Chicago Bulls: 3 takeaways from Thaddeus Young deal

1. Young’s arrival cemented the smokescreen

Prior to the start of free agency, the Bulls were actually mentioned in the same breath of several free agents. Some of them happened to be somewhat larger names, as well.

For a while, you saw the Bulls connected to point guard Malcolm Brogdon. By now, you probably know of the rumor which stated the Bulls could have offered Brogdon a 4-year, $80 million deal. If you were in your right mind, you knew that had no chance of happening.

Even a player like forward Julius Randle, who ended up earning a 3-year, $63 million contract from the New York Knicks, was connected to the Bulls. There was absolutely no shot at Randle, from Chicago’s standpoint. They couldn’t have offered that kind of cash, nor should they — the Bulls dodged a bullet by not going after Randle.

Going into Sunday night, everybody had to have known that Chicago wasn’t going to do anything major. There was not going to be a huge splash, let alone anything remotely close to it. What they did by signing Young proved what we all should have known the entire time: The Bulls needed to focus on depth. They did just that, and all of the other rumors were just…rumors.