Chicago Bulls: 5 offseason questions looming large

Just how big, realistically, can the Bulls go in free agency?

By now, you have heard enough of the notion that the Bulls will not be big players this summer. There is just no way they can lure in guys like LeBron James or Kevin Durant. They probably wouldn’t even be able to secure a meeting with either, assuming they were to opt-out.

Even going to the tier below and looking at guys like Chris Paul, Isaiah Thomas or Paul George, I don’t see a shot for the Bulls.

But, never say never, my friends. Crazier things have happened.

Realistically, who could the Bulls land other than potentially retaining LaVine?

Here are some players I think the Bulls would at least be able to secure a meeting with, and maybe, just maybe get a done deal on the table:

DeAndre Jordan (Player Option)

Clint Capela (Restricted)

Aaron Gordon (Restricted)

Julius Randle (Restricted)

Will Barton (Unrestricted)

Jabari Parker (Restricted)

Obviously, some of those names seem a bit more attainable than others for the Bulls. But, I don’t believe any of them are out of the realm of possibilities. The Bulls could end up having upward of $26.6 million in cap space after all is said and done (NBA draft picks, LaVine), so why not shoot for the stars?

The one thing the Bulls don’t want to do, though, is hand out a terrible contract like we’ve seen some teams do over the past couple of years. Although they could afford to hand out a significant wad of cash, Forman and Paxson need to be smart with their team’s money. As long as they remember that the plan is to find themselves a little more competitive each year over the next couple of seasons, they’ll be able to spend that money wisely soon enough.