Next season will be a huge one for the Chicago Bulls, who dropped the ball this past year. After snapping a four-year playoff drought in the 2021-22 season, the Bulls fell back out of the playoffs this past season, getting bounced in the Play-In Tournament by the Miami Heat, who went on to win the Eastern Conference.
Now, with the Bulls hoping to avoid a rebuild, they will need to put together a competitive season this upcoming year. And in order to do that, Chicago needs to add talent around the core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic this summer.
According to Dan Favale of Bleacher Report, the Bulls’ top target in free agency this offseason should be Heat wing Max Strus.
“Shooting, playmaking and an upgraded center rotation rank as the Chicago Bulls’ most pressing offseason priorities,” Favale wrote. “In a perfect world, they’d address at least two of those in the same player.
“Good luck with that.
“Team governor Jerry Reinsdorf is notoriously cheap, and the Bulls will start fretting about the luxury tax depending on what they do with Ayo Dosunmu (Early Bird restricted) and Coby White restricted) after inking Nikola Vučević to a three-year, $60 million extension . Free agents who might sign for the bigger MLE are the right combination of plausible and ambitious.
“Bagging Max Strus would be a home run.
“His three-point efficiency dropped to 35 percent this season and slipped even further in the postseason (31.9 percent). But those clips came amid a steady diet of pull-ups and off-motion looks, at a volume for which Chicago should endlessly lust (nearly nine attempts per 36 minutes during the regular season).”
For a team that struggled as much behind the three-point line as the Bulls did this past year, Strus would be a great get.
More Bulls!
Nikola Vucevic reveals thoughts on contract extension with Bulls
Report: Bulls have ‘engaged several teams’ about Zach LaVine trade
Mock 3-team trade sees Bulls ditch DeMar DeRozan for 24-year-old guard
Story originally appeared on Lonzo Wire