When the Chicago Bulls traded away veterans for minimal returns over the last 18 months, the strategy did give them massive cap space this summer. The team didn’t do much with it.
The Bulls signed guard Norman Powell for two years and $45M Wednesday, then brought back center Zach Collins on a two-year, $17M deal. Considered along with their earlier trade for center Nic Claxton, it’s an unexciting outcome for a perennially directionless franchise.
Chicago Bulls are treading water with summer moves
Powell averaged 21.7 points and made the All-Star team last season with the Miami Heat. He’s also 33 years old, born 13 years earlier than the Bulls’ draft pick at No. 4 in this year’s draft, Caleb Wilson. Collins is 28 years old and played just 10 games last season due to injury.
Claxton was effectively a free-agent signing, as the Bulls took on the two years and $44M remaining on his deal in a three-way trade, but didn’t give up anything. The 27-year-old is a good shot-blocker who is limited on offense, though it’s doubtful he would have gotten $22M per season on the open market after averaging 11.7 points and 6.9 rebounds for a bad Brooklyn Nets team.
The Bulls may simply want to provide veteran support around Wilson, No. 15 pick Dailyn Swain and 21-year-old Matas Buzelis. They paid premium prices to get that without getting much upside from players who have already hit their primes.
Bulls’ moves last season look worse in hindsight
The Bulls were busy at the trade deadline last season. They dealt Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Kevin Huerter to playoff teams, primarily getting back players on expiring deals and second-round picks — no first-rounders. That’s been a constant theme for the Bulls. In previous deals for veterans DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso and Zach LaVine, the Bulls got only one first back, their own from 2025.
These weren’t bad players, either. White got a three-year, $74M contract from the Hornets. The Minnesota Timberwolves gave Dosunmu $112M over five years. Even Huerter got three years and $27M from the Detroit Pistons. For those clearly valuable players, the Bulls netted Rob Dillingham, the No. 8 pick in 2024, plus six second-round picks.
How the Bulls used the first of those second-round picks is not promising. They traded the No. 38 pick to the Indiana Pacers for Kam Jones, then waived him a week later. They sold the No. 56 pick for cash.
It’s a baffling series of moves. Drafting Wilson and Swain may have given the fanbase hope, but the rest of the moves show the Bulls remain committed to mediocrity.