Chicago Bulls Rumors: Current ‘Big Three’ are about to be split up

For a year and a half, the Chicago Bulls have become the epitome of mediocrity.

At one point, during the 2021-2022 season, the Bulls sat atop the Eastern Conference. But, they had one particular problem: they were inept at beating the elite teams around the league. Although they claimed first place, the Bulls couldn’t beat the very top teams in the NBA.

Fast forward to this past season, and the Bulls had a dissimilar problem. Although they were a playoff team, they barely squeezed themselves into the play-in tournament. Yet, they had some big wins along the way over the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.

Still, this team played down to their competition time and time again, and head coach Billy Donovan made some head-scratching rotational decisions, as he’s done since Day 1, but many fans are just now noticing; or, they’re just now making it a big deal (and it should be).

NBA columnist Sam Smith, who knows the Bulls inside and out, recently wrote that he believes there are goin to be some big changes within the organization this offseason.

The current ‘Big Three’ may be split up as the Chicago Bulls make some key offseason decisions

“I was at the Draft Combine this week and heard from an insider that he believes the Bulls are done with this Big Three,” Smith wrote.

Nikola Vucevic, of course, is a free agent. The Bulls could allow him to walk while prioritizing someone like Coby White, who truly broke out for the team last year.

If Vucevic is let go, then that trade officially becomes a failure set in stone, especially with Chicago losing its 2023 first-round pick to Orlando after this past week’s draft lottery.

Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan is entering the final year of his contract and there are already rumors the Bulls could try and move him to a contending team looking for an elite small forward. The Phoenix Suns have been an often-mentioned trade suitor in this scenario.

Then, there’s Zach LaVine, who is about to enter into some big money years in this five-year deal. Chicago is rumored to be content with building around LaVine as the number one option, which is less than ideal, but that’s a story for another day.

“I expect a change in that core,” Smith went on to write.

One thing is pretty evident, right now, and that’s that the Bulls are in the middle of a rock and a hard place in terms of improving this roster. They are without draft capital to use this year, and cannot trade a first rounder until 2027 and 2029 if they chose to go after a move like that.

Fans should expect more mediocrity, or worse. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Let’s just put it that way.