The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We break down the biggest questions, best and worst case scenarios and fantasy prospects for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
2023-24 end
Offseason moves
Additions: Josh Giddey, Jalen Smith, Chris Duarte, Matas Buzelis
Subtractions: DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, Andre Drummond, Javonte Green
Complete roster
The Big Question: When will the Zach LaVine era end?
Zach LaVine is on the trade market and really has been since he signed his five-year, $215 million contract extension in 2022. He has three years left on that deal, including this season, when he is owed 30% of the team’s salary cap. . The Bulls have one playoff win to show for it – not a series but a single game.
Except, no one wants to pay all that money for someone who never significantly contributed to winning NBA basketball. Not at any price the Bulls want in return. More likely, they’d have to attach assets to LaVine’s contract to move him, and they’ve lost enough draft picks to bad trades.
Don’t get me wrong: LaVine is a talented player. He made back-to-back All-Star appearances, averaging 26-5-5 on 49/40/85 shooting splits during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. He is a pure scorer. He also doesn’t create well for others or play solid defense. He is a shot maker who likes to take a lot of shots.
It doesn’t help that the 29-year-old is coming off season-ending surgery on his right foot, and his left knee has been surgically repaired twice. He has missed a third of his games over the past eight seasons.
Some team (the Los Angeles Lakers?) may be desperate for LaVine’s firing. It hasn’t happened yet. It best happens before the trade deadline, because Chicago can’t move forward as a franchise until it does.
Gone is DeMar DeRozan. Gone is Alex Caruso. Gone is the facade the Bulls are trying to win. Nikola Vučević remains. His contract is also not easily traded. They acquired Josh Giddey to give a 21-year-old the keys to the offense. Coby White is the first lottery pick they’ve developed since Derrick Rose. He’s a keeper, and they hope this year’s pick, Matas Buzelis, follows suit. They have building blocks.
And LaVine says all the right things.
“Anything negative that will try to pin me down [against] the organization – rumors, drama, whatever it is – I leave that in the past,” he told reporters during a media day, declaring himself “fully healthy.” “I’m very focused on this camp right now, moving forward on this. team and helping, learning and just having fun.”
Ideally, LaVine flanks Giddey on the wing, providing a lethal outlet for an intriguing playmaker. But that’s not how it works. You can’t tell LaVine, “Listen, I know you’ve been our most used player for the last seven years, but we’re going to need you to fill in for a guy who couldn’t stay on the court for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs.” .” You can’t tell me that Chicago’s hierarchy will do anything but return to its natural order — with LaVine, the veteran All-Star, at the top — once the losing starts.
A full rebuild is the only solution.
Otherwise, the Bulls will spend the next three seasons drafting young talent, developing it and building around it, all while LaVine works against that process. Why would he want to spend the rest of his prime facilitating the next era of Bulls basketball when he wants to define this era? He has It is not a success.
Best case scenario
The Bulls are actually getting some value out of LaVine and Vučević’s contracts, even if it’s a few expiring contracts and a second-round pick or two. Lonzo Ball, returning to the court for the first time since his debilitating knee injury in January 2022, is restoring his value. Giddey excels in his role as a lead player. White and Buzelis fit around him. Chicago is encouraged about its future for the first time in over a decade, even as they lose a lot of games, and they finally get some luck in the lottery.
If everything falls apart
LaVine stays. Vučević stays. The presence of both delays the development of Buzelis. Ball can’t last the season, but the Bulls are winning enough games early on that they’re convincing themselves it’s worth chasing another play-in-tournament bid. It never comes. They win only enough games to fall outside the top 10 in the draft, and their protected draft pick instead transfers to the San Antonio Spurs.
A fancy spin
LaVine talked about his approach to the season and I remained convinced that he would restore his basketball value in real life and fantasy. You have to feel that the Bulls will feature him more in hopes of shedding his contract. That said, 23-5-4 is a safe floor for LaVine after DeRozan’s departure. Vučević is declining, but he remains an asset for points, boards and helps from the central location.
Giddey is stepping into a bigger role for the Bulls and can produce in a variety of ways in fantasy. Career year coming up. My guess is that White will be more off-ball when he shares the court with Giddey and Ball, so his usage may decrease. Still, catching a scorer of his caliber in the eighth round is worth it. You can remove Patrick Williams from your draft list, while Buzelis and Jalen Smith are players to watch. — Dan Titus
schedule 2024-25
The Bulls have to lose, or they will lose their draft pick. Take the below.
