The Chicago Bulls are notorious for retaining talent past its expiration date. In recent seasons, Chicago has held onto Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan, and Zach LaVine for far too long, recouping meager assets in return for each of the three players.
The Bulls swapped former All-Defensive Team selection Caruso for Josh Giddey, who was coming off his most disappointing season to date. In the same offseason, Chicago executed a sign-and-trade with the Sacramento Kings to send DeRozan to the California capital in exchange for Chris Duarte and two second-rounders. Lastly, the Bulls dumped LaVine, receiving a trio of role players and a first-round pick (originally their own) in return.
It’s far too easy to nitpick the Bulls’ long list of subpar decisions since Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley took over in 2020. But what about the good ones? Below we’ve compiled a list of four players whom the current regime gave up on at the right time.
Before diving into the list, we’ll begin with a notable omission—Nikola Mirotić. The sharpshooting forward was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Tony Allen, Omer Asik, Jameer Nelson, and a 2018 first-round pick, which turned into Chandler Hutchison. Although the Bulls’ return was rather poor, a year later, Mirotić left the NBA for the EuroLeague. New Orleans essentially gave up a first-round pick for 62 games of Mirotić.
4. Tomas Satoransky
Now, onto Karnišovas and Eversley’s best personnel decisions. Beginning with Tomáš Satoranský, a now-forgotten guard who excelled as a reserve for several seasons in the NBA before returning to Europe.
The Bulls acquired Satoranský from the Washington Wizards in a sign-and-trade in July 2019. The 6-foot-7 guard averaged 9.9 points and 5.4 assists in his first season in the Windy City—both career-highs. The next season, Czech guard averaged 7.7 points and 4.7 assists, but shot 51.4 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from beyond the arc.
After two productive seasons in Chicago, the Bulls included Satoranský, alongside Garrett Temple and a 2024 second-round pick, in a sign-and-trade to poach Lonzo Ball from the Pelicans. At the time, Chicago acquired an ascending 24-year-old point guard who had just averaged 14.6 points and 3.1 three-pointers per game for the Pelicans.
As for Satoranský, he played merely 55 more games before signing a four-year deal with FC Barcelona, coincidentally joining Mirotić.
3. Thaddeus Young
Thaddeus Young will unfortunately be soon forgotten among casual fans despite his immense success throughout his NBA career. Young averaged double-digits in the scoring column for 13 straight years, but of course, never made an All-Star game and only appeared in 58 postseason contests over 17 seasons.
Back to Young’s impressive scoring stretch. His final two seasons averaging double-digits came in a Bulls uniform. Young averaged 10.3 points, while knocking down a career-high 1.2 three-pointers per game in 2019-20, before totaling 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and a career-high 4.3 assists in 2020-21. Young also took home the NBA Hustle Award that same season.
Then, in the summer of 2021, Chicago sent Young, Al-Farouq Aminu, and three draft picks to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for DeRozan. Young went on to play only 139 more games, and never averaged more than 6.2 points again. Conversely, DeRozan made two All-Star appearances and finished his Chicago career averaging 25.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game.
2. Patrick Beverley
The Bulls and Chicago native Patrick Beverley came to terms on a contract in February 2023 following his buyout with the Orlando Magic. Beverley played in and started all 22 games upon arriving in the Windy City. He averaged 5.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.0 steals per game in the latter half of the 2022-23 season.
Despite a relatively impactful abbreviated tenure with the Bulls, Beverley signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency. The defensive-minded guard only played half a season in the City of Brotherly Love before being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Cameron Payne and a 2027 second-round pick.
All in all, Beverley played in 73 more games before taking his talents to Israel, signing a two-year contract with Hapoel Tel Aviv. The Bulls were right to sign Beverley following his contract buyout, but also right to let him walk in free agency as a 35-year-old.
1. Lonzo Ball
There needed to be some controversy here. Saying the Bulls gave up on Ball at the right time is surely a bit premature. Chicago just traded the 6-foot-6 playmaker in June. Moreover, an argument can be made that the Bulls should have dealt Ball much earlier.
Still, instead of holding onto Ball for an extended period, the Bulls sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for 24-year-old wing Isaac Okoro. Like sending Caruso to Oklahoma City for Giddey last offseason, ridicule is also welcome this time around. As alluded to, the Bulls reportedly could have extracted a first-round pick from a rival team in exchange for Ball.
Nonetheless, Chicago decided a player-for-player swap was its best option. Furthermore, even though the Golden State Warriors were said to covet Ball, it’s almost unbelievable to expect Golden State to part with a first-round pick to acquire the 27-year-old, who appeared in merely 35 games a season ago.
Ball certainly deserves props for making it back to the hardwood after two grueling years, dealing with a litany of knee issues. However, it’s fair to wonder if Ball will ever return to form. He played well in a reserve role a season ago, but he shot 36.6 from the floor and once again, only appeared in 35 games. As much as it hurts to say, Ball might not be playing much longer, while Okoro still has plenty of time to spare.
