Chicago Bulls Could Use Lottery Pick For Offseason Flexibility

The Chicago Bulls should position itself to use lottery pick on big man to gain summer of flexibility.

May 14, 2025; Chicago, Il, USA; Derik Queen talks to the media during the 2025 NBA Draft Combine at Marriott Marquis Chicago. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

The Chicago Bulls are on the treadmill of mediocrity in recent years, stuck spinning its wheels with no true path at title contention. At some point, the Bulls need to pick a direction which would likely include a step back to move forward.

Despite the half-hearted effort to reshape a roster, the Chicago Bulls have nice young pieces. Josh Giddey was a stellar pick-up for where this team is in its rebuild, Matas Buzelis was even better than expected, Coby White is a stud, Patrick Williams is a building block and Ayo Dosunmo is a perfect glue guy.

Chicago is anchored as of now by Nikola Vucevic in more ways than one. Sure, he serves as the back-line defender for the Bulls in the middle but his 3-year $60 Million pact anchors the books as well.

The big man is entering his final season of that deal, owed $21.4 million this season. This expiring deal can and should be moved off of this summer, even if the Bulls have to attach a sweetener to do so.

This would open the door for the Chicago Bulls to take a big man at No. 12 in the 2025 NBA Draft with plenty of options on the table.

Its best hope? That Maryland's Derik Queen falls that far to the Windy City as his offensive playmaking in the middle of the floor mixed with his scoring and slightly better than advertised defense gives Billy Donovan a unique player to work with and develop.

Another option would be Asa Newell, the Georgia big man that posted 19 points per game while providing translatable high-level defense for the Bulldogs.