"Where did they think they were headed exactly?" – An NBA insider calls the Chicago Bulls' summer decisions into question

The Chicago Bulls’ decision to run its current core back despite their disappointing performance last season continues to baffle fans and observers alike. Although the Bulls’ “Big 3” stayed healthy and played the most minutes together out of any trio in the entire league, the teams still ended up with a sub .500 record and failed to get into the Play-In Tournament.

The writing was clearly on the wall that this roster was working well without Lonzo Ball there to orchestrate it on both ends of the floor. However, the front office seemingly failed to see it, and now, after banking on the same core to try and make the team relevant this season, the Bulls find themselves way below the .500 mark and stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Broken core

Individually, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic are talented players capable of filling up the stat sheet on any given night. However, in the NBA, cohesion is key, and when it came to the Bulls, they couldn’t seem to find the right balance between all of them. The fans see it; the numbers prove it, but somehow, the front office decision-makers deduced bringing them all back this season was the right call.

“The Chicago Bulls stumbled into this summer with a sub-.500 record ever since losing Lonzo Ball to a knee injury in Dec. 2022. For reasons known only to them, this front office still decided this was a core worth keeping and expanding. They operated like a win-now team despite lacking enough win-now talent to matter in anything more than the play-in tournament race. And so far, they'd be denied entry to that dance as well,” Zach Buckley wrote on Bleacher Report.

Not only did the Bulls re-sign Vooch, they also gave new contracts to Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White and brought in Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig.

“They maybe didn't make a particularly egregious overpay, but the totality of their actions—namely, committing more than $141 million to Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig—resulted in one giant head-scratcher,” Buckley continued.

This was stunning basketball. pic.twitter.com/Xt1SkxXzZh
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) December 15, 2023

Where is this headed?

Doing the same things and expecting a different result isn't the way to go for any team. The Bulls need to take a different approach if they want to reclaim their place in the East and become consistent contenders. The Bulls have solid pieces in place, but it will take organizational fortitude and discipline for them to get back into contention. Only then can they truly matter again in the East.

“Where did they think they were headed exactly? Had they forgotten this nucleus' previous failures to launch? Why was this going to be any different?” Buckley mused.

“Whatever the Bulls are doing isn't working, and that should have been obvious this offseason—if not even sooner.”

A man on a mission pic.twitter.com/g9PCf6L6pg
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) December 15, 2023

Broken core

Where is this headed?

Who Wants Zach LaVine?