Would Bulls have any hope of landing Paul if he's waived by Suns?
The best way for the Bulls to make positive progress next season is if an NBA star decides he wants to make the United Center his new home.
Reports that Phoenix plans to waive veteran point guard Chris Paul raise some interesting possibilities. Paul was photographed working out last month with Bulls guard Coby White, who played for the CP3 travel team when he was younger. Both are North Carolina natives.
Paul also spent a year playing for Billy Donovan in Oklahoma City in 2019-20, when the Thunder posted a surprising 44-28 record.
Money shouldn't be much of a factor when Paul picks his next team. The reason he could be released is just $15.8 million of his $30.8 million salary for next season is guaranteed. By waiving Paul, the Suns would have more money to devote to trying to build a supporting cast around Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
As disappointing as the Bulls have been during the past two years, they went 35-22 when either Lonzo Ball or Patrick Beverley was the starting point guard. Paul just turned 38, but he averaged 8.9 assists last season, fifth best in the league.
For a team like the Bulls with limited options, adding a player like Paul would be a pretty good one.
Why won't it happen? Because NBA stars never choose the Bulls.
Chicago might make Paul's shortlist. He might answer the phone if Donovan, White, Zach LaVine or Arturas Karnisovas calls with a sales pitch.
Chances are, Paul will choose to play with a team that has a better chance of winning a championship next year. The Lakers and Clippers have already been mentioned as early favorites, but the Sixers, Bucks, Heat, Celtics, Nuggets all sound like solid options.
After missing the playoffs in five of the last six years, the Bulls need to figure out how to become a preferred destination. Once they get to the Bulls, players usually enjoy Chicago. But remember when the entire NBA world seemed to be telling Carmelo Anthony to sign with the Bulls as a free agent in 2014? He still said no and went back to the Knicks.
It's become standard procedure for players like Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to name their trade destination, but the Bulls have been left out of those discussions.
The Bulls were in a great spot in 2017 when they had a marquee player in Jimmy Butler, cap space and the player who recruited the original Miami superteam, but chose instead to trade Butler and pay Dwyane Wade $15.5 million to go away.
This summer isn't conducive to the Bulls making changes, since they won't have cap space or draft picks and could easily slide into luxury tax territory.
There have been reports of the Bulls entering negotiations with free agent center Nikola Vucevic. Karnisovas will be reluctant to let Vucevic walk after trading two first-rounders and Wendell Carter Jr. to get him from Orlando in 2021.
If the Bulls trade DeMar DeRozan, they'll be a young team in need of veteran leadership. If they trade LaVine, they'd be giving up on the guy who was supposed to be their franchise player.
Two Bulls have mentioned they plan to pick up player options for next season, Derrick Jones Jr. and Andre Drummond. That means every player from last season is under contract except Vucevic, restricted free agents White and Ayo Dosunmu, Javonte Green and Beverley.
The Bulls can use the midlevel exception, worth around $12.5 million, to sign free agents, and can apply for a hardship exemption for Ball, which would give them $10.2 million to add one player on a one-year deal. Doing both, while re-signing Vucevic and White, would likely put the Bulls above the luxury-tax threshold.
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