The Chicago Bulls are finally re-positioning themselves for the future.

The team will unquestionably be a worse product by design next season, having offloaded defensive ace Alex Caruso in favor of a point guard project in Josh Giddey, as well as letting franchise star DeMar DeRozan walk in free agency. They also drafted a developmental piece in Matas Buzelis No. 11 overall in June’s draft.

Now, the team will likely look to the upcoming draft in order to add talent around its growing core. And talented prospects like Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper, Nolan Traore and VJ Edgecombe make that an even better decision.

But has Chicago really done enough just yet to contend for the top 2025 NBA Draft picks?

As it stands right now, probably not.

Despite offloading two great win-now pieces, the roster is still more competitive than the bottom chunk of the NBA. 

Zach LaVine, despite a massive and near-untradeable contract, remains a solid player at nearly 20 points per game. Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams remain valuable frontcourt pieces capable of winning games. And a host of other pieces will keep the Bulls ahead of the Nets, Wizards, Pistons and more.

In order for Chicago to land it’s most highly coveted prospects, it’s going to have to make some in-season trades. There’s a chance the organization won’t want to stoop to the lowest levels of the NBA, but that’s what’s likely best for the future.

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