After signing Tre Jones to a three-year, $24 million pact, Chicago still has part of the non-tax midlevel (roughly $6.7 million) and full bi-annual exception ($5.1 million) to spend.

Several teams around the association have stockpiled talent, in turn, exceeding the maximum number of players on a roster before making such a corresponding move to shed salary. It’s not an uncommon feat, especially during the free agency moratorium period, where contracts are merely negotiated and agreed upon rather than signed.

The Bulls’ poor rim protection is holding the team back

The Bulls have the time and the avenues to clear a roster spot to fortify their roster. With this mindset, there’s one glaring flaw that Chicago must resolve ahead of next season—rim protection. The Bulls were surprisingly in the middle of the pack in blocked shots per game. Chicago averaged 4.7 rejections, good for 18th in the association.

Yet, the Bulls allowed the most points in the paint in the NBA. The Bulls ceded 54.0 paint points per contest, 1.2 more than the 29th-ranked Dallas Mavericks and 11.5 more than the 1st-place Oklahoma City Thunder.

Furthermore, the Bulls allowed opponents to shoot 64.6 percent within six feet of the rim, which ranked 23rd in the NBA. Lastly, Chicago allowed its opponents to average a league-worst 31.8 field goal attempts from less than five feet. Not only did the Billy Donovan-led squad fail to deter opponents, but they also granted far too many easy looks.

The Bulls’ Front Office has made strides to rectify a leaky defensive unit by drafting France’s Noa Essengue and trading for former Cleveland Cavalier Isaac Okoro. Although Essengue and Okoro are vaunted wing defenders, neither will aid in Chicago’s last line of defense.

Solidifying its interior defense must be the Bulls’ top priority. Centers Nikola Vucevic, Jalen Smith, and Zach Collins combined to average 1.9 blocks per game—the same total as former Milwaukee Bucks’ big man Brook Lopez. Amongst the trio, Collins proved to be the most imposing deterrent, forcing his opponents to shoot 7.1 percent worse at the rim. Chicago’s starting center, Vucevic, fared much worse, seeing his opponents shoot 0.9 percent worse as the primary rim defender.

The Bulls cannot continue to justify starting Vucevic, especially with Donovan’s heavy emphasis on a frenetic pace, which has led to an increase in opponents’ field goal attempts. Chicago needs an influx of athletic rim-deterrents.

With the free agency pool dwindling, the sole viable rim protector is Jaxson Hayes, whose opponents shot 9.2 percent worse at the rim. However, if the Bulls were to add Hayes, waiving an active player, such as Jevon Carter, would have to follow. The trade market makes a more compelling conduit to add an interior defender. For instance, sending Ayo Dosunmu to the Orlando Magic for Jonathan Isaac is financially satisfactory and makes sense for both teams.

No matter what the Bulls decide to do from here on out, aside from re-signing Giddey, addressing a shoddy interior defense must be prioritized.